Royal Elite Epilogue (Royal Elite 7)

Levi follows Astrid upstairs and I shake my head, pretending to focus on the chess game my cousin purposefully lost so he could piss off.

Cole settles opposite me and gives his baby girl the queen piece. She watches it with awe, almost like that first time Jonathan sat me beside him and taught me the art of chess. That’s actually one of the few calm father-son moments I remember with him.

Small hands pull on my trousers and I stare down at my nephew. “Where’s Mummy, Uncle?”

I grab Landon and sit him on my lap. “Making other babies.”

His blue-green eyes double in size. “Other babies?”

“Yeah.” I pat his back. “Hang in there, buddy. It’ll be wild.”

Cole shakes his head at me. “Stop terrorising the boy.”

I flip him off behind Landon’s back. Ava sees me, though, and although I think she doesn’t understand the gesture, she giggles. I wink at her and she laughs more.

Landon points a finger in her direction. “Other babies like her, Uncle?”

“Exactly.”

“I like Ava.” He grins.

“You don’t.” Eli appears by my other side and before I can help him, he climbs up on my other thigh. He’s older than Landon, and bigger, too, so he doesn’t even sit on anyone’s lap anymore. However, he becomes clingy when other children are around. I swear it’s Ronan’s loathsome influence. He’s teaching them all his clingy nature.

“Yes, I do.” Landon pokes a finger at him.

Eli pokes him back. “You do not. You said she was annoying.”

“You did, you liar.”

Eli twists his lips but remains silent, then pulls on my shirt. “Daddy.”

“What?” I lean over so he can whisper.

“Make him go away.”

“Lan?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like him here.”

I smile to myself, shaking my head. Eli’s passive-aggressive game is strong, even though he’s little. It might have something to do with the fact that he’s an only child.

He stopped asking for other siblings once I sat him down and told him that his mum can’t get pregnant again due to her heart condition. The doctor said we could try and see how it will go, but I’m completely against that idea.

It was already a miracle that we got Eli, and we’re not going to be greedy about it. Elsa asked me the other day if Eli’s enough for me.

He’s more than enough. He’s the only kid we’ll ever need. Even if he wasn’t enough, I would never risk her life for a non-existent one. Her health comes first and everything else is secondary.

She complains that I’m too strict and overbearing when it comes to her medical appointments and medicine, but that’s because the thought of something happening to her terrifies the fuck out of me.

I’ve had her for twelve years. We’ve been married for eleven, and sometimes, I wake up and think I’m back to the time where I thought I’d lost her in that basement.

Sometimes, I wake up with images of blood marring her chest and hair and her unmoving body in my brain.