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“Right.”
“I will never lie to you, Emma, and I will keep reminding you of that until you believe me.”
“Your brother the King is supportive of you marrying a bookkeeper?” she asked disbelievingly.
“Artist-slash-bookkeeper, but yes he is. His advice was to be willing to work for it.”
“I find that hard to believe. You always said your brother was a stickler for propriety and you marrying your former mistress who gave birth to a child, even if it was your child, outside marriage isn’t it.”
“I have come to appreciate that my view of my brother was skewed by Tiana and my friendship with her.”
Emma mulled that over. “I don’t think Tiana was the friend to you that you believed her to be.”
“Her wanting to buy my son and raise him as her own says you are right.”
In a twisted way, the Queen might have thought she was protecting Konstantin. Emma found herself saying just that.
“No. With the TRO, maybe, but threatening you? Wanting to take our child? That was never about friendship.”
“You knew her better than me. I only spoke to her once.”
“And then you ran fast and far.”
“Not intentionally. My parents had kicked me out. I needed a job right away but the TRO was making that impossible. I couch surfed with friends and started the proceedings to change my name. Once it came through, I started applying for nanny positions again. One of the positions was for a family that was relocating to New Mexico. I did some research and realized that the cost of living here would make raising Mickey on my own easier.”
“So, you took the job.”
“I did. Tiana died in her skiing accident the month after the move. I was already heavily pregnant and had no intention of moving back home. I couldn’t be sure she was the only one in your family who felt the way she did about separating me from Mickey.”
“She was. My father and brothers were all appalled when they learned what she threatened you with.”
“That is good to know.” She sighed and said what needed saying. “Five years ago, I would have married you without hesitation.”
“Are you saying now you are hesitant?”
“I don’t love you anymore, Konstantin.” A twinge in her heart said she might be lying to herself and to him, but she ignored it. “I don’t trust you. I cannot imagine marrying you.”
“And I cannot imagine any other future for either of us.”
“You’re going to have to work on your imagination, then.”
“We shall see.”
He was so arrogant!
“I will compromise my dreams for Mickey’s sake, but I’m not marrying for anything but love. I won’t compromise on that.”
“Then I will just have to rekindle your love for me.”
“As difficult as that would be, even more impossible would be convincing me that you feel the same way for me.” Emotionally done, Emma stood up. “Look, when you’re ready to discuss visitation with Mickey in a rational manner, give me a call.”
He surged to his feet. “I was trying to do that.”
“Throwing around the idea of marriage like it’s a panacea is not being rational. Marriage is a lifetime commitment. At least for me.”
“For me as well.”
“So, just stating we’re going to get married when we don’t know if we can even spend a full day together in harmony is ridiculous.”
