by Nana Malone
Her brows drew down. "Are you kidding me right now? My future is tied to your future. So, if you're going back to the Winston Isles, so am I. I can easily catch a flight from there to LA, or London, or wherever I have a job."
I sat back and studied her. "So you want to continue then?"
"What choice do we have? This is it. We made a deal."
I nodded. "Of course. The terms of that deal can change though. It's not like we signed in blood."
Her completely unlined face seemed to pucker. Her lips pursed, her brow furrowed, and she narrowed her gaze. "Are you trying to back out?"
"I thought that’s what you wanted. This was my deal, my end game. So, if you don’t want to do it, I would understand."
She lowered her voice. “It’s just the most dangerous aspects I wanted you to stop. Look, I have my own reasons for still doing this."
"Ouch."
"Oh, really? You're developing feelings now?"
"I always had feelings, Ella."
"Sure. You just keep them so close to the vest."
I sighed. "Okay. If you're coming, that's great. But you probably won't need that entire wardrobe. You're going to the islands. Do you realize how hot it is 99 percent of the time? You can leave the winter wardrobe and have someone send it later."
She lifted a brow. "This is the summer wardrobe."
"Of course, it is."
The driver was already at the door. Roone would be with us. Ariel would be in the follow car. I had specifically requested it that way. Once I double-checked everything, I closed my laptop and packed it away. I glanced back at the Penthouse that had been my home, but not really a home.
"Well, it's been nice."
Downstairs I frowned when I found Ariel waiting for us instead of Roone. "Where is Roone?"
"He'll meet us at the airport. He wanted to double check the security protocol."
Oh, fantastic. Now, I'll be stuck in the car with her. And that scent. "Fine."
"Yeah. You seem really happy about it." She rolled her eyes, opened the door for Ella, and then watched as I climbed in.
As I passed her, I caught another whiff of her, and my whole body went tight. I kept trying to reassure myself that once we were back, I would never have to be in close proximity with her again.
Or so you hope.
I was full of hope now. I was going home. The prodigal prince returned.
Ariel...
I WAS TOTALLY EXHAUSTED. I hadn't even realized how tightly wound I was until we were finally off the plane and I could feel my muscles uncoiling. I'd done it. I had seen him again. I had exorcized that demon out of its deep dark hole and let it go.
You really think you let it go?
Yeah, I'd let him go. I had seen him, and I didn't die. He’d kissed me, and I still didn't die. Now I was home and would be free.
Liar.
As if to prove the strength of my own self-deceit, my mind played back that brutal kiss. The harsh press of his lips on mine, the angry swipe of his tongue, the desperation that seeped into my bones. The way my mind had nearly bent to his will. Just like that.
It was fine. I could survive that. It was just a kiss. I barely thought about it all.
There were lies and there were full on blatant attempts at whoppers. Okay, so I had felt the kiss. And it had been just as I remembered. Worse, because now he had the experience of manhood behind it. Clearly, he'd been kissing a lot of people, and he'd only gotten better. But I couldn't focus on that.
I was back, and I could go back to my job, and pretend. Pretend that none of it had ever happened. It was over. A quick stop to see Penny and I’d be out of here.
Or do you want to check to see if the prince has settled okay?
No. Not even I was that dumb. Not even my level of delusion went that deep. I knew the sooner I got away from him the better.
After all, I’d barely survived. But, that was the point. I had survived, and I was going to keep surviving. I had a job to do. And while he may be back, there was no need for me to see him. I'd have to negotiate with Penny on game nights.
But I could make this work. He sounded like he wanted to be home, but upfront and present for all the royal intrigue? I didn't think so.
I headed to the private quarters of Sebastian and Penny, and when I knocked on their door, it was Penny who greeted me. "Bestie."
I gave her a nod. "'sup?"
She rolled her eyes. "Seb, one of your Knights is present."
I had to smirk at that. "Why do you look disappointed that I'm not actually wearing armor?"
