He thinks I don’t know, but I do.
I know he arrived early, and I know he tried to corner Bellamy. I don’t know what was said, and I couldn’t see half of their conversation because he had her in a dead spot, but he stormed off, and then Bellamy went upstairs. He went straight to his room and didn’t leave until now. I’ve been watching the camera feed on my phone, waiting to see if he was up to something.
When I asked Bellamy earlier what had him so hot and bothered, she tapped the side of her neck, pinning me with a deliberately raised eyebrow. Sabrina and Zayer were climbing all over, so she couldn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to.
He saw the bruise on her neck. The one I left there.
So now he knows. Funny how all my ire yesterday and for weeks and months prior to that over him going near her nowseems so insignificant. Telling the children, making the decision to tell the world, and her accepting this thing between us as real and forever, it’s as if nothing can touch us now. She’s mine and no one will change that.
Which is why this is going to feel even better.
“Good morning, Samil. So pleased you could finally join us.”
He slides into his seat, two over from me, and plasters on a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “My apologies. I was distracted by your nanny. It seems she has a bruise on her neck, and I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
I snicker. “And was she?”
He glowers at me. “She seemed afraid, so likely no. Maybe you could explain how she got such a mark? She wouldn’t say directly, but I’m sure you know how she was hurt.”
Althea shifts beside me, uncomfortable with this. She too told me about her conversation with Bellamy this morning, and while I don’t love that everyone saw the mark I gave her, I also don’t blame Bellamy for forgetting to cover it when she went to the gym. The mark is my fault, and though I feel bad for giving it to her and likely embarrassing her with it, I can’t deny how hard it makes me every time I see it.
I lean back in my chair, folding my hands over my stomach. If he wants to do this with an audience, I will. “Are you insinuating I hurt my nanny?”
“Didn’t you?”
“No. I didn’t.”
Smugly, he sits up straighter. A dog sniffing out a bone, he thinks he’s about to nail me. “But you’re the reason she has the mark, are you not?”
“Yes, I am.”
Fire builds in his eyes. He was expecting me to deny it because we’re surrounded by the heads of the country, but he doesn’t know how deep this goes for me. He doesn’t know thatBellamy isn’t a cheap fuck. He thinks I’m using her because she’s young and beautiful and available. He has no clue.
“You admit you gave her the bruise on her neck and yet you claim to not have hurt her?” He feigns incredulity.
I give him a bored look. “Samil, surely I do not need to go into details on what happens consensually between me and my girlfriend behind closed doors. I think we have more important things to discuss today.”
“Girlfriend?!”
I nod at him. “That’s what she is.”
He growls, totally and completely thrown off.
“Sir.” One of the members of parliament drops his elbows onto the table and addresses me. “Are you telling us you have agirlfriendand that she’s the nanny of your children?”
“That is precisely what I’m telling you. Bellamy and I have been together in secret for a couple of months. It was not something we felt comfortable making public until we knew where our relationship was going. Samil let the cat out of the bag a bit earlier than I had intended, but it changes nothing of the situation.”
Agitated hands run through Samil’s hair, undoing his perfect coiffure. He blows out an uneven breath and reforms his perfect mask. “Well, I suppose congratulations are in order. No one imagined you’d ever be able to move on after Nora.”
“She was not an easy woman to move on from. Wouldn’t you agree?”
And maybe that was a bit dirty and underhanded. But he had it coming. He’s had it coming for years. He used to hound Nora relentlessly. Even after she told him no. Even after we had children together and she was queen. She was never his nor did she have any desire to be. His love was unrequited and more of an obsession than anything from the heart.
“No,” he bites out through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes. “Certainly not.”
I sit up, taking a sip of my coffee. “I realize we have important matters of state to attend to, but I wanted to make you all aware that I’ve decided we’re going to host a Christmas ball here at the palace.”
Everyone in the room gasps with the exception of Samil. A storm is brewing beneath his surface. One I don’t care to get caught in, so I ignore him as I address everyone else.
