Page 55 of Falling for the Queen Mother

She was going to have a conversation with her son - as soon as he was well enough to answer her questions. He shouldn't have started dating a woman without making sure she knew who he was. There was too much that went along with dating a member of the royal family. She should have been given the opportunity to make an informed decision.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Frederick pulled a chair over and set it in front of Emilia. "I presume he was driving?"

She nodded. "We'd had a quick dinner and were headed to..." Emilia closed her eyes. "I don't remember where we were going. They said I might have some memory issues, but it shouldn't be anything serious. I have a mild concussion. I don't remember much after we left the restaurant. I think the other car ran the light. I'm not even sure why they brought us here. We weren't very close, but they sent a life flight helicopter for him and put me in it with him even though I wasn't injured nearly as badly."

"I'm surprised his security team didn't ride with him." Frederick glanced over at his head of security, who gave a slight nod.

Emilia looked from one to the other. "As far as I know, he didn't have security with him. I never noticed any anyway. I'd think they would have showed up immediately after the accident. I don't think they did." She gave a slight shake of her head. "I guess they could have and I wouldn't remember, though."

Given the look Frederick and Cap had exchanged, Alaina doubted that. There would be a long conversation about that later as well, both with Ronnie and his team.

Emilia looked at Alaina, tears filling her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know he was your son. Honest. I wouldn't have agreed to the first dinner if I had known that."

Alaina tightened her grip on Emilia's hand, but still took care not to squeeze too tightly. "Why on earth not? There's no reason why you shouldn't date him, though I do wish he'd been a little more upfront with you about a few things."

One tear spilled down a cheek followed by another and then more still. "I'm a single mum. Never married. I've lived in your country for all of a minute and a half. Why should you be okay with him dating me?"

Before Alaina could reply, the door opened again. This time a hospital administrator walked in.

"Your Majesties." He bowed. "Ladies and gentlemen, please come with me."

By the time they made it back to Alaina's apartment, Nate was exhausted. He knew she had to be as well.

Between Ronnie's accident and surgery, finding out he'd been dating someone without telling anyone about it - or making certain the young lady knew who he was - all of that had to be wearing on her.

Ronnie had come through the surgery fine, though he'd be in intensive care for a few days while he recovered.

As soon as the apartment door closed behind them, Alaina nearly collapsed. Her bag fell to the ground and she sunk back against the door.

Nate didn't wait for an invitation. He pulled her into his arms and let her rest her weight on him.

The sobs finally came. In some ways, it surprised him that it took her so long to have a break down, but he also knew she was capable of putting on a facade when it was called for.

"He's going to be okay," Nate whispered as he ran his hand up and down her back.

"I know." She managed to get the words out between sobs. "But it could have easily been so different. He didn't have security with him. Anything could have happened."

"But it didn't. He and Emilia are going to be fine. They're both banged up, but that's it." He wrapped his arms more tightly around her as she clung to his waist.

After a few minutes, the sobs slowed to hiccups and she finally pulled back, just a little bit. "Thank you. I needed that."

Nate crooked a finger under her chin and raised it until he could look her straight in the eyes. "That's what I'm here for. I'm here to be strong when you need me to be - and when I need someone to be strong for me, you'll be that person. And if we both need someone, that's what our families are for."

Her red-rimmed eyes searched his, though he couldn't be certain what they were searching for. After a long moment, she spoke. "I know and I appreciate that. I don't know how I would have coped if you hadn't been there with me. I don't know that I could have held the breakdown off until we got back here. Knowing you were there with me helped more than I can begin to tell you."

Alaina rested the side of her head against his chest as he once more tightened his hold on her. They stood there for several minutes before she took a long, shuddering breath. "I need to go take a shower. I have meetings today that I can't really get out of."

Nate didn't let go of her. "You need rest. You won't be able to focus and give anyone your best effort while you're exhausted and distraught. If it's something one of your assistants can handle, let them. If it's not, then it can wait. I know it's not quite the same, but I'm not going in today. I already texted with Kathleen to let her know. I'm going to get some rest and you need to do that as well. You know you do, you just need someone to give you permission. If you won't take it from me, I'll contact your son. He'll tell you the same thing. In fact, he told me he was taking the morning off."

One of the good things about spending the night at the hospital was the chance to get to know his new stepson better. He and Frederick - who he couldn't quite bring himself to call Ricky, not yet - were able to talk a fair bit. Alaina seemed to prefer being alone, though Nate made sure he was close in case she changed her mind.

They didn't delve into anything too serious, just every day life and the accident and what it meant that the younger prince had started dating someone without telling anyone about it. The king alluded to some sort of issue in the past that had prevented his brother from being in any sort of long-term relationship, but didn't go so far as to tell Nate what it was - and Nate didn't pry.

"Ricky said that he's taking part of the day off?" There was both relief and doubt in Alaina's voice.

"Yes. He did. I am, too. Why don't you go take a shower or at least change clothes and we'll both get some sleep?" He kissed the top of her head. "How does that sound?"

"Heavenly," she admitted. "I'm exhausted."