Royally Flushed

Meet The Family

~Malia~

Louis wouldn't keep his hands off of me after I showed him my scar on my ribs and while it did make me a bit uncomfortable, I just let him keep his arm around me in the limo as I wasn't necessarily in the mood to fight.

I couldn't fight the intensity of my growing feelings for him which was hard because I wasn't exactly sure how he felt about me.

I could tell that he felt at least something for me as he was taking me with him to some secretive royal fallout shelter in case of emergencies.

I thought back to the time when he accosted me in the hallway of our school and wondered if he was following the mantra of keeping your friends close and enemies closer...hopefully my admonition of what I'd gone through in my past gave him at least a little bit of trust in me for the big ask that I knew was going to have to come sooner rather than later.

I needed protection and information, two things that I knew he could provide but the challenge would be getting him to provide those things to me willingly.

I couldn't stop scrolling through article after article on my phone as my knee kept bouncing up and down in anxiety, more than worried about the fact that the people responsible could be the people Robert might be trying to team up with. I kept seeing reports that all of the major known terrorist cells that were in the country weren't taking responsibility for the attack yet and that the victim count was nearing fifty.

The bomb had exploded in a group of tourists standing in front of the famous clock tower and it made me feel like nowhere was safe. I had already had plenty of excitement in my life, and there I was galavanting off with the Prince of freaking England as if I wanted even more, and that was the farthest thing from the truth.

I couldn't help the fact that my dead boyfriend had miraculously risen from the dead and my step father was hellbent on making my life a living hell, or not to mention the fact that I was as close to royalty without being in the direct descendant line which I had only recently found out.

The circumstances in which I came to England were muddled with pain and hate, and I wasn't about to let a little crush on the prince make me forget that.  He was a mere distraction, someone who would never actually pan out, just someone to project my feelings onto when I didn't want to feel sad and lonely for a bit.  It wasn't real...it couldn't be.

It didn't help, however, that the feel of his arm draped across my waist possessively was making me feel things that my deceitful dead-not-dead boyfriend Daniel ever made me feel in our entire nine month long relationship. 

It could have been because I was so young when we were in that relationship, but my feelings never surfaced past more than simple puppy love, and sure I probably did love him in a deep, not more than friends kind of way, but it did hurt like hell when I found out that he had "died". He was more than a boyfriend, he was my confidant-someone I talked to about my real father walking out on me, told all of my hopes and dreams to...and then he was just gone.

I didn't have time to reminisce over my past for long as the sound of Louis broke through my reverie.

"We're en route. Yes.  I have a guest with me...yes, yes it is Lady Spencer. No, Gordon has been with us. Alright, we will be there shortly. Don't worry. I love you too."

I eyed him quizzically, wondering if it was one of his parents that he'd been speaking to or someone else in his family, because surely he wouldn't be telling some girl that he loved them after being so obviously flirtatious with me...would he?

I didn't have to wonder for long where exactly we were going as we pulled into an underground parking complex and followed the parking garage down down down several stories until the vast concrete structure gave way to a main level that was completely open save for an entrance with glass double doors with some seriously high tech looking equipment surrounding it as well as two heavily armed guards standing vigil side by side at the doors.

Gordon parked right in front of the double doors and slid out soundlessly to open the door automatically for Louis and I followed suit as his hand grabbed mine almost as automatically as Gordon performed his regular job duties.

His hand squeezed mine and I looked up just in time to see his blue eyes meet mine in a silent request, and I could almost guess with one hundred percent certainty what that request was. He didn't want me to make a big deal about what was happening.

I assumed he was already going through enough stress as is, and I didn't want to add anything else to his plate. It wasn't like I was going to freak out at the sight of some glass doors and guards.

I cast my eyes to the ground as the guards soundlessly parted from the doors they were guarding and allowed the three of us through the doors after a keypad entry.

And then we were in an elevator going down down down, so fast my ears popped with a fierce vengeance. Unthinking, I shifted myself closer to Louis, and his arm that had snakes it's way around my waist burned irrational emotions into my side.

I didn't know what was going on with us, but in that moment he was my safety net when I was more scared about the speed of the elevator than his future intentions with me.

I could practically feel the smug smirk that probably danced across his gorgeous features at my seeking comfort from him but I didn't care in that moment as the doors dramatically opened and the sleek silver atmosphere of the modern elevator gave way to surroundings that reminded me of a five star hotel.

Marble flooring stretched out in front of us with grandeur, allowing its sparkling sheen to match the pillars spaced out evenly throughout the room.

Situated in the middle of the room perfectly were couches that looked as if they were made out of hand stitched silk, and I realized I'd never wanted to touch a piece of furniture so much in my life.

There were various other chairs spaced out through the room along with a few end tables and towards the back of the room was a large conference table with plus black leather seats surrounding it and hung on the wall were large clocks with the times of Tokyo, New York and Shanghai as well as many other city centers ticking away above a large flat screen television displaying media coverage of the bombing.

What took my breath away most, however, was the sight of some very royally dressed people who were sitting on those gorgeous couches, and they were all staring...directly. At. Me.

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Author's Note:

Hello my lovely readers! I hope you are enjoying the chapters so far! I'm writing as fast as my little baby will let me ;)

Thank you all for reading and supporting my work!!

Until next time,

Kristen :)