Yours Forever

by Bella Winters

  “We should have dinner together tonight,” she cooed. “We could set up out here and eat under the stars.”

  “That sounds lovely,” I said as I mustered an excuse. “But unfortunately, I can’t. I have a dinner meeting with some of the council. I’m sorry, darling. Rain check?”

  She shook her head with a disappointed look on her face, and my fears started to mix with guilt again. I walked her back up to the castle doors and kissed her on the cheek, trying to avoid eye contact. I could tell she wasn’t sure of my choice of excuse, but I turned and walked away without another word. The last thing I wanted was for us to have another fight. I was too pent up at that moment and knew I would be defensive and cruel. I stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched as she took a deep breath and turned toward the castle. Once I had seen her enter the palace, I made a beeline for my quarters.

  I couldn’t move fast enough to escape the fear bulging in my chest at that moment. I searched the room for my phone and called down to the servant’s quarters, asking for a car to be pulled up out front. I gathered some clothes into a bag and headed out the back way, so as to not be seen. I needed to get away and get away fast. Fear was driving me absolutely insane. There was no way I could let myself feel these feelings. I would end up stuck in a marriage, and my freedom would be gone.

  I jumped into the town car out front and set the course for the capital, where I could get into a hotel, get changed, and head out to the bars. While the car moved further from the palace, I pulled my hands through my hair with frustration. I had let myself go with this girl, and I should have known from the beginning. She was too beautiful, too smart, and way too charming for me not to have feelings for her. How I thought I could get away with this, I didn’t know, but I was kicking myself for getting into this situation. Whether I liked it or not, which I had made sure to not think about, this woman was my life for the next eleven months.

  For an entire year, I was going to have to continue to torture myself, trying to keep my hands off of her. Who was I kidding? If I continued to fuck her and bolt, she was eventually going to call me out on it or leave the castle altogether. Regardless of contracts, Adriana was no fool, nor would she sit around and let someone like me screw with her head. There were too many men out there that deserved a woman like Adriana, and I wasn’t one of them. Part of me knew that was true, while the other knew I was making up excuses to feel better about leaving. The all-out truth of the matter was, she scared the hell out of me with her radiant smile and perfect body. Just the way she arched her back sent waves through my cock, and thinking about her kind nature, well, that was just a double threat.

  Once I arrived at the hotel, my mind had calmed a bit, and I was just ready to get out and do some drinking. Nothing cut a woman from your mind quicker than a fifth of whiskey and some sexy girls. After changing into one of my best suits, I took a shot for the road and headed down to the capital for some fun. The bars were packed, and there were beautiful women everywhere. As I sat at the bar talking it up with two buxom blondes, the only thing I could think of was Adriana and what she was doing at that moment.

  The frustration of this woman in my mind was driving me absolutely mad. So, I paid my tab and moved on to the next bar. Bar after bar, woman after woman, I repeated the same cycle. I had a few drinks, tried to focus on the sexy women in front of me, and then in frustration, moved on to the next place. I tried whiskey, I tried brunettes, I even tried drinking a martini, but nothing was shaking the thought of her from my mind.

  Eventually, I ended up at a strip club, a strange place to get my current stripper wife out of my mind. I ordered bottle service and invited two of the strippers over to join me. By that point, I had drunk my fair share and was feeling loose and ready to mingle. However, as I slid my hand over the stripper’s tight thigh, Adriana’s gorgeous smile flashed through my mind. I saw her as she laid in the moss and grass earlier, haunting me with our amazing afternoon together.

  I pulled my hand back and poured another shot, hoping I could drown out this ghost in my mind. The way she looked at me was refreshing and pure. It was as if she was seeing me and not anyone else. I wanted to be the man she deserved so badly, but I was terrified of cutting off my freedom and sinking myself into something so beautiful.

