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She pointed to a large building up ahead. “The Sisi Museum in the Hofburg. Empress Elizabeth was renowned in her day for being a great beauty, but also for being extremely difficult. She was murdered in her forties, unfortunately, dying from a stab wound. I’ve always been fascinated by her life, and the museum devoted to her is supposed to be phenomenal.”
“Lead the way.” Though a museum about a Viennese royal’s life wouldn’t normally have been at the top of his list, if it meant he got to spend more time with Ashley, he was all for it.
It didn’t matter how ridiculous or drab her outfit, she was beautiful. Fresh and lovely without any makeup on, she had her hair down around her shoulders in a simple style, and he found everything about her to be incredibly appealing. She was completely different from the women he’d spent time with during the past decade. Hell, his whole life.
He’d never been with good girls. He’d always thought he wanted someone as wild as he was. By his thirties, however, he’d come to realize that wild got old real quick. Unless it was in bed, of course.
Nash couldn’t think of the last time he’d done anything “normal.” Five-star luxury was great. But Ashley seemed happier to him than any of the billionaires he knew.
She was imbued with a sense of peace, in her eyes, in the way she smiled so frequently, and in the ease with which she moved. The kind of peace that Nash had searched for fruitlessly his whole life.
Horse-drawn carriages full of tourists—some happy and looking blissfully in love, others looking angry as they sniped at each other—passed them on the street. He also noticed that the locals seemed to be in a rush, looking at their phones as they hurried down the streets, not seeming to notice the historic buildings all around them.
He’d made the same mistake all these years, hadn’t he? As he’d toured the globe many times over, every city, every street had started to look the same.
This disguise was perfect. But his delight came from far more than just the clothes or the hat and glasses—it was the fact that Ashley was here with him.
Before they walked up to the ticket booth at the Hofburg, she said, “Why don’t I do the talking today when we’re doing things like buying tickets? Your accents are amazing, but I wouldn’t want anyone to accidentally discover who you are and ruin your day. In fact, if you pull out your phone like everyone else right now, you’ll blend in perfectly.”
Knowing she was right, he did as she suggested, looking down at his phone as she got them two tickets. He’d missed a dozen calls in the past half hour, but he didn’t care. He could be Nash Hardwin again tomorrow. For the next handful of hours, he just wanted the chance to be a normal guy with a normal girl, enjoying a vacation day.
When she returned, she was holding headphones. “I got us the audio tour,” she explained. “That way, we won’t miss out on anything important.”
Nash hadn’t been a great student in school. Okay, that was the world’s hugest understatement, given that he’d dropped out at sixteen. And he’d definitely never done an audio tour at a museum. As they looped the audio guides around their necks, Nash felt a little awkward. He wasn’t a museum kind of guy, and surely everyone could tell, right? And yet, as he and Ashley made their way through the rooms filled with historical artifacts, old photos, historic dresses, and even the private train car that Empress Elizabeth had traveled in, he realized just how interesting the royal’s life had been.
Sisi, as she was known, hadn’t had a happy life. She’d had problems with love, with rarely letting herself eat enough, and with her family.
He understood family issues perfectly. No matter who you were or how much money you had—whether you were a superstar musician, or a woman who had been one of the most celebrated royals in Europe during her time—it didn’t mean your happiness was guaranteed.
When Nash wrote a great song, or had a fan tell him how his music had helped them through a difficult time, or when he saw the smiles on people’s faces at his shows, he felt happy.
But it was fleeting.
God, he hated sounding like he was whining or ungrateful. He was grateful. Music had pulled him out of a dead-end life. But the older he got, the less he could escape the thought that there had to be more.
Not more money or more adoration from fans, but more meaning. More peace. More happiness.
Only, he’d never been able to figure out how to achieve those things.
They came to the end of the museum tour and were routed to exit through the gift shop. Ashley pulled off her earphones, beaming from ear to ear.
