Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 7) (25 page)

Just
in case you can’t remember,
you’ve always been a prince or a
princess.

Almost no one knows
about my mother. That she’s suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s
disease and thinks she’s a princess. The caregivers I’ve hired
for her over the years have all made sure to address her as a
princess, and her rooms are always decorated as such. I even bought
her a diamond tiara with one of my first Society paychecks. I told
Brayden about her one night when we together, but I never expected
this.

“Brayden.”

He’s immediately at
my side, pulling me into his arms. “I’m here, Cat, I’m here.
Come inside.”

I hold tight to his
hand as we enter the ballroom. There are men and women at the door,
handing out plastic crowns. I reach for one, but Brayden tells me
I’ll get my crown later. I look around as I walk in, and see all of
the elderly people, and those who appear to be their caretakers,
wearing their crowns. There are also local celebrities and heavy
hitters. They’re proudly wearing theirs, too. And then I see my
mother. She looks so happy as she sits with Noah and Steven at a
table in the front. She’s got her tiara on, and she’s wearing a
beautiful gown.

“You did this for
me.”

“I did.”

“Thank you.”

“This is only the
beginning, Cat. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

He leads me to our
table and I smile at the men as they stand. My mother remembers me
tonight, and she hugs me warmly. I hug Noah and Steven before taking
my seat as Brayden heads to the stage.

“Thank you everyone
for coming here tonight. For those of you who don’t know me, I am
King Brayden of Cyndryann. It’s a small country that most of you
have probably not heard of before, and honestly, I’m giving up the
throne in a week, so please just call me Brayden.

“A few of the people
in the room know that this is more than just a fundraiser for Lou
Ruvo Center. This is my grand gesture to show the woman I love how
much she means to me. She thinks I did that when I gave up my throne
for her, but tonight is where the real romance is happening. I have a
story to tell, one I had forgotten about until my uncle recently
reminded me of it. So, I’m going to take you back to the beginning.

“When I was five, my
father told me that we were going on a trip to America. He and my
uncle wanted to visit their best friend and his family. I was just
happy to be going somewhere new and exciting. When we got to his
friend’s house, I remember thinking it was small—I’d been
living in castle all my life, so most any house would’ve looked
small—and that I loved it. It felt like a home should feel. Full of
love and great food. There was a little girl who lived in that house,
and her name was Darcy.”

Oh my God. I remember.
I remember Brayden…and what happened next, too.

“She was really
pretty, and kind of obsessed with me being a prince. I had fun
playing with her. She climbed trees and played hide and seek. The
girls I usually had visit me at the castle would never do those
things. At the end of the week, she demanded that I marry her so she
could be a princess. How could I refuse? I mean, she climbed trees.
And she said she’s steal my crown if I didn’t give her one of her
own. I was a little in love with her by the time we had to leave.”

Everyone laughs,
including me. I totally threatened to steal his crown.

“My uncle has
graciously given me some pictures and videotapes from our wedding so
I can share them with you.”

He clicks a button, and
there we are. I have on one of my mom’s fancy lace shirts that I’m
wearing as a dress. It’s the same color blue as the dress I’m
wearing now, and it drags on the ground as my father walks me over to
Brayden and gives him my hand. Jen is there as my maid of honor,
Noah’s in my dad’s arms, and Steven is the best man. Brayden’s
dad performs the ceremony, and then, after a short kiss, I got my
crown. A crown made of cardboard, tin foil, and glitter that Brayden
spent a few hours making for me with my mom’s help.

“You’ll notice the
ring pop I gave her. Her only complaint was that it was only one
color. She wanted something prettier, but she said it was okay for
then. Ten years later, I had a glimpse of a girl who immediately
captivated me. I didn’t realize it was her. I also didn’t realize
it was her when we met again, yet another ten years later. And yet, I
fell in love with her all over again. I have a new crown for her,”
he says, reaching into the podium to pull out a new glitter covered
cardboard crown for me.

He walks to me, placing
the crown on my head as he drops to one knee in front of me. “And a
more colorful ring,” he says, pulling out one of those plastic
flashing rings like they have at raves or kids’ parties. It has a
graphic of a black cat wearing a gold crown. I immediately hold out
my hand for him. “I don’t even have to ask?”