  I forced my hand back over the stripper’s leg and ran it up her thigh, grazing her pussy with my fingers. She looked over at me and winked, and I knew if I wanted her, I could have her right here and right now. Even though my mind was on this stripper, my cock was having none of it, and I felt absolutely nothing in my pants. Fuck, Adriana had gotten me so deep, my own cock was revolting against me. In my drunken haze, I thought maybe if I just got in one good lay with someone else, these thoughts would stop haunting me, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.

  Instead, I started to drink way heavier than before. By the time the strip club closed, I was three sheets to the wind, trying to focus on the sidewalk under my feet as the two strippers helped me toward the hotel. I groped at the blonde’s tits and watched as she ran her hand up the outside of my pants. I shook my head as she pouted at me, noticing my dick didn’t react to her at all. I didn’t know if it was the alcohol or Adriana, but something was making damn sure I wasn’t able to have any fun that night.

  The alcohol didn’t help me get rid of Adriana, but there was definitely something else that would, a complete liquor blackout. That’s exactly where I headed, and quickly. From there, my mind started to shift in and out of consciousness, and all I really remembered was bits and pieces of crossing the lobby and leaning against the elevator wall, hoping I didn’t puke everywhere. It was like a bad movie with random scenes flashing through it, and nothing making much sense at all. As soon as my feet hit the penthouse floor, my mind went blank, and nothing else besides Adriana’s sweet smile passed through.

  Chapter 15: Adriana

  I laid in my bed and watched as the rain ran down my window. I had hoped Milos would have come into my room during the night, but he hadn’t, and I woke up alone as usual. Outside of my bedroom chamber, I could hear the servants scurrying about, cleaning up as they whispered back and forth. It was strange for me to hear them at all, much less whispering in low tones outside of my door. I pulled myself from the bed, curious as to what all the noise was about. I opened my bedroom doors, still dressed in my pajamas, and stared out at the girls who froze instantly and looked down at the floor.

  “Okay,” I said putting my hands on my hips. “What’s going on?”

  I looked at each of the girls, but everyone refused to look me in the face. I walked forward, toward the head servant, and noticed she was clutching a newspaper in her hands. There was obviously something these women didn’t want me to see.

  “All right,” I sighed, holding out my hand. “Give it to me. It can’t be that bad.”

  The woman looked up at me but didn’t move, obviously not wanting to be the one to hand me the paper. She took a deep breath and met my eyes as she handed it over and shooed the other girls from the wing. She stopped at the door and looked back at me.

  I opened the paper and stared down at the picture on the front page. It was Milos with two girls strung around his neck. He looked completely wasted and the headline read, “Trouble In Paradise?”

  Slowly, I crumpled up the paper and threw it hard at the floor. That’s why he never came to my room. He was too busy screwing some dirty whores in the capital. To make matters worse, he made the front page of the paper, which humiliated me and showed he didn’t give two shits about the price I had to pay for this whole ordeal.

  “Can I get you anything, Your Grace?” The servant obviously felt terrible, but I was glad I had seen the paper in the privacy of my own room, instead of in front of the Queen.

  “No, thank you,” I said, shaking my head.

  How could I have been so stupid? I had really given a piece of myself to him in that hedge maze in the gardens, and he’d given me the same thing he always did, absolutely not
hing. He had taken my forgiveness and wiped his ass with it, making me look like an idiot. I went back to my room and laid down in the bed, resolute to not get up for the rest of the day, and that is exactly what I did.

  Several days passed and still, I heard nothing from Milos. Either he was too drunk to care or he was hiding out, knowing he had to face both me and his mother when he returned. Whichever it was, it wasn’t boding well for him with the kingdom or the Parliament. One good part about being the girl no one pays attention to is the sheer amount of information you get from just walking the halls past the royal council and members of Parliament.

