It took the few minutes for her to walk to him for his breathing to get back under control.
Hadrian moved to her as she approached, and Nico put her arm on his.
“I thought you had run away,” Hadrian whispered.
“Thought about it,” Sydney said. “But it’s muddy, and I’d ruin the heels.” She grinned at him.
“Don’t do that again,” Hadrian said, his heart still hammering away. Hell, it could have built a new organ in the last few moments.
“And so it starts,” Sydney said with a laugh.
Hadrian grinned.
“This is going to be an interesting union,” Robert muttered. Nico stepped to the side of Robert, saying nothing, but his eyes were filled with laughter.
“I second that,” Hadrian’s mother chimed in.
Hadrian rolled his eyes. “Do you mind, we’re trying to get married here.”
Sydney snorted, bringing the flowers up to her mouth to keep from outright laughing.
The judge glanced from Hadrian to Sydney and back to Hadrian. “And you’re a prince of some kind?”
Hadrian shook his head. “Some days.” He glanced at Sydney, who’d put the flowers down, her eyes dancing in mirth.
“Let’s get married.”
Sydney nodded. “Yes. Let’s.”
The ceremony was a standard wedding—short, sweet and to the point. The judge didn’t do any long spiel about God or any of that, mostly he got down to it.
Which was fine with me.
In fact, I half expected it to be over when that was done, because there wasn’t a ring.
Or at least, I didn’t know there was.
Even now, a couple of hours later, I couldn’t believe I was married. Well, except for the huge rock on my finger.
And oh boy, was it huge.
A large, two carat round solitaire surrounded by a bed of twined together ropes of metal and glistening stones. Hadrian’s ring matched, the same intertwined rope, with tiny diamonds in between.
Hadrian had said this was temporary. I told him I didn’t think I could hold anything larger on my finger.
“Do you want some more cake?” Hadrian asked, coming up to me.
I’d been staring outside at the evening, the water was turning a dark midnight blue, now that the sun had gone down, and all the hills around the water, which were covered with trees looked like an unfinished painting. Like the artist forgot to put the highlights in.
“I couldn’t eat anymore cake,” I said as I squinted down at the water. “Is that rain?” I reached for the door handle. Hadrian didn’t answer in time for me to open the door and step outside.
I didn’t care that I was in my wedding dress. The rain was cold and chilly, making me shiver as I stood on the deck.
“You know what they say,” Hadrian said as he came up behind me, slipping his jacket over my shoulders. “If it rains on your wedding day, you’ll have a baby by your anniversary.”
I snorted, tipping my head back into the drops of water. They came down on me, a surreal attack from the sky, and I wondered if that’s how a mouse felt. Or an ant.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nico coming out on the deck, standing in the far corner, as much out of the rain as possible. I glanced at him, but he didn’t acknowledge me, doing that scanning around thing that he did.
Looking for threats.
This was my life. This was what I’d be a part of for the rest of my life. “We really are married.”
Hadrian put his arms around me. “Yes. We are.” He started pulling me to the overhang off the back of the house.
“I bet you didn’t think, on that trip to Vegas, you’d be meeting your future wife.” I covered his hands with mine as he held me, letting his warmth seep inside my skin.
“And I bet you didn’t think you’d be a titled woman today, did you?”
“How does that work? Nico said I wasn’t a princess? Even though you’re a prince?” The thought had been puzzling me.
Among a thousand other strange thoughts.
Hadrian kissed my neck. “I am a prince, like my father. In Koros, the only princess allowed by marriage is the wife of the crown prince. But since I inherited the title of grand duke, you are now the Duchess of Bouzio.”
“But I’m not a princess?”
He kissed my neck again. He wasn’t kidding when he said he loved my neck. “You’re not a princess. But our children will be princes and princesses. Though they’ll be so far down the procession, they’ll never get anywhere near the crown.”
I smirked. “Kinda like you?”
He went stiff for a moment. “Yes, like me.”
I stroked his arm again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay. You’re right, though. Especially if this child is a boy. He’ll be…” He held up his fingers and started to count. “Michel, his child, if it’s a boy, me and then our son. Fourth.”
“What about your cousins? Don’t you have a couple of girl cousins with kids?” I thought I’d read that before when he’d been away.
“Elizabeth has a son,” Hadrian said, “But he’s after me in the procession.”
I blinked. “Why? She’s the king’s daughter, right?”
“It goes to the men born from the king. Then to nephews, then back to the king’s grandchildren. The females only get counted after all the males run out.” He licked a line up my neck to my earlobe, making me shiver.
“Kinda old-fashioned.” I hoped my voice didn’t sound as heady to him as it did to me, but it was his fault. He was the one doing all the kissing and licking and…
Oh, this isn’t helping.
More kisses. “Royalty is old-fashioned.”
“So if it got that far, you could very well be king.”
“Yes.”
“Would I be queen?”
He teased my ear again. “Face it, Syd, you’re going to be a duchess.”
“Well, if I must, I must.”
Hadrian’s hands started to run over my body, sliding in between my breasts, his hand caressing me through my dress. “Now, my love, I think it’s time I take you upstairs…”
I arched into him. “Do we have to wait until we get there?” Pressing my hips into his, he was awake and ready. He growled in my ear as I rocked my bottom into him.
