by S. E. Rose
“What was that about?” I ask as I take his offered hand. He pulls me to my feet and kisses my forehead.
“Anna found some…things. She wants to chat with us,” he explains as we walk back toward the office. It’s been strange being here today. It’s so quiet with no other family members here. The normal hustle and bustle of the main palace seems like stadium noise compared to the seemingly silent echoing hallways here.
Settling back on the two chairs we sat at earlier, Christian clicks on a secured connection, and Anna’s face pops up on the screen. I can see Montelandia in the background. Her cheeks look like she’s seen some sun.
“Hey, how are you?” Christian asks. I look over at him because his question is so, unusual.
“I’m fine,” Anna pipes up and quickly moves on from the awkward question. I decide to revisit that later, putting a pin in it. “I wanted to go over some things with both of you.”
I look to Christian, but his focus is on Anna.
She pulls up some photos and I instantly recognize King Ivan. “Jack is looking into the man that talked to you, Mia, but I’ve been digging up your family history. I thought you would like to see what I’ve found so far.”
I nod, my interest suddenly transfixed on photos of my biological family members that I’ve never met.
“This is King Ivan of Skogdal. He’s the fourth royal to lead his principality from the House of Larsen. His mother, Helena, was a queen before him and was married to a man named Kristoff Eldegard.
“Ivan took the throne upon his mother’s death and later married a Greek princess, Agatha Drakos, to who he was betrothed to before his mother dying. He had a mistress, Paula Weber. And for short time after marrying Agatha, he would see Paula, but she seemingly disappears not long after his marriage to Agatha. Agatha gave birth to a son, Gilbert, two years after they were married. All is well until Agatha dies from cancer when Gilbert is in his late-twenties. When he turned thirty, Gilbert married Princess Elsa of Sweden. Their son, Jasper, was born a few years later. However, it was long rumored that Elsa was having an affair with Martin Fleming, a British comedy actor.
“I did digging, and I managed to knab DNA proof that Jasper is indeed the child of Martin Fleming. I had a hunch that King Ivan might have known this and that’s why even at ninety-one, he has refused to relinquish the throne.
“Paula Weber is your grandmother, Mia. From what I can tell, she fell pregnant with your father after Ivan married Agatha but before Agatha became pregnant. But here is where things get very, very interesting. Paula Weber was seventy-fifth in line to the British throne. Her father was the Queen’s second cousin. So, if it had not been for the arranged marriage with Agatha, Ivan would have been able to marry Paula. And…” Anna pauses.
“And what?” Christian and I both bark at the same time.
“They did.”
“Did what?” I ask, confused.
“Marry.”
I freeze as the cogs in my head begin to spin, the pieces falling into place. “You’re saying that my grandmother was the queen of Skogdal?”
Anna nods. “It was done in secret, in the Bahamas. But it was legal.”
“So…they got divorced, then?” I ask.
Shaking her head, Anna takes a drink of something in a large mug. “They never divorced.”
I look to Christian and back to Anna. “Oh my God! Ivan’s marriage to Agatha was never legal because he was already married!” My mouth falls open at the realization that my father is the legal heir to Skogdal, making me second in line to the throne.
“Precisely! Your dad is the rightful heir of Skogdal,” Anna says.
When Anna sees my frown, she continues. “It looks like King Ivan has tried to reach out to your father. Even though your dad did his best to further separate himself from his mom, his parents have always known his whereabouts. I have security logs showing that your entire family has been under Skogdal royal security observation since Paula moved to London and gave birth to your father. I suspect that your father doesn’t know that.”
“King Ivan wants Dad to be king?” I ask in confusion.
“Perhaps or…” Anna trails off and my eyes widen.
“Me?” I squeak.
With a shrug, Anna looks nervously at what I assume is my giant face on her screen. My face is most likely turning green.
“I…I can’t do that. I can’t lead a country. I don’t even know anything about Skogdal,” I whisper.
I feel Christian’s hand grip my leg, bringing me out of my state of total horror. I turn to look at him. His face is filled with concern.
“Anna, I think Mia has learned enough for today. It’s been a long forty-eight hours. Let us go rest and we’ll be in touch tomorrow,” he says.
“Of course. And, Mia, this is just information. I haven’t reached out to anyone with this info. Only Jack and you two know.”
“And your husband,” Logan’s voice comes from off the screen.
Anna groans and leans in closer to the computer. “Sorry, it’s hard to find privacy here.”
“What do you mean?” Logan asks.
“I got to go. Talk to you both tomorrow,” she says as she clicks something and our screen goes blank.
“Are you alright?” Christian asks me. He pulls me onto his lap to face him. His hand reaches out to my cheek, and he runs his thumb over my jawbone.
I take a deep breath, trying to make heads or tails of everything Princess Anna has just disclosed to me. “I don’t know.”
Before I can say another word, Christian rises and I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. He carries me up to his quarters and shuts the door. Placing me on the bed, he reaches for the drawer of the nightstand and grabs a pillbox.
“Take these,” he commands as he hands me a glass of water.
