I squinted my eyes. “And I’m only trying to tell you that if you don’t remove your hand, you will be dead before you could be a match for anyone.”
“Hot.” He smirked, seeming to think I was enjoying this. “This is a fun little game.”
“Let. Me. Go.”
He loosened his hand, but I could still see the wild excitement in his eyes. “This was fun. Let’s do it again soon.”
I went for the stairs, praying he wouldn’t chase me. From this second forward, there would be cameras on every. Single. Date.
When I made my way breathlessly to the first floor, I found a pair of officers and ran straight to them.
“Your Highness,” the first gasped as I fell into his arms.
“Get him out of here!” I insisted, pointing toward the stairs. “Jack! Get him out of my house!”
The guards let me go, sprinting to capture him, and I cowered on the floor, petrified.
“Eadlyn?”
Just behind me, Ahren was approaching. I let out a cry and bolted into his embrace.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“It was Jack,” I stammered. “He grabbed my arm. He touched me.” I shook my head, trying to understand how it escalated so quickly, only then seeing it hadn’t been fast at all.
He was often watching me, never approaching, quietly biding his time. Even tonight his moves were slow, watching my rising frustration with a reserved thrill of energy, enjoying the building tension until the moment of release.
“He kept saying strange things, and the way he looked at me . . . Ahren, I’ve never been so scared.”
We both turned at the uproar coming up the stairs. The two guards were wrestling with Jack, getting him up to the landing. Once his eyes fell on me, he began snarling.
“You liked it!” he insisted. “You were coming on to me!”
Grabbing my hand, Ahren pulled me over to Jack, though my instinct was to run in the other direction. He planted me right in front of Jack’s face.
“Knock his lights out, Eadlyn,” Ahren commanded. I stared up at him, thinking it was a joke. But the rage in his eyes told me otherwise.
I was tempted. I couldn’t retaliate when people called me names or criticized my clothes. I couldn’t go back to the parade and tell all those people how foolishly they’d acted. But here, for once, I could take revenge on someone who’d truly wronged me.
I might have done it if it wasn’t for Jack’s wicked grin, like he hoped I would, like he’d dream about the touch later. Sex and violence were connected in his head, and to give him one was close to giving the other.
“I can’t,” I whispered.
Jack gave a fake pout. “You sure, sweetie? I wouldn’t mi—”
I’d never seen Ahren throw a punch before. It was almost as shocking as Jack’s limp body after my brother’s fist forced his head to whip back at an awkward angle.
Ahren grunted, holding his hand. “That hurts! Ow, that really hurts!”
“Let’s get you to the hospital wing,” I urged, pointing Ahren down the hall.
“Your Highness, should we take him with you?”
I looked at Jack’s limp form, noting the rise and fall of his chest.
“No. Get him on a plane, conscious or not.”
I piled into Ahren’s bed with him on one side and Kaden on the other. Ahren was flexing his wrapped fingers, which were badly bruised.
“Does it hurt?” Kaden asked, seeming more excited than worried.
“A little, but I’d do it all over again in a second.”
I smiled up at my twin, so grateful for him.
“If I had been there,” Kaden started, “I’d have challenged him to a duel.”
I giggled as Ahren reached across me to ruffle his hair. “Sorry, buddy, it all happened too quickly for me to think of that.”
Kaden shook his head. “All those years of sword-fighting lessons for nothing.”
“You were always better than me anyway,” Ahren said as Osten came in without knocking, a phone to his ear.
“If you had only practiced more!” Kaden chastised.
Osten landed on the bed chatting into the phone. “Yeah, yeah. Okay, hold on.” He turned the receiver away and looked to me. “Eady, where was that Jack guy from anyway?”
I tried to remember his form. “Paloma, I think.”
Kaden nodded. “It was Paloma.”
“Awesome.” Osten spoke into the phone again. “Did you hear that? I’ll be in touch.”
He hung up and slid the phone into his pocket as we all stared at him.
I laughed. “I’d usually try to stop whatever you’re doing, but I’m not even going to ask.”
“I think that’s for the best.”
I looked around at all my brothers, so caring and smart and puckish. So many times I’d hated them for not being older than me, for forcing me into a role I never wanted. Tonight, maybe for the first time, I loved them for exactly who they were. Kaden was distracting, Ahren had defended me, and Osten . . . well, he’d help in his own way.
Osten had left the door open, and Mom and Dad walked in to find all their children together.
Mom seemed happy to see her family safe, but Dad was shaken.
He put one hand on his hip and gestured with the other. “Everyone okay?”
“Slightly spooked,” I admitted.
“And a little bruised,” Ahren added.
Dad swallowed, taking us all in. “Eadlyn, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how he slipped through the cracks. I thought the applications were vetted, and I had no idea . . .”
He stopped, looking as though he was close to tears.
“I’m all right, Daddy.”
He nodded but didn’t speak.
Mom stepped forward, taking over. “We’d like to put some guidelines in place. Perhaps have a guard nearby on any dates from here on out, or have all dates in a public area.”
“That or have photographers. I think that would help, too.” I cursed myself again for not remembering earlier.
“Excellent idea, sweetie. We want to keep this safe.”
“Which reminds me,” Dad said, under control again. “How do you want to proceed with Jack? Should we cover this up? Press formal charges? Personally, I’d like to tear him limb from limb, but that’s really up to you.”
I smiled. “No charges, but let’s not cover it up. Let everyone know exactly what kind of man he is. That will be punishment enough.”