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“Kala,” he rasps, thumbing away a tear. “What is it? Should I not have kissed you?”
“Gods, no,” I say, blinking out more tears. “I’m feeling a little overwhelmed over everything I just said. It’s a relief, I suppose. I’ve held that in for so long…” I want to look away, dab away my tears, but there’s nowhere to look and nothing to do because my husband still grasps my head in his firm hands.
Etienne thumbs away another tear here, kisses away more tears over there. He’s in complete control of me and the situation. I’m at his mercy. My fingers curl against his silk lapels.
“I love you. So fucking much, Kala,” he grits out, resting his forehead against mine.
A gasp chokes my tight throat. “You do?” Could it be true? Is this for real?
“Of course I do. The one thing my father did right by me was putting your hand in mine.”
Relief, joy, and a dozen other indescribable feelings flood me.
“Don’t make me cry again, you fiend,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut. “I have to go to a meeting.”
He seems to understand. “I’m going with you.”
I shake my head. “It’s better if you go on to meet with your mother. Perhaps you can convince her to talk some sense into the king. I have to fix my makeup.”
“Not necessary. And I’m coming with you.”
“Gods, why are you so bullheaded?” I say with a laugh.
Etienne presses his forehead to mine. “Because I don’t like the idea of you facing that man alone.”
“I know. But it’s just business. I’m not afraid of him. And I already have an idea of what I’m going to do. I’m more afraid of whatever he might say to me or you outside the boardroom. We’ll have to have a family meeting at some point.”
He growls, then lets go of me. He leans forward to address the back of the driver’s head as we pull up to the gates of Haart castle.
“Rolf, drop me here, then take the Princess to Frost Bay Beverages headquarters,” he orders, his voice thick with reluctance. He doesn’t want to leave me alone, and I love him more for that.
“No need. I’ll order a rideshare,” I say, tapping away at my phone.
“Darling. That’s not how we royals do things.”
We both exit the car and smile at each other from across the span of the vehicle’s roof. “I may be a princess, but I’m still a plain old businesswoman. Besides, I don’t want to make a fuss by arriving in one of the royal fleet.”
“Plain old businesswoman, my foot,” the gravelly voice says. “More like a very sexy, very saucy, bad little girl.”
I’m about to protest and tell him he’s winding me up. But his dark look has me crossing my legs.
“And she’s mine. Entirely.”
My stomach tumbles in happiness.
35
Etienne
The queen seems surprised when I bend down to kiss her on each cheek in the traditional greeting. “Wonderful to see you, Mother. Where’s Father?”
The Queen blinks up at me, failing at words. The breakfast room is, as always, resplendent with pastries and a dozen delicious things. Perhaps she hasn’t had her morning caffeine yet.
So, I haven’t been the most affectionate of her children. But the clarity of the last few days has done many things, including genuine affection and sympathy toward my mother.
After all, she’s had to endure the nonsense of four reckless children and a husband who vacillates between domineering, distant, and tempestuous. Even if she schemes and connives—and oh, she certainly does—everything she does is for loyalty to a husband she was arranged to marry, to preserve the monarchy, and for the benefit of our country. She knows no other way.
Rolf hands me tea with lemon, and I sit by the window.