"Because it sucks that you're not wearing armor."
I laughed. “Next time, I’ll wear armor.”
Sebastian called out from the back. He must have been in his office with the doors open. His office was technically further away down the hall, but the rooms were joined by one of the palace's many tunnels. She glanced back to make sure he wasn't on his way. "How did it go?"
I shrugged. "Fine. You know... fine. Totally fine."
Her brows lifted. "So not fine."
"No, it was okay. He is safe, and, um, he's home, apparently, so that was a surprise."
Penny's gaze darted over my face. "You're freaking out."
I shook my head. "No, I am not freaking out. I do not freak out. I am Ariel Scott. I never freak out. It's fine that I had to see him again because I survived. The name of the game is survival. And it's totally fine that it felt like I was getting kicked in the gut. It was also totally okay when he kissed me and all of a sudden it felt like he'd forcibly erased the last ten years. But you know what, it was fine."
Penny. "You guys talk about it?"
I shook my head. "Yeah. That’s the thing. We can’t have a single conversation without a fight. And well he has a fiancée, and we hate each other, and um..."
She pulled me into their quarters and closed the door behind me and took my hand. "Get yourself together. Sebastian is going to be here in a second."
"Oh, I'm together. I'm a professional."
"You look like you're freaking the fuck out."
"Thanks."
"Hey, that's the truth. Deep breath."
I forced myself to inhale deeply, and then I forced myself to release it slowly.
"Another one."
I did it again three times, and what do you know, I did feel calmer.
"Right. Okay, thank you. I just, you know, once we got here and I got off the plane, I started to spin out."
"Yeah. Um, we're going to have to discuss that kiss over a drink."
"Yeah, definitely. I mean, what was he doing? He has a fiancée. And what right does he have to be mad at me?"
“He doesn’t. I—” She abruptly stopped talking at the sound of footsteps down the hall.
Sebastian came out of the tunnel and through the expansive living room. "Ariel. I didn't expect you first. I was waiting for Roone in my office."
"I figured as much. I think he's with the prince, getting him settled or whatever. I just wanted to let you know that we're back and everything for extraction worked fine."
He nodded. "Thank you. I know I disrupted your business by rolling in with the request."
I shook my head. "What are King’s Knights for? I've been briefed out by my team. Everything is on schedule and working out the way it's supposed to for the most part, so it's okay."
He nodded. "Are you okay? You look... I don't know. Tired?"
I gave him my best smile. It probably looked more like a grimace, but whatever. "Yeah well, it was a long flight. I need to get back and make sure Jax and Trace didn't wreck the house and then get ready for my date."
Penny grinned then. "Oh my God, I forgot about your date."
"Well, I’m leaning in. Ian will be a good distraction."
She studied me closely. "You actually like him, right?"
“Of course I like him.” She knew I had to move on. What was she doing?
She held up her hands. “Okay, then, great. I’m sure he’s great.”
But then I realized she was just doing it for Sebastian's benefit. "Oh, you know... we'll see. I know now not to get too excited about these things."
She rolled her eyes. Sebastian shook his head. "Ariel, want me to give you love advice?"
"Your Majesty, as much as I respect you, the last thing on earth you should be doing is giving anyone love advice."
He shrugged with a grin. "Yeah, you might have a point there. But maybe try and have fun. Who is this guy? Should I have Roone do a background—"
"Oh my God, no. No background checks. Besides, I’ve already done one."
He frowned. "I just wanted to help."
"I know. Besides, Penny already offered."
Penny grinned. "I did. After all, there's got to be some perks to working in Intelligence."
"You guys seem to forget that I'm a hacker. I can do it myself."
"Yeah," Penny nodded. "But you want a buffer. Get someone else to find out all the bad things and then give them to you in a manner that won’t make you crazy."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, I'm going to head back. Your Majesty, I'm at your service. Call if you need anything else." I didn't mean that. What I really wanted to say was, 'Please don't fucking call. If it has to do with your cousin, I don't want to hear from you.'
