Redemption of Royals (Royal #1: Book 3) | ✔

36

-• i'm sorry •-

Rudra

Love cannot be detrimental
But it sure is self-destructive

I steer clear of alcohol most of the time. I don't like not being in control, not knowing where I'm, what I'm thinking, and above all, not remembering anything about what happened when I was intoxicated. But from the time I've returned from hospital, that's what I've been doing. I'm drinking. I've never drank so much. I can't even look straight.

The bartender slides another glass over the counter. I pick it up with shaky hands. Someone beside me clicks their tongue in disapproval. I shoot the man a glare. It's Amir. My bodyguard. And right now, he isn't looking at me as an employee looks at their employer, but rather how a babysitter looks at a notorious, troubled child.

I roll my eyes. It makes my head throb so hard I wince. I clutch my head with one hand and take a sip with another.

"Stop it, please!" He grunts, reaching for the glass.

I pull away.

I want to drink until I don't remember anything anymore. Quite opposite to what I've struggled so hard for all my life. But I want to forget everything, wipe off every memory where Taranya was not mine. It's so vivid in my head. The way he called out her name, so tender, so confident, as if he knew she'd always look back at him and smile. The way he held her hand-

Fuck.

I clench the glass tightly.

It shatters. The shards pierce my skin.

My bodyguard is quick to react and the bartender helps. As he drags me out of the club, I wish I had the strength to fight him off me, because I really wanted to drink more, but I'm feeble against him.

Amir drops me in the back of the car. I sprawl across the seat, fixing my trousers lazily before I stare outside the window. The street lights run along the highway, flashes of oranges spreading into the darkness. I count each, dozing off before we can reach the palace.

Then I'm hauled out unexpectedly. My lashes flutter open, I find it hard to breath. The damn suit is suffocating. "Walk straight!"

The floor tilts and I trip. "I'm trying to!"

Amir sighs.

"If I knew becoming your personal bodyguard entails acting as your nanny once in a while, I'd have opted out of this job years ago."

"Hey!" I say, offended.

He drags me into the living room. I find his grip around my waist painful. "Stop manhandling me!" I groan and release myself from his grip, crashing to the floor immediately after. My knees take the hit. "Fuck!" I moan in pain.

"That's what you get for walking on your own!" Amir kneels next to me, drapes my heavy arm around his shoulder and lugs me up with great effort.

"I'm an adult. Adults usually walk on their own, dumbass." I snort.

"What is happening -" I look up and find Niharika on top of staircase.