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“Fucking hell.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
Wesley wasn’t on the balcony yet, or he’d yell and rant that it was all lies. It was good he wasn’t there. Let the full, horrible truth of the bastard who cut my sister’s brakes sink in. They didn’t care when it was Winter suffering under his hands. Let’s see if they care now.
“Number Three: Wesley rigged a hidden camera in the girls’ locker room in high school. He makes extra cash selling naked pics of Royal girls online.”
“He did what?!” shrieked Everleigh.
Wesley chose that moment to step onto the balcony, a tray under his arm while he sucked on a carton of milk.
“You disgusting pig!”
“Wha—?”
The girls flew at him, wielding their trays. Wesley disappeared under the mob.
“Stop! Get off!”
They were shouting so many things at him, the guy couldn’t pick out what they were accusing him of. Rafael hissed as Piper landed a kick to his chest.
“We found out about the camera in high school and shut it off, by the way,” Rafael said. “By then, the Royal guys were already passing the photos around like Pokémon cards. All the guys up there acting innocent deserve their heads kicked in too. It took Wilder a while to track the source back to Wesley.”
“Joseph Collins. I’m starting to feel bad for the Royals. What went wrong while raising them that they became... this?”
“When you’re raised by an army of nannies who fear upsetting you and losing their job, you’re indulged way more than is healthy,” Rafael said. “You start believing you own the world and everyone in it. Consequences don’t apply to you, because there’s no one strong enough or rich enough to hold you to them.”
I blinked at him, shocked by the even, thoughtful reply.
He grinned lopsidedly. “At least, that’s how Dad described it. He was raised the royal prince too. Not here in Regalia,” he added quickly. “Our family is from Europe. My father was born into money, position, and titles—the real thing, Luna. Not this game of pretend they play here.
“He witnessed his father arrange the death of rivals and ruthlessly climb the ladder. You can imagine a man like that isn’t the warmest, cuddliest parent. He raised my father to follow in his footsteps. Dad broke off and became his own man, but, uh”—he cleared his throat—“you can say the damage to his personality was done.”
“Wow,” I breathed. “I can’t imagine growing up like that.”
“My parents couldn’t imagine us becoming one of these spoiled, rotten Royals either. They swore they would raise us differently, so we had to earn everything that wasn’t food, clothes, or an education.”
He noticed the expression on my face. “It wasn’t like that. They were never harsh or violent. It was more like if we named all the deadly poisons in alphabetical order, we got to eat dinner in front of the television.”
I kept my thoughts on that to myself.
“And when we turned eighteen, Dad signed a check for our first-semester tuition, then cut us off.”
“Wait, he did what?”
Rafael’s hand cleaved through the air. “Cut. Off. Bank accounts drained. Kicked out the house. Credit cards cut up. He left home and became his own man, we’re expected to do the same. Fortunately for us, we were taught a very specific skill set. There’ll always be someone willing to pay for our services.”
My jaw worked. I was still stuck on the kicked out of the house part. “Even so,” I cried. “Did he have to go to those extremes? You can raise independent men without changing the locks.”
He chuckled. “You should tell him that.”
“I will. Introduce me to your father, I’ll tell him exactly what I think.”
“You would, wouldn’t you?” Eyes softening, he tipped my chin, lightly kissing the tip of my nose. “The most dangerous man you or I will ever meet, and you’d tell him off. Nothing scares you, Luna.”
I shivered under his touch. “I wouldn’t... say that.”
“I would. Cloud Girl,” he whispered. “High above us. Fearless. Untouchable. Beautiful.”
I glanced away, suddenly so sad I could cry. “You think too much of me, Rafael.”
“You don’t think enough of yourself. Right now, all you see is that you weren’t there for your sister, and I can’t pretend to know what that’s like. But you know what I see? I see the person who’s fighting for her now. Not your mom. Not your stepdad. You’re here risking everything to make sure those monsters never hurt another Winter. That’s amazing, Luna. You’re amazing. You—”
I rose on tiptoe, crashing my mouth on his. His mouth closed instinctively at the shock, then they parted, moving hungrily on mine. Rafael wrapped my legs around his waist, spun and slammed me against the tree.
Yanking up his shirt, I glided over his pecs, indulging the fantasy playing nonstop in my head since we danced at the ABC party.
