“I would never, just like I would never hurt her again. Our marriage would be between us. The kingdom and Commonwealth would have no place in it.”
“Tell that to the millions of people who haveverystrong opinions about our family,” I mutter. “It’ll make her a target. The media will never leave her alone—”
“Is that a reason to never give her the happily-ever-after I promised her decades ago?” says my father, and I swallow hard. “I will protect her. She will never have to take part in any ceremony she doesn’t wish to attend. She won’t even have to take the title of queen, if she’d rather not. All I want is to love her with everything I have—”
“You don’t have to marry her to do that,” I protest, but he keeps going.
“—and I am done living by everyone else’s rules. My life does not belong to the people of this country, or to the government. It is mine, to live and do with what I like, and this is what I want, Evie. This is what she and I both—”
He stops suddenly and clumsily wipes his wet eyes, and guilt stabs me deep in the chest. I know how much they love each other. I’ve seen it countless times, and I’ve heard it in every story they’ve told me about their life together, both before and after I was born.
But I’ve spent my entire life trying to protect my mom from people who would make her feel less than for her mental illness, or worse, try to rip her to shreds for the things she’s done that she couldn’t always help—things that weren’t her choice—and the thought of putting her in the line of fire like this, all for aring…
“You and Helene are still married, though,” I say in a small voice. “Separated, sure, but—”
“I’ve instructed my lawyers to begin divorce proceedings, with Helene’s blessing,” says Alexander. “Considering she and I are both eager to move on with our current relationships, I’m hopeful it will be as quick and problem-free as possible.”
I can’t imagine Helene making anythingproblem-free,but I don’t say that. Instead, I shift from the couch to the edge of his hospital bed, where I clasp his hand between mine.
“Dad,” I say quietly, one of the few times I’ve called him that. “Is there any other way?”
He looks me straight in the eye, his gaze more focused than it has been since he’s woken up from his coma. “Would you be satisfied,” he says, barely louder than a whisper, “if no one tookthe love of your life seriously? If you’d been through so much together, fought for every small step you’ve taken side by side, and yet everyone treated you as a laughingstock because of…of circumstances and mistakes? If it were Kit, would you be satisfied with this?”
My heart skips a beat at the mention of Kit. I haven’t told my parents about our so-called break—that would make it feel real in a way I couldn’t take. But I understand what Alexander means. And if our positions were reversed, I’d be willing to fight anyone and everyone who turned the love between Kit and me into a punch line.
“No,” I admit. “Do you really need their approval, though? Or—validation?”
“Of course not. But I do need yours.”
I press my lips together and stare at that damn box. “If you and my mom get married, then I’ll be legitimized, and everything Ben is afraid of will happen. Which means he’ll only come after us harder. We’ve already almost lost you once, and my mom…” I trail off. I’m not sure if he knows about the fire at Windsor. “I don’t—Ican’tlose either of you. Okay? I can’t.”
“You won’t,” he says, and he squeezes my hand with surprising strength. “And I won’t lose either of you. I know I made you this promise once before, but I swear on all I am, Evie, that Iwillprotect you and your mother. Iwillprotect our family. After all we’ve been through…after what happened in January…I have a second chance.Wehave a second chance, and all I want to do with it is to spend the rest of my life with her. This is how it should’ve been from the start.”
I think about my own future laid out before me. It glows withpossibility and potential, but the moment I picture experiencing it without Kit, the shimmer of promise disappears entirely. With him, it’s a real future, but without him, it’s nothing—just a map of maybes. And that’s what my parents have been living all this time without each other, scraping together moments when they can, navigating the kind of shit that no two people should ever have to go through together or alone, yet somehow managing to do both at the same time.
I ache at the thought of facing that empty future without Kit, and I ache for my parents and all they’ve lost already. I can’t do that to them again. No matter how afraid I am, no matter how much more danger we’ll be in, they deserve that glow of potential. They deserve all the happiness in the damn world.
“Okay,” I finally say, and my father studies me, his eyes wide.
“Truly?” he says, as if he doesn’t quite believe it. “You’ll give us your blessing?”
I nod, not sure I can say it twice. “On one condition.”
“Anything,” he says, and even though he really shouldn’t be saying things like that, I’m past taking advantage of it. For the moment, at least.
I glance at the corner of the room, where Jenkins sits at a small table near the window, reading through documents. “Jenkins has to forgive me,” I say. “Reallyforgive me, not just say so.”
He raises an eyebrow, and I know he’s listening to every word. Alexander chuckles weakly. “I’ll see what I can do,” he says, also peering at Jenkins. “Though it may be best to give him some time.”
“As long as it’s before the wedding,” I say. “Otherwise, you’ll just have to cancel the whole thing.”
This, at least, gets the tiniest of smiles out of Jenkins, and that’s enough for now.
“Can I see the ring?” I say, and Alexander nods. When he reaches for it, however, his hand begins to shake, so I pick up the box and open it.
Inside is a beautiful emerald-cut diamond with a cluster of three smaller stones artfully arranged on either side—mint green, rose pink, and lilac, the shades my mom favors for her abstract paintings. The design is unconventional, and definitely not something I’d ever see on Helene’s or Constance’s fingers, but it suits her perfectly.
“She’ll love it,” I say, shutting the case and setting it back on the tray. “When are you giving it to her?”