  While I was in self-induced exile, I figured, what better of time to go through the bags I had brought with me? Slowly, I pulled my old clothes from the backpack and laid them out. I grabbed my toiletry bag, excited to finally find my favorite body spray. I opened the case and dug around, running my hand across a tampon and stopping in horror. I dropped the case and ran over to my phone, pulling up the calendar and shaking my head. My period had been like clockwork my entire life, and I realized at that moment, that I was more than two weeks late. I had forgotten my birth control pills in Prague and vowed to reorder here, but with the wedding and everything else, I had completely forgotten. Immediately, I started to panic, wondering if I was, in fact, pregnant with Milos’s child.

  I grabbed one of my old pairs of jeans and sweatshirt from the bed and threw them on, pulling the hood up high. I peeked out of the door and called the head servant over and whispered into her ear. I needed her to discreetly get me into the city so I could go to the store. I told her it was private but of grave importance. She thought for a moment before she reached through the door and grabbed my arm. I followed her into the servant quarters and out the back door where she had parked her car. She drove me slowly into the city as I hid my face, and parked outside of the local drug store. I walked in with my head down, not wanting to be noticed, and grabbed a pregnancy test. A sick feeling washed over me as I handed the money to the girl behind the register and glanced over at the Prince and his whores on the cover of every magazine there.

  When I got back to the palace, I ran to my chambers and locked the door. I sat in the bathroom, staring at the instructions for several minutes. Then I made the decision to just take the test. When the test was soaked and set on the counter, I paced the bathroom floor and waited while the minutes clicked by slowly. I looked down at my watch and realized it was time. I got closer and closer to the test and shook my head, not believing what my eyes were seeing. Clear as day, there were two lines, which meant I was pregnant.

  I dropped the stick in the sink, backed up, sat down on the edge of the bathtub, and shook my head. Tears started to pull at my eyes, but I knew this was no time to lose it. I grabbed the test and walked out into the bedroom, where all my stuff still sat.

  I needed some fresh air to clear my head, so I threw my sweatshirt and sneakers on and headed out to the garden. The night air felt amazing, and I stood in the garden under the evening sky, just breathing heavily. I couldn’t believe I had been dumb enough to get myself into this situation. I had no idea what to do, and I had no one to talk to about it.

  “Nice night,” Brat’s voice echoed behind me.

  “Hey,” I said as I opened my eyes and mustered a smile. “It is. It’s beautiful tonight.”

  “You okay?”

  My face must have been white as a ghost. “Me? Oh, yeah. Just thinking about everything.”

  “I’ve wanted to ask you something for a while, but we haven’t had a chance to be alone,” he said as he walked up next to me. “How do you really feel about Milos?”

  “Oh.” I was taken back by the question. “He is an ass.”

  “Yes, he is,” Brat said, laughing.

  “But I know he is good on the inside,” I said, letting go of my anger. “He does have good intentions from time to time, but he covers them up with this playboy façade. He makes me laugh.”

  Immediately, I regretted saying that. I gave in to my urge to tell someone I had feelings for Milos. Before he could respond, his phone rang, and I heard Milos’s voice on the other end of the line. The two men were speaking Polish, so I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but Brat glanced down at me nervously before hanging up. He chuckled and shoved the phone in his pocket.

  “It was really lovely seeing you, Princess,” he said as he turned and walked away.

  I stood there for several moments, trying to decide my next move. but the only thing I could think was to go back to the castle and eat some dinner. As I climbed the palace steps, I was met by Brat’s sister, Zlata, who looked like she had been standing there waiting for me. I smiled at her as I passed, but stopped abruptly as she pressed her arm in front of me. I turned my head toward her and smiled sarcastically.

  “Hello, Zlata,” I said as I looked at her snide face.

  “You don’t fool me for a second,” she replied as she crossed her arms. “I know there is something fishy about this whole situation. You don’t deserve that man, and when I find out what your secret is, I’m going to expose you.”

  “Zlata, if you spent more time worried about your own life, you might actually be married by now,” I stated. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have things to do.”

