Page 76 of The Royal in Room 3

The hours had passed.

Then the days.

No one had come to fix anything, and I’d eventually been sentenced to prison. I couldn’t let that happen to Soren. He would never survive in that environment. The sexual assaults, the fights, and the bullying. As I sat there, all I could picture was someone forcing him to be their prison bitch and him having to go along with it for the sake of protection. Just thinking about it made my stomach turn. He would lose his sparkle and come out a different person if that ever happened to him.

Soren had been robbed, abandoned, and forced to rebuild his life in a country he barely understood. He cried when he broke dishes because he thought disappointing me meant he was useless. How the hell was he handling jail?

My lawyer, Richard Bell, closed the folder on his lap and glanced at me. “You’re going to dislocate your knee if you keep bouncing it like that.”

I forced it to stop moving…for a few seconds, before my knee returned to doing its own thing again.

“How much longer is it going to take?” I asked.

“Not too long now, hopefully.”

“And they won’t allow me to see him?”

“I’ve asked. Let’s hope for the best.”

All I wanted was a glimpse of him, to know that he was okay. I wanted to tell him I loved him and that I was doing everything I could to get him out of there.

An officer with close-cropped gray hair and reading glasses hanging from the front of his uniform walked up to us. “Mr. Romano?”

I stood immediately, and so did Richard. “Yes?”

“Unfortunately, since you aren’t family or legal counsel, you will have to remain here. Counsel can meet with Mr. Kline in room three.”

“I only need five minutes,” I said quickly.

“I’m sorry. That’s the rule. I’ll escort Mr. Bell to see the client now.”

My jaw tightened, and Richard rested a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll speak with him first and let you know how he’s doing.”

I looked toward the secured door behind the officer. “Can you give him something for me?”

“A note should be fine,” Richard said.

The officer nodded. “As long as we review it first.”

Richard handed me a blank page from his notebook, and I stared at it. There were too many things I wanted to say, and in the end, I wrote:

You’ll always be my little prince. No matter what.

I folded it once before handing it to Richard. “Make sure he gets it.”

“I will.”

I watched until the officer escorted him through the secured door, then I sat down again for the torturous wait.

Every time the door opened, I looked up. Every officer who walked past made me wonder whether they knew anything about Soren’s case. I checked my phone repeatedly even though there were no new messages from Phoenix, who was talking to staff again to see if they could pick up a new lead.

After almost forty minutes, the secured door opened again, and Richard walked out. I was on my feet before he reached me.

“How is he?”

“He’s scared as expected, but he’s handling himself remarkably well,” Richard said, frowning.

“Did he get my note?”