Page 81 of The Royal in Room 3

JUDE

For the first time since I’d known Phoenix, I wished he had called someone else to help with the flooding problem in the washroom instead of calling me. Hungover from the night before and feeling like shit, I crawled into the bathroom to take a shower so I didn’t smell like a distillery when I arrived at Halo House. No one else needed to know how much Soren’s lies had affected me.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. At some point in the middle of the night, when he still hadn’t returned home, I might have done a bit of both, lying in bed, surrounded by the smell of him while missing him.

After leaving the police station, I’d gone home to research everything I could about Belvaria and its royal family. I’d learned the truth about the boy I’d taken under my wing almost a month ago. He wasn’t the ordinary, helpless man I’d thought he was.

Nope, he was fucking royalty.

Who omitted to tell someone they were dating that they were a prince? You would have thought that topic would have come up at some point during the discussion about his family, his mother’s and brothers’ deaths. I’d read the whole sordid tale about having his title revoked because of treason and a more recent article about him being wrongfully accused of the crime, which meant he would be reinstated as the crown prince.

No wonder he hadn’t come home at all last night. All this time, I never tried to keep a sub permanently because I expected them to leave one day when they found out I wasn’t enough. And now that Soren—rather, His Royal Highness—was no longer banished, he had no more use for me.

What was a house on the beach when he had a whole palace and a kingdom waiting for him? What good was a carpenter with a criminal record when he would be expected to marry someone of similar status to his? And while not many were on par with a king, there were far more suitable men than me.

Some other man might have been ecstatic to find out the one they loved was royalty, but not me. I was too pragmatic for that. A homeless boy I could offer shelter, care, and love. I had absolutely nothing to offer a crown prince.

I shut off the shower harder than necessary, breathing through the ache tightening my chest. Soren had never promised me forever. What we shared had been built during the worst period of his life, when he had been frightened, homeless, and desperate for someone to make him feel safe.

Soren was sincere, and I believed he cared about me. He was too open with his feelings to have manufactured what existed between us out of convenience. But that same generous heart was what worried me. He might convince himself that he should stay with me longer than he should out of gratitude.

The thought made me feel sick.

I dried off, dressed, and forced myself to look presentable before leaving for Halo House. By the time I arrived, my head was pounding, and I regretted not stopping on the way to get coffee.

Phoenix was waiting near the front entrance with far too much energy for someone who had supposedly called me about an emergency. From the way his face fell when he saw me, I could only guess my mission to not look as awful as I felt had failed.

“Jude, you look terrible,” he cried, stopping me to place the back of his hand on my forehead when I would have walked past him. “Are you sick? Can I get you anything?”

“It’s just a headache,” I said, shaking off his hand. “But some aspirin would be nice if you have any.”

He kept a locked medicine chest stocked with over-the-counter medication. Vale’s brother was a doctor and a longtime supporter of Halo House, so they rarely ran low on basic supplies. Because some of the boys who arrived at the house had struggled with addiction in the past, Phoenix kept everything secured and handed out medication only when it was needed. Even something as ordinary as painkillers or cough syrup could become a problem for someone trying to stay sober, and he refused to take unnecessary risks with any of his angels.

“Of course. Do you want to go up with me to get it?”

“Nope. I’ll get started on the plumbing issue.” I walked around him and headed toward the stairs. “The sooner I finish, the sooner I can head back home and sleep off whatever’s affecting my system.”

“But the bathroom can wait,” he called after me. “We should get you some medicine first.”

I drew to a stop and slowly turned to face him, alarm bells going off. “Bathroom? You said the problem was in the laundry room when you called me.”

Phoenix gave a high-pitched laugh, the color in his cheeks rising. “Did I say the bathroom? Silly me. I meant the laundry room.”

“You’ve never been able to lie for shit, Phoenix.” I frowned, placing my tool bag on the floor. “What the hell’s going on? There’s no plumbing issue, is there? And bear in mind that I have a low tolerance for bullshit this morning.”

“Alright, there’s nothing wrong with the plumbing,” he confessed. “I was worried about you after everything that happened. If I told you to come over just so I could check up on you, would you have driven here?”

“Of course not. There’s nothing I have to say.”

“Nothing? Are you sure about that, Jude? Because you just found out your boy’s a royal.”

“He’s not—” I was about to say “royal,” but knowing that wasn’t true, I ended with “my boy.”

“Oh God, Jude, please don’t take this road. He lied to you. He lied to all of us, but I’m sure he had a very good reason. Besides, when I spoke to Aaron, he said that Soren had told them at the police station before, but they didn’t believe him. Is it any wonder that he decided not to tell anyone else about it?”

“But I’m not just anyone else, Phoenix.” I clenched my hands into fists. “I shared parts of myself with him I’ve never shared with anyone else. He’s been to my home and has met my mother, and he didn’t trust me enough to tell me he was a fucking prince?”

“Would you have believed him?”