Page 99 of The Royal in Room 3

I couldn’t have asked for a better husband. No, he was more than just a husband. He was my soulmate, the father of my children, my comfort, and my best friend.

He was Daddy, and ten years hadn’t changed that. In fact, the more mature I’d had to be, the more I appreciated him because with him, I didn’t have to be strong. With him, I was just his little prince.

We drove for a while, and I stopped trying to figure out where I was going. I leaned into Jude, and he wrapped his arms around me. The quiet was nice. With the kids, we only found this kind of quiet at bedtime, when we shut ourselves away and enjoyed each other’s company.

After driving for what felt like hours, the car turned onto a gravelly path. I could feel the crunch of the tires against the pebbles. About half a minute later, we came to a stop, and my heart skipped a beat as my excitement mounted.

Last year on our anniversary, Jude had surprised me with a candlelit dinner on the beach. He’d listened to my complaint all year round about missing our beachside home and had rented us a lovely home on a private beach for the weekend on Belvaria’s north coast. Very little could top that experience, but I was just pleased at the effort he always made. Other people might have thought that, as the crown prince, I already had everything, but Jude knew best.

He could surprise me with something I didn’t even know that I wanted.

“We’re here.” Jude opened the car door.

“Can I take this thing off now?”

“Not yet.” He got out, then helped me down, and I crashed into his chest, but I didn’t have to worry about falling. He caught me in his arms and whispered for my ears only, “Later we’ll have some fun with the matching handcuffs.”

“Say what now?”

Laughing, he yanked the blindfold off, and I squinted against the sudden brightness. For a moment, I didn’t understand what I was looking at.

The house stood beyond a low white fence with pale blue siding and white trim around the windows. A narrow porch ran along the front, and the flower beds were blooming. A large tree rose in the yard, its branches stretching wide over the grass, and beyond it, I could see the faint outline of the hills my mother must have known as a child.

My breath caught.

“No,” I whispered.

Jude didn’t say anything. He only stood beside me, his hand warm at the small of my back.

I took one step forward, then another, my gaze moving over the porch, the windows, the chipped stone path leading to the front door. I knew this place. My mother had several pictures of it, which I still kept tucked away with all her things that Daphne hadn’t sold.

This was the reason I’d chosen California as a home after Belvaria rejected me. Because the mother I barely remembered once lived here in this home as a foster kid. This place had been to her and a lot of other kids what Halo House was to me. When I’d tried to explain my purpose back then, the owner had refused to let me onto the property and told me I had to leave or they would call the police.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have started the conversation by explaining I was a prince and my mother, the late queen, once lived in the house.

Now I was here again, and no one was preventing me from being on the property this time.

“Dadd-y,” I said, the word breaking with emotions. “This is the house where my mother grew up. Father said that before this place, she had bounced around different foster homes. This was the last.”

“I only wish I’d done this sooner,” Jude said.

My eyes filled so fast the house blurred. “But how did you manage this? The owners were really mean to me.”

“Well.” He slipped both hands into his pockets, looking far too casual for a man who had just taken a piece of my heart and placed it carefully back where it belonged. “I bought it.”

I stared at him. It was already wonderful that we had the chance to visit the place, but this was way more than I’d expected.

Jude shrugged with a grin. “The owners were ready to sell. I may have encouraged them to be very ready.”

“You bought it? It must have cost a fortune.”

His mouth curved. “Good thing I have all that hush-Daddy money lying around.”

I blinked at him. “What?”

“My hush-Daddy money.” He looked terribly pleased with himself. “You know. The generous allowance I receive for being the royal concubine.”

I gasped. “You are not my concubine.”