When vengeance strikes in the form of a bullet out for the princess's blood, Princess Aleia VonAuclair must flee the heart of her country in order to protect the people she loves and take back the pieces of her soul she'd lost to the girl she once l...
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Everything went to hell even before the three-week mark hit, and as I paced a hole into the living room floor, I couldn't help but think that this wouldn't even be the worst of it. My phone now sat tossed astray on the couch and if I could, I would've chucked it at the wall until it lay in pieces at my feet.
My hands clenched and unclenched as the nerves razed my body to the ground with every passing second and when the article I'd just read flashed through my mind again, I fisted my hair into my hands and tugged. Hard.
As if the pain would tell me what to do. As if the jolt would wake me from this nightmare.
But it wasn't a nightmare, and I was very much awake.
Tears of frustration welled up in the corners of my eyes, but I willed them to disappear. If I were going to go up against Bryan and whoever else in the aftermath of this scandal, I needed to stand my ground and stay strong.
We could settle on a middle ground. We had to.
This was the happiest I'd ever been in months, if not my whole life, and I'd be damned if I let a nosy gossip channel tear it down.
I heard his angered footsteps first.
"Aleia! I swear to god, I'm going to kill you. I might lose my job and end up in prison, but I'm going to kill you!"
I furiously wiped the stray tears away and took three deep breaths. If I wanted to win this argument, I needed to believe in myself that I could. I had to.
Bryan's wrath radiated off of him in potent fumes. I could smell its rage from all the way across the room. It was in the storm brewing in his eyes and the pure darkness sheathing his face and if I weren't so determined to stand my ground, I might've faltered at the pure tension straining the muscles in his body - like a coiled snake preparing to strike.
"Mind telling me how the hell you wound up on a gossip article?" Bryan spat.
"I don't know," I said calmly. "I didn't notice anyone taking photos, I swear. But you can't even see my face from that angle. I doubt people can recognise me."
The temperature in the room dropped.
"I couldn't care less if they can't see your face, Aleia. I don't give a shit if all they can see is a piece of your hair. You were caught on photo, on LA's gossip channel no less, when you're supposed to be in hiding," he said slowly – menacingly.
I grimaced and fought the urge to run my hands down my face. It would be a sign of doubt and I didn't have even a fraction of leeway if I wanted to come out of this unscathed.
"How was I supposed to know that someone was tailing me and taking photos? You didn't notice either and you shadow me."
Bryan took a step forward and I took an instinctive one back. The murder written all over his gaze terrified me and it was a stark testament to Bryan's past experience in the Navy. No man would train for war only to return with anything less than the pure terror that swathed every inch of his taut frame.
