“I created a situation that I knew would get me sent home.” Shetakes a step closer, then stops when she sees my expression. “I’ve known about this possible arrangement since I was a teenager. My family has been planning this marriage, hoping you wouldn’t find a bride, so we could build our alliances. I never had a choice, never had a say, never had anyone ask me what I actually wanted.”
“That doesn’t explain it.”
“I decided to make myself so unacceptable that your family would have no choice but to reject me.” Her voice cracks. “I saw the way you looked at her. The artist. In the hallway, when you thought no one was watching. I’ve never seen anyone look at another person like that. I knew you would never look at me that way. So, I gave you an out. I gave both of us an out.”
I don’t know what to say. I’ve spent the past week hating this woman, blaming her for everything that’d gone wrong, and now she’s standing in front of me, telling me she was trying to help.
“If that’s true,” I say slowly, “then why are you still here?”
“Because you did something to negate my only move. They pulled me off the plane, Louis. I was so close to escaping this prison.” Tatiana laughs, but there’s zero humor in it. “I don’t know what else to do, Louis. I’ve been difficult, I’ve been cold, I’ve made it clear that I don’t want this, and none of it matters. Your mother won’t let me go, and she’s not going to let you have Addison. She’ll burn this whole country down before that happens.”
I walk to the window and look out at the gardens below. The table is fully set now, candles flickering in the evening light. There are two place settings. It’s intimate and romantic.
“That’s for us, isn’t it?” I say. “The dinner in the gardens.”
“I asked your mother’s permission to invite you. I thought … I thought we could talk privately so that I could explain.”
I turn back to face her. “Why should I believe any of this? You could be lying to manipulate me. You could be working with my mother to break me down.”
“I could be.” She doesn’t flinch away from the accusation. “But I’m not. And the only way I can prove that is by telling you the truth, even if you don’t believe me.” She pauses, and when she speaks again, her voice is barely above a whisper. “I’m in love with someone back home. A man my family would never approve of. He’s not royal, not wealthy, not politically advantageous. He’s … kind. And good to me. And he makes me feel like I’m worth something beyond my bloodline.”
“Then why didn’t you fight harder to be with him?”
“Because I was raised to believe I didn’t have the right to fight. Because my father told me my feelings didn’t matter. Because I thought if I went along with what everyone expected, eventually, I’d learn to be happy.” Her eyes are wet now, and she blinks rapidly to keep the tears from falling. “But you showed me how wrong I was. And I want to go home and try, but I’m stuck in a country I don’t want to be in, about to be engaged and married to a man who loves someone else. Not to mention, I’ll be forced to have your baby. Do you really want to be that miserable with me for another seventy years?”
I study her for a long moment, looking for the lie, the manipulation, the hidden agenda, but I don’t find it. Either she’s the best actress I’ve ever encountered, or she’s telling the truth.
“What exactly are you proposing?”
She takes a shaky breath. “An alliance. A fake courtship that gives your mother what she wants to see while we both work toward what we actually want. I play the devoted fiancée in public, you play the attentive prince, and I’ll help you see your girlfriend. When the time is right, we stage a breakup that lets me go home with my dignity intact. If you hurt me badly enough, my parents will let me marry whoever I want.”
“And Addison? Can I tell her?”
“Tell her, but she has to be on her best behavior. She has to pretend she doesn’t care in public settings.”
“There are a lot of things that could go wrong.”
“I know. But it’s the only plan I have.” She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m not asking you to trust me, Louis. I know I haven’t earned that. But I’m asking you to consider that we might both want the same thing and that working together is better than fighting alone.”
I think about the life I’ve been promised versus the life I actually want.
“If I agree to this,” I say, “there are conditions.”
“Name them.”
“No sex.”
“Agreed.”
“In public, we’ll hold hands, we’ll smile, we’ll look like the perfect couple. But that’s where it ends. No kissing, no intimacy beyond what’s absolutely necessary for appearances.”
“I disagree with that. You have to sell it, Louis. The world has to believe you really broke my heart when this ends. Do you understand? You will have to kiss me.”
“Okay. And let it be known that if I ever find out you’re lying to me, if I find out this is all some elaborate scheme to help my mother keep me in line, I will make sure you never set foot in this country again. I will personally ensure that every royal family in Europe knows exactly what kind of person you are. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” She holds my gaze without wavering. “I understand the consequences.”
I extend my hand. “Then we have a deal.”
