Love will do that to a person.
He’d hate this.
“No.” I’ve spent the majority of the day quietly observing. Getting my head on straight and gathering the strength I need. “You’ve got five days. The funeral will be Friday. Make it work.”
“And the princess?” Linley asks.
“She’ll be here tonight,” Atticus assures him, and Hollenly blusters in his seat. Luckily for him, he’s smart enough to keep his mouth closed.
“But son,” Father starts as Calder opens his mouth to argue.
“As of ten hours ago, I am your king, gentlemen.” I stand, ending any chance of further discussion. “This is what the king wanted. This is what he asked of me. And this is how I will honor him. By respecting his wishes. I appreciate everyone’s input. Condense it into five days. Thank you for your time.”
“Your Majesty” is echoed around the room as every man bows, and my heart tightens in my chest before I walk through the door and head to my private offices, followed by Atticus andDevon. Once we’re alone I turn back to them both. “Don’t let another living soul through those doors.”
Devon nods before he walks out.
Once we’re alone, I drop to the couch and watch as Atticus pours us two fingers of scotch. We haven’t had ten minutes alone since he was brought in from Remington Armstrong’s flat this morning. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who had a good night and woke up to a nightmare.
He stops in front of me and holds out a crystal glass. “Long live the king.”
“I could have gone another fifty years without hearing that, and it still would have been too soon,” I groan before throwing back the scotch. “You spoke to Lennon?”
“Yes. She and Maddox should be on the jet shortly.” He refills our glasses and brings the bottle back with him before taking a seat. “She’s worried about you.” The hundred-and-fifty-year-old amber liquor swirls in his glass before he looks at me, concern etched in every line of his face. “We both are. How are you? Really?”
How am I supposed to tell him I feel fucked?
Like my free will just vanished and my future is set in stone.
Like I’m living the first line of my eulogy.
Like the last choice I ever made for myself was made last night. Now every choice I make will be for my country first and my family second.
I don’t tell him any of that though. This is the life I always knew would eventually come. “Ask me again tomorrow.”
Atticus shakes his head. “Okay, so you want to talk about why your queen isn’t sitting next to you?”
Fuck . . .
“She’s at Lilihill,” I swallow my scotch and welcome the burn. “Where she’s going to stay... for now.”
“Are you in over your head, Rhys?”
No one else in the world would ask me that.
No one else’s balls are that big.
Only Atticus.
When I don’t answer quickly enough, he kicks his legs up on the coffee table between us and takes a shot straight from the bottle. “When are you going to tell the world about her?”
“She’s got to remember first,” I admit, and this time when he offers me the bottle, I accept.
BELLAMY
Thousands of people will come in and out of your life and mean nothing.
But it’s the one you never saw coming who changes everything.
