Steel Princess (Royal Elite 2)

If I could help it, I wouldn’t have drank, but it’s the only way to make the act believable.

I wave at the guys and leave, weaving through the bodies. Silver’s minions, Veronica and Summer laugh at my face as I pass them by.

“Ex whore,” Veronica snarls.

I flip her the middle finger and continue on my way. They won’t get to me. Not them and not their bitch queen.

But you’re doing all of this because she’s getting to you.

I shut that small voice up as the night’s fresh air hits me. The wind whips my ponytail in front of my face.

I inhale deeply and open the passenger door of Knox’s black Range before slipping inside.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I smile. “Thanks for being my ride. I had a bit of a drink and Kim doesn’t want to leave yet.”

“I’m happy to.” He shakes his head, suppressing a smile.

“What?”

He motions at my face.

I cradle my cheeks, massaging the skin. “There’s something on my face?”

Knox reaches over and plucks a hair from my mouth and tucks it behind my ear. “There.”

“Thanks.” My head hits the back of the seat as nausea threatens to take me over again. “Sorry. I’m not used to drinking.”

“You don’t have to apologise to me.” He weaves through the streets with an easy-grip on the steering wheel. “You know, you can call me even if you don’t need a ride. You’re not with King anymore, right?”

“I was never with him.”

I groan inwardly at the slight slur at the end of my speech.

Good job in being a mess, Elsa.

“That’s… smart.”

My attention snaps back to Knox. Was that a smirk in his words or am I imagining things?

It’s probably the alcohol.

The taste of nausea lingers at the back of my throat, threatening me with vomit.

It’s definitely the alcohol.

Knox and I talk about Cambridge. Like me, his father has great expectations for him.

The more Knox talks about his father, the more it reminds me of Aunt and Uncle.

“Thanks again,” I tell him as he stops in front of my house. “You keep showing up for me when I need you since we met.”

“I’m happy to be of service, my lady,” he says in a Shakespearian tone and even kisses the back of my hand.

I giggle as I stand in front of his car and fake a curtsy. “Night, good sir.”

It takes me two tries to tap in the code of our house.