“Stellan.”
I crack open my eyes, sliding a look at Erik. He’s sitting beside my against the black leather seats, looking concerned.
“I’m here,” I say, adjusting my big body in the car.
He looks at me, scrubbing a hand through his blond hair. “We’re almost back at the palace.”
I loosen my tie, feeling miserable. “Ja, okay.”
Glancing out the window as Copenhagen flies by, I flutter my eyes closed again. Erik clears his throat.
“What can I do to make youless…” He pauses. “Whatever you are right now? It’s hard to watch you be so… listless. Is this still about Margot?”
I laugh and look at him again. “It’s about everything and nothing, all at once.”
He cocks his head. “Who rejected whom?”
His question puts a scowl on my lips. “That’s unclear. I laid out an ultimatum… and she backed away from it.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I just want to move on already. I want to be done with all of this.”
Erik squints. “You look like you haven’t slept in weeks. Maybe you need to talk to a doctor or something.”
I shoot him a glare. “It’s not that bad.”
“Today you kept calling the minister of health Prime Minister Kelley, even after you had been corrected numerous times. Yesterday, at the gala, you were totally distracted and got drunk in public. I could go on.”
I roll my eyes. “So?”
“So, you need to shake this off. You’re the fucking crown prince of Denmark. If you want to drown your sorrows in women, all you have to do is say so. If you want to do something daring and dangerous, I have like five activities up my sleeve, waiting for you to say the word. But you’ve got to pull it together.”
I clamp my mouth shut, glaring at the front of limo. When I don’t respond, Erik shifts his weight.
“I’m sorry that Margot hurt you.”
I look at him funny. My heart squeezes in my chest. “She didn’t hurt me.”
He slides me a skeptical look. “No? You wouldn’t call this behavior you’ve been displaying heartbreak?”
If I could kill with a look, Erik would be bleeding out right now. “No. It’s not heartbreak. It’s… disappointment. It turns out that all my initial biases about Margot were right on target… I just allowed myself to get distracted by thenice ass and pretty blue eyes that those things accompanied.”
He doesn’t seem to know what to say to that. Furrowing his brow, he shakes his head. “It still sucks to go through a breakup. I mean… you’ve never really had to go through one before. Because of who you are, girls just flock to you. And you’ve never really spent any time with a girl who didn’t want the crown.”
I roll my eyes. He’s right about one thing: Margot definitely didn’t want the crown or anything attached to it.
Outside my window, the palace looms close. The second we stop, I bolt out of the back seat, not waiting around for Erik. He has to jog to catch up with me as I head inside, taking the stairs two by two.
I come to a halt when I reach the landing, squinting at the circus that awaits me there. No less than twenty young girls stroll up and down the hall, which is set up with a runway like a fashion show. The girls model barely-there dresses for my little sister, who sits at one end of the runway, her head cocked. Loud, upbeat music blares from a single speaker.
As soon as Erik and I walk over, suddenly the models are far more interested at making sexy faces in our direction than whatever Annika has them doing.
Annika turns around, spots us, and heaves a sigh.
“Girls, please!” Annika says, clapping her hands to get the models. “Take a five minute break, then we are all going again.”
“What are you doing?” I ask her, annoyed. “This is my private hallway, Nika.”
She scrunches up her face, standing up. I realize now that she’s also wearing a sparkly silver dress similar to those the models have on; if Momse saw Annika right now, she would have a heart attack.
Annika gives me a cool smile. “Hello, big brother. It’s nice to see you too.” She wrinkles her nose. “This hallway has the best light. I need tons of good natural light for the fashion show I’m working on. Don’t worry, it’s for charity.”
