I almost cry at all the talking she’s been doing already this evening. It’s the most she’s talked since I arrived.
The conversation begins gently after that. Viktor asks Lily about her day. About her morning lessons. She responds to all of his questions. Viktor isenraptured.He is sitting at his own dining table, listening to his daughter speak in full sentences, with light in her eyes, in a way I suspect he has not heard since her mother died.
Then the main course arrives. It’s a roast with herbs and a small bowl of dark tart sauce on the side, served on warm plates. The smell of it floats up and makes my mouth water before I have even picked up the correct fork.
“Where did you grow up, Hazel?” Viktor suddenly asks me.
I pause, mid-bite. The personal question catches me off guard. I take a sip of my wine for courage, then answer, “Was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. It was a nice place to live, the kind of place where you knew everyone.”
His eyes are on my face. “And your family?”
“Oh,” I begin to babble. “I grew up there with my parents and my older brother. But my mom died when I was about Lily’s age, of cancer. None of us live in that town I grew up in anymore though, sadly. Nowadays my brother lives in Cleveland and mydad, weirdly, is working in Dubai of all places. He’s a lawyer and so is my brother.” I smile up at him. “They both think I’m crazy for going into Early Childhood, instead of Law School.”
“I’m sorry that you lost your mother so young. Tell me,” he says, “whydidyou choose Early Childhood Education?”
The question is so simple I do not have a polished answer for it. I think for a moment and then tell him the plain truth. “Because I like having a job where I can spend each day thinking about how I can make a difference in the life of a child and then acting that out.”
Viktor picks up his wineglass and takes a long, slow drink. He sets it back down. Of course I focus on the mesmerizing flex of his forearm where the sleeve is rolled back.
“How long has House Draven owned this place?” I ask because I need to change the subject.
“This has been the royal residence of the Crown Prince for nine hundred years.”
My mouth drops open. “Nine hundred years?”
“Yes.”
“But the bathroom in my suite has a heated towel rack. How did you get plumbing into a thousand-year-old castle?”
Lily laughs at my remark.
Viktor’s sexy lips curve into something dangerously close to a real smile.
“We renovated, Hazel. Multiple times.”
“Of course you did. Sorry. Forget I asked. Pretend I’m sophisticated.”
Madam Petrova, in the doorway, is openly smiling now.
I see the porter at the sideboard exchange a tiny look with the other porter. They are going to be talking about this dinnerfor years.
The dessert finally arrives,yummy berry tarts on tiny porcelain plates.
Lily eats hers slowly. Very slowly.
Meanwhile, I’m discovering that I enjoy talking with the Crown Prince of Krovenia. I’m continuing to learn all I can about the castle. “How many rooms are there, exactly?” I ask.
Viktor considers. “I have never counted.”
“You’ve never counted the rooms in your own castle?”
He shrugs. “It has not seemed important. I assure you, the staff knows. Madam Petrova has it on a list somewhere.”
“That is the most royal answer you have ever given me.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “There are approximately a hundred and sixty, including the towers and the cellars.”
“Aha.” I wag a finger at him. “I knew you knew! And are you kidding me, there are a hundred andsixty?”
