Broken Prince: A New Adult Romance Novel by Aubrey Rose Read Free Book Online Page A

could have been Csilla's older sister. She had the same long blonde hair, the same delicate features. In front of her was a glass of red wine. She muted the television, swiveled around on her stool, and stood up, coming forward to greet me with kisses on both cheeks. Marta had greeted me the same way when I arrived in Hungary, but Mrs. Deveny's kisses were perfunctory, quick and efficient and over with before I could return them.
    "You're the girl whose mother died," she said, returning to her stool. She stumbled against the counter and caught herself, easing her body up onto the stool carefully.
    "Yes." I thought to myself that that was my old identity: I used to only be the girl whose mother died. At school, kids who before might have teased me for being smart and unpopular just stared and whispered. I preferred their teasing. I had grown past that, though, and when I went to college I reinvented myself as somebody new. Nobody knew about my mother except for Mark. And now Csilla. I don't know why it irritated me so much to have her know about my mother, but it did. I didn't want her pity. I didn't want anyone's pity.
    "Mark told us about you. You're friends with him, yes?" From her glance it seemed she wanted to make sure we were friends only, nothing more. Her eyes were glazed. I realized that she was drunk.
    "Yes, we go to college together." We used to go to college together, rather. I wasn't sure if I'd ever go back. Mrs. Deveny sat down on her stool and sipped at her wine. She didn't offer me a seat or a drink, but I slid onto the stool next to her anyway.
    "Your mother's case was a strange one," Mrs. Deveny said. "What do you know about it?"
    "Nothing," I said. My hands were damp with sweat.
    "Nothing?" Her voice said that she didn't believe me. She took another sip of wine and I wondered how much she had drunk already. It wasn't even noon yet.
    "I know she was killed," I said. "But I was only eight when it happened. My father just told me that she had died. He didn't—he didn't tell me anything else. It was only when I was older that he even told me she had been killed."
    "It was a gruesome murder," Mrs. Deveny said. She swirled the glass in her hand, saying the words without any hint of emotion, as flatly as if she had been talking about the heat outside.  I hated her then, hated her drunkenness, hated having to ask her about my mother. I wanted to turn and run back out the way I had come. I shifted in my stool and swallowed hard.
    "What can you tell me about it?" I asked, as calmly as I could.
    "I didn't work the case, but I was working there when it happened. It was part of a series of murders. That's why the information was never released to the press. They wanted to make sure that they stayed ahead of your mother's killer. They didn't want the evidence leaked."
    "Why not?"
    "The murderer—they thought he would kill again, and they didn't want him to know that they had found your mother's body until after they could catch him. And it worked, at least partially."
    "They found him? The murderer?" My face turned hot and my heart pounded in my ears. They had caught him. The killer. I would know who did it.
    "No," Mrs. Deveny said. "They didn't catch him. But he didn't kill again. Your mother was his last victim."
    "Oh." My face fell.
    "There's a few boxes of files relating to the case at the police station," Mrs. Deveny said. "I wouldn't think you would want to see them, though."
    "I would like to," I said. "I...I want to know what happened."
    "Your choice," Mrs. Deveny said. "You're next of kin and an adult. You have every right to see the files. Let me know when you want to go to the station and I'll have the filing assistant pull them for you."
    "Can I go today?"
    "Today?" Mrs. Deveny raised her eyebrows. "I don't think I can pull them by today. But I'll call in and have them ready for you by noon on Monday."
    "Thank you," I said. "That would be great. Thank you."
    Mrs. Deveny took another sip of wine, the red