But that was not what I said and certainly not what I’d ever say. It was one thing to weave Penny in on my past disasters, it was another thing entirely to sit in front of my King and tell him all my heart's woes.
"Sure. I will. But I think with Tristan home now, we'll be okay. Within the palace walls, he's safe. We've got Trevor guarding him. I did requisition one of your knights for when he's off palace grounds."
"Yeah, I saw the email come through. I saw that Trace handled it?"
He nodded. "Jameson has been assigned."
"Yep, Jameson is great. She's smart. Measured. Nothing rattles her. She'll be good."
He nodded. "Well, in that case, thank you for everything."
"Yeah, no big deal. You know, just fly to Barcelona on a whim, save a prince, come home. It happens every day."
He shrugged. "Actually, with us it sort of does."
"That's a good point."
With quick hugs and goodbyes, I was headed back to the relative normalcy of my life. But even as I marched along the halls, I just prayed that I would not see Tristan.
NINE
TRISTAN…
"WHEN YOU SAID you were a prince, you left out the part about the ridiculous castle." Ella’s head tipped up like every tourist I’d ever seen as she took in the ceiling work of one of the masters.
"Well, I mean, I'm pretty sure prince indicates castle. Or in this case, palace really."
"Yeah, but this is another kind of palace. And I have seen the palace in Monaco. The prince had an event I attended there a couple of years ago. But this—this is next level. This is a fairytale kind of palace."
"Oh, it's not like you haven't seen a palace before. Our British cousins have them."
"Yeah, sure. But come on, even you have to admit this is cool."
I shrugged. "Yeah, it's not bad, but it's not mine."
Her gaze flickered to mine. "So, are we going to meet your cousin, or what?"
"Yeah, Roone scheduled a meeting with him in a little bit, and then we'll all have dinner tonight. You'll love Penny."
Ella frowned. "Penny?"
I kept forgetting that part of our arrangement was that she ignore any of the royal drama. I didn't know if she was faking it or if this was real. "She's the queen."
She blinked twice. "I don't think I have anything to wear fit for a queen."
I rolled my eyes. "Penny isn't your typical queen. There is a good chance she's going to have paint on her face, or her hair, or even her clothes when you meet her."
Ella's brows snapped down. "Paint?"
"Yeah, she's actually a really good artist. It's one of the things that bonded her and Sebastian."
"Wow, okay. So like, in-a-loft, paint-under-the-fingernails kind of artist?"
"Minus the loft. I think Sebastian gave her a room to paint in or something. I don't know all the details. And I don't know if she's painting as much anymore. When she returned to the Winston Isles with Sebastian, she took on more Royal Guard duties, so probably not."
"Royal Guard?"
That was a closely guarded secret. Well okay, not exactly a secret. It was common knowledge that Penny had been a Guard, but no one knew that she was still in the Guard. Hell, I didn't even know how that worked. As queen, she needed to have a guard herself, and I knew for a fact Sebastian wasn't going to take any chances with his wife. Especially after what Ashton had tried to do to her.
That brother of mine, he really was the devil within.
"Yeah, long story short, she was a Royal Guard. She guarded Sebastian, then they fell in love."
Ella grinned. "So you mean she guarded his body?"
I rolled my eyes. "Funny. Yes, basically. But she's still a Guard now."
"So she's a total badass."
I nodded. "And really sweet too. You'll like her. Everyone likes Penny."
"Okay, noted. Make friends with Penny."
It was my turn to grin. "You might want to start by being super nice to Ariel too. The two of them are best friends."
Her mouth dropped open. "What? You could have mentioned that before."
"Well, it didn't seem important before. But now that you mentioned it, yeah, kind of important."
"Great. So basically, I’ve already made an enemy."
"Well, Ariel doesn't need to be an enemy."
