Ruthless King

She froze, turning to find them all staring up at her.

Uh-oh.

That wasn’t intimidating at all.

Regent moved toward her, looking concerned. Great. She was making a complete mess of this.

“Um, I was just . . . I thought I would get . . . well, um, hi.” She waved lamely at them all.

Nico gave her a sympathetic look. Gracen and Thea smiled. While Aston waved back at her.

Regent held out his hand. “Jilly, come here.”

“Still don’t know how to say please, huh?” Liam said.

“Like you do.” Regent raised an eyebrow at the blond-haired man.

Liam simply grinned.

“Hello, Jilly,” Nico said, stepping forward and holding out his hand.

Regent brushed it aside before she could reach for it. “No touching.”

Nico sighed, shaking his head. “I’m engaged to your sister. And I can’t shake your girl’s hand?”

“No.”

“Jealous, isn’t he?” Liam murmured, stepping closer to her. “Good to see you, Jilly. Lottie has been nervous to meet you again. Put her at ease, yes?”

It was phrased as a question but sounded more like a command.

And Lottie was nervous? What did she have to be anxious about? But she nodded and managed to smile at Lottie. The other woman gave her a small smile back. However, there was something slightly reserved in her expression that made Jilly uneasy.

“Um, hi, Lottie. It’s nice to see you again,” she said.

“You too, Jilly.”

“Come on, darling. You need to sit down,” Regent told Lottie. “Let’s all go to the dining room.”

He reached for Jilly’s hand, tugging her along. She tried to hold herself back as they all sat at the table, but he shot her a firm look.

“Jilly, everything will be all right.”

Yeah, she wasn’t so sure.

Jilly followedthe cry of pain, racing to see that Ace was lying on the floor, wearing a helmet, knee pads, and wrist guards. A fancy looking hoverboard lay off to the side of him, its lights flashing.

Oh no.

She could guess what happened. They’d finished Sunday lunch and moved to the garden to enjoy a drink in the sunshine. But she’d needed a moment away from everyone. From Lottie’s curious looks and Regent’s concern. That’s when she noticed Ace was missing.

Which is why she was inside, checking on him.

Not because she was having trouble keeping up this pretense of being sophisticated and elegant.

Nope, not at all.

“Ace! Are you all right?”