Royal Rock: A Bad Boy Royal Romance

by B. B. Hamel

  Still, attached or not, there was something going on with her family, something dangerous involving the Broken Hearts, whoever they were. I couldn’t let that issue fester, couldn’t let something bad happen to Claire.

  Inside, sitting at the kitchen counter, Lucille was drinking what looked a lot like a Bloody Mary, and she looked like a wreck. All in all, an average morning for her.

  “Mother,” I said.

  “There you are. I was wondering where my useless son had gone.”

  “Anything that isn’t alcohol is useless to you, Lucille.”

  “There’s that asshole wit of yours,” she snapped. “When will you grow up?”

  I heard a floorboard nearby creak but decided I didn’t care if we had an audience.

  “You forget, Lucille, you have absolutely no bearing on my life. But you are involved with Claire and her father.”

  “What’s it matter to you? You’re going to do whatever you want and then disappear at the end of summer.”

  “Maybe,” I said, shrugging. “But you shouldn’t be a bitch to Claire.”

  Lucille rolled her eyes. “That girl is such a weak little brat.”

  “She doesn’t deserve your psycho bullshit.”

  “Oh, sure, she’s nice. So nice and cute. Too bad she’ll be all used up by the time she’s my age.”

  “Not everyone is you.”

  Just then, Jonathan stepped into the room, a fake-as-hell smile plastered on his face. You clearly heard all that, I thought to myself. You know she’s crazy. Why are you still with her?

  “What are you two talking about?” he asked, the annoyance barely hidden behind his fake smile.

  “Nothing, dear,” Lucille said, perking up. “Just talking about what he was doing for the summer.”

  “Yes, about that,” Jonathan said, looking at me. “Still going to run the boats for me? Tommy said you two didn’t show up today.”

  “Actually, I need to talk to you about that.”

  “Go ahead, Nathan.”

  “Alone.”

  He stared at me for a second. “Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of your mother.”

  “No, sir, I can’t, because my mother is a harpy and will tell the first reporter she can find.”

  They both gaped at me. “Nathan,” Jonathan said, “you can’t talk about your mother that way.”

  “Yes, I can,” I said quickly, stifling whatever Lucille was about to say, “because you want to hear about this.”

  Jonathan looked at me for a long second.

  “You can’t be serious, Nathan,” Lucille said during the silence. “Are you this desperate for male attention? I know your father died when you were young, but this is pathetic.”

  I had to clench my fists to keep from smacking her across the face. I knew she was my mother, but that was a low blow, even by her standards.

  Jonathan seemed to agree. “Lucille, leave the boy alone.” He gestured at me. “Follow me.”

  I walked next to him as my mother glared at me. I ignored her, following Jonathan out the front door. We walked in silence until we reached the path that led back around toward the beach.

  “What’s so important that you’re risking my marriage?”

  “Something happened yesterday. You may not believe what I’m about to tell you, but it’s the truth.”

  He frowned at my serious expression. “Go ahead.”

  And so I explained to him what went down. I started from the beginning. However, in this version, me threatening them with a gun was enough to scare them off, and getting a local drunk was enough to find out about the Broken Hearts. I wasn’t sure Jonathan needed to know about them, but I decided anything that could get him to take me seriously was worth divulging. But he sure as hell didn’t need to know that I had killed two men and had threatened to kill a third.

  When I was finished, he looked thoughtful, though not as worried as he should have been.

  “Pirates, huh?”

  “Pirates. Real deal, no bullshit pirates. But I don’t think they were after the boat.”

  “Oh? And why is that?”

  “The Broken Hearts are locals. They wouldn’t bother a local boat, even one owned by an outsider.”

  “Besides,” Jonathan added, “Tommy works for me. He’s lived here his whole life.”

  That was an interesting bit of information. I couldn’t help but tuck it away in my mind for later, even though none of this was my problem.

  “You should hire security, just in case,” I said.

  “Well then, it’s a good thing you’re here.”

  “I don’t do private security.”

  “I’ll pay you. A lot of money, actually. More than the SEALs ever paid you.”

  “It’s not about money.”

  He looked at me thoughtfully as we walked down the beach. “I heard what you said earlier,” he said finally.

  “I know. My mother can be a bitch.”

  “Yes, she can. But she has a good heart, believe it or not. Still,” he continued before I could argue, “the important part is what you said about my daughter. You clearly care for her.”

  “She’s my stepsister, and she’s a good person.”

  “Yes, she is. If you won’t run security for everything, please at least act as her bodyguard.”

  I stared at him for a second, and it felt like my heart skipped a beat. I didn’t want anything to do with this. Hell, he could easily hire a guy to protect Claire.

  But he wasn’t going to find anyone like me. I doubted very many SEALs did private stuff, let alone SEALs that would act as security to one spoiled rich girl. This would be the opposite of what I wanted, though. I wanted to put distance between her and me, hopefully let her get the message that what had happened was a one-time thing.

  Except I did genuinely believe there was a threat to their lives, and I could never live with myself if I let that happen to her. When I said it wasn’t about money, I wasn’t lying.