“Nope. It’s a yes,
Crown. It’ll always be a yes.”

“I had a whole speech
about how we should get married again,” he grumbles as he slides
the ring on.

“Just kiss me.”

“That works, too.”

The crowd erupts as we
kiss. I want to kiss him forever, but we have a ball to host. We
visit every table and compliment every person on how royal they look.
The caregivers thank us, and I try but fail at holding back the tears
as we leave each table. Next thing you know, I’ll be crying at
Hallmark movies. What is the world coming to?

* * *

Brayden

The past week has been
what can only be described as Heaven. I’ve moved into Darcy’s
place, and I get to wake up to her every morning. Today, we are going
back to my country so I can officially pass on my crown to my uncle.
We’re on a Corrigan jet with all of her friends, although we’re
acting like we’re alone.

“We should head into
the bedroom. It’ll be the only chance I have to Mile High it with a
king.”

“Twenty years later,
and you still only want my crown.”

“No. I want the hot
body below the crown.”

“It’s going to be
pretty obvious if we just walk in there now.”

“Do you really care?”

“Not if you don’t.”

“I so don’t.”

He grabs my hand and
pulls me to my feet. I smirk at the amused looks on my friends’
faces as we walk to the bedroom. “At least someone’s getting
some,” Matt says, and I freeze, pulling Brayden to a stop in front
of me.

“You must never want
to get any,” Reina replies.

“Oh, were you going
to let me back into your bed, Princess?”

“It was a distinct
possibility, but you can just keep using your hand.”

“What if I’m tired
of using my fucking hand, huh? Maybe there’s a
real
princess who’d like some of what I’ve got.”

My head whips to Reina
as I hear at least one of my friends gasp. He wouldn’t. “Almost
everyone on this plane heard you vow to be faithful to me. I guess
now we all know how little your word means.” She’s shaking, and I
hate it. She’s so fierce with everything and everyone else, but
Matt has the ability to cut her down. Every damn time.

“Fuck, Rei. You
should’ve understood why my family had to come first, and I
should’ve found a way to support you, even if I had to stand with
my Gram. You have to know I wouldn’t ever cheat on you, though. I
couldn’t.”

“Can you please just
try to not have cheating on me be your go to threat? It’s getting a
little hard to take since you use it
every
time we fight.”

He looks stunned for a
moment, and then ashamed. “Yeah. You’re right. Shit. I don’t
even realize it half the time. I just don’t know what else I have
that you could possibly want.”

“You, Matt. For over
ten years, all I’ve wanted is you.”

He stands up and goes
to her, pulling her into his arms. “You’ve got me, Rei. I’m
yours, and only yours.”

Whew. Crisis
averted—for now. I’m still not sure he’ll stay with her;
although, I know with all my heart that he’ll never leave her for
another woman. She’s it for him. If he could only let himself truly
have her.

“Is the mood broken,
Cat?”

“Is the mood ever
broken with us, Crown?”

“Just checking.”

I follow him into the
bedroom, but we don’t make it to the bed right away. He pins me to
the door as he kisses and sucks at my neck. I told him my dress for
the ball has a high neck, so he’s free to mark me. He’s taking
full advantage of that privilege. I pull on his hair to let him know
I need that mouth of his back, and he happily complies.

In between kisses, we
lose our clothes, and then I’m wrapping my legs around him as he
enters me. It’s fast, rough, and dirty against the wall. And then
it’s sweet and slow on the bed. We drift off after round two, our
bodies entwined with each other.

I wake up to knocking
on the door. I know it’s Stella. “Hold on a sec.”

“Hurry up. I let you
sleep a little longer than I probably should have.”

I wake Brayden and make
him put his clothes back on before I let Stella in. Everyone else can
get ready at the castle, but Bray and I are re-creating my walk to
the palace for his coronation. We have to be dressed and ready when
we land, so we can meet his people and let them lead us to the party.

