Royal Bastard

by Nana Malone

  “Oh my God, you’re a pig.”

  I shrugged. “Well yeah, kind of. I could have told you that. But I’m a nice pig. Remember, I’m helping you get a job.”

  “I’m grateful, but I’m going to change now.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, probably a good idea.”

  She just scampered off. I told myself not to stare at her ass and picture the first time I met her. But apparently, my eyes were still not taking commands from my brain, because my gaze was glued to her ass with the added booster of still seeing her nipples in my head. Yeah, that little don’t-touch-your-new-roommate bet with Roone and Marcus was going down in flames. I was so screwed.

  14

  Lucas

  “You don’t have to say it. I know this is a bad idea.” I was pacing my new office when Matthias Weller walked in through the adjoining office. He wasn’t even fazed when I asked if we could speak privately. Marcus and Roone had kept Bryna out of their weekly reports back to Sebastian, but me meeting with Blake Security would have raised a lot of questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

  The Blake Security resident tech-master shrugged and watched me with shrewd eyes. “What’s the big secret, mate?”

  I had met him once before. He was mostly quiet, and there was something about him that made my hair stand on end, but he seemed like a decent dude. He and the rest of the Blake Security team had been at Sebastian’s wedding. At that time, his attention had been focused on his date, a pretty red head I’d eventually realized was also connected with Blake Security.

  “Sorry, but this requires discretion.”

  He gave me a brisk nod and then rolled his shoulders. “What do you need?”

  Wow, that was easy. Just like that, and what do you need? No questions, no recriminations, just a what-do-you-need, and a how-the-hell-do-I-get-it-done. I couldn’t lie. Having Blake Security on royal retainer was pretty flipping awesome. I just hoped I could get the information without Sebastian being alerted right away. What I was asking for wasn’t a security risk or issue, so it shouldn’t raise any kind of alerts… I hoped. “I just need you to look into someone for me. Adele Joninski.”

  He nodded, but his brows furrowed for a moment. “Anything in particular I need to look for?”

  “No. Just the usual warrants, any trouble she might be in. And also Tony Rush.”

  It felt like a betrayal, giving him my mother’s name. But I had to know, because if Tony was here in New York, that probably meant she was too, which also meant they were likely in real trouble. And if they were coming to me, trying to pull me back in with them, it meant big trouble.

  I made it clear when I left last time that I was getting out. I’d also made it clear that she should join me. I’d begged, but I’d been left standing at the airport with a spare ticket in my hand, and she never showed. She’d chosen him. So, she was on her own.

  Sure, she is. That’s why you’re standing here with a renowned hacker, trying to see how much trouble she’s in. Okay, so my relationship with my mother was complicated.

  You can’t want for someone what they don’t want for themselves.

  Matthias checked his phone, tapped something, and then gave me a nod. “Anything else?”

  I frowned. “Ah, no, that’s it.” But I had to ask. I had to know. “So, I just ask you to do shit, and you do it?”

  Matthias’s lips tipped in a smirk. “Basically. As long as it’s not illegal, and even then, that’s a gray area. Anything you need done? We work for the crown, so if you need it, we’ll do it.”

  “Where were you two years ago? I could have used you then.”

  His gaze clouded over then. “We’re here now. Anything else?”

  I shook my head. “If you can just give me that information, that’ll be good.”

  He opened his mouth and then shut it again, seeming to hesitate. And then he shrugged and decided to go ahead and speak. “None of my business mate, but from the cloak and dagger, it looks like you’re trying to unearth some shit.”

  “I guess you know my history.”

  He nodded. “Of course. I probably know more about you than you think is even possible.”

  Yeah, that did not give me the warm fuzzies. “I’m just checking on my Mom. She never made good choices, so I’m just trying to look out for her.”

  He gave me a nod. “Piece of free advice; You can’t save everyone. Some people don’t want to be saved.”

  The problem was I knew that. I knew it well. But she was still my mother, so down the rabbit hole I went.

  Lucas

  After my meeting with Weller, I went to class and tried to ignore Bryna. Everything was fine. I was managing. Not that my new roommate wasn’t hot or that I couldn’t seem to get her and her tight ass out of my head. Nope, not a problem at all. As a matter of fact, everything was fine.

  One row down, Marcus glanced back at me and winked.

  Turd.

  Next to me, Bryna took her notes, her glasses sitting perched on the end of her nose. I resisted the urge to reach over and push them up her nose for her because that was too familiar. Too close. Don’t forget creepy.

  And leaning closer would not help at all with the whole scent thing. Everything about her reminded me of the islands. Her hair smelled like lemon and gardenias with just a hint of hibiscus mixed in. Technically, I wasn’t even from the islands, but all of those scents called to me as if they were beckoning me home.

  Every time she got close enough for a whiff, I swear to God, my brain shorted out. It was torture. But, there was no way I was telling that to Roone and Marcus.

