by Erika Kelly
There’s no one else I want to go through life with than this woman.
But he still didn’t know what was going on, so he got a hold of himself. “Spell it out for me, sweetheart, before I have a heart attack—oh, damn. I’m sorry. That was a shit thing to say.”
“It’s all right.” She smiled with affection. “My father’s going to be fine. In fact, he’s going to be better than before.”
“Glad to hear it.” His heart beat so thick and hard he could hear the drumbeat in his ears. “So, what’d I walk in on?”
“That was my father firing Marcel and his father.”
“Whoa. That’s…big news.”
“It actually happened a few days ago, but they’ve been fighting it. Fortunately, as my father pointed out, the Allards don’t have any dirt on us, so there’s nothing they can do. They believe they’ve given their whole lives to the royal family, and they haven’t gotten their due.”
“What’s that even mean? What’s their due? They have jobs like anyone else. Their employer decided to fire them.”
“It’s a historical thing. The Allard family has worked as agents for the Villeneuves for generations.”
“Doesn’t mean you owe them anything.”
“Exactly.”
She looked so pretty, her dark hair glossy in the afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows, her lips red and wet from his mouth. His fingers flexed, because he wanted to kiss her again so damn bad. “So, what’s next? If you still have to get married, I want it to be me. Like I said, I’ll move here. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you.” That was her royal voice. She stiffened and pulled away from him. “That’s kind of you, but when I marry, it’s going to be for love. Not duty, and definitely not as a favor.”
“Favor? Rosie, I…” Would you slow the hell down? She’s in the middle of a shitstorm. It wasn’t the time to declare his feelings. “How did the vote go? It was on Tuesday, right?”
“It went better than anyone could have dreamed. I was on my way to the castle for a press conference to announce my engagement, but I knew it was wrong on every level. It made no sense, so I put up a petition on my website. Within ten minutes, I had enough signatures to put a referendum before parliament. I pointed out how ridiculous it was for the nation to view me as nothing more than a vessel for the next heir. I also reminded them what our family has done for this country and how removing the monarchy would make us just like any other European nation.”
“You spoke in front of parliament?”
“I did. Not only did they vote for the line of succession to include women, but the People’s Party lost some seats in Tuesday’s vote. So, it’s all good.”
“Does that mean you can come home? Shit. Sorry. I meant come back to Calamity. Just to finish our project?”
Another of those elegant but empty smiles. “Well, I fought for the right to lead my country, so unfortunately, it means I have to take over for my father while he recuperates. After that, I’ll be working with him, so I can learn everything and be ready to take over when he steps down.”
“Does that mean…”
She nodded, resolute. “No more chemistry for me.”
“But that’s your heart.”
“It’s a lot better than marrying Marcel.”
He didn’t like seeing her slip back into princess mode. “Sounds like you’ve got it all worked out. Where do I fit into this new world?”
“I’m not sure you do.” Gaze cast down, voice quiet and subdued, Rosalina was back in full force.
“Bullshit.” And that was it. He’d had enough. In one step, he was in front of her. Bending his knees, he gripped her ass, lifted her, and walked her to the nearest couch. Setting her on the arm, he nudged her knees apart and stepped between them, tipping her chin. “Listen to me, Rosie, I love you. I love you so fucking much there’s not a chance I’m going to live without you. And if you live here, then I’ll live here.”
“You don’t know what this life is like. It’s nothing like Calamity.”
“But it has you.” He paused. “You love me?”
“I do.” She nodded, tears glistening. “I love you so much.”
He started to kiss her, but the worry in her eyes stopped him. “But?”
“But I’m scared. You’re not going to like it here.”
“You know that house I’m building? I designed a lab for you. We can live here, and we can spend time in Calamity. But, just so you know, if I never see Calamity again, I’m still gonna die a happy man, because I’m going to get to spend my life with you.”
“Brodie.”
But he didn’t hear anything more, because his mouth sealed over hers. Relief crashed over him. She loves me. Their tongues tangled, her fingers fisting in his button-down shirt.
He kissed a path to her neck and breathed her in. Yanking on the tie behind her neck, he lowered the straps of her sundress. “I fucking missed you. You ever been at the summit, so high there’s not enough oxygen?”
She nodded, as she tugged the tail of his shirt out of his khakis.
“That’s what it felt like after you left. All week, I couldn’t take a full breath. I felt sick. Nothing felt right.”
“I know. I felt the same way.”
“But you were really going to move on without me?”
“My father…”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sure it scared the crap out of you. But I want you to hear me when I say that next time, you wait for me. Because everything from this minute on, we do together. You get a call like that again, know that I’ll drop everything if you need me to be with you.”
“I always need you to be with me.” She stood up, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Always, Brodie.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
In the formal dining room, thirty-six dignitaries enjoyed a ten-course meal hosted by His Serene Highness the Prince of St. Christophe and his wife. Their good friends, the Prince and Princess of Monaco, sat to her father’s left.