We hadn’t had sex since we got here. The plan was to wait until we were married, especially since it was only another day. But as Hadrian kissed me, I wanted to toss him in the nearest lounger, rain be damned.
Hadrian cupped my breast, his fingers grazing my nipple and tugging at it, the satiny dress adding an extra layer of awareness to the move.
“I think it’s time that we…” I said, arching into Hadrian, his body keeping me warm, though the rain was doing its best to chill me.
“Yes,” he said, “we should go inside and see if we can break the bed.” I heard the sound of the door open, and Nico slipped inside, giving us some privacy.
I chuckled, but the rain drowned it out as it started to pick up as Hadrian turned me around.
He started kissing me, and I was warm, our tongues immediately doing the tango. I slid my hands down his back, feeling his muscles under his damp shirt.
The rain was a stark contrast to his warm body, tapping my head, wetting my neck.
His hands wrapped around me, under his jacket, and tipped into the low back of the dress, breezing over my skin, cool and soft, sending shivers of pleasure through me.
“Break the bed…the table…the chairs…” I moaned.
“We’ll have to kick out the guards.” Hadrian’s kisses started to spread downward, attacking the open neckline, covering me with licks and nips.
“That’ll go over well,” I mumbled, at least that’s what I tried to say. He tended to take coherent thought out of my head. The light flickered on the deck, and I imagined the guards were meandering about inside, probably trying to give us privacy, but still do their job.
A strange noise broke through t
he rain—a clunking of boots or something against the back of the house. I turned to look out into the night, to see what made the noise.
“Is there a guard down at the water’s edge?” I asked him.
Hadrian put his hand in my hair. “I don’t know,” he said, turning me back to him, and capturing my lips in a kiss that warmed me all the way to my toes.
I heard the sound again. “Hadrian?” I pulled away, watching the shadowed area where the deck started down the stairs to the water.
Emerging from the shadows came a figure.
I froze. I knew that figure. Even dripping wet, I knew it wasn’t one of the refrigerator guards. He was too small.
Jim came forward, flashlight in his hand. “Hello, Sydney. It’s time for you to come home now.”
“Jim?” I stared at him. “How? What are you doing here?” Hadrian took my arm and guided me behind him. My heart hammered as I moved around Hadrian, but wound up stepping to the right of him to see Jim.
I couldn’t believe this. This was insane. Jim shouldn’t be here. I wasn’t… He couldn’t…
I ground my teeth. This was my wedding day, dammit.
Jim pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. It looked like my new phone. “GPS. Lou over at the police station helped me. Isn’t technology grand?” He stuck the evil device back in his pants.
My stomach started to roll. Of course Jim would have drinking buddies on the police force. I wanted to kill Luke for enabling the GPS on my phone.
Hadrian held out his right arm, holding me back. I put my hand on his arm. “You followed me here.” The rain started pouring more violently and Jim looked like a blur in the shower, not seeming to care that he was soaked.
“She’s not yours anymore,” Hadrian said.
Jim raised his brow at him. “She will always be mine.” Jim knelt on the deck, like he was fiddling with his shoe. When he stood, metal shined in his hand, reflecting the lights inside the house.
He held a handgun. A revolver if I wasn’t mistaken.
Jim didn’t bring the gun up, but at least made sure I saw the thing. “Forever and ever until death do we part.”
“I left you.” I stared Jim down, trying to intimidate him. “And I’ll never take you back.” Not that it worked.
Hadrian stepped directly in front of me, blocking Jim’s line of sight.
“Oh you will,” Jim said. “And I am not mad you’re pregnant. You’ll never carry the baby to term anyway.”
I felt a stab in my gut like he’d plunged a knife in me. It made me furious that he’d say such a thing. There was a part of me that was afraid of that very thing. To hear it articulated so cruelly…
“You sick bastard,” Hadrian said, stepping closer to him. I reached for his shoulder, trying to pull him back.
I knew this man. I knew Jim. He wouldn’t be against shooting Hadrian.
Jim never did play fair.
“You think this will bring me back?” A tear came out of my eye. “Scaring me? Stalking me? I’m not the one with problems moving on, Jim, you are.”
And I finally figured it out. Like a dolt, I realized that the reason he was doing this, it was as obvious as the wedding ring on my finger. I left him. I called the shot.
“You can’t deal with me leaving,” I said. “You can’t handle me being strong enough to tell you to get lost.”
Jim came closer. “You are mine.” He was out of arm’s reach of Hadrian, the gun shaking in his fingers.
Any second now, he’d raise it…
And someone would get shot tonight.
This wasn’t even about love. Love had never entered in the picture with Jim. This was about conquest. Plain and simple.
Control.
“You can’t control me, Jim.” I made a point of laying my left hand on Hadrian’s arm, showing off the fairly large diamond ring on my finger.
Hadrian’s other arm made a motion with his hand, one I didn’t recognize. He might have hit the window, I couldn’t tell for certain.
“Wanna bet?” Jim said, raising the gun in his hand. Whether it was aimed at me or at Hadrian, I wasn’t sure.
