He looks thoughtful for a moment. “That’s about the scope of it, yes.”
I shake my head, a little disgusted at him. “I don’t know how I was ever attracted to you. Your…” I wave my hand to indicate his body. “Your body is so great, but your politicssuck. Usually I hold myself to a higher standard than this.”
His eyebrows lift in surprise. “You are saying that you learned that I’m a royal… and it made youlessattracted to me?”
I let out a laugh. “Yes! I like to sleep with people who are actually from this planet. People who are dealing with the same kind of issues that I’m dealing with. That is…” I give another huff of laugher. “That’s just not you.”
He casts a skeptical gaze over me. “You’re telling me that even as a little girl, you never had dreams of being Cinderella? Come on now, Margot. Be honest.”
The image of me at age six flashes through my brain. A skinny, dark-haired little girl in an oversized hand-me-down dress. A little girl who had just realized that Santa wasn’t real in the same month she found out what it meant when kids at school called her a welfare princess.
Bitterness threatens to overtake me. I screw up my face. “No, Stellan. You know what I dreamed of when I was a little girl?”
He pauses, his brow wrinkling. He cocks his head to the side. “No. What did you wish for?”
“I wished that my mom wasn’t a junkie. I wished that the other kids in my elementary school wouldn’t make funof the old clothes that I wore. But most of all, I wished that I would always know where my next meal was going to come from.”
His eyebrows rise. “Surely not. There had to be some sort of…” He splays his hand out in front of himself, gesturing. “Social safety net or something. I mean, no one in Denmark suffers that way.”
My face tightens. My voice lowers. “A lot of people fall through the cracks, no matter how many safety nets there are in place. People likeme. That’s just how life is. As the future king of Denmark, I hope you know that by now.”
He scowls at me. “I don’t believe it.”
I give him an offended look. “What, that I was starving while you were living your best life? You are the top one percent of the top one percent. You’re beyond rich. And me?” I thump my chest. “I’m poor. Even with a college degree, I will never earn a fraction of what you were just…born with.”
Stellan stares at me for a second, his ice blue gaze direct and intense. “You would correct the imbalance, I presume? Take my family wealth and distribute it differently?”
I make a face. “That’s not really what I’m about. I want systematic change. Global change. The weakest and most vulnerable among us need to be taken care of. And places like this palace…” I gesture to the walls around me. “They should be repurposed. Made into museums and hospitals and schools. They shouldn’t be held by one family that was chosen to rule Denmark centuries ago.”
For several long seconds, Stellan actually looks like he might just leave the room. That or summon some guard to seize me. He stares at me with an icy glare.
When he finally speaks, his voice is low and gravelly, hisexpression stony. “The people of Denmark need their royals.”
I give a soft chuckle. “Why? Why do you get to live such a lavish life just because you were born into a certain family?”
He takes a half a step forward. “We guide them in times of crisis. We celebrate when good things happen. We do a ton of charity work. But most importantly, we reflect the current state of affairs back at them. We serve as a touchstone for the entire Danish community!”
I cock a brow. “You deserve wealth because you are a mirror of the Danish people?”
He glares at me, smoothing a big hand over his stomach. “Among other things, yes.”
“You keep telling yourself that, buddy. And I’ll just be over here, working to right a small portion of the injustices that happen every single day.” My mouth twists sourly.
He takes another step toward me, then another, then another. I gulp as he approaches, the difference in our heights never more apparent than now. Determined to show no fear, I raise my chin and glare at him, defiant.
He stops when he’s almost on top of me. A hair’s breadth away. The air between us seems to thin, making me drag in my breaths. Our gazes clash, him staring down at me as if I’m a bug, me giving him my best impression of the rebellious James Dean.
I can feel the heat radiating off of his big body. Scorn lights the fires raging in his ice blue eyes.
When he speaks, his voice is low and rough. “Just so you know, Margot. This little journalism assignment wasn’t my idea. You being here doesn’t exactlypleaseme. And I am counting the days until you’re out of my life forever. Do you understand?”
My gaze wanders down to his mouth for a second. Inotice the dip of his cupid’s bow, the press of his lips, the hint of his perfect teeth when he sneers at me. Am I stupid to bother arguing with someone that has obviously been bred for this kind of wealth?
I give my head a tiny shake. “I completely understand,your highness. In a month’s time, I will be gone. You will move on with your life. Believe me, I fucking get that.”
His laugh is deep and gravelly. “Good.”
Then he moves past me, deliberately bumping my shoulder as he goes. I frown, watching Stellan stalk from the room.