After spending the summer in jeans and sundresses, Rosalina felt constricted in her form-fitting designer gown, so she couldn’t imagine how Brodie, seated across the table and a few chairs down, felt in his tuxedo. Though, he did look strikingly handsome.
She doubted he was aware of the number of times he’d tugged on the collar of his shirt. Beside him sat Jean Luc, his royal protocol coach—not that anyone but the royal family knew the man’s identity as anything other than Lord Fortier.
The moment Brodie leaned toward the person next to him—the Prince of Andorra—to enter into a conversation, Jean Luc discreetly tapped his thigh. Brodie immediately pulled back. She didn’t have to hear them to know that Jean Luc was quietly explaining that Brodie, a commoner, could only speak when the Prince initiated conversation.
Brodie looked like he wanted to push back his chair, rip off his tie, and get the hell out of this stuffy room. And he’d only been in St. Christophe a little over a month.
Imagine him a year from now. Ten years.
This is no life for him.
She knew down to her bones he’d be miserable here.
But it’s the only life for me.
A rush of affection for her parents rolled through her, and she reached for her father’s hand. He cut away from his conversation—and she loved him for that, for always being there for her. “I love you, Papa.”
“I love you, my sweet girl.”
“I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“Me, too. I want to live to see my girls become the women they’re meant to be. Whatever that means.” He tipped his head toward Brodie. “We’re about to retire to the parlor for after dinner drinks, so it’s a good time to whisk your mountain man out of here.”
“Thank you. I’ll do that.” She gave Brodie a look that said, Ready to go?
He didn’t even hesitate. Just popped up, balled his napkin, and tossed it on his chair. With a hand on his suitcoat, he gave a short bow to the pe
ople around him and excused himself.
She met him in the hallway. “You looked like you were dying in there.”
“Nah. I’ve suffered through plenty of fundraisers and galas in my time.”
Reaching for his hand, she led him toward the staircase. “I doubt they had so many rules.”
“You’d be right about that. Where we going?”
“As gorgeous as you look in that suit, I want to strip you out of it and see what’s left of that six-pack you used to have before Chef got you fat on her croissants. Follow me.”
He barked out a laugh, and she couldn’t help glancing at the portraits lining the hallway. She’d pushed through revolutionary changes in her country, and she didn’t know what her ancestors would think of them. But it didn’t matter. Her generation would lead the nation into the future, and she wasn’t the least bit apologetic.
“Anywhere, Princess.”
“What do you say tomorrow we blow off everything and go hiking? We can bring a picnic.”
“You’ve got your first board meeting for the apprenticeship program.”
“Right.” She wouldn’t bail on the committee. “It’s at eleven, so we can leave right after. We’ll have a picnic dinner.”
He shook his head. “It’s your father’s first day back on the job. I think he’d like you to be around to fill him in on things.”
“You’re right.” She stopped at the bottom of the staircase and placed a hand on his chest. “Okay, then, let’s go right now.” She needed him to be happy here. He couldn’t live the way she once had—off duty alone. Lord knows she hadn’t been able to do it, and he was an outdoorsman who needed to be active. “We can hike up to the cirque lake. It’s an amazing view at night.”
“Sounds good.”
“Great.” See, we can find a balance. “Let me get it set up.”
“What do you mean? What’s to set up? We’re just hiking.”
“Nothing’s ever that simple around here. Come on.” Instead of heading up the stairs, she continued down the hallway to the kitchen, where she found Harrison playing cards with some of the other staff. “Hey, can I talk to you a second?”
“Of course.” Her bodyguard’s chair scraped on the stone floor. “What’s up?”
She slipped her arm through Brodie’s. “We’d like to hike up to the cirque lake.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, if that’s all right.”
“Absolutely. Give me an hour to take care of it.”
“Great, thank you. We’ll go change.” Excited, she led Brodie up the back stairs. Once in her bedroom, she shut the door and turned her back to him. “Can you please unzip me?”
“Sure.” His voice sounded normal, but he didn’t know she could see his face in the mirror across the room. His strained expression worried her. “What does he mean by ‘take care of it?’ We’re just hiking up the mountain.”
“I know, but he has to send a team out ahead of us to clear the trail.”
“Clear the trail? You mean everyone has to leave the area?”
She nodded. “I know it sounds awful, but it’s the way our security works. And, at this hour, there probably won’t be many people out there.”
He shook his head. “Forget it. We can hike another day. I’m not making people leave just so I can take a walk.”
Of course, she understood. She quickly shot off a text to Harrison. Change of plans. Thanks anyhow. “What would you like to do instead?”
He yanked off his bow tie. “I’m going to hit the gym.” He reached for the buttons on his starched, white shirt.
Pulling his arm towards her, she unfastened the cuff link. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He sounded a little curt, and he definitely avoided looking her in the eye.