  It was about honor. And my honor demanded that I see this thing through, at least to keep Claire safe.

  Besides, it was going to be fun. She clearly wanted to play some games with me, and although I was trying to avoid that, maybe I could spend a few more weeks riling her up.

  “Okay,” I said finally. “I’ll do it. Just for Claire.”

  “Very good. We’ll work out the payment later. But for now, consider yourself officially her bodyguard. I’ll tell her as soon as we get home.”

  “Actually,” I said, “maybe that should come from me.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? She can be very willful sometimes.”

  “I can handle it.”

  “Very good.” He clapped me on the back. “I’ll hire some men for Lucille and my businesses. This is a very inconvenient time to have something bad happen, you know.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because of the big land deal I’m involved in. Boring business stuff, but it’s important.”

  “Sounds like motive to attack you right there.”

  “Yes. You may be right.”

  We walked back toward the house, and although I could smell something wrong with the whole “land deal” thing, I decided not to press. I didn’t want to spook Jonathan, and besides, it wasn’t my issue.

  My only job, my one and only mission, was to act as Claire’s bodyguard. And to mess with her as much as possible.

  And to have her sweet pussy wrapped around my cock at least one more time.

  Because as much as I wanted to pretend otherwise, I was addicted.

  13

  CLAIRE

  I was lying in my bed scrolling through my Facebook feed, waiting for my hair to dry, when I heard a knock at my door.

  I assumed it would be my father. After my conversation with Nate earlier that day, I figured things were through between us, which was fine by me. It may have been true that I couldn’t stop thinking about his tall, ripped body, or the way he tongued my clit until I came over and
over, but he was too much of an asshole, too cocky.

  I was beginning to understand why my dad kept bringing around those rich guys all the time. At least they had manners. Maybe they were boring and stuck up and douchey, but at least they didn’t say the dirtiest things they could think of to me whenever they felt like it.

  At least they didn’t make me soaking wet every time they were around.

  Nate was a brainless Neanderthal. He was an ape. True, he was an ape with an incredible cock and a strength I’d never seen before, but still an ape. He was never going to change.

  “Come in,” I called out.

  The door opened slowly and there he was, my asshole stepbrother.

  “Hey, Claire,” he said, grinning at me.

  “What do you want? I figured we were done talking.”

  “I don’t know,” he said, coming inside and closing the door behind him, “I think I had some interesting things to say.”

  I tossed my phone away and sat up. “The only thing I kept hearing was how much of an asshole you are.”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “Please, little sis. You know you love it when I tell you how bad I want you to slide down my thick cock.”

  “No, thanks. And don’t call me ‘little sis.’ That’s gross.”

  He crossed his arms. “What would you prefer? Princess?”

  “My name is fine.”

  “Okay, princess it is.”

  “What do you want, Nate?”

  “I have some good news for you.” He walked over and sat down on the bed. I reluctantly made room for him, though I couldn’t help but remember the last time we were in that bed together, our arms wrapped around each other, our naked bodies pressed together.

  “I’m not sure I want to hear it.”

  “Trust me, you do.”

  I sighed, not in the mood to go back and forth for another twenty minutes. “Okay, spit it out.”

  “I told your father about what happened to us on the boat.”

  I raised an eyebrow, surprised. “I thought you said we couldn’t tell anyone?”

  “I changed my mind. Plus, I told him I scared the guys off with a gun.”

  “So you lied to him.”

  “I left out some incriminating details.”

  “Well, what did he say?”

  “Came to the same conclusion I did, actually.”

  “Which is?”

  “I’m pretty sure your family is in danger.” I listened carefully as he told me about the Broken Hearts and how he found it all out. It shocked me that he had gone through all that without saying anything about it, and my heart began to beat fast in my chest.

  Who was this man, and how far was he willing to go for me? Just when I was ready to give up on him, he decided to go and do something like that.

  “So what does this mean?” I asked him once he finished.

  “It means some local outfit likely wants to get at your father.”

  “And that means I’m in danger?”

  “Damn right it does. I’m betting the whole goal of that little pirate bullshit was to kidnap you.”

  I blinked, letting that sink in. I had a hard time actually believing that anyone would want to kidnap me, let alone over some stupid business deal. Then again, if I knew my father, there was probably a lot of money riding on the deal. “Okay, fine. I believe you. What do we do?”

  His face lit up. “That’s exactly what I wanted to tell you about. Your father gave me a job.”

  “Another one?”

  “This one is special. I need to be very gentle on this job. The cargo is precious and beautiful.”

  I had a bad feeling in my stomach. His face looked much, much too happy for this to be anything other than awful for me.

  “What’s the job, Nate?”

  “I’m your new bodyguard, little sis.”

  I looked at him for a second and then burst out laughing. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No joke. I’ll be watching you twenty-four seven.”

  I shook my head. “Come on. I’m sure my dad would hire someone else. And I’m sure you have better things to do than sit around watching me text all day.”

  “He offered me a lot of money, and I love watching you all day.”

