Lucas…

Once sentence.

One lie.

One soul crushing denial and my life was over. With a whisper, my mother had stolen my family from me. The one place I'd ever belonged.

"Get out," I ground out, my fury bubbling just beneath the surface.

My mother sighed, gnashing down her teeth as if she were grinding down the lies she'd told. "Look, I know maybe I wasn't the best mother. And the choices and decisions I have made probably weren't the best ones either. But I can make the right decision today. When I tell you to run, I mean it. It's too late for me. I'm caught up in this. This is my bed, and I have to lie in it. But you have an opportunity to save yourself, once and for all. I won't come looking for you again. Don't let Tony manipulate you into coming back, ever. If you want to save yourself, if you want to save your girl, you have to disappear. Because if he gets so much as a whiff of what's going on with you and the royals, he's never going to let you go." She glanced over at the sleeping Bryna. "For your safety and for hers, I would get out as quickly as possible. And I would put some distance between you and her if you want to save her. Your past is coming for you, and you should be hiding from it."

My gaze swept over the woman I'd spent a lot of time trying to protect. For once in my life, she was trying to protect me too. "I don't want to run anymore."

"It's about survival. That girl in there, you think she deserves what Tony is going to do to her? There's a reckoning coming. And sooner or later, we're all going to have to pay for our sins. You think it's fair to ask her to pay for yours?"

My mother turned, pausing at the door. "I know you don't believe me, but I love you. I've made some bad choices and I hope you'll forgive me for them. I want to make up for it now. If you don't run, your past is going to destroy your future. So save her from yourself before it's too late."

And then she turned to leave. I wanted to be furious with her, to scream at her for leaving me. I wanted to convince her to stay. But, neither of those was an option at the moment. All I could do was watch as she left, wondering if I'd ever see her again. And then I slid my gaze over to Bryna.

Was my mother right? Did I need to distance myself from Bryna to protect her from the repercussions that were coming for me?

You already know the answer to that.