My dress is covered in
dark blue flowers on top. They cascade around my neck and onto the
bodice of my dress. The bottom is basically a satin bodysuit covered
by sheer material in the same blue, with flowers scattered over it.
There are also a few slits. It’s definitely a “me” dress and
not a “palace” one. Brayden said I should be me, and that’s
exactly what I’m doing.

Like before, as soon as
we’re off the plane, the children come to me first with their
flowers. They’re not shy with Brayden at all, even though he’s
still the king. He told me how they grilled him about me, and I have
to smile at all of these little darlings ganging up on him. We both
grab little hands, and then we’re off. This time the palace gates
open for us immediately. Being with the king definitely has perks,
but I can’t wait to just have my prince back.

“I have one more
surprise for you before the ball,” he tells me.

“Please tell me it
doesn’t involve fire or sharp objects.”

“It’s a good thing
I love your sass,” he says, smacking my ass.

He leads me inside the
castle, and I soon realize exactly where we’re headed. “Um
Brayden, are you seriously taking a reformed cat burglar into your
family’s vault?”

“Yes. I’m taking
the woman I love inside so you can pick out the stones for your
engagement ring.”

Oh my God. Oh my God. I
saw the loose jewels all those years ago. There’s every type of
gem, in every shape and size imaginable. “Really? I get to pick. I
mean, I thought I was just getting the other ring back.”

“Nope. It’s
tradition for all the women who marry into our family to take a trip
to the vault. You’ll choose what you want, and then they’ll be
taken to Paris where you can pick the setting.”

“Oh wow. I always
thought I hated your country’s traditions, but I’m totally behind
this one.”

“I had a feeling you
would be,” he says as the guards open the door for us.

I walk into the vault
as a guest this time. Well, I was technically a guest last time, but
I had to break in. It’s nice to be invited inside. And even nicer
to get to pick what I want. I’ll even refrain from taking any
souvenirs. After all, I have Brayden, and no jewel could be better
than that.

Aiden

Damn. My head feels
like it’s about to split in two. I probably shouldn’t have had
all that tequila, but I needed it. With the shit that’s going down
with my dad—and now, me—I had to just bow out of the world for a
couple of days. Who am I kidding? I had to run. I almost got caught
two nights ago, and the shitstorm everyone I care about would’ve
had to face might have been the end for me. I don’t care if I go
down, but I couldn’t stand it if my friends—and family—went
there with me.

Never mind that this
time I was doing it for my dad, and not because I had the urge. He
wouldn’t appreciate it if he found out, but those bastards had to
pay. And I didn’t kill them like I normally would. I just messed
them up a little. And then something went wrong, horribly wrong. So I
ran to this cabin in the woods. One that has no TV and no cell phone
service. I couldn’t bear to see what I’d caused to happen, even
if they did deserve it.

It’s time for me to
face the world again, though. I don’t even know what day it is.
Maybe Wednesday? I’ll find out once I get back into the city, and
my phone is charged. I have to be somewhere on Friday, but I should
have plenty of time to make it there.

I shower and then start
my drive. My car charger is pretty powerful, and my phone comes back
to life as soon as I’m in range of a cell tower. The number of text
messages and voice mails I’m hearing ping is crazy, seeing as I was
only out for a couple of days. I’ve been dark much longer in the
past, and no one has ever blown up my phone like this. Did something
else happen with those douchebags I beat up? I pull over to the side
of the road, and look at my text messages first. The date on the
first one makes my stomach drop, and my heart race.

Friday,
6:08 A.M.

TheOne: Hey,
Aiden. I’ll see you later today. Well, knowing you, I won’t see
you at all, but I know you’ll be there watching out for me. Love
you ?

No. No. God no. This
isn’t right. It can’t be past Friday. I promised Ellie I’d be
there on Friday like I always am, backing her up. We were even going
to make a detour on the way back and have a romantic night or two
together.

Friday,
3:15 P.M.

TheOne: Change of
plans. I know I’m not supposed to go in alone, but I saw one of the
guys hitting a young girl. I can’t wait until tomorrow for backup.
Besides, you’re the best backup I could have anyway. I’m going in
at 8 tonight. You know the address.