“Hmm. Is teaching not what you wanted to do?”
She stares up at me, nonplussed, her hands going wildly about. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do other than stop moving for a while. University was the only way I could convince my father to stand still for longer than five minutes. We moved around a lot after my mother died, and I needed a break.”
Interesting. “How old are you exactly?”
Her arms fold in front of her chest, her hips swinging to the side as she adjusts her stance, growing impatient with my line of questioning. She’s young. A lot younger than I am. I know that much by looking at her. But there is a maturity in her eyes beyond her age.
“Twenty-one. What does any of this have to do with the broken statue or my father?”
Hell. I was expecting closer to twenty-five. This woman is fifteen years my junior.
“Nothing,” I admit. “Nothing at all. But you’re American. Flighty. With any hope, you might choose to leave Messalina instead of continuing to live here.”
“Or I might choose to stay,” she counters acerbically. “Who knows? Last I heard this is a free country like the rest of the EU, is it not,Your Majesty?”
I play with my smirk. No one has ever spoken to me the way she is now. I don’t know if it’s because she’s American and isn’t used to royalty or because she’s scared I’m going to slap her with a massive bill for the bust or if this is how she always is with anyone who challenges her.
“Would you continue on as a teacher even when you don’t enjoy it?”
“I never said I don’t enjoy it,” she snaps back at me, fire climbing up her features and shooting through her words. “I didn’t exactly have a lot of choices. And frankly, sir, the decisions I make or don’t make regarding my life are none of your business. On any account, I’m positive I’ve taken up enough ofyour time, and while you’ve been kind enough to speak with me if you’d direct me to my father, I’d like to leave.”
“Don’t mistake my questions for kindness. I am certainly not that.”
“No kidding. I was being ironic. I doubt anyone would ever confuse that with you.”
“You dare to speak to me that way?” I bark harshly, my eyes narrowing.
She stiffens. “You’re making me nervous and defensive. Are you holding us hostage here? Why won’t you let us go?” Her voice climbs, panic clinging to her lips.
“Because you’re living and working in my country. Breaking into my palace. Speaking with my children. Breaking shit you should not be touching. I think it is my business to know who and what the hell you are.”
She lets out a bitter, slightly resigned laugh. “You want to know who and what the hell I am?” Her eyes are all over me. “I’m lost,” she admits, and the honesty of that answer propels me closer, if only because it strikes something hot and vicious and all too real inside me. She sighs, looking flustered and, yes,lost, as she said. “That’s what I am, and it’s the only answer I can give you. I’m the daughter of a dead mother and a father whose mind is slipping away from him. My childhood was a lot fucking different and far from typical. Something I’m sure you can relate to. We…ran the moment my mother died and didn’t stop running until I made us.” She laughs, wiping away an errant tear. “I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this. You clearly don’t like me, though I wonder if this is more you than me.” She gives me a once-over, her lips pursing to the side. “Anyway, I’m not here to cause trouble, and I’m certainly not a threat. I loved meeting your girls, and I love living in your country. I am truly sorry about my father if he caused any distress, and I’m sorry for breaking the priceless bust. If there is a way for me to make amends for all that, I will. I don’t exactly have a lot to offer you other than a heartfelt apology, considering I can barely afford the roof over my head or the coffee I bought this morning.”
The door creaks open behind me, and my head swivels over my shoulder to find Javier standing there. He gives me a firm nod and my insides sink. Then I find Emily and the girls standing behind him, all with pleading, hopeful expressions, and now I’m at theI’m screwedend of this rope. Phaedra presses her hands together, begging me. Hell, even Althea is now there, joining the ranks.
Christ. I’m outnumbered.
“Please, Papa,” Phaedra pleads. I stare into my daughter’s eyes, so much like her mother’s. I owe them everything. I’m the reason their mother is dead, after all. What choice do I have now? I’d do anything to see the heartbreak on my children’s faces dwindle, and somehow in a matter of minutes, this woman has brought some of their light back.
I want to ask her if she’s capable. Capable of making my children smile and laugh. Capable of reminding them how to be children when I hardly know how to be a king or human or father. Will she hurt my children or save them? Is she part of this curse or a magic breath of fresh air?
How do I find out without giving in to this?
I turn back to the woman, taking her in feature by feature. She’s momentarily distracted by the commotion at the door, intrigue all over her, and I use that distraction to my advantage. She’s stunningly beautiful. Sweet face and innocent eyes and heartbreaker lips. If she were any other woman and I weren’t a king, I’d fuck this woman so hard more of her pretty tears would fall, and her lips would only be able to breathe out my name.
But if I do this…if I push this unconventional idea with her…if I give in to the desires of my daughters…fucking her can never happen. I’ll have to get myself in check now. Lock down whatever it is about her that my body seems to find so fascinating and enticing.
“Did you mean it?” I snap, forcing her confused gaze to slingshot back to me.
“Mean what, Your Majesty?”
Oh, if only she would call me Sebastian. What then?
I shake that notion off. “Did you mean that if there were a way for you to make amends, you would?”
“Yes. Of course, I would.”
I push out a silent, uneven breath, perturbed I’m being forced into this position in the first place with this woman. She has no experience. No training. Is disrespectful to me and my title. Is admittedly lost and likely a bit unstable with that. Not to mention, she’s terribly observant of me. And is far too beautiful for anyone’s safety or sanity.
