Twisted Games: A Forbidden Royal Bodyguard Romance

“Five days in paradise,” I drawled. “Swimming, sunbathing, fucking—”
“Rhys.”
“What, you don’t like the itinerary?”
“Lower your voice,” she hissed, her face the color of the tomatoes on her plate. “People will hear.”
“No one’s listening.”

Jules sighed. “Tell your man he’s hot as hell but a total buzzkill.”

“He’s not my man. He’s my bodyguard.” I lowered my voice, but I thought I saw Rhys pause for a millisecond before he resumed polishing his knife.

“Even worse. He’s running your life and you’re not getting any dick from it.”

“Jules.”

I might’ve imagined it, but I thought I felt his thumb rub the soft skin of my wrist.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“It’s fine.” I was too distracted by what might or might not be happening to my wrist to come up with a better answer.

“It is simple.” Rhys spoke with such quiet confidence it resonated in my bones. “I made a mistake when I left, and I’m fixing it.”

I let out a soft laugh. “When have things ever been easy for us?”

“Her Majesty Queen Bridget of Eldorra,” the archbishop declared. “Long may she reign!”

Ava sighed. “Thanks. I just wanted to check. Sorry for bothering you, and congrats again!” She dragged Alex away, probably to look for her brother and Jules, even though Alex looked like he would rather eat nails.

When I turned back to Bridget, she was trying, and failing, to suppress a smile.

“What’s so funny?”

“You and Andreas. You bicker like Nik and I do.” Her smile widened at the incomprehension on my face. “You bicker like siblings.”

Siblings.

It didn’t hit me until that moment. I’d known Andreas was my brother, but he was my brother. A real, albeit annoying, one I saw regularly. We argued all the time, but maybe that was just what siblings did, like Bridget said.

It didn’t look like a royal gathering. It looked like a normal Wednesday night at home.

And as Bridget wrapped her arms around my waist and Andreas returned, grumbling about a delayed bachelor trip to Santorini, I finally identified the odd sensation gripping me.

It was the feeling of having a family

“I’m not the best at flowery language, so I’ll keep it simple.” Fuck, was my voice shaking? I hoped not. “I never believed in love. Never wanted it. I didn’t see the practical value and, to be honest, I was doing just fine without it. But then I met you. Your smile, your strength, your intelligence and compassion. Even your stubbornness and hardheadedness. You filled a part of my soul I always thought would be empty, and you healed scars I never knew existed. And I realized…it’s not that I didn’t believe in love before. It’s that I was saving it all for you.”