  Zlata scoffed in my direction before she marched out the doors and down the steps. As soon as she was out of sight, I breathed deeply at the fear that had risen in my chest. I could play coy all I wanted, but if she found out my past, I would be the next face all over the tabloids. I reached down and pressed my hand against my stomach, thinking about the repercussions that could bring to my future child’s life. I immediately took off for my chambers, grabbing one of the servants and letting them know I needed a private audience with the Queen immediately. After I had packed a bag, knowing I had to get away from the palace, I wrote Milos a letter and sealed it in an envelope.

  The Queen’s guards arrived almost immediately to take me to the Queen’s chambers, where I explained that my mother had fallen ill, and I had to leave immediately. Part of me felt like the Queen had seen right through the excuse, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I just needed to get out. I handed her the envelope and asked her to give it to Milos whenever he returned. She shook her head as I turned to leave. I stopped as I felt the Queen’s hand on my shoulder.

  I turned around to face her, bowing my head in reverence. She stepped forward, kissed me kindly on the cheek, and nodded knowingly. She might have assumed my rush from the kingdom was due to Milos and his latest escapades, but it was more for my own sanity than anything else. I had to get away from Silesia, from the palace, and especially from Milos, if I was going to work out what to do with this child. I knew I couldn’t raise a baby in a marriage that was a sham, with a man that couldn’t stop flaunting himself all over the country. But what were my choices?

  Within the hour, I was on the plane and airborne. A feeling of relief washed over me, getting stronger with every mile I put in between me and Silesia. I sat and gazed out over the earth below me as I made my way toward Liverpool. I knew that one decision would change everything, but I didn’t know what to do.

  I needed space and air, and the last thing I wanted was Milos dangling the contract over my head. There was no way he was going to welcome this baby into his life, not after his true colors had surfaced. I refused to live a life holed up in the castle, watching as my husband destroyed the beautiful history of a country and taught our child to do the same. This may be the heir to the Silesian throne, but it was also a child, and it deserved so much better than Milos, even if that meant a flat in Liverpool with a half sober grandmother and a single mother. At least I felt comfortable, knowing my child wouldn’t end up like Milos, cold, angry, and incapable of love.

  Chapter 16: Milos

  “Wake up you idiot,” Brat said as he kicked my chair on the plane. “We have landed. Let’s get inside before your mother sees you.”

  “That’s no way to talk to a prince,” I sa
id with slurred words.

  “When you decide to be a prince, I will start treating you as one,” Brat replied.

  I always liked how Brat was straightforward with no bullshit. He and Adriana were similar in that regard, not letting my royal status bother them in the least.

  I grabbed my bag and wobbled down the stairs, glad to see there was a car to drive us to the palace. Brat could be harsh, and I half expected to have to walk back. When we were inside the car, Brat took his gloves off and set his hands on his lap, obviously deciding that he was going to get to the bottom of everything. He cleared his throat and looked back out the window.

  “What was it this time? Your father? Your mother? Or did you just feel like getting completely wasted, embarrassing our kingdom further, and leaving everyone in suspense?”

  “It was nothing, just something with Adriana,” I mumbled.

  “Milos,” Brat said. He leaned forward a bit. “You are letting down your mother, your country, and your pretty little bride.”

  “It’s a fake marriage, or did you forget, too?”

  “Too? Who else forgot? Adriana, a young girl swept up in a fairy tale by a toad that only half resembles a prince? Or perhaps you, who figured out she is more than what she seems?”

  “A little bit of both, I suppose,” I said.

  “Milos, it’s okay to care for this woman,” Brat replied. “You need to go to her and make this all right.”

  “I know,” I sighed, my head spinning.

  The car pulled up out front, and Brat helped me into the castle and to my wing without many people noticing. The servants weren’t expecting to see me, so my wing was usually pretty empty. When we got inside, Brat sat me down in a chair and started ordering everything he could to get me sobered up. I just sat there and stared out the window, trying to get my vision to focus, but feeling too swamped by alcohol to function properly.