“What are they?” I almost make a snide remark about the pills causing me to grow large or small and if I’m already down the rabbit hole, but I get the feeling my Alice in Wonderland reference would be ill-timed.
“They will help you sleep. You need sleep, Mia. Everything else can wait until the morning.”
Cautiously, I reach out and accept the pills and the water from him. The water is cool as though the staff had just poured it. As I swallow the pills, I note the carafe of ice water sitting on a nearby table. Of course, they had already filled it. I’m sure his staff check on his room hourly when he’s not here. Such a strange life, to be a royal. I feel myself grow faint at that thought. A royal. How can it be? I thought I was just an illegitimate princess, a royal by name and nothing more, but instead, here I am, the possible next heir to the throne of an entire nation.
I’m only half-aware that Christian is standing in front of me holding something. It’s not until he reaches out and grabs the hem of my top that I realize he’s trying to undress me. Glancing over, I find him holding a shirt in one hand while tugging at mine with his other.
With a sigh, I take off my top and leggings. He holds out one of his workout shirts and pulls it over my head.
“Time for bed,” he says softly as he helps me get under his soft sheets and blanket. My head begins to feel groggy and the last thing that I remember is curling up against him, his arms wrapping around me as my consciousness wanes.
Chapter Eighteen
Christian
I’m not sure when I fall asleep. At some point, I had extricated myself from Mia’s grasp and changed out of my clothes before tucking her right back into my arms. I watched her sleep for hours. Re-memorizing each freckle and line on her face. Feeling her chest rise and fall with each slow breath. Sensing her enter a dream as her eyelids fluttered. Hearing her sigh and moan in her sleep. Something about this woman fascinated me more than any other woman ever had. I could never put my finger on it, and I probably never will. But that chemistry between us has pulled me back to her, even after everything that happened.
When I do wake, I sense that it’s early morning. The sky isn’t bright but enough l
ight emanates from beneath my curtains to tell me that sunrise is nearing. I reach for my phone and see that I have a missed call from Auggie. Frowning, I gently move Mia onto a pillow and head out to my balcony, shutting the door behind me and walking to the far side.
I press the call button and wait for him to answer. Auggie is most definitely either hungover or at the gym. The man only has two modes, one of which has gotten less pervasive since being with Kate.
“Fuck, it’s early. What are you doing?” Auggie says, his voice raspy.
“You called me, you twat.”
I hear Auggie gulping something. “That was six hours ago.”
“My bad, I didn’t know playboy princes slept in.” It’s a childish dig at my brother, but old habits die hard.
“Fuck off. Kate and I…were busy last night. I decided to have a lie-in this morning. And besides, it’s not even six in the morning.”
“What did you want?” I ask.
“Oh, uh, Anna mentioned something about crazy shit going on, and I wanted to know what. I called her but Logan chewed me out and told me she was sleeping.”
I lean on the rock wall of the palace and tell my brother everything that I’ve learned about Mia’s family and The 44. When I finish, he’s oddly quiet.
“No snide remarks from the peanut gallery?” I ask.
“Fuck no. I got nothing. Shit. That’s intense. I guess that explains the urging for Kate and me to take this vacation. Does no one tell us anything? I’m fucking part of our national security,” Auggie grumbles.
“I know. I assume Jack is waiting to debrief all of us until he has conclusive information.”
“Well, he’s about to get a call from me. I need to know everything and so does Dad.”
“Agreed. I will message Jack and tell him everyone needs updates.”
“I don’t like this, Lion. I don’t like the secrets and radio silence. I don’t like all of us separated.”
I run a hand over my face. “I don’t either, but it didn’t do a fucking lot of good when we were all together either,” I say, reminding him of the time the palace was bombed when we were there.
“I suppose. It’s just…I don’t like it,” he reiterates.
“Noted. Now, go back to sleep,” I insist.
“Like I can sleep after hearing all of that. I’m hitting the gym. I’ll talk to you later,” he grumbles as he hangs up, mumbling something under his breath.
I touch the cool stones behind me and smell the fresh country air. I should talk with Pete. I wonder what he knows. We haven’t touched base in a few days, although I know Cain and Vince have been reporting back to him. Why does all of this seem so disjointed? Auggie has a point. I’ve only been back for two days, and I already feel separated from everything and everyone. Could that be on purpose?
Shaking off my thoughts, I head back into my bedroom. Mia is still fast asleep. Perhaps a workout isn’t such a bad idea, I think as I walk into my closet and change.
I put my earbuds in as I walk to the gym. The hallways are void of staff, and I relish the opportunity to be completely alone. It’s an odd feeling considering that just a moment ago I was wary of being separated from my family. However, it is a rarity as a royal to ever be alone. I ponder this as I step onto the treadmill and begin running. I turn my music on through the speakers in the gym, letting my brain stew my thoughts.
