“Please sit,” he said, returning, his gaze intense. “What’s going on?” I asked softly. “Is everything okay?”
Ricard let out a humorless laugh. “Not particularly, no.” He handed me the tablet. “My brother has arrived in the United States. He’s looking for me.”
I took the tablet, scanning the screen. My stomach dropped. The headline read:ROYAL SCANDAL DEEPENS: CROWN PRINCESS HELENE DEPARTS FOR HOMELAND AMID INFIDELITY RUMORS.
“Jesus,” I muttered, reading how his sister-in-law had left his brother, taking their kids with her, just days before a major royal celebration. All because of allegations that Crown Prince Remy had fathered a child with an American model. I handed the tablet back, still stunned. “Your brother is here? In Texas?”
“In Dallas,” Ricard confirmed. “Vincent got a message from my assistant. Remy thought I was there. He’s holed up in a hotel, waiting for me.”
“Great,” I said, trying to keep the bluntness in check. “What’s the plan?”
Ricard ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “I don’t know. Vincent has offered a private jet to take me to Dallas tomorrow morning. I guess I’ll have to see what Remy wants.”
He looked lost in that moment, a world away from the confident man I first met. This was Ricard stripped bare, emotionally vulnerable in a way that made my chest ache.
“What do you think I should do?” he asked, catching me off guard. “I know it’s unfair to ask, but I value your perspective.”
His admission sent butterflies tumbling through my stomach. “Honestly? I’m not sure I’m the best person for royal family drama,” I said, forcing a smile that felt weak.
“You have a brother, though,” Ricard pointed out. “You’ve mentioned him.”
I nodded, a pang of guilt hitting me at the thought of Casey. “Yeah, I do.”
“What would you do?” Ricard pressed. “If your brother really… screwed up and needed your help? If he was in trouble?”
That hit home, but not in the way he probably thought. My reasons for being here, working at The Ranch—it all came down to that drive. “I’d go to him,” I said finally. “The whole reason I’m here is to help my brother. To get him the medical treatments he needs.”
Ricard’s eyes widened. “C’est pour ça que…That is why—”
“Yeah,” I nodded, hearing it out loud felt freeing. “There’s not much I wouldn’t do to protect my brother. It’s a special bond, you know? Being brothers.”
Ricard's expression shifted, something like recognition flickering in his eyes. “I understand that more than you might think, though from the opposite perspective.” He hesitated, then added, “Remy was always the charming one, the one people were naturally drawn to. I was the serious child, always with a book, always following rules.”
“But you still clean up his messes,” I observed.
“I do,” he admitted. “Not because I admire him as you do Casey, but because without him, the monarchy crumbles.” He gave a humorless laugh. “Your devotion comes from love. Mine comes from duty.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked. “Because it sounds like love to me. Just a complicated version.”
Ricard looked startled, as if this possibility had never occurred to him. “Perhaps you're right,” he said after a moment. “Perhaps beneathall the obligations and expectations, there is something as simple and profound as brotherhood.”
“But,” I added, meeting Ricard’s gaze, “that doesn’t mean you should throw away your happiness for him. You deserve to be happy too. To be free.”
Something flickered in his eyes—recognition. He reached out, fingers brushing against mine, a connection that reverberated between us. “Thank you,” he said softly. “For understanding. For being here.”
Silence stretched, and awkwardness crept in, making me consider leaving him alone to process everything.
“If you need to go, you can,” he said. “I don’t want to tie up your day off.”
“I can stay for a bit,” I replied, settling back. Then, trying to lighten the mood, I smirked, “But no hanky-panky.”
Ricard chuckled, warmth returning to his face. “Okay, whatever you want. What were you planning to do before I interrupted?”
I shrugged. “Watch a movie, maybe take a nap. The latest Marvel movie is streaming, and I didn’t get to see it in theaters because of all the drama with Casey.”
A grin spread across Ricard's face, transforming him back into something boyish. “That sounds wonderful. What are they about?”
I stared at him, mouth agape. “Wait. Have you seen any Marvel movies?”