"Right. So, I should make friends with your ex?"
Ex didn't seem like the right word for what Ariel and I were. But for all intents and purposes, it worked. "Look, the match in Chile isn't for another few weeks. You'll be free after that. But until then, you probably should make a friend or two."
"Right. Sorry, I'm not used to having friends and stuff. In Barcelona, I was just trying to keep to myself, you know?"
"No, I get it. Trust me. Me, of all people, I get it. But here, you're safe. More so than you were in Barcelona. So make friends and try to stay out of trouble."
"Right, got it. You're so sure about this plan."
"Well, as sure as I'm ever going to get. When everything works right, you'll be free to do anything you want."
"What if I want to stay here?"
My brows lifted. "Oh, I didn't even consider you’d want to stay here. Of course, you can. We can find you a really nice flat."
"I suppose I wouldn't stay in the palace anymore, would I?"
Why would she want to? "Um, no. It wouldn't really make sense. Anyone with a residence inside the palace generally needs a Royal Guard. I'm not sure if we could get away with you staying. Especially after the news comes out."
"No, I get it. I'm just—I don't know. I think I could get used to living in the palace."
"Right. Well, at least one of us will be enjoying it."
"Sorry, I forgot. For you, this was basically hell on earth."
"Not always. I had Sebastian. We're not staying though. Don't get caught up in this. Things are different now, so don't buy into it. You will only end up disappointed."
"So what, when we're done, you'll just get out of here?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm staying. This is my home. I have no reason to avoid it anymore. But I probably won't stay in the palace. Too many bad memories."
"I understand. So it's just a little longer, and we'll both be free?"
"Yeah. Freedom." It wasn't what I'd often thought about. To the outside world, of course, I was free. I was a prince and an athlete. I could have anything that I wanted in the world. Except peace. But soon, I'd be able to have that. And then I wouldn't have to be afraid anymore.
"Once Chile is over you’ll be able to do whatever it is you want in the world.”
"Right, just as soon as I help you with Ashton."
I frowned. I didn't want to think about it
, her, anywhere near Ashton. But that was our bargain. We were both making sure that the skeletons of our past didn't haunt our future.
“I’ve already told you. You don’t have to do that anymore. We’re way past that.”
She searched my gaze. “I always pay my debts. And after everything we’ve been through, we’re friends. I don’t want you to have to carry around pain either.”
I wasn’t used to letting anyone take care of me, and I wasn’t starting now. Just as soon as I had Max under control, I’d find another plan for Ashton. Because no way was I going to put Ella at risk for my own benefit.
TEN
TRISTAN…
CONSIDERING how things had turned out, Sebastian was remarkably calm. I expected more yelling. But no, he just leaned back in his chair and stared at me under a hooded gaze that was hard to read.
"So, you were just never going to tell me your big plan about coming home?"
Here went nothing. From now on, navigating through the truth and the lies was going to get trickier. "The deal was sensitive, and I had no control over the situation. I'm sorry about that." Not to mention there were members on the Regents Council that would have actively tried to stop the deal from going through. And I couldn’t take that risk.
"I was working for your safety, Tristan."
"I know, and I appreciate it, but I told you I had it under control. I didn't need you riding in to the rescue."
"Riding in to the rescue? Some idiot shot at you. Some idiot shot Frank."
Yeah, that one burned. Some idiot had shot Frank. All because of me.
"Do you even care?"
My brows snapped down. "Are you fucking kidding me? Of course, I care. I just—"
"Why the secrecy?"
"It was a tough deal. The Argonauts had been burned before, so they didn't want to announce the trade."
His gaze narrowed, and he watched me warily. "Are you sure that's all it is?"
"Yeah, what else could it be? I’m just happy to be back again. I honestly don’t want anything to do with the politics, I swear. I’m just here to play." And that was the truth. I wanted to stay off the Council’s radar as much as possible.
