Reign of a King (Kingdom Duet 1)

“Or Aiden of the fact that Alicia died because of my dad.” Elsa lowers her eyes.

“Wait. Go back. Jonathan thinks my sister died because of Ethan?”

“Well, remember when I told you that Aiden was taken by my parents? Alicia died in a car accident on her way to go find him.”

Oh.

I didn’t know that.

This, however, explains the aggressiveness Jonathan doesn’t hesitate to display whenever Ethan is around, despite his generally emotionless façade.

“Can I ask you something, Aurora?” Astrid’s voice is low, hesitant.

“Sure.”

“Why…why are you with him?”

“Yes.” Elsa leans over. “He’s scary in a dictator kind of way.”

“And he doesn’t know how to feel,” Astrid adds.

“He dislikes everything that’s not his work.”

“And his legacy.”

“I get the chills every time he’s in the room.”

“I told Levi the other day that I age ten years every time we have a family dinner with him.”

“Oh my God. Me, too!”

My lips part at their exchange. Jonathan is sure as shit winning the most feared person of the year award.

Their attention falls back on me, eyes expectant, waiting for me to answer their question. They must’ve wondered this for some time now.

I could choose not to answer them, but I like them. Jonathan is an idiot to not appreciate having them to tame his offspring. So I go with the truth. “I don’t really have a choice but to be with him.”

“How do you cope?” Astrid asks.

“I’m not scared of him, I guess.”

“You’re not?” Elsa nearly yells.

“No, not really.” I mean, he does frighten me sometimes, but it’s not enough to erase everything else about him. Perhaps it’s the intimacy factor, or that I just know there’s more to Jonathan than he projects to the world.

His page isn’t half-written or blank. It’s simply encrypted, and no one has dared to crack the code due to the wires surrounding it.

“You’re the first person I’ve ever met who’s said that.” Astrid’s eyes fill with awe. “Well, Levi isn’t scared of him either, but he’s a King. He doesn’t count.”

“Aiden doesn’t count either,” Elsa agrees. “They have their own exclusive code of communication that no one else is privy to.”

My heart warms at the way Astrid and Elsa talk about their husbands. I can feel their love for them, and despite the other two’s aggressiveness — or passive-aggressiveness — towards me, I could sense how much they care about their wives’ wellbeing.

As Jonathan said, they didn’t really care about his opinion when they decided to pursue these women.

I’m glad they didn’t. It must’ve taken a lot to go against a harsh man as Jonathan but their efforts are so worth it.

Elsa, Astrid, and I talk about art since Astrid is studying drawing an