Leo raised a brow. “Who?”
“Lord Stuart,” Evelyn grumbled.
“And you actually stopped her?” Leo asked Damien.
“Too many witnesses,” Damien said.
“Hmm. Maybe another time.” Leo plucked a daisy out of the grass and tucked it behind Evelyn’s ear. “You’re beautiful.”
“Oh, fuck no!” Damien jumped up. “I’m not going to listen to the two of you being cute. I’m not a zookeeper for godsdamned lovebirds.”
He snatched the empty wine bottle and walked in an almost straight line toward the palace.
I didn’t want Damien to leave… but I guess Leo and I have things to talk about.
She leaned against Leo, and he put an arm around her shoulders.
“I don’t hate you,” Evelyn whispered.
Leo went still. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”
“I want to hate you,” she admitted. “I’m angry, and I don’t totally trust you, and I’m a bad person for even bringing it up right now. But I can’t hate you.”
“Evelyn, I’m?—”
“Don’t say you’re sorry! I know you’re sorry. Just be here with me.”
“I can do that.”
She rested her head on Leo’s chest and listened to his heartbeat.
We need to talk about our fight. We have to figure out what comes next. If Leo wants to be with me, I need more than an invitation to stay in the kingdom. But it’s not fair to ask him to make that decision today, not after his father died. I also don’t know if I’m ready to say yes.
“I fell out of this tree when I was a kid,” Leo recalled.
Evelyn cleared her thoughts. “You did? How?”
“I was playing hide-and-seek with Damien. I thought it would be so smart to climb a treeanduse an illusion so he couldn’t find me.”
“A flawless plan, obviously. Then what happened?”
“Damien used his magic to imitate the sound of a lion’s roar.” Leo laughed at the memory. “It wasdeafening. I got scared and lost my balance on a branch.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Not from the fall. But my magic held and the illusion stayed in place. I was invisible on the ground. Damien accidentally stepped on my wrist and broke it.”
“No! Did you get in trouble?”
“My mother was mad and we got a lecture about our stupidity. But my father was impressed with our magic, so he didn’t tell Damien’s parents what happened.” Leo’s eyes darkened at the mention of his father.
Evelyn steered them back into safer territory. “So you and Damien have always known each other.”
“Yeah. He’s like a brother.”
I want to ask about Prince Christopher, but this isn’t the right time.
“Why did you follow me onto the beach that first night?” she asked instead.
