Brutal Heir (Court University 1)

And here I thought he actually found something. God, fuck.

I slammed a hand against one of the building’s walls, calming the hell do

wn.

“Jesus, kid. I thought you’d found something,” I said, releasing a breath. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Well, I might have reason, but like I said, this is all you. You should be the one to look at everything.”

He wanted to respect me, my privacy, and suddenly, I felt like a fool again. I had him look into all this, all this shit obviously paranoia. I scrubbed my hand through my hair. “You know, what? Forget about it?”

“Forget about it?”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see. “It was me being paranoid. Like I said, Greer was saying shit, and it got to me.”

I’d told him everything, of course, since he’d asked why I needed what I’d asked. He’d looked into it right away after that, but I knew he would have regardless. Royal Prinze was ride or die, our other close friends LJ and Jax the same. We’d do anything for each other, completely brothers without the blood.

“But what if she had something there?” he asked. “What if she’s right?”

That meant more than just her being right. It meant foul play, and how could anything be foul under my grandpa’s watch? He’d hired the best doctors. He’d cared for my mom after all these years and put her in that fancy nursing home with the best doctors money could buy. He had some flown out from other countries just to care for her. A strike against the doctors who helped my mom was one against my grandpa, and that just wasn’t something I could accept. There was no way something like that could get past him.

There was just no way.

I moved my jaw, no words, and Royal breathed through the phone.

“You know what?” he asked. “I’ll just hold onto everything. No rush, you know?”

He knew exactly what he needed to do without asking, my fingers gripping into my hair. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

“Of course. Love you, guy.”

How funny, as he’d never say that shit before December came into his life. He’d opened up a lot. “Same, bro. Take care.”

“Take care.”

In the car, Grandfather went over the events while I’d been away, talked about the discussions he’d had and even the celebrities who’d approached him at the event. Everyone wanted a piece of him, trying to get close to that power, and I was in awe of him every day. He influenced many people, moved a lot of mountains, and that was definitely a lot to live up to. His window eased down as he lit a cigar, a celebratory one he’d said he received from the governor. “The governor’s invited us for dinner this weekend at his home with his wife. I was thinking as long as you’re not too busy with your studies?”

Always accommodating me first, I smiled, telling him that was fine, and my phone buzzed as he took a call. Another one of his adoring fans no doubt, and as he took that, I gazed at my device.

Royal: Sorry, buddy. I took a look at the email. Couldn’t help it. Thought you wouldn’t mind? Felt like you might have needed that.

Actually feeling I kind of did, I sat up. I started to text him back, but his text message bubble returned.

Royal: Anyway, I’m glad did. I’m sending you this file over—ASAP and buddy, you seriously need to look at it and get your legal team involved. Your mom’s coma is medically induced. She came out of her actual coma only eight days after her accident. It says so in the file.

What the fuck?

Royal: Doctors put her right back under. No explanation.

But there had to be one, right? I mean, there had to be a reason a doctor would put a patient back under after a traumatic event…

Right?

A slow panic enveloped me, another text from Royal coming in.

Royal: Anyway, call me after you look at it. This is seriously fucked. Someone might be purposely hurting your mom, bro.

My hand gripped my phone, about to shatter the thing into fucking pieces, and it took me a second to realize my grandpa called my name, and by then, I was shaking.