by Ali Parker
Wasn’t that what the goal of her interview was about? She wanted to know more about me succeeding my father but hadn’t asked me directly.
“So, you wouldn’t want to go back there if you decided not to be king?”
I swiped her screen and paused the recording. “Sophia, what’s going on with you?”
She pulled her phone closer to her. “I don’t understand why you don’t want to be around your family more. Seeing you and your father together, you love each other. I know your mother can be a problem, but why don’t you appreciate what you have?”
“I do,” I said. “I just need time to consider my options. If I’m there, then Father will get his hopes up.”
She turned on the recorder again. “Are you going to take over as king?”
“I don’t know.”
“What if you were forced to?” she asked.
“The only way that I’d be forced to was if something happened to my father.”
She blinked hard and asked, “What if something did?”
“I don’t even want to think about it. I love him, and I don’t know what I would do if I lost him.”
“You’d have to become king.”
I glanced at the phone and back at her.
She paused the recorder again. “You’re not off the record.”
At least what I said next wouldn’t be heard by anyone but her, no matter how she wanted to spin it. “The reason for my hesitation is that I don’t want to force Abir to do something he doesn’t want to do.”
“Abir doesn’t want to be king, either?”
“No,” I said. “I spoke with him before we left. If I refuse, Father will force it upon Abir. I’d feel worse about that than becoming king myself. But either way, I have until the end of the month to decide.”
“It seems clear to me,” she said.
“I’m not going to take this decision lightly.”
“But you want to save your brother from that fate. Why don’t you just go back now?”
“What is with you?” I asked her. Our waiter returned to the table with our food, and I held my tongue until he left. “You’ve wanted this interview for two weeks. Now you’re asking me amateur questions about my business and purposely goading me about my father. Am I missing something? You’ve been acting strange since the banquet. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I have everything I need,” she said, her expression hard and cold. It was what I expected of her when we first met, but not now. Not after everything we’d gone through together. “I should go—”
“Sophia,” I said, reaching for her.
She was halfway out of her chair when I grabbed her arm.
“Please, sit. Talk to me.”
“I need to go, Luke.” Her eyes were glossy, and her voice trembled.
“Sophia, I can’t let you go.”
She slowly sat in her chair and glanced around at the other people around us. I didn’t care much for them, only what I was about to admit. “I’ve never had feelings for anyone like I do for you. This weekend opened up something inside of me that I never knew I had before—”
“Luke, I’m going to stop you there,” she said. This time, she pushed her chair away and stood up, shouldering her bag. She was too far away for me to touch. “I’m leaving for America tomorrow. I can’t do this with you.”
To be continued…
Unwrap the Truth
Regal Rights Book #2
Releases May 4th
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Ali Parker is a USA Today Best Selling contemporary and new adult romance writer with more than a hundred and thirty books behind her. She loves coffee, watching a great movie and hanging out with her hubs. By hanging out, she means making out. Hanging out is for those little creepy elves at Christmas. No tight green stockings for her.
She’s an entrepreneur at heart and loves coming up with more ideas than any one person should be allowed to access. She lives in Texas with her hubs and three kiddos and looks forward to traveling the world in a few years. Writing under eleven pen names keeps her busy and allows her to explore all genres and types of writing.
If you enjoyed her writing style, please check out her other pen names at the pen names link below!
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Uncover My Secrets
Regal Rights Book #1
Copyright © 2018 by Ali Parker
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.
First Edition.
Editor: Mary Wolney
Designer: Kellie Dennis, Book Covers By Design
