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“Only wondering,” I said with a shrug. “Just trying to make conversation.”
“How many do you have?” Silas countered.
I shook my head, “None.” I’d always wondered what it’d be like to get a tattoo. But it wouldn’t be considered very princely, I was sure. And since I was photographed everywhere, including at the beach and in my own backyard, there wasn’t much hope in hiding them, no matter where I put one.
“Well, if we’re making conversation, can I askyousomething?” Silas said.
I nodded. “Of course.” I was a master at avoiding questions I didn’t want to answer. Part of international diplomacy.
“Viktor and I are going to pursue Erin.”
She looked up at that and shot both of us a shy grin.
“Try out a poly relationship again, but for keeps,” Silas added. “Do you want in on that?”
He couldn’t have surprised me more if he’d reached over and punched me in the face. “Ah... well... that’s an interesting question.” My face flushed with heat and probably color. To buy some time, I grabbed for a bottle of water and took a large swig.
“It’s a lot. Requires ground rules. Take some time Think about it,” Silas said, nodding and glancing away.
He then slid his hand over Erin’s thigh and took hold of her hand.
Jealousy roiled in my gut, piercing me with pain. I coughed to clear my throat. I didn’t want to commit to anything, but I also didn’t want to be excluded. “I don’t think making a commitment either way would be smart at this point in time.”
Erin glanced up at me. “You’re getting married, Henryk. I don’t want to...” She shook her head then looked down at her hands. She was out of words, and I couldn’t help because I couldn’t think about anything other than the prospect of being with her.
Viktor punched me gently in the arm. “Tell us about the chick your parents are forcing on you.”
I forced a smile to my lips. I barely knew the woman and didn’t have a lot of information to share. “She’s a princess from the Morovian royal family. She’s been brought up understanding the responsibilities of being a royal, and she will be a very suitable wife.”
Viktor nodded. “Yeah... she sounds hot.”
I rolled my eyes and but couldn’t help laughing. “Oh, that’s what you want to know, is it? Hang on a moment.” I pulled out my cell phone and found some recent images of my betrothed, attached to a media article. “Here you go.”
I handed the phone over and Viktor flicked through the article. “She’s really cute.”
“She is.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Viktor asked.
“Problem?” Oh, but let me count the ways, the number of problems. Tabloids. Rumors.
“Yeah.” Viktor ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t look excited or happy about it.”
I smiled at him, but even to me it felt fake. Probably looked more like a grimace. “There’s no problem except for the fact that I’m about to be staring at you three going at it all week.”
“We invited you to join in.” Silas lifted Erin’s hand up to kiss her fingers.Erin stared at me as he did so, and my stomach fluttered in a strange way.
I glanced out the window to try and take some of the heat out of my glare because at that point in time, I wanted to skewer Silas with a sword.
When I finally spoke, my voice was clipped. “We’ll be at the airport soon and we can all rest for the flight.”
Would it be like this every time one of thoseconstruction workerstouched her? No way was I going to survive a week of this. But my word was my word, and that was all there was to it.