It didn’t matter. The guards, Nico and Robert in the lead, burst through the door.
As soon as the gun came up, Hadrian and I were on the ground, covered by Nico, while Robert and the other two fired at Jim.
A barrage of shots pierced the sky. They were so loud. My ears were ringing, partially from the gunshots, part from hitting the ground.
“Are you alright, Your Grace?” Nico whispered. “Your Highness?”
“Fine,” Hadrian said, pushing up, and in effect, getting Nico off both of us.
I glanced over my shoulder at Nico, not sure if he was talking to me. Hadrian held out his hand, helping me up. I shook all over, barely able to hear anything.
“Your Grace?” Nico said again.
“Fine,” I said, realizing that I was “Your Grace” now. No one had used the term since the wedding a few hours before, or at least, not that I remembered.
Hadrian held me close to him, and I gripped his shirt, trying to steady myself. I buried my head in his shoulder. Twisting to the side, I saw where the guards stood around Jim.
The rain washed the blood down the wood planks, and it disappeared in between the cracks. Jim’s dark clothes camouflaged the bullet holes. I couldn’t tell where he’d been hit. But already, he was pale, deathly pale, his eyes wide, staring into the night.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said, covering my mouth.
Hadrian let go of me as I darted away, toward the other side of the balcony, spewing up the remaining contents of my stomach.
I was vaguely aware of Hadrian escorting me inside.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
My head pounded, my stomach contracting, objecting to no longer having food in it, and when I emerged from the shower this time, I simply stayed in my bathrobe and dropped on the bed, exhaustion overwhelming me. I’d cried the entire time in the shower, and already my eyes were swelling up like I’d been punched in the face.
My phone laid on the nightstand, and I picked it up, squeezing it in my hand, as if to crush it, but I had no strength.
Damn thing.
I would have thought a new phone would be a good thing. Technology was supposed to help people. Not enlist them in stalking.
I hurled the thing across the room, hearing it clatter against the far wall.
“No more high-end phones for me,” I muttered.
The door snapped open, and Nico stuck his head in.
“What?” I snapped.
Nico saw the phone on the floor, glanced at me, and shut the door.
Guilt hit me hard. I shouldn’t have done that. Nico was a person, like anyone else. I shouldn’t have snapped at him. I headed to the door, and pulled it open. Nico stood outside with another guard, one I didn’t know.
I should learn his name. It would be only polite.
“I’m sorry,” I said to Nico. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
He raised his eyebrow at me, as did the other guard. “It is fine, Your Grace.”
I shook my head. “It’s not fine. You’re a person. Not a servant,” I said, a new set of tears welling up in my eyes. “We’re all people…” my words were hanging in the air as I started to cry more.
We’re all people. Even Jim…
I covered my face with my hands, partially to conceal the tears, partially to wipe them away.
“Thank you,” Nico said. “Your Grace, please, get some rest. Paolo will be on guard all night. You are safe, Your Grace.”
I nodded, thankful to know the other guard’s name, and closed the door. I collapsed on my bed. It was then I realized I hadn’t addressed the other guard. It was on the tip of my tongue to call out, to thank him for watching over me, but I stopped.
Would it make it better?
Would it make what the guards did easier to swallow, knowing they’d killed for me? Sydney, the hairdresser?
My
stomach roiled.
I guess I wasn’t Sydney the hairdresser anymore, though. I was Sydney Drake, Duchess of Bouzio now.
I rubbed my head. What had I been thinking? What was the matter with me? Running off and marrying Hadrian? I don’t even know him. Not really. Yet my heart screamed that I did know him. At least a little. The Biblical sense? Yes, absolutely. But what about the rest of him?
This was getting me nowhere. I crawled under the covers, bathrobe still in place, and rested my head on the pillow.
Everything felt swirly and painful. And some more tears rolled out of my eyes.
I thought I’d used them up already. Yet they kept coming. I could barely see as it was.
And everything was so mixed up and twisted. Did I love Jim? Not in the slightest. Did I want him to go away? Absolutely.
Did I want him to die?
No.
The really shitty thing was that in the back of my head, there was this little voice that was happy that he was gone.
He’d never bother me again. I’d never have to run from him, worry he was watching me…all that icky stuff.
But I couldn’t help crying. He had a family. A mother, a father, people who would mourn him. Even I was mourning him in a way. I knew eventually I’d close the chapter to Jim and be able to go on. But that was the logical side of me, the part I didn’t want to listen to right now.
I wanted him to go away, I don’t deny that.
I didn’t think it would be this way. And it wasn’t like he was in a car wreck out on the highway or something. They shot him.
Several times.
In essence, it was murder. Or possibly some version of self-defense. Regardless, it was my fault. They had acted protecting me, and for the rest of my life, I’ll know Jim was killed because of me, on my wedding day to Hadrian.
My fault for wanting it all—my fault for thinking I deserved happiness, a hairdresser marrying a prince.
I wiped my tears away. Hadrian had told me not to worry. That it all would be worked out. Something about political immunity or some such. I wasn’t really listening. But it didn’t matter. It was still the same results.
The Reluctant Prince Page 25