  They didn’t think I could do this. And honestly, they might be right. But I had to try, because the guy I’d been before would have been all I’m gonna do what I want and fuck the consequences, and I was not that guy anymore. I couldn’t afford to be, honestly. So I clenched my hands around the edge of the desk and prayed for sanity, because how hard could that be? It wasn’t like she was deliberately torturing me to death.

  Can you be so sure about that?

  Okay, for the most part, she had seemed completely disinterested. Either that, or she was straight up diabolical.

  Either way, you can’t touch her. And I wasn’t going to. I could keep my word.

  After the professor reminded us that we needed to each present our own draft outlines and highlight what portions we focused on for our project, she stood.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guy that had been sniffing around her the other day, hovering on the edges. I’d watched when he’d walked up to her that first day, but she’d been so out of it she’d barely noticed him.

  What was his name again? Jase, Jason, something like that.

  As soon as the people in front of us filed out and she started to scoot, Jase blocked her path. “Bryna, hey.”

  She craned her head up to blink at him and then inexplicably turned to me.

  I gave her my best I don’t know what the fuck he wants with you look. I shifted on my feet uncomfortably. I didn’t want to watch this. It was going to be a shit show.

  “Hi, James?”

  I cringed for the guy. Harsh.

  Granted, outwardly I just smirked because I was an asshole.

  “Jase, actually. Um, I was thinking, you know, maybe we should grab a coffee. I thought maybe we could run through project ideas. I read some of your work on International Marketing and the Effects of Other Cultures.”

  Bryna glanced back at me again. Her eyes were wide, and her brows were lifted. She looked like a deer in the headlights. What was wrong with her? I kept waiting for her to tell him off, like she’d done to me, but it never happened. What the hell?

  “Um, yeah, you know, sometime.”

  Poor Jase. His face fell, frown sliding into place as Bryna scooted around him and gave him a small wave.

  And then he was left to stare after her.

  I couldn’t help it. I chuckled. I’m not proud of laughing at another man’s heartbreak, but that shit was hilarious. He needed
to work on his game.

  He turned his gaze sharply on me. “Something funny?”

  I shrugged. “No. It would be easier if you had game though.”

  “I knew it. You want her.”

  I assessed him again. Was he a threat? “Bryna? Nope.” I lied smoothly. “But if I did, you know you wouldn’t stand a chance, right?”

  “Well, considering you’ve been sitting next to her for a couple of weeks and you still haven’t made that happen, you’ll forgive me if I’m not taking love advice from you, right?”

  “Hey man, whatever floats your boat. Bryna’s a handful. If you think you’re up for the challenge, hey, go ahead. Give it a go. It should be fun watching the show.”

  “Are you always a dick?”

  I gave him my trademark-Lucas smile. “Yup. Ask anyone. Good luck with that.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I don’t give up that easily. May the best man win?”

  I shook my head. “You don’t get it man. If I was interested, I’d have her by now.”

  Bullshit. Yeah okay, mini-bullshit, but he didn’t know that. Besides, he was giving off serious twat-vibes and I was not interested in any of that. But I couldn’t believe that Bryna was so dumbfounded and tongue-tied around him. It pissed me off.

  He had basically just made it my mission in life to keep him from going out with her.

  You still want to believe that you’re not interested?

  It was all about the little lies we told ourselves.

  15

  Bryna

  I think it was apparent to my trainer, Ellie, that I had never mixed a drink in my life.

  Ellie looked like she could be in a music video. She was the kind of girl that rock gods sang about, with her sexy curves.

  She had that pouty-lip look that made her a little too sexy to be a model, and she was drop dead gorgeous. There was something innocent about her wide green eyes, but there was also something inherently sexy about the way she laughed. I saw the tip jar getting filled up every single time she walked by the men and the women. She had an ease about her that people loved.

  So far, all I’d managed to do was mess up orders, break a few glasses, and oh yeah, spill drinks all over myself. I hadn’t gotten a single tip.

  Luckily, we were all paid a salary on top of whatever we got in tips. When I started, the manager told me that on good nights, once the tips were split, we could all easily walk away with two hundred bucks a night.

  If the tips were shared, I wanted to earn my keep and not be a strain on everyone else.

  Ellie bounded over. “Let me guess, you’ve never worked in a bar before?”

  I shook my head and wiped off the beer I’d spilled on my hand. “No. Is it that apparent?”

  She laughed and nodded. “Yes, absolutely. For starters, when you pour a pint, you’re letting in too much foam. Tilt the glass.”

  “Oh, is that what you do? Mine have all been foam.”

  “You’ll get the hang of it. It’s fine. And stop apologizing so much about not getting all the drinks right. You’ll get it. Besides, everyone can tell you’re a newbie.”

  I glanced down at my shirt. It said, ‘Be patient with me, I’m a noob.’

  I laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  She chuckled and then walked me through how to make a blow job drink.

  “Now if only you were giving lessons on real blow jobs.”

  Ellie cracked a laugh so hard, throaty, and low that every male head in the bar turned to stare at her. She completely ignored them though. “Oh my God, you’re hilarious.”

  “If only I was kidding.”

  Her jaw dropped open. “What? How does a pretty thing like you run around single and not giving blow jobs?”

