“I never—”
He reaches into a drawer and pulls out a business card and carefully sets it before me on the desk. “Grayson Grant’s number. I’m assuming you’re on your way to Saint Pierre?”
There’s no sense denying what he says is right. I have been crazy about Lyra my entire life, and I’ve spent that much time trying to pretend it isn’t so.
Accepting it is like opening a door to a room that has sat musty and dark for years, and I laugh because it’s a relief. “How did you know?”
Dad grins. “Oh, my boy. Everyone knows.”
“Except for me, I guess.”
“You have been a bit distracted. What about Abigail?”
“She’s the one telling me to figure things out once and for all.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked her. It’s a shame though. I’ll be sad to see her go. But what else can you do?”
“You think so?” I lean forward, resting my hands on his desk. “That it’s a good idea? Me and… me and Lyra?”
It’s the first time I’ve actually said it. Our names have been linked many times, but never by me.
Me and Lyra. Lyra and I. Spencer Laz and Princess Lyra of Laandia.
It might need some getting used to.
“It wouldn’t be my first choice,” Dad admits.
“Why?” I demand, my voice rising.
Dad waves away my concern. “It’s nothing about Lyra, just that it can be hard to live as a royal. We may be close, but you and I still have a life outside the castle.”
“Really?” I raise a skeptical eyebrow because Dad spends more time on Laandian business than even the king.
“Well, we could,” he concedes with a rakish smile. “We still have our privacy. But if you take this step with Lyra, you’ll lose all that. I don’t think you realize that.”
“I know what I’m getting into.”
“Maybe. Those boys on the show have no clue, though. I knew there’d be a reaction from Lyra when you got serious with Abigail, but no one could have expected this. Not that there was any way to stop her, mind you.” This is said with true affection rather than resignation. Duncan is Lyra’s biggest champion. He would never pick a favourite member of the family, but if he were ever forced to, I really think it would be Lyra.
He presses his fingertips together. “Are you sure about this?”
“I’m not sure about anything,” I confess.
“But you know you need to go after her?”
I stare at the white card on his desk. GRAYSON GRANT with a rose above it. “I’m not,” I say with confusion. “Yes, I’m headed to Saint Pierre for a few weeks, but I’m not going to stop Lyra from being on the show.”
Dad laughs. “It’d be fun to see you try. No, you’re about to throw your hat in the ring. I understand. It’s your only option. And I say—what are you waiting for?”
I’m not waiting, more like taking a breath because there’s a possibility that my life is about to change.
I’ve never wanted to be a prince. I see how all four of the Erickson brothers struggle with their duties and responsibilities as members of the royal family. I’ve done what I can to help them, and that’s been enough.
Sometimes I wonder if I should have taken a different path, one that led me away from the family. It had been my choice—my father told me enough times how demanding it was being so close to the family. Rewarding, but it’s clear that it takes a lot out of him.
One could say it destroyed his marriage, but then, if you look at his ex-wife, it’s clear the fault doesn’t lie solely with him.
I shake my head with a grin. “You sound like Magnus.”