Finished with the other sleeve, she dropped the cuff links into a small porcelain bowl on her dresser. Watching him step out of his pants and into a pair of gym shorts made her unbearably sad. She handed him a clean T-shirt. “I know you hate working out in a gym.”
“It’s fine.” He jammed his feet into running shoes and headed for the door. “Won’t be long.”
“Brodie?”
His muscles spasmed, and it looked like he’d used up all his restraint to stop and wait for her to continue.
“I hate this. I hate how unhappy you are here, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
And just like that, concern replaced his annoyance. “I’m fine, princess.” He must’ve seen the doubt in her eyes, because he came back to her. “You don’t have to apologize for your life. You just need to give me a little time to find my way here. I promise you, before long, I’ll have a couple projects going and everything will be good.” He kissed her mouth and walked out the door.
But he was wrong. It wouldn’t be good. They were both dying here.
Something had to change.
She knocked on her parents’ bedroom door. “Mama?”
“Yes, dear. Come in.”
She found the prince and princess of St. Christophe tucked into their big bed under a deep blue comforter. Wearing silk pajamas and reading glasses, they both had piles of paperbacks on their nightstands, and each was engrossed in a book. Her father, a science geek like her, was reading about mineral deposits in the Alps, while her mother read something for her book club.
Her father lowered his reading glasses. “Everything all right?”
“I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of a pickle.”
“Americans have the strangest expressions.” Her father sounded amused.
“They do. So, you know I meant every word I said to parliament, and I’m honored and so pleased the vote came out on the right side of justice.”
“Yes, and we’re just so very excited for you to become Head of State,” her mother said. “So excited, that your father’s decided to retire early.”
“Tomorrow, in fact,” her father said. “I’ve enjoyed this six-week hiatus so much, and you’ve done such a bang-up job handling everything in my absence…you might as well carry on.”
“This isn’t funny.” They were joking, right? He couldn’t just retire and leave her to run a nation.
“Quite the opposite,” her father said. “It’s invigorating, really.” He tipped his chin, peering at her over his glasses. “Do you mind if I take over the lab? I’d like to turn it into my man cave.”
Her mom elbowed him. “Get a big screen TV so we can watch the rest of that BBC series we started.”
“Already ordered. I’d like a Barcalounger myself, with cup holders.” He nudged his wife right back. “You?”
“Do they have ones with coolers? I do hate when my wine spritzers grow warm.”
Rosalina grinned. “You two are nuts.”
Her mother set down her book. “Darling, this life is not for you.”
She perked up. “Is that terrible?”
“Do you think we know you so little?” Her father set his book down. “Come.”
She crawled onto the mattress, the way she’d done so many times as a child. Settling between her parents, she breathed in the most familiar scents in the world. Her mom’s hand lotion had hints of lavender and vanilla, and her father’s spicy, rich, masculine soap scent infused his pajamas.
Her dad lifted an arm, and Rosalina nestled under it. “When you were a little girl, you used to sit outside with Anne-Marie while she tended the garden. You had little plastic bowls and spoons, and you’d make these concoctions out of mud and berries and leaves and grass.”
“I remember that.”
“You’re a chemist,” her mother said. “And a perfumer. And you are not complete unless you are concocting.”
“And now you’ve fallen in love,” her father said. “With a cowboy who’s as comfortable in a tuxedo as I would be in assless chaps.”
“Papa.”
Grinning, her mother bopped him over the head with her book. Wow, she hadn’t seen them this playful with each other in ages. She was so glad the vo
te had gone their way.
“So, about that cowboy…” Rosalina watched their expressions carefully. “He says it’s an adjustment.”
“One that’s not necessary to make at this time,” her mother said.
“What’re you saying?”
“I’m back now, sweetheart.” Her father closed his book. “I’m going to resume my duties.”
“But I need to learn so I can take over when you’re ready to step down.”
“While your head is in the lab,” her father said. “Your sister’s is in the board room. When she graduates the London School of Economics, she’ll likely head to business school, and then she can come home and work with me. In the meantime…”
“I’m going to take a more visible role.” Her mother sounded proud and fierce.
“It’s about time.” The rightness of this moment flowed through her, making her feel light and airy.
“It certainly is,” her mother said. “And it wouldn’t be happening had it not been for you. So, you’re free, Rosalina. We give you our blessing to go wherever your heart takes you.”
She was going home.
To Calamity.
With the lights out and heavy drapes blocking the moonlight, Brodie couldn’t see a damn thing. Silently, he closed the door. She had a full day tomorrow so he wouldn’t wake her, but he needed to talk to her, set some things straight.
He shouldn’t have taken so long in the gym. Should’ve come back and reassured her they’d be all right. But he’d had some things to work out, and now he could be less of a dick about living here.
Cutting across the room, he headed for the bathroom. After a quick shower, he’d get in bed. Talk to her in the morning.
She’s not getting out of this bed until she knows how much I love her. And that he’d figured out a way to be happy here.
