Page 73 of Regal Queen

Couldn't think.

My eyes burnt and Rose pulled back, her concerned eyes catching mine. Reaching forward, her fingers brushed against my face, and I realized with a start that I was crying.

Finally. I was crying about my mother.

The relief was palpable. I wasn’t the monster my father raised me to be. I was human, with real feelings and emotions.

I could actually love in this world and that, more than anything, was the best thing about opening up to Rose. She made me a real man, no longer a prince or a wicked witch, but a king in my own life. Not the shell of a creature growing up under the burden of my father.

The weight of the world lifted from my shoulders.

I was finally free.

Leaning in, I kissed Rose, infusing everything I had in that kiss, needing to feel her pressed against me, needing to show her that she was everything to me in that moment.

When I pulled back, I realized I only needed one last thing from Nero.

"Where did you bury her body?"

Nero sighed impatiently, like I was a child. "You know where she is. You were just there."

I stilled, staring into Rose's warm eyes. So it was true. Nero had known about the house all along. And he’d sent Dimitri there to destroy it, and me.

"You say that I'm the weak one," I said into the phone, still staring into Rose's eyes, "but you weren’t strong enough to live with the thought that mom would leave you, and that’s why you killed her. You couldn't stand the thought that the woman you loved didn’t want to be with you anymore. Who's the weak one now?"

I hung up, tossing the phone on the bed and leaning to lay Rose down on the mattress.

She stared up at me with awe on her face, her cheeks bunched up in that cute look she had when she was smiling so large that she could barely contain it. Her eyes shined with unspent tears of happiness.

“You did it.”

I nodded. “Because of you, Rose. Because of you, my love.”