Cheeky King

by Nana Malone

  Cheeky King

  Nana Malone

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  Thank You

  Complimentary Download

  Nana Malone Reading List

  About Nana Malone

  1

  Sebastian

  The king is dead. Long live the king.

  I swallowed the memory of the words murmured in sorrow and reverence. At least the last words to my father were ones of love as opposed to when I left here the last time.

  Just three days ago, coming home was supposed to be triumphant. It was supposed to mean I was claiming my freedom. But instead, coming home meant death and sadness. Because the man who had taught me to ride my bike, to shave, and how to cheat at poker was gone so suddenly and unexpectedly.

  And I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

  The pain wrapped around my heart, squeezing it, threatening to suffocate it, but still, it beat on, despite the fact that a part of me just wished for it to stop. I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to breathe. I didn’t want to do anything except talk to my father again. Considering how I’d left, the irony wasn’t lost on me.

  The ride back to the palace was a stream of familiar sights of the Winston Isles, like the shoreline, smells, like the ever-present hibiscus flowers, and sounds, like the distant drumbeats and calypso music. I was home, but not under the circumstances I’d hoped for and not with the expectation of freedom. I was home as the king.

  All my grand plans of just a few weeks ago were gone. There was a whole new plan, and it centered on me taking on a job I didn’t think I was ready for. A job I might never be ready for.

  What a difference three days made. I told my brain not to think it, not to even go there, but I couldn’t help it. The thought of Len was sharp and instant, and it implanted itself, burrowing inside my brain and my heart, refusing to dislodge itself.

  Fuck, I missed her.

  And she’s a liar. She’s been lying to you the whole time.

  I tried not to think about that morning or about the look on her face as she bowed before me, the pain, the sorrow, and the guilt playing in her wide hazel eyes.

  It had been a whirlwind since then. All I could remember were snippets of time: Royal Guards filling my apartment. Penny being dragged to hers. I’d only caught glimpses of her after that.

  And when my wild heart had insisted that I just needed to see her, just needed to verify I hadn’t been imagining everything, I wasn’t allowed to be alone with her. She was stilted, formal even. She’d treated me exactly how I’d been afraid she’d treat me. Like I wasn’t even a person … like I was a job.

  All I’d wanted to do was scream at everyone else in the room to get the fuck out so that I could think, breathe … so that I could shake her and ask her what the fuck had been going on. Then she’d been shuffled away, and I hadn’t seen her again.

  I shook my head and squared my shoulders as the driver pulled up to the palace gates and down to the garages. None of that mattered anymore. Len and I weren’t real. We had never been real. My father, in his infinite wisdom, had found me before I wanted him to, and he’d sent me just the person to make me want to come home.

  I didn’t know how I felt about that … about his interference.

  Normally, I would hate it. I would rail against it. I would pull back and fight it. But what was the point now? He was gone. The man I had always wanted to become was dead.

  The driver was under instruction to take me around the side entrance, and he dropped me off in front of my mother’s office. When he came around to the door, he opened it and bowed slightly as he murmured, “Your Majesty.”

  His softly spoken words were jarring. Up until the last few days, I’d been referred to as variations of ‘Your Royal Highness’ or ‘Crown Prince.’ I murmured a thank you and then charged up the stairs to the French doors that led into my mother’s private quarters. When I knocked, she pushed herself up from the couch. Her face was tear free, but her eyes were swollen and red, and it was obvious she’d been crying recently.

  Her voice was soft. “Sebastian, welcome home.”

  “Hardly a welcome, is it?” I strode to her and enveloped her in my arms. A part of me broke inside when she sobbed. When was the last time I’d given her a proper hug?

  When I was little, I hugged her all the time. It didn’t matter if she was eating or working; I would just stroll right up to her, push aside whatever she was doing, and climb onto her lap. She would cuddle me, and hold me tight, and tell me everything was going to be okay.

  Then somehow, somewhere along the line, I’d gotten too big for her cuddles. And then I hadn’t wanted my mother’s hugs. I hadn’t wanted my father’s, either. Jesus Christ, had I always been selfish?

  She held me tight, squeezing me and crying softly, and I held her. I don’t know how long we stood like that, embracing and comforting each other. I wished I could tell her how sorry I was. I wished I could tell her that I never meant to hurt her. I wished I could tell her that I would happily take his place. But none of those placating words would bring him back or ease her grief.

  She pulled back and used the back of her hand and her handkerchief to wipe away her tears. “I guess you are king now, Your Majesty. Or at least you will be after the coronation. Obviously, I’ll help with anything you need. If you want, I can assume some of your responsibilities until you think you’re ready.”

