“Are you going to make me pick a girl for you?”
Startled, I frown at her. “Do you really think I would let you do that?”
She folds her hands in her lap and favors me with a hard look. “It’s not really an issue of what you’ll allow. I don’t want to select a mate for you. But if you don’t, I will.”
“Momse,” I say, my voice gone to grit. She looks at me, her eyes tightening. “I’m telling you right now. If you do that, if you so much as bring a single girl around with the purpose of getting me engaged, I will freeze you out. Don’t make me do that.”
We pull up to the children’s hospital just then. My grandmother doesn’t take her eyes off of me, though.
“Decide for yourself if you want to. You’ve got a month. Then I will start to make plans on your behalf.” The driver opens her door and helps her out, leaving me scowling after her.
“Your highness?” the driver says, looking in the car.
I don’t want to go inside, not after what Ida just said. But I’m finding that what I want rarely factors into any decisions when it comes to the royal family. So I just get out of the limo, rearranging my scowl into a pleasant smile.
There are a few photographers, and I raise my hand to them, waving politely. But inside, I’m a seething mass of anger.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Margot
“I’m sorry, madame.” The butler bows his head. “His royal highness Prince Stellan has stepped out rather unexpectedly.”
I wrinkle my nose, unsurprised. Of course Stellan doesn’t show up the day after we fucked each other’s brains out.Of course.
“Ah. Thank you.” I lift my camera from my tote bag. “Would it be okay with you guys if I just took some photographs? Just you know, the dining room and the salons…”
“Of course, madame. We have been instructed by the press office that you are to be given full access to the upper half of the palace. Will you need anything else?”
“No, no.” I shake my head and give him a halfhearted smile. “I’m fine.”
The butler bows and retreats, leaving me alone in the corridor just outside Stellan’s study. Biting my lip, I look around. I try the study… but of course, it is locked.
What could I have hoped to find in there anyway? Stellan’s private diary with all his innermost thoughts jotted down just for me?
Unlikely.
Besides, he’s made enough of a statement by just not showing up than anything I could’ve read.
I just wander the halls, opening doors at random. Mostly I find the rooms empty or filled with the ghostly shapes of furniture with the dust covers on. Climbing the stairs, I am drawn to the elegantly draped window that dominates the end of the hall.
I snap a few photos of it, and then draw the see-through curtain aside. Aiming my camera lens down onto the street, I catch an unexpected sight.
A flash of a familiar hair color. It’s bright red, like a candy apple.
Yeah, that’s got to be Pippa. And she’s wearing a loose white romper and beaming at a man. She says something and he picks her up, whirling her around. When he stops, she kisses him. Then he glances my way, laughing.
My eyebrows fly up. It’s Lars Løve, Stellan’s younger brother.
Whoa. That is a hell of a secret to keep, especially for someone as chatty as Pippa.
Pippa bats at his arm. He puts her down and then heads off at a loping run. Pippa turns like she is going to walk somewhere, maybe to our apartment or the offices ofPolitiken.
I stuff my camera in my bag and sprint downstairs, catching up with her in less than a minute. She looks at me, her blue eyes widening.
“Margot!” she squeaks. “I haven’t even seen you since Thursday night. Where have you been?”
I chuckle. “Do you really think you’re just going to distract me with a question like that?”