  My face flamed. “Oh my God. Is that how it sounded?”

  Laughing, she nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly how it sounded.”

  I covered my face with my hands.

  “No, no, don’t cover your face. Pay attention to what I’m doing. You’re going to have to do this yourself, so flirt a little. There’s no rule that says we can’t date customers. And some of the guys that come in here are loaded. Not that you’d necessarily want to date a loaded guy. Sometimes they’re just selfish assholes. But sometimes you can get the best date experiences you’ll tell all your friends about later. I once got taken to the Hamptons. The guy was a douche though, and the Hamptons? Honestly, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. I’d rather stay in the city and go clubbing with my friends, you know?”

  I liked her. “Why did you go out with him then?” There was something refreshingly honest and direct about her.

  “Honestly, he was really nice when we met. And I thought he was being sweet when he was like, ‘Let me take you to the Hamptons.’ But I think he just wanted to show me off. The second we got there, he ditched me for his rich friends. And the girls, they weren’t particularly nice.” I shuddered. Her story sounded familiar. “Yeah, I know that type.” They’d been my friends most of my life.

  Slowly through the night, things got better. I finally started delivering the right drinks, and every time Ellie caught me concentrating too hard, she’d force me to smile. The moment I did, I got tips. Decent tips too. Eventually, I started to relax into it.

  I wasn’t going to start rocking it like I was Coyote Ugly all of a sudden, of course. It wasn’t that. Besides, no one would want to see me shake my ass, but I was getting better.

  Earlier that day, I had also opened a brand new bank account that was my own and couldn’t be accessed by my parents. So whatever money I made, would go into that. Then maybe I wouldn’t get robbed by my own family again. Bonus.

  As soon as our breaks hit and the two other bartenders, Marie and Alex, took over, we both hit the back room and moaned as we slid onto the bench to sit and rest for a few minutes. “Oh my God, my feet,” I complained. “I had no idea.”

  Ellie eyed my ballet flats. “Yeah, those are cute, but get yourself some nice slip-on tennis shoes, those will do you better. They’ll go with anything. With the skirts we wear, they’re perfect.” I massaged my heels and nodded my thanks. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out, frowning.

  * * *

  UNKNOWN NUMBER: Hey, it’s Jase. I hope you don’t mind I grabbed your number from the class roster. Earlier, I wasn’t that smooth. I was trying to ask you out on a date. No pressure, but I figured I probably should make myself clear.

  * * *

  I stared at the text. Oh, holy hell. Jase. He was cute, and I’d gotten his name wrong like an idiot. He was very cute.

  Not cute like Lucas.

  No, we are not doing Lucas.

  “What are you staring at?”

  I held up my phone. “I’ve got a date dilemma. A guy from one of my classes asked me out. I have no idea how to respond.”

  Ellie giggled. “Well, is he cute? Do you potentially want to bone him?”

  My face flamed. “I don’t know. I just… Ugh, I’m so bad at this kind of stuff. I mean, I’ve had boyfriends, but it’s always been kind of a setup situation.” I left out the part where my parents set me up, because life was humiliating enough.

  “Come on, just reply to him. Say yes. What’s the worst that could happen?”

  I frowned. “What do I say?”

  “Oh my God, just type back, ‘Yes, I’d love to. I have plans with a friend from work. Why don’t we all meet up?’”

  I frowned. “I don’t have plans.”

  Ellie laughed. “We do now.” She grinned. “Let’s double date. I have this guy I’m sort of seeing. It’ll be fun. We’ll go to one of those adventure things, you know, like when we were kids, play arcade games and all that stuff. That way he can win you a big plush teddy of some sort. And you can get to see how he is during competition, and under stress, under pressure. It’ll be fun.”

  “I think he wants to spend time alone with me, and I don’t know…”

  “Which is exactly why this is going to be great to see how wel
l he thinks on the fly.”

  It wasn’t a bad idea. And it took pressure off me to perform. “Actually, you know what? That sounds like a much better idea than me going out with him on like a high-pressure date or something.”

  “Text him back.” She leaned back.

  * * *

  BRYNA: Hey, sounds like a great idea. I have plans with a friend on Friday.

  I looked up at Ellie to confirm. She nodded her consent, and I continued.

  * * *

  BRYNA: We should all do something. Maybe at The Spot. Does that work?

  He replied right away.

  JASE : Yeah, sounds perfect. Do you want me to pick you up or meet you there?

  I turned the phone to Ellie so she could give me the appropriate response.

  “Have him meet us there. That way, you can determine if he’s a creeper. If he’s not, he gets to take you home. If he is, you and I will just get in the cab together.”

  I replied back, and suddenly, I felt more at ease. I had a new friend, which was helpful, considering I’d been feeling alone and adrift since I got here. And I had a new job. That was thanks to Lucas, so I did need to actually say thank you properly to him. I felt like was on even footing again, like everything was going to work out. And now, I even had a date.

  What are you going to tell Lucas?

  Not a damn thing, because I am not interested in him.

  Liar.

  16

  Lucas