Broken Prince: A Novel (The Royals Book 2) by Erin Watt Read Free Book Online Page B

into a catfight with Jordan. I mean, yeah, it was hot as hell. But then there was the Daniel thing and now she’s disappeared. Everyone says she’s off getting an abortion or recovering from an STD. If you’re hiding her, now’s the time to trot her out, make a show of force.”
    I remain silent.
    Wade sighs. “I know you don’t like being in charge, but guess what, dude— you are and have been since Gid graduated. If you let things continue to slide, by the time Halloween comes it’ll be a horror show here. There’ll be intestines and brain matter splattered on the school walls. Someone will have gone full-on Carrie on Jordan by then.”
    Jordan. That chick is nothing but trouble. “Why don’t you take care of it?” I mutter. “Your family’s got enough money to buy Jordan’s.” Wade comes from old money. I think some of it is still stored in gold bullion in their basement.
    “It’s not money. It’s the Royals. You make people listen. Probably ’cause there’re so many of you.”
    He’s right. The Royals have ruled this school since Gid was a sophomore. I don’t know what happened, but one day we woke up and everyone looked to Gid. If a kid stepped out of line, Gid was there to set him straight. The rules were simple. Pick on someone your own size.
    Size being a metaphorical thing. Size being social status, bank account, intelligence. Jordan going after one of the Pastels would’ve been fine. Jordan going after a scholarship student? Not so good.
    Ella had fallen into a gap. She wasn’t a scholarship student. She wasn’t a rich kid either. And I thought that she was sleeping with my dad. That he’d brought home a whore from a high-class brothel. He and Steve liked to frequent those places on business trips. Yeah, Dad’s a real class act.
    I’d stood back and waited, and everyone waited with me. Except Jordan. Jordan immediately saw what I did. That Ella was made of something stronger than we’d seen before at Astor Park. Jordan hated it. I was drawn to it.
    “I don’t want that kind of control,” Wade is saying. “I just wanna get laid, play a little football, annoy my mom’s boyfriends, and get wasted. I can do all that stuff even if Jordan’s terrorizing every pretty girl that breathes the wrong way. But you? You’ve got a conscience, man. But with all this shit…with Daniel still walking around the halls like he didn’t try to rape Ella…well, silence is kind of considered approval.” He gets to his feet. “Everyone leans on you. It’s a burden, I get it, but if you don’t stand up, it’s gonna be a massacre.”
    I get up too and head for the door. “Let the school burn,” I mutter. “It’s not my job to put out the flames.”
    “Bro.”
    I pause in the doorframe. “What?”
    “At least let me know which way things are gonna go. I don’t care. I just wanna know if I need to start wearing a hazmat suit.”
    Shrugging, I glance at him over my shoulder. “Things can go to hell for all I care.”
    I hear a sigh of defeat behind me, but I don’t stick around for another second. As long as Ella’s MIA, I refuse to concentrate on anything other than finding her. If everyone around me is miserable, then fine. We can all be miserable together.
    I keep my head down as I trudge down the hall. I almost make it all the way to class without talking to a single person, until a familiar voice calls out to me.
    “What’s the matter, Royal? You moping ’cause nobody wants to play with you?”
    I stop walking. The barking laughter of Daniel Delacorte has me slowly swiveling to face him.
    “Sorry, I didn’t quite hear you,” I say coldly. “Wanna repeat that? To my fist this time?”
    He stumbles over his own feet, because the menace in my voice is unmistakable. The hallway is crowded with kids getting out of their after-class electives. Music students, debate team, the cheer squad, the science club.
    I advance with purpose, adrenaline spiking in my veins. I got in one punch with