Steel Princess (Royal Elite 2)

He shrugs. “Not yet, but I found an opening to snatch the position. Anyway, I understand how it feels to have parents expect a lot from you.”

If only it were about that.

Aunt and Uncle’s expectations are Cambridge, and I’m already sold on that. But this is bigger and more dangerous.

How am I supposed to deal with secrets from the past?

On our way outside, I catch sight of the middle-aged man sitting at a back table.

He’s the same man who usually sits upstairs.

It’s a weird, out-of-body experience to see him change the setting. He was a part of the decor upstairs when Aiden and I are together.

That makes me miss Aiden.

Damn him.

He couldn’t be there for me when I need him the most.

Knox has to go pick up his father, but he offers to drop me off first. I decline and take a taxi. I already burdened him enough for the night.

The traffic is suffocating, it takes me about an hour to get home. I’m physically and mentally exhausted as I punch in the code and go inside.

I stand in the darkness of the entrance, arms falling on either side of me.

Tears fill my eyes and I fight the need to collapse in the entryway.

It’s absolutely terrifying to stand here at the place I’ve called home for the past ten years and feel like a stranger.

Like I don’t belong.

The walls. The darkness. All of it seems wrong.

I’m not supposed to be here.

My home is in Birmingham.

I close my eyes at the random thought. I have nothing in Birmingham and certainly no one.

London is my home. This is my home.

So what if Aunt abandoned us? She came back for me and raised me like her own daughter. She once told me that she and Uncle Jaxon decided early on in their relationship to not have children because their life goals would clash with the care they need to provide for a child.

But after they got me, they decided that I’m the only child they would ever have.

They sacrificed a lot for me by taking loans out for my heart surgery. I can’t be an ungrateful brat just because of what I heard earlier.

Even if it still hurts to know that Aunt abandoned her sister and only sibling once upon a time.

I guess I’ll have to wait until she tells me the reasons herself.

I hit the light switch and hang my coat.

My feet stop of their own volition at the lounge’s area entryway. I gasp, the bag falling from my hand to the floor with a thud.

Aiden sits in the chair opposite the entrance. His elbows rest on his thighs and his fingers interlace under his chin.

His metallic eyes appear glassed over as he watches me with a chilling, haunting interest.