“I know you’re not sold on him, Rosie, but it’s like Mama says. There are things you can only see when you’re inside the relationship.No one knows the quiet things that happen away from prying eyes,” Stella said.
Rosie waggled her eyebrows, her mouth drawn in a teasing smile. “I bet they don’t. Though I wonder how quiet they are.”
Stella chucked a pillow at her sister. “Rosalee Maura McKay, was that a sex joke?”
Rosie deflected the pillow and grinned. Her cheeks were blazing, and she held up her hands in surrender. “All right, all right! I’m leaving before you ruin my hours of work.”
She gathered her flowers and thread and skipped out of the room, her pale blue dress billowing around her as she went.
Finally alone, Stella lay back in her bed, stared at the ceiling, and let the dread she’d been shoving down roll over her. Had there been an inquiry into Victor’s murder yet? Had they apprehended the men responsible?
It must have been chaotic. It would be impossible for Arden to get away now, but at least the upheaval might scare off his foreign fiancée and her family.
A light tap on the open door startled Stella from her daze.
Her father leaned against the doorframe. “Hey, Stell-bell? Why is the prince of Olney in our living room with two dozen roses?”
Cecilia appeared at his shoulder. “Oh? Are they white? Perhaps he murdered a friend of hers and thought some flowers an appropriate apology.”
Rainer rolled his eyes. “I was out of my mind, Cecilia. Flowers seemed a safe starting place. Will I never live it down?”
Her mother just laughed heartily as her father rubbed a hand down his face. They were always like this—full of quick, intimate teasing for which no one else had context.
Gods, Stella wanted that. She wanted a person with whom she could communicate only a few words and make them laugh that way.
Stella shot up in bed and smoothed her dress. “Is there something suspicious about a man bringing me flowers?”
“There’s something suspicious about a prince who shows up withtwo dozen roses from the queen’s garden,” Rainer said, crossing his arms.
Her mother laughed loudly. “Oh, is that what you’re worried about? History repeating itself?”
Rainer pinned her with a glare. “You should be worried about it, too.”
“Oh, stop. There’s no need for anyone to worry. I already had a nice talk with him,” Cecilia said in a way that very much made the wordtalksound like a threat.
Stella pushed past her parents and took the stairs two at a time. Arden stood in the living room, looking handsome and exhausted. His dark hair was mussed, his eyes shadowed in circles, and there was a deep crease in his brow as he looked her over. The sunlight streaming through the windows to the garden made his golden-brown skin luminous.
Seeing him standing in her living room made Stella feel like she would explode with either relief or tears. Relief won.
“You’re in my house,” she said, still not quite believing it.
He thrust the roses toward her and finally smiled. “I am. Got a talking-to from your mother.” He read the panic in her eyes immediately. “She was fine,” he said. “Nothing I wouldn’t expect from the mother of a woman I’m courting.”
Stella stilled, looking from Arden to the roses and back again. “What about Princess Eleria?”
“Her parents have dissolved the betrothal contract, at least for the time being. They are staying in town and could change their minds, but for now, it’s on hold. My father thinks that was the entire point of that little stunt last?—”
Stella shot her hand out to press a finger to his lips. She shook her head and mouthed, “They don’t know,” nodding toward the other room where she could sense her parents lurking.
“They will soon,” Arden countered.
“Just give me a few hours of peace.”
“That’s part of why I’m here, though.”
Stella’s stomach bottomed out. “You’re not here to check on me?”
Arden took the flowers from her, placed them on the table, and gestured for her to sit on the couch. He sat beside her and took her hands in his.