  I took her hands and squeezed them. “Mom, I’m ready. And you’re grieving too. I don’t want to add anything to your plate right now. I’ll get up to speed.”

  She blinked rapidly again. “I don’t know how this happened. One day he was here, and the next he just wasn’t. Ethan found him in his office on the floor and sent someone for me. I had been waiting for him for movie night.”

  My parents loved movie nights. They would watch all of the old classics, and the new ones. And surprise, surprise, it was my mother who preferred the action flicks. My father preferred comedies.

  “A heart attack? He was so fit. I don’t understand.” It made no sense.

  “He was, but he’s been under stress. And the vote—I don’t know what happened.”

  I nodded. “We don’t have to talk about it now. I want to go get cleaned up and get to work.”

  “Sebastian, you’ve just come home. Maybe you need to rest for a moment.”

  “I don’t have time to rest,” I told her quietly. “I’m king now, and Dad always said the king doesn’t get to rest.”

  Frown lines marred her beautiful forehead. “You know, you don’t have to be. Your father … He put in contingencies for you in case you didn't want to rule. You could step aside and allow your cousin Ashton—”

  I pinned her with a direct look. “I am my father’s son. I’ll do what needs to be done. And really, do you think I’d leave the responsibility for my people in the hands of
someone like Ashton?”

  Her lips twitched into a semblance of a smile. “Your father would be proud.”

  I left her in her quarters and closed the door behind myself. I was determined not to lose my shit until I was at least in the privacy of my own rooms. But it seemed I wasn’t going to be left alone. Not yet.

  “Welcome home, you twat wanker. You must have lost my phone number when you hightailed out of here months ago.”

  My gut twisted. Roone.

  Shit.

  I turned slowly. “Roone. All right, mate?”

  My best friend raised his brows. “You vanished without a word. You made me worry for too fucking long. Then your old man dies and you come home, and all you have to say is, ‘All right, mate?’”

  Hell, Roone had every right to be pissed off. When I walked away from my life, I’d walked away from my friends and everything that I knew. Including Roone. And considering the only reason he was in the Winston Isles was for me, it was a pretty shitty move on my part. “Look, I wasn’t thinking straight when I left. I was pissed off and I don’t know—” I sighed. “There are no excuses. But I’m back now.”

  Roone lifted a brow. “Do you think I’m pissed off that you left without saying goodbye?”

  I frowned. “Well, aren’t you?”

  My best friend just shook his head. “No. I know you wouldn’t have left unless you had some shit to deal with, and you did hit me up with a ‘Hey I’m safe’ message when you got where it was you were going. I just want to know why, when the shittiest thing in your life happened, you didn’t call me?”

  That sliced deep. “Well hell, honestly, I wasn’t sure I could or that I had the right to.”

  Roone stalked over. His gait always reminded me of a prowling cat. He always looked a little bit restless, like he was itching to pounce on something. When he clapped me on the shoulder, some of the tension I’d been carrying around for the last few days seemed to lift. “Look, you legitimately saved my life. So if you need to fuck off for sanity or whatever, that’s cool with me. But, like you said to me all those years ago, a friend doesn’t let you bear pain on your own. So just tell me what you fucking need and I’ll get it.”

  And that was Roone. No muss, no fuss.

  I shook my head. “Fuck, I don’t even know. All I know is I’m supposed to be running shit, and I have no idea how to do that.”

  “You’ll figure it out. In the meantime, I’ll get somebody to your room with some fresh clothes and food for you. You look like shit. You need to shave too.”

  I rubbed my jaw. When was the last time I’d shaved? Oh yeah, the night before my whole world came crashing down. “Yeah, I think I’ll need it. I need to start getting my shit together.”

  He studied me for a long moment. “Seriously, what the fuck is wrong besides, you know, the obvious?”

  I was determined to meet his gaze and show him that nothing else was wrong with me as I stared into his one blue eye and one green eye. The light had been playing tricks on me, making them both seem blue for a moment. Then both seemed green. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

  “Yeah, sure you are. Let’s get you set, and we can talk later. I’m sorry about the old man. I know you guys had your differences, but this fucking sucks.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  At least there was one good thing about coming home: I still had Roone.

  * * *

  Penny

  “You knew?”

  Those two little words, I played them in my head over and over again, unable to get them dislodged, unable to stop hearing them. Mostly, I was unable to stop hearing the anger and hurt inside those simple little words.

  You knew.

  I had known. I had started something with someone I knew I couldn’t have. And now that it hurt, the only person to be angry with was myself.

  Unlike Sebastian, I’d come home right away. From the moment my father had sent for me, I’d spent the last several days in a haze. There was so much to prepare for the funeral in terms of the queen’s safety and Sebastian’s, and I had been thrown right into the midst of everything. I hadn’t even done my debrief for the mission yet, if there was even one to give, considering it was King Cassius who’d hired me.

