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“Didn’t he fall in love with Hattie and try to protect her?” Aunt Elise asked. “That’s what all the news feeds claimed.”
“I haven’t had a chance to chat with him about that,” Derek said, another truth, but hopefully one he’d rectify soon. A long chat, in person, with each of his brothers was long overdue.
“Is Hattie truly dead, or did she disappear to avoid a second murder charge?” Holly asked.
Ellery’s gaze was suddenly intense, and Derek felt a twinge of unease. He didn’t want Ellery to back out of the trip because of the rumors surrounding Steffan and Hattie. Hattie had been framed twice for murder by the scuzzy Rindlesbacher men Treven and William. Nobody understood the son or father’s motivation to stab someone and frame Hattie, but they philosophized Treven’s murder of Jane Presley had been an evil dare fulfilled by a rottenly spoiled young man and William’s elaborate setup and murder of Franz Wengreen and framing of Hattie for it had been to clear his son’s name. Sadly, that had worked, and Treven was walking around free with Chief Jensen, Ray, and all their men keeping a close eye on the murderous jerk.
Derek hoped Ray could smuggle Steffan and Hattie in for the wedding so he could see his brother and meet his bride and hear their stories for himself. Could they allow Ellery to meet the pair of them? He knew Ellery was trustworthy, but his family had to be extremely careful. Hattie’s ‘death’ and disappearance may have worked better if Steffan hadn’t followed her to Haiti to work in villages with her cousin Sadie and former American special ops hero husband, Wolf. Not that Derek blamed Steffan. If Ellery fell in love with him, he’d fake his own death and live in remote villages without modern conveniences to be close to her. He’d already stayed in Boston for months and missed out on his family hoping she would fall for him.
“Chief Jensen told me she was dead,” he answered Holly, his standard answer when media asked that question, and another truth. “I haven’t seen her body for myself to confirm that.”
“Okay, that was gruesome,” Aunt Elise teased. “Seen the body of a wanted murderer who went over a cliff and burned up in an explosion?” She shuddered.
Derek hated that the Rindlesbachers had convinced the media who’d convinced the rest of the world that Hattie was the guilty party, but what could he do if he couldn’t admit to the truth in order to protect Hattie and Steffan?
The conversation moved on to how Ray and Macey fell in love while Macey was engaged to T and then about how T was burned by a homemade pipe bomb planted by a jealous kid.
Before he knew it, they’d fixed up plates of food for Ollie and Braxton, cleaned up brunch, and Holly looked exhausted. It was time he left, but he didn’t want to. He couldn’t care less about the threadbare apartment. He wanted to have more hours to ask each of them questions about their family and where they’d grown up. Especially Ellery. He also wanted to know what had happened to Ellery’s dad and Holly’s husband. Apparently, Aunt Elise and her husband had raised their son on a farm in Iowa. When her husband died five years ago, she’d turned the farm over to her son and moved to Boston to be near her sister. It sounded like Elise spent every extra penny going to visit her son and his wife. It was quite the sacrifice to relocate for an ailing sister.
He got a hug from Aunt Elise and Holly, promised to take good care of their ‘girl’ on the trip, said his goodbyes, and Ellery walked him to the door with two plates of food wrapped in tinfoil and a mom and aunt watching on. He was definitely not going to lean in and taste those lovely lips of Ellery’s today.
“Thank you for saving my apostate soul and feeding me a delicious brunch,” he said at the open door.
“You are very welcome, though both were rough on me.” She smiled sweetly at him, counteracting her tease. “I’ll see you bright and early. I’ll need to push you extra hard the next two days after all those cinnamon rolls you ate and if you’re going to be playing around for a week.”
“I’ll definitely be playing around… with you.” He hoped that didn’t come across as weird. “Dunking your head in fountains, jumping off waterfalls, and showing you off all over Augustine.”
“We’ll see.” She grinned as she eased away from him. “Bye.”
Derek knew he had to walk away, but what did that ‘we’ll see’ mean? Was she going to back out? She couldn’t. Not now.
“See you in the morning, Elle. Bye, Aunt Elise. Bye, Holly.”
“Bye, Prince Derek,” they called in unison.
He lifted a plate of food in salute, turned, and walked out.
He had to get Ellery on that plane Tuesday night. His future depended on it. At least her mum and Aunt Elise would help push her onto the plane if he needed.
Today had been one step forward and only half a step back. How could he ensure they kept having that kind of progress in their relationship?
CHAPTERSIX
Ellery was insanely busy Monday and Tuesday from four a.m. until late at night. She worked out with Derek, and he sweetly brought her takeout for dinner each day, but she didn’t have much time to talk to him. It was obvious that bothered him, but he didn’t say anything or make her feel guilty that she was too busy for her ‘ninja prince boyfriend,’ as everybody at the gym had taken to calling him.
Oh my. Even if she longed to be officially dating Derek, she didn’t have the time or the emotional energy to push past her trust issues and develop a relationship. What if he was still trying to win her as some challenge? He never treated her like that, though, so she tried to push it from her mind.
What would it be like going to his home, his country with him? Her nerves caught up with her and were zinging through her exhausted body as they said goodbye to her mom and Aunt Elise at nine-thirty Tuesday night and received many assurances from Aunt Elise that everything would be fine and Ellery shouldn’t worry for a moment.
Ellery didn’t know how not to worry about her mom. Her mom was amazing and had taken so many burdens on herself when her dad had ditched them both. Ellery had also grown up fast, taking care of her mom on bad health days and working nights and Saturdays cleaning with her. She had been the provider by the time she graduated high school, passed her personal training exams, and was blessed with the job at the Warrior Gym.
Thankfully, Jason’s uncle and the former owner had seen something in Ellery’s work ethic, passion for Ninja Warrior, and understanding of the human body, nutrition, and overall health. Nobody but her mom had any idea how many hours she’d spent studying any book or online information she could find to become an expert in her field, even without a formal college education.
Braxton drove the Porsche to a commuter airport with Ollie in the passenger seat and Derek holding her hand in the back seat. He’d held her hand on Sunday, but not since. She loved it but didn’t know that she should get used to it. This trip was simply a vacation—maybe the only one she’d ever have in her life. She could enjoy each moment, but she could not let herself get lost in the fantasy of the handsome prince. She and Derek had no future. How could she enjoy it but somehow keep her head on straight?
That was growing increasingly difficult as they boarded a spacious white jet. It was white and pristine inside, with tan leather seats and bronze accents.
“Is this yours?” she whispered. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton.
