Striking (Red Lips & White Lies Book 7)

Respect can build a dynasty.

Trust can make it unbreakable.noveldrama

Love can make it unending.

—Bellamy’s Secret Thoughts

I wait under the portico behind Rosenhall Palace, anxiously counting down the seconds until the town car bringing Caitlin, Callen, and Anastasia here finally stops in front of Rhys and me.

“You’re vibrating, love,” my husband teases, like he’s been doing all week as our family and friends have arrived for the coronation.

Before I can answer him, my best friend throws open the car door, not bothering to wait for the footman to open it for her, and we both squeal as we throw our arms around each other. “I can’t believe you’re finally here.”

She runs her hands over my bump with a weepy smile. “You’re really pregnant.”

“So are you,” I cry and rest my hand on her bump before Callen gets out of the car with their daughter, Anastasia, sitting on his hip. “Oh my goodness. Look at you, baby.”

This little girl who changed our lives hides her face in her daddy’s shoulder. She’s barely one, but she’s already the spitting image of her mother. Callen wraps an arm around me in a hug, and I press my lips to Anastasia’s head. “I missed you so much.”

“Are we supposed to bow?” he asks with a cheeky grin.

“You’ve held my hair while I puked. I’m pretty sure we’re past bowing.” My smile hurts, it’s so big as I step back into Rhys’s arms and watch him greet my friends and charm the baby, which makes me ridiculously happy.

“We had some wild nights, didn’t we, B?” Callen laughs as we walk into the palace and up to the residence.

“Oh God. Can we not take this particular walk down memory lane?” I squirm and look at Rhys, who’s already asking for details. Caitlin links her arm through mine and holds me back while our husbands get them settled into their suite.

“I still can’t believe I’m here for your coronation, Bellamy.” She fluffs my hair and shakes her head. “I miss you every single day, even the ones where we talk and Facetime, but wow . . . you’re actually glowing. This suits you.” She looks over the railing at the flurry of activity taking place as the staff readies the ballroom for the Coronation Ball this weekend and whistles. “Queen . . . I mean really . . . Just wow.”

I try to center myself before speaking because if I don’t, I’ll cry, and I’m tired of crying. I cried when my mother got here last week, and again when Cross, Everly, Ares, and Gracie flew in a few days ago. I promised myself I wouldn’t do it again, but these damn hormones are a bitch, and I’m losing this battle.

“When I met you, I knew one adult and two little kids in Kroydon Hills. And then you brought me home and made me part of your family, then you gave me your friends, and suddenly I was surrounded by people who cared about me. People who accepted me and loved me. You did that, Cait. And I’ll never be able to give you back what you’ve given me.” Tears pool in the corners of my eyes, but I swear to God, I refuse to let the little fuckers fall.

“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, Bellamy. And I don’t care if you’re in the bedroom next to mine or a million miles away, lying in bed with a smoking-hot king—who’s poster I may or may not have had hanging on my bedroom wall as a teenager. You will always be my best friend.” A tear tracks down her cheek, and like a reflexive action, I lose the battle, and my first tear falls too. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Oh man,” Callen groans from behind us. “You’ve never seen them together before, have you? They’re bad.”

“Why are they crying?” Rhys asks, and Callen sucks in a sharp breath.

“Don’t fucking ask, man. They used to be worse than this when they both had their periods. Now they’re both pregnant. We’re fucked. And just wait until Lennon joins in. It’s going to be terrifying.”

I narrow my eyes at the two men and take in the utter confusion on Rhys’s face. “I feel like I should be disturbed that you used to know when they’d get their periods.”

“I lived with them for years, and they were the only women in a condo with three men. We all knew, and we all stayed away—because there wasn’t a damn thing we said that was right that week each month.”

Cait looks at me, and for a hot second, we consider being annoyed. But why bother when it’s true. “Listen, Sinclair.” I point at Callen. “She’s mine for the next week. So back off.”

I move in front of my husband and kiss his cheek. “I love you. See you tonight at dinner.”

“You’re leaving already?” He grabs my arm and tugs me back for another kiss.

“I’ve got my final fitting this afternoon, and then I promised I’d take the girls for tea. We’ll be back for dinner with the family.”

His hand goes to my bump, and his lips press against my forehead. “Take extra security with you.”

“Yes, sir,” I whisper, and he smiles that sexy smile I love so much.

“You better plan on calling me that tonight, my love.”

“Pretty sure we can make that happen . . .” Even six months pregnant, I can’t keep my hands off my husband. Exhausted or not, I always want him. That pull is still there, and I doubt it’s ever going away.

“What do you think Dad would think of all this?” I ask Cross and Ares later that night, after dinner, as we sit in the gardens behind the palace. Their kids are running around, chasing our mother, who hasn’t stopped smiling since the moment she stepped off the plane last week. “Do you think he’d be proud of me?”

Cross wraps his arm around me and pulls me into his side. “I do think he’s proud of you, kid. I think he’s been proud of you every day of your life. And I think he’s so proud of the woman you’ve become.”

“Pretty sure this would all have blown his mind, B.” Ares stands across from us, watching us instead of the kids. “All those years you fought so fucking hard. He would have switched places with you in a heartbeat. Any of us would have. But you . . .” Thick emotion coats his words. And I reach out and take his hand in mine, just so happy to have my brothers here with me. To have my family together. “You fought harder for your life than any of us ever had to, and look at you now. You have a master’s degree in nursing. You help people on a larger level than you ever thought you would. You’re the queen of Mornea, and you’re literally carrying the future king or queen right now. Way to make Cross and me look like underachievers, kid.”

“Well, you know that was my plan all along, right?” I laugh softly because it’s either that or cry again, and I’m all cried out.

“Is he good to you, B?” Ares asks, turning just in time to catch Molly, who throws herself at her father.

Love that kid.

“We’re good to each other. I love him.” I look for Rhys, and as if he senses me, he turns away from Lennon and smiles at me. “I’m so happy.”

“Then Dad would be happy.” Ares tosses Molly high in the air, and her high-pitched giggles make me homesick. “That’s all he ever wanted for any of us.”

I run my hand over my belly and close my eyes as a beautiful kind of peace washes over me. The kind that only comes from being surrounded by family. The people who know you and love you for who you are. The people I love.