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Before I can ask how he got his hands on that thing, he starts in on me. “People want to know why you ended your honeymoon for a funeral of a distant friend.
“People will find something else to care about tomorrow,” I say, waving this off.
This conversation is making me tired. It shouldn’t matter. I can’t possibly care about any of this, not when my wife is at Frost Bay Beverages, fighting to preserve her family legacy.
I pivot away from the publicist and return to the woman who raised me.
“Do you think I have a drinking problem, Mother?”
The room goes so quiet I can practically hear the royal family’s approval rating drop.
After what feels like an eternity of awkward glances and stares, my mother clears her throat. “You…well, we Gravenlanders have always enjoyed our celebrations.”
“That’s not what I asked. Be honest.”
My mother, the woman who can be counted on to smooth things over, stares at me for another long moment and then says, “You have sometimes caused a scene because of your drinking. There’s no denying that. But why bring up these youthful indiscretions at a time like this?”
“Youthful indiscretions…right. Except I’m now 34, and I very recently passed out in the crow’s nest of the Frigge on the morning of my wedding. If it weren’t for Flora, that wedding would never have occurred.”
She laughs dryly and glances around. “You were exhausted from the stress of the wedding…and from rescuing the missing boat!”
“I didn’t rescue the boat. Callum Black and Flora did that. They found me.”
The chuckles become less and less convincing from her. “Don’t be silly. Why would Flora and Callum Black team up together? Of all people?”
That’s what she’s worried about? That Black and her daughter happened to be on a search party together?
“Mother. You can’t spin this. I fucked up. Not the captain.” I turn to the publicists who are not doing the best job of pretending to give us our privacy. “I’ve got a story for you. How about the palace ask the public’s help to identify the man who rescued Flora on Torben’s birthday when she fell from the balcony? Who was the man who caught her? Whoever he is, he’s a hero and deserves a reward.”
To their credit, several of them nod and begin typing furiously into their phones.
My mother is growing agitated now.
“Dear, let’s not worry about that right now. Your father needs us to work out how to explain away your unannounced arrival…”
“No, Mother. Father simply wants to know how we escaped despite all the barriers he put in place. And do you know what I want to do? I’d like to release a statement that the King is at Frost Bay Beverages this very moment, attempting a hostile takeover of his own daughter-in-law’s business.”
The queen’s face turns red in embarrassment. “A hostile takeover…honestly, Etienne. The king is at the board meeting to discuss an amendment to the business loan terms. That’s all.”
“On a Sunday morning? He bought up most shares and called an emergency meeting.”
Her brows draw together. “Bought up all the shares? That can’t be true. That’s millions of dollars. He wouldn’t have done that without checking with me first.”
There was a time when that look on my mother’s face would have driven me to grab a bottle. Hell, I still very much would like a whiskey on the rocks right now to erase the pain I feel at seeing this woman trying to decide what emotion to cling to. It’s one of those moments where she knows the king did something awful, but she’s also determined to present a unified front.
“Mum.” I step toward her and grasp her shoulder. “Everything will be alright. I trust Kala to handle herself. No matter what happens, my wife will help the king see sense.”
My mother grimaces, then her shoulders stiffen. “And what shall be the statement from the palace regarding your shortened honeymoon?”
36
Kala
What a strange day.
What a bizarre, terrifying, exhilarating day.
The key sounds in the lock at Windewall Cottage. That’ll be my husband arriving home.