Why can’t I shake the feeling that Mia’s family somehow plays into whatever current threat mine is facing? My mind pours over the basic history of our countries. Norddale and Montelandia were merged as one in the beginning. A small nation that went to civil war and separated into two principalities about six hundred years ago, making the marriage of my sister to the Prince of Montelandia even more ironic since it once again merges our kingdoms in a most unique way. But Skogdal was never part of our country. It was settled by the enemy of one of my ancestors. Skogdal and Norddale didn’t even have a trade agreement until the early eighteen hundreds. And now, someone knows that Mia is the rightful heir of Skogdal and that she’s sleeping with me. There has to be something more to that.
I’m so deep in thought that when Mia’s voice rings out from behind me, I jump and nearly go flying off the treadmill. My gaze meets her amused one in the mirror.
“Fuck! Don’t startle me like that!” I yell.
She leans on a piece of equipment behind me. “Penny for your thoughts?”
I stop the treadmill and turn to her. “Just musing over history.”
Her eyebrows rise and she comes to stand next to me on another treadmill, leaning her forearms on the side bar. “History?”
I lean mine on the side of the treadmill so that our hands are mere millimeters apart, our faces close enough for me to smell her minty toothpaste. “I was racking my brain to see if I could figure out any connections between the royal family of Skogdal and The 44.”
Her frown tells me she hadn’t considered this. “But…my family wouldn’t want to take themselves out? The 44 doesn’t like any monarchies. They don’t like power funneled into any one office or person. That doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe not. But something about all of these different pieces of the puzzle don’t make sense to me,” I admit as I lean forward toward her and plant a small kiss on her lips. She sighs and stands before punching start on her treadmill. I go back to running alongside her. Even with our height differences, our strides sync up and the room is filled with the single beat of our feet hitting the tread. It’s a perfect example of us, of how our bodies belong together as much as our souls. If only I could figure out who was trying to stop them from being together.
Chapter Nineteen
Mia
“I need to speak with my parents,” I announce as Christian and I finish our breakfast. I’d texted them to let them know I was safe and heading back to Norddale. But that was it. Everything has been such a whirlwind that I haven’t had time to think, let alone prepare for a conversation that will be less than pleasant.
Christian pushes back from the table and looks at me. “Are you sure you’re ready to speak with them?”
Nodding, I get up and walk over to him. He’s at the head of the table in a chair that makes him look every bit the king. I sit on his lap, placing one leg over each of his large thighs. His eyes don’t leave mine, but his hands grasp my waist. I can feel the bulge in his pants press against my core. As much as I want to give in to the temptation to have him fuck me right here on the long cherrywood table, I need to get this discussion over with and I need answers.
Christian’s lips find mine. I let myself get lost in them for a brief moment until my hands collide with his chest, pushing him back.
“No. I need to do this now,” I state as I take a breath, letting my right hand feel the strong beating of his heart from beneath his shirt.
His hands lower and grip my hips, keeping me seated on him as he grinds against me. I moan from the contact. “Are you sure that I can’t convince you to stay?”
I clench my jaw and shake my head. He leans in and kisses along my neck. “You are stubborn as hell, pigeon.”
“Takes one to know one,” I manage as his teeth nip the skin above my collarbone.
Just as abruptly as he started, he stops and releases me. “Use the secure phone in the office.”
I scamper off him and head toward the phone as fast as my legs will take me. I can hear his footsteps echoing behind me, but he doesn’t rush. He’s giving me a minute of privacy with my parents.
I dial their number and bite my lip as the phone rings. There are so many questions that I want to ask, but one stands out the most.
“Hello?” my father answers.
“Dad?”
“Mia? How are you, love?”
I take a deep breath. “I’m fine. I mean, I’m OK. Dad, I need to talk to you about some things.”
There’s a long pause. “I figured you would eventually call.”
“Do you speak with your father?” I ask.
; The silence is more of an answer than any spoken words could possibly be. “I…” Dad trails off.
“When?” I ask.
He clears his throat before speaking. “First, you need to understand that I only met my father once. I was five years old, and he came to see me and my mother. I didn’t know who he was at the time. He took me on a carousel, and we ate ice cream. I had my first trip to the zoo that day. It wasn’t until years later when I inquired about who my father was that my mother asked if I remembered that man.”
“And since then?” I prod.
“Several weeks ago. I had a phone call. I didn’t answer. His personal secretary left me a message saying he was trying to get in touch with me. Something urgent and to ring back as soon as possible.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Dad, what did he say?”
“He wanted to meet you.”
Now it’s me who remains silent.
“I told him that I didn’t want you involved in anything royal. He said he was asking out of respect to me as his son and your father, but he would arrange it himself if I did not.”
A million questions flew through my head. Why did my grandfather want to meet me? Why now? What did he want to talk about? Why had he bothered to go through my father at all?
“I didn’t change my mind. I told him no and to stay away from my family. He gave me a long sob story. Claimed to have actually married my mother. Claimed I was the rightful heir to his throne. It was crazy talk from a crazy, old man.”
“Dad…” I trail off as movement at the door catches my eye. Christian stands there, watching me intently.
“Dad,” I start again, “what if…what if he wasn’t crazy? What if what he said was true?”
“What? That’s preposterous. Mum would have said something to me.”
“Is your mother, my grandmother, still alive?” I ask.
“No. She passed away a few years ago,” Dad says.
