I turn about a thousand shades of red. Half of that isholy shit this man wants to make me a QUEEN. Half of that is fear. Zayer is indifferent. I doubt he registered much. He’s too busy sucking on his fingers and looking at his dinosaur toy to care about anything we’re saying. Sabrina and Phaedra are quiet. They look at me and at Sebastian and at me again. Then they look at each other, having a silent conversation as if this is a conference and they need to agree. And then it’s all smiles.
“Yes,” Phaedra answers for them both. The queen-to-be is all business now. “We’re cool with that.”
I choke out a laugh and so does Sebastian.
“Coolwith that? Where did you hear that?”
Phaedra shrugs. “YouTube.” As if the answer should have been obvious.
Sebastian murmurs what I know to be a curse in Latin under his breath. “I’m not even going to address that right now. But you’re okay with this? With me and Bellamy as a couple?”
“Will you kiss her?” Sabrina bounces some more, enthused by this idea. “That’s what all the kings do to break the curse.”
And again, shit.
“I think my love for Bellamy already broke our curse, and if it hasn’t yet, making her my queen will,” he says glibly, and fuck. Just fuck. Talk about a burden to bear.
It’s risky. All of it. Being his queen will take my small, simple life and change everything.
Then there’s the dark part. What if Rowan is wrong and this curse is not meant to be broken? What if I’m wrong and the curse is real? What if this family isn’t out of danger and more is yet to come for them? For all of us?
25
BELLAMY
My eyes open, and the night air outside my window is still dark. I feel unsettled. There is a rustling in me, and I need to work it out.
Sebastian and I had no further talk of marriage or babies—babies! Gah!—and after the children openly accepted me as their father’s girlfriend—cue total freak-out—we spent the rest of the night together, having dinner and playing games. He even kissed my cheek in front of them, and Phaedra got a look in her eyes that told me she didn’t mind it one bit.
The only thing weighing me down now is my father.
I’m not sure what’s best for him or for me at this point. I haven’t accepted what’s happening to him, but I also can’t imagine not being with him during it. Do I move him in here as Sebastian offered? Is that safe for him? Is it even practical? I don’t know. I just know I have to do more for him than I’m doing now.
Then there’s also this Christmas ball and all that comes with announcing to the global community that I’m dating the king of Messalina. It feels as if everything is coming atme all at once, and while most of it is a dream come true, the uncertainty is what’s plaguing my mind.
Climbing out of bed, I throw on my yoga wear and fly down the stairs to the gym. No one is here yet. Not Sebastian or even Althea, and I can’t deny being relieved by that. I think I need a few moments alone to really sort through everything in my head. I push my body on the treadmill and then lift weights. By the time Althea arrives, I’m a sweaty, exhausted heap of a woman.
“Sorry,” I murmur, feeling bad I didn’t wait for her to get started. She smirks, standing by the door, but then her eyes narrow in on my neck, and her lips part in a silent gasp. Shit. I can’t believe I forgot to cover that. What was a small red mark yesterday from Sebastian’s belt has morphed into a bruise today. My hand slaps over my neck, but it’s too late. She’s in front of me, prying my fingers away and touching the purple skin gently with her fingers.
“He did this to you?”
“It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt.”
“Tell me at once if my nephew is hurting you.”
I sigh, my head falling forward. I can only imagine how this looks to her. “Althea, it’s not like that. He’s not abusing me,” I promise. “He’s an incredible man.”
“But…” Her voice trails off, uncertainty splashed across her face. “He does this to you on purpose?”
I blush ten thousand shades of pink, red, fuchsia, and everything in between, ridiculously mortified. “Yes.”
She tilts my chin this way and that, examining me closer before meeting my eyes. “His passion for you is no secret, but I worry. Women get themselves into bad situations and mistake or tolerate cruelty for love.”
“That’s not what this is. I assure you.”
Her head bobs as she digests what I’m saying. “You like this,then? I’m not judging. I’m trying to understand so, well, I understand.”
“Yes,” I manage. “I like it. If I didn’t or I wasn’t comfortable, he wouldn’t do it. He was…marking me as his, I guess.”
