Page 32 of King of Pride

She looked up at him with a triumphant smile, fully expecting him to become angry, refuse, or perhaps even threaten to divorce her.

Instead, Maverick caught the hand she had placed against his face.

His fingers closed around her wrist, and before she could react, he lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss against her wrist.

A sudden current seemed to shoot from her wrist through her entire body.

Rose shuddered.

Her breath caught as she stared at him.

Maverick slowly lifted his eyes, his gaze traveling from her wrist back to her face.

“All right, then,” he said calmly. “I’ll be under your control, Mrs. Bishop.”

Rose's lips curved into an even smugger smile.

She took his answer as a victory, already convinced that she had managed to put him under her control now that they were married.

Just then, her phone began to ring.

Rose's expression immediately shifted.

She looked down at the screen, her brows drawing together when she saw a familiar name flashing across it.

She immediately tried to pull away from Maverick, but he didn't let her. His arm remained firmly around her wrist, keeping her close. With no choice but to answer the call, she brought the phone to her ear with her free hand.

“Yes?” she said.

Rena's tense voice immediately came through the phone. “Rose, are you all right? I'm so sorry about last night. I promise—”

Rose frowned, confusion deepening across her face. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about last night,” Rena said quickly. “You asked me to send Josh to your room, but he never made it to you. I just found out that someone locked Josh in a broom closet at the palace for the entire night.”

Rose's body went completely still.

“What?”

“He was trapped there all night,” Rena continued. “It wasn't until the staff came in this morning to clean up the palace after the party that someone found him and let him out. He'd been locked inside that closet the entire night. He went home this morning and called me to tell me what happened.”

Rose's fingers tightened around her phone as the implications slowly began sinking in.

“I was so worried about you. I didn't know what had happened. I thought you were with Josh, so that's why I called. I'm so sorry, Rose. I don't think Josh ditched you. He really does have a huge crush on you. It turns out he was just trapped by someone who—”

Rena's words faded into the background.

Rose's shoulders slowly stiffened as the pieces began falling into place. Josh hadn't rejected her, and he hadn't simply abandoned her after she had asked him to come to her room. He had never even reached her. Someone had deliberately locked him away and made certain he couldn't get to her.

And there was only one person who had been there that night who could have done it.

Rose swallowed hard, her fingers tightening around the phone.

“Thanks for telling me,” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.

She ended the call and lowered the phone, remaining silent for a moment as she stared at the screen. Then she slowly turned toward Maverick.

He hadn't moved.