Page 34 of The Royal in Room 3

“You might not want to say those exact words to Dean or he’ll be there every day,” Phoenix said with a chuckle.

I took a glance at my watch. “You’ll make sure Soren’s ready? I’ll be back in a couple of hours to pick him up. I just need to deliver a restored late-nineteenth-century table to a client. It belonged to her great-grandparents, and I’ve spent the past month repairing a split leg, rebuilding the extension mechanism, and stripping away decades of bad varnish.”

“Sounds like you earned quite a penny on this one.”

I grinned as I rose to my feet. “It’s the only way I can manage to do free labor for you and Halo House.”

Plus, given this morning’s breakfast blunder, I had a feeling I’d acquired a boy who was used to the soft life. I had no idea yet how his life had changed so drastically, but while I taught him responsibility, I had every intention of ensuring he was cared for.

12

SOREN

Jude was so late in picking me up that I figured he’d changed his mind about me and didn’t want me anymore. That he’d had five minutes of being Soren-free and had realized how much better he was on his own than being stuck with a boy who needed so much. What did I have to offer him except sex? The fact that initially sex wasn’t even part of his contract showed how little that meant to him in these arrangements.

Sitting at the bay window, I stared out at the maze, wishing I’d had the courage to explore it. The closest I’d gotten was the entrance. Since I was likely no longer moving in with Jude, I could coax Dean to go with me.

My phone rang, and I scrambled to my feet to answer it, but it was just Aaron. I returned to my seat by the window and answered the call.

“Hi, Aaron.”

“Wow. You don’t sound happy to hear from me. Is this a bad time?”

“No, sorry. It’s okay. What’s up?”

“Just checking in with you that everything went okay. You didn’t return home last night.”

“How do you know that?”

“I was at Halo House late. Not what you’re thinking. Phoenix and I were discussing the toy drive.”

“Oh.”

“So how did it go?”

“Fine. Maybe. I thought so, but now I don’t know.”

“What do you mean? Did something happen?”

“I thought he liked me,” I said. “We signed a contract and everything, and he said he would pick me up, but it’s been three hours, and he still hasn’t shown up.”

“Maybe something came up. It’s unlike Jude to disappoint a sub. He knows how important trust is.”

“Except you don’t know what happened today. I destroyed his kitchen making breakfast.”

I gave him a quick rundown of the morning’s events, which only had him laughing pretty much the same way Jude had.

“Trust me, Soren. That’s not going to send Jude running, but how do you get to the ripe age of twenty-two without knowing how to turn on a stove?”

“I told you, but you didn’t believe me,” I whispered.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.” Maybe it was for the best that he didn’t believe me.

“I actually called for another reason,” he said. “We have an address where your roommate Daphne has been hanging out, so with luck we’ll be able to nab her soon and get some of your stuff back.”

“That’s great. I don’t really care about the clothes as much as my family heirlooms.”