Page 60 of The Royal in Room 3

“That sounds like a lovely way to connect with her.”

“It would have been, but the current owners wouldn’t let me onto the property. At least I can look at it from across the street, though, right?”

“I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all of this, little prince.”

I shuffled over his lap to straddle him. I looped my arms loosely around his neck and smiled. “It wasn’t all bad. I came here, was robbed, and became homeless, but then I met the most wonderful man a boy could ever ask for. And I wished I’d never had to go through all of that, but if it meant you’re the rainbow at the end of the storm, then the journey was worth surviving.”

“I still wish you hadn’t gone through so much heartache.”

Without a word, I traced the shape of his features with my fingertips—the blunt arch of his brows, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes, and the strong bridge of his nose. His face had become so familiar to me in such a short time that I could picture every detail even with my eyes closed.

“You’re so handsome, Daddy,” I murmured. “No wonder all the boys at Halo House are in love with you.”

Jude chuckled, taking my hand and kissing the fingertips. “I doubt that’s true.”

“It is, and I get it.” My heart pounded in my chest. After my last experience, I should be more cautious, more guarded with my heart, but I didn’t want to be. “Because it’s only been a couple of weeks, but I’m pretty sure I’m already falling in love with you, Jude. It’s important to me that you know my feelings aren’t just because of the way you care for me as my Daddy. You’ve done that for many others before. My feelings are for you—Jude—the man who exists with or without the honorific.”

“Little prince⁠—”

I didn’t want to hear him downplay what I felt for him because of the short time we’d been together. Worse, I didn’t want to hear him say he didn’t feel the same way about me, so I did the only thing I knew to shut him up by slamming my lips to his.

But although it worked, I couldn’t help wondering what he wanted to say to me after my confession.

20

JUDE

When Phoenix had called me to say there was a plumbing issue in the shared bathroom on the second floor of Halo House, I’d gotten my tools without hesitation. Soren and a couple of the others were out shopping today, something I’d easily consented to given he’d been working so hard lately. He’d received his first salary, and he’d been excited about it even though he’d been shocked at the amount that actually went into his pocket after paying Uncle Sam.

I’d listened to him with a straight face, barely containing my laugh as he ranted for fifteen minutes straight after discovering the joy of payroll deductions. He’d muttered something about not realizing the hardship of commoners before calling Dean to ask if he wanted to go shopping. Dean had finally settled on a Daddy who was apparently loaded, so he’d been inviting Soren on a shopping spree for the past few days.

I’d taken Soren with me to Halo and kissed him goodbye, reminding him to be careful when he jumped into a car with Dean, Jorge, and Shannon. Their plans involved shopping, then lunch with Jorge since today was his last day at Halo House. His caregivers had asked him to move in with them, and he’d accepted.

That meant three boys who’d moved out recently: Soren, who’d only been there for a week; Tony, who’d had a grand send-off party last week since he was leaving the country with his pilot boyfriend to live in London; and now Jorge.

“This is the emptiest the house has been,” Phoenix said, standing over me and handing me tools as I asked for them while I worked beneath the kitchen sink. I’d already fixed the problem in the shower, but, in true Phoenix fashion, there was always something else to take care of around the house. No matter how often I told him to call me if he needed anything, he only did so when the issue was dire and couldn’t be ignored any longer.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” I asked. “It means the house is successfully doing what it set out to do.”

Phoenix sighed. “I know. Still feels strange.”

“So what exactly is the problem? Are you getting too attached to your angels? Flashlight.”

“No. I’m happy for them. Jorge found people who love him. Tony is starting a whole new life. Soren barely stayed long enough to learn anything before you stole him.”

“I didn’t steal him. You practically begged me to take him in and teach him the ropes.”

Phoenix snorted. “Begging is a stretch when you were already interested in him.”

“You’re way too invested in my private life,” I said.

“You’re my best friend. Your private life is one of the few forms of entertainment I get for free.”

I was glad he couldn’t see my smile. “I know a cop who would be more than happy to entertain you for free.”

He groaned, and the conversation fell quiet while I replaced the damaged section of pipe and tightened the connections. Phoenix continued to pass me tools, though twice he handed me the wrong ones and insisted they all looked the same.

“You know,” he said after a while, “Soren’s getting on well with the other workers at the club. He seems very happy.”