Broken Prince: A Novel (The Royals Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

her mom. Maybe if Brooke had been around more before, Ella wouldn’t have left.”
    My father frowns at me. “I thought you hated Brooke.”
    “How many times do you want me to say I’m a dumbass?” I stretch a painful smile across my face.
    He remains unconvinced. “She wants a ring and I’m not ready for that.”
    Thank God. I guess the booze hasn’t erased all his good judgment.
    “You don’t have to marry her. Just…” I lick my lips. This is effing hard, but I press on because I made this deal. I can’t have Brooke telling people that demon spawn is mine. “Just know it’s cool if you bring her back. I get it. We need people to care about. Who care about us.”
    That much is true, at least. Ella’s love made me believe that I could be a better person.
    “That’s generous of you,” Dad says dryly. “And hell, maybe you’re right.” He fingers the full glass. “We’ll find her, Reed.”
    “I hope so.”
    He gives me a tight smile and I back out of the room. As the door is closing, I hear him pick up the phone and say, “Brooke, it’s Callum. Got a minute?”
    I quickly send her a text.
    It’s done. Don’t tell him about the baby. It’ll just distract him.
    She sends me back a thumbs-up emoji. The thin metal casing bites into my fingers as I clench my phone, fighting back the urge to throw it at the wall.

4
    “ R eed .” Valerie Carrington catches up to me on the back lawn, her chin-length hair blowing around in the crisp October wind. “Wait.”
    I reluctantly stop, turning to find a pair of dark eyes blazing up at me. Val is pixie-sized, but she’s a commanding force. We could use someone with her bulldozer approach on our O-line.
    “I’m late for practice,” I mutter.
    “I don’t care.” She crosses her arms. “You need to stop playing games with me. If you don’t tell me what’s going on with Ella, I swear to God I’m calling the police.”
    It’s been two days since Ella took off and we still have no word from the PI. Dad’s been forcing us to go to school as if everything is normal. He told the headmaster that Ella is home sick, which is the same thing I tell Val now. “She’s home sick.”
    “Bull. Shit .”
    “She is.”
    “Then why can’t I see her? Why isn’t she texting or returning my calls? It’s not like she has cholera! It’s the flu —there’s a shot for that. And she should still be able to see her friends.”
    “Callum pretty much has her quarantined,” I lie.
    “I don’t believe you,” she says bluntly. “I think something’s wrong, like seriously wrong, and if you don’t tell me what it is, I’m going to kick you in the balls, Reed Royal.”
    “She’s home sick,” I repeat. “She’s got the flu.”
    Valerie’s jaw opens. Then closes. Then opens again to release an aggravated shriek. “You’re such a liar.”
    She follows up on her threat, lunging forward to knee me in the balls.
    Agonizing pain shoots through me. “Son of a bitch .” My eyes water as I cup my junk.
    Valerie stalks off without another word.
    A loud hoot sounds from behind me. Still gripping my aching nuts, I groan as Wade Carlisle sidles up to me.
    “What’d you do to deserve that?” he asks with a grin. “Turn her down?”
    “Something like that.”
    He runs a hand through his messy blond hair. “You gonna be able to spot me, or should we go find some ice first?”
    “I can spot you, asshole.”
    We head for the gym—I hobble and Wade cackles like an old lady. The gym is reserved for the football team between three and six, which gives me three hours to work out until my body and mind completely shut down. And that’s exactly what I do. I lift until my arms ache, pushing myself into a state of pure exhaustion.
    Later that night, I go into Ella’s room and lie on her bed. The scent of her skin grows fainter every time I enter. I know that’s my fault, too. East popped his head in last night and said the room stunk of me.
    The house stinks, all right.