  I moved away from him, shaking my head. He had to be joking. There was no way my dad would stick me with a bodyguard like Nate. There was just no way I’d have to go the rest of the summer with him following me around, my asshole stepbrother, the guy that took my virginity and didn’t seem to give a shit about it. It was an absolute nightmare.

  I got out of bed and walked toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  I ignored him and left, heading downstairs. “Dad?” I called out.

  “In here.” I went into the kitchen and found him sitting at the island with Lucille, eating dinner.

  “Dad, what’s this about Nate being my bodyguard?”

  Lucille’s eyebrows shot up, clearly surprised, and he gave me an annoyed look.

  “It’s exactly what you just said. Nate had some difficult news, and, well, I thought it best if he watched over you.”

  “I’m not a child, father. I don’t need him to babysit me.”

  I could sense Nate appear behind me. I could almost feel his enormous grin, clearly enjoying the show.

  Lucille, meanwhile, looked confused as anything. “Jonathan, what’s she talking about?”

  Dad made a noise, part grunt and part curse. “It’s nothing, honey. Just family business.”

  Bad move on his part.

  “Am I not family now?” she said, matching his level of annoyance. “What’s going on?”

  He paused for a second, clearly at a crossroads. I felt a bit bad because he definitely hadn’t told her yet, but that wasn’t my problem.

  “We have a little security issue,” he said finally.

  “Yeah, like crazy local gangs trying to kidnap me,” I snapped at him. “Hire someone else. I am not having my stepbrother follow me around all summer.”

  “Crazy local gangs? Kidnapping?” Lucille looked even more confused.

  “Claire, honey, please calm down.”

  “Absolutely not. I will not stand for this, for this, for this utter bullshit!”

  My dad’s face was total surprise. I could hear Nate behind me laughing, but I didn’t care. I’d never cursed in front of my father before, but I was just too angry to hold back. The room was silent except for Nate cracking up.

  Finally, Lucille spoke. “Jonathan, you better tell me what’s happening.”

  He looked away from me and stared at her. “Like I said, a security threat. I will give you all the details as soon as we’re done here.”

  “Am I in danger?”

  “Typical Lucille, only worried about herself,” I heard Nate call out from behind me.

  Everyone ignored him.

  “You’re fine, dear. I promise you.”

  “Dad, I’m not done. I’m not having him as a bodyguard.”

  He turned on me, clearly angry. “Listen to me, young lady, do not ever speak to me that way again.”

  “I’m an adult now, unless you forgot, and I’ll call things bullshit when they’re actually bullshit.”

  “You’re behaving like . . . like . . . like an uneducated simpleton!” he said, clearly at a loss for words.

  Nate laughed even harder at that.

  “No, Dad, you’re being a controlling ass.”

  I had no clue where all of this was coming from, but I was too angry to care. I’d been living with him controlling everything I did for far too long, and it was suddenly spilling out of me.

  He looked enraged. “You listen to me,” he said softly. “Nathan is your bodyguard whether you like it or not. And furthermore,” he said, cutting my protests off, “you will not talk to me in that manner again unless you want to finish paying for your schooling yourself.”

  I stared at him for a long minute, the kitchen completely silent.
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br />   “You’re threatening me?” I said finally.

  “Only because you’re acting like a child, Claire. Now, please, don’t embarrass me or yourself further.”

  I gaped at him. He’d been serious and controlling in the past, but never like this. He’d never threatened me before.

  “Yes, father,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “Now that your daughter is finished with her tantrum,” Lucille said acidly, “what’s going on?”

  I stared at Lucille for a second, venom dripping from my gaze, before turning around and storming out. I pushed past Nate, who just grunted at me, and headed out the front door.

  I couldn’t believe my father would stoop to threatening me. In the past, he’d been stern with me but always fair. He would give me his reasons for what he wanted me to do and I would almost always listen. Sometimes I’d argue, but he’d never imposed his will completely on me if I really didn’t want to do something. True, that was pretty rare, but still.

  Ever since Lucille showed up, Dad had been incredibly stressed out. I’d never seen him so stressed. And suddenly he’s threatening me to get me to bend to his will, and doing it right in front of Nate and Lucille.

  It was embarrassing and demeaning. I was so angry I could barely control myself. I wanted to lash out, but I knew that was childish and useless.

  And besides, I knew my dad was only trying to keep me safe. I was sure he had his reasons for not contacting the police or hiring a different bodyguard for me, but he should have at least been more willing to take my feelings into account before simply telling me that I was either going to listen or I was going to be punished.

  Before I knew where I was going, I felt the sand beneath my feet. The sun was dipping down below the horizon, throwing colors across the few scattered clouds. I took a deep breath of the salty ocean air, loving the smell of brine and sand and more as it rushed into my lungs.

  For as long as I could remember, I’d loved coming to the beach. My dad had been successful for a long time, and so we’d always had a beach house. Our current house was actually number three, as Dad kept upgrading every time he landed a big deal. But the ocean was a constant in my life, and it almost seemed to make everything feel okay.