  One thing was different from before though: the way people looked at me. I had friends before, sure. I was always good for a laugh or to head down to the pubs and bars. But when it came to assignments, I could almost feel the relief from people when I wasn’t assigned to work with them. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but everyone was different somehow.

  It was like they knew I’d fucked up again. Had that little shit Robert said something? After he’d arrived at Sebastian’s, I’d run to put my clothes on. When I’d come out of the bathroom, the place had been flooded by the Royal Guard. Had they guessed what I was doing there? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but everyone was treating me differently.

  Well, that’s what happens when you bone royalty.

  I knew the moment Sebastian was home. The murmurings had started, and the queen’s office had been especially busy with requests for invitations and coordinating protocols for her guests. Late that afternoon, my father buzzed my desk and asked me to come and see him. By the time I reached his office and had been on the receiving end of several odd looks, I was convinced I knew why he wanted to see me.

  I hesitated on the threshold before I opened the door. What was I going to say? Should I lie? Robert had seen me in nothing but a white sheet with my hair tussled, and clearly he knew I’d had sex with the prince. Of all the things that happened that day, that had been the most humiliating. The incredulity on his face. The mocking annoyance. He’d been pissed. But not because he deemed me as his. It was more like he couldn’t believe it.

  But had he told my father? How much should I tell him?

  Would I ever see Sebastian again? That was the one question that I couldn’t ask, because now Sebastian was king. The king sure as hell didn’t get to mess about with commoners. That was his new life, and I would not be a part of it.

  And I had to accept that. The real question was what was my life supposed to be like now without him? My one moment to get it right, my one moment to pull something major off, and it was over. And also … I’d slept with him. So there was that.

  I knocked at the door and was answered by my father’s low, “Come in.”

  I let myself into the room I had been coming to since childhood. I used to especially love the ancient bookshelves behind his desk, but he had a lot of modern touches in there too. I could easily see my mom’s influence. “Dad, you wanted to see me?”

  “Yes, Penny, come in. Have a seat.”

  My heart hammered against my ribs. What would I tell him? With everything that was going on, I doubted it would be wise to lie. But how the hell was I supposed to tell my father that I’d been sleeping with the prince? Like I could just say, ‘Hey, remember that top secret mission you and the king sent me on? Well, I slept with the guy.’

  “I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to debrief you yet. We’ll do a more formal debrief with both you and Ariel on what you saw, who you met with, etcetera, but I do just want to talk to you alone for a little bit.”

  Oh shit. He knew. He had to know. What the hell do I say to him? ’Yeah, sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to fuck the prince.’ Would that fly? Because in all honesty, I really hadn’t meant to. It had all just spiraled out of control. “It’s fine, Dad. What do you need to know?”

  “Well, for starters, I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you.”

  I frowned. Did he just say proud? “Uh, okay?” He had clearly been replaced with a pod person.

  He continued. “What you had to face without much direction or support … I don’t know any Royal Guard who would have been able to manage it.”

  “Sure, Dad, but I had help. Between Blake Security and Ariel, I wasn’t on my own.”

  He nodded. “I know. But still, you thwarted two attempts on Sebastian’s life.” H
e frowned and then corrected himself. “I mean, His Majesty. That’s saying more than most of the Royal Guard could ever say.”

  Yeah, maybe I saved his life, but I also maybe put it in danger too. I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to be sleeping with him. “Well, thanks, Dad. But you know, everyone has been looking at me funny and treating me—I don’t know—different than before.”

  He nodded. “There are some people in the know. Obviously the guards that saw you in New York put two and two together.” Fuck me. “They know we sent you there. You know this place and the rumors. With the king gone, I declassified the part of the mission that was to find Sebastian and bring him home. The part about keeping him safe and any threat against him is still classified. But some of the guards are far more enterprising than I give them credit for, so I had a little meeting and told them about pieces and parts of the mission; specifically, what you and Ariel were able to prevent. They know you’re a hero.”

  No. Words. Probably a good thing I hadn’t spilled the beans about all the boning.

  “I guess you’re wondering why I’ve asked you here.”

  I cleared my throat. “Well, a little. I thought you were still angry with me after our last conversation.”

  “Honestly, I’d like for you to still keep an eye on Sebastian.” He cleared his throat. “About that …you were right. I was treating you differently than I would have treated your brother. It wasn’t fair. I just worried about you and clearly I had no need to.” He shuffled around some papers and coughed. Were his eyes shimmery? Or was that a trick of the light? Either way, he continued, “I’m glad you’re back. There is no one else I trust with a job like this at this point.”