Page 59 of The Royal in Room 3

But only Jude touched me this way without obligation.

Only after he was satisfied that I was no longer shaking as badly did he pull me over to the bed and sit beside me. He took my hands in his, but for several seconds, he said nothing.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” I said softly.

“You chose to walk into the ocean before sunrise. Alone,” he said. “I want to know the reason why. Don’t keep anything from me, Soren. I need the truth. If you have any suicidal ideation, I need to know.”

My eyes widened. “No, I don’t.”

“Soren—”

“I swear I don’t.” I shook my head quickly. “I didn’t go out there because I wanted to hurt myself.”

He searched my face. “Then tell me what happened.”

I gripped the towel, measuring how much to tell him. After what he’d just witnessed, I owed him at least a modicum of truth.

“I was missing my mom and my brothers,” I finally shared.

Jude let out a long breath. “You’ve never talked about your family before.”

“And you’ve never asked.”

“Because I wanted you to feel comfortable enough to tell me on your own. So will you?”

I leaned into his side, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “They’re dead.”

“My God, little prince. That’s a lot for you to lose.”

“My mother died when I was five, and my brothers died two years ago in an accident while they were on a ski trip. I wanted to go with them, but they refused to take me.”

“I’m so sorry. That must be painful for you.”

“It was—still is. The reason I spent so much time talking to Martin tonight is that he’s familiar with my country, and since I left almost four months ago, it was the first time I’d met anyone who was interested in the place where I am from. But it also made me very sad. When I woke up, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I had too much on my mind.”

Jude squeezed my shoulder. “If you miss it so much, why don’t you visit? Do you have other relatives there?”

I nodded. “My dad, stepmom, and half brother. I haven’t spoken to any of them since I moved to California.”

“Why did you leave?”

“Someone I cared about used me, and it caused a lot of trouble for my family,” I explained carefully. “In the end, they had no choice but to ask me to leave.”

“Your family abandoned you?”

“I guess not totally. My father has reached out, but I’ve been too upset with him, so I’ve ignored all his calls and emails.”

“Do you regret that?”

“A part of me does, yes.”

“Then why don’t you call him sometime? I’m not sure of the nature of what happened between you, but if he’s reaching out, then it means he still cares.”

“I guess.” I tilted my head to look up at him. “Do you know why I chose to come specifically to Headland, California?”

“Tell me.”

“This is where my mother was from. I thought maybe by coming here I would feel a little closer to her, breathe the same air she did, love the same places she did. I even went by the house where she was raised as a foster kid.”