Page 57 of The Princess and the SEAL

Chapter 26

Ryan

IGOT INTO MY CAR, BLASTED THE stereo, and headed straight to the beach.

How could I have let her go?

I was a fucking Navy SEAL. I could’ve fought harder for her. I was a better man than Miguel. Why did he get to marry her instead of me?

Wait—did I want to marry her?

The idea of marrying some woman I hadn’t even known for a month seemed insane, though some of my buddies married their wives very fast. As a SEAL, we never had time to make strong relationships, which was also why our divorce rate was so high. It was hard to build a lasting relationship when we were constantly deployed.

I had told Giselle over and over that I never wanted to get married. Ever. And that I didn’t want to have any kids.

But was that still true? I loved playing with my buddies’ kids. Maybe it was because I never knew my father. How could I be a good father or husband when I had never had an example of one?

And who had arranged her marriage? Her father? King Rémy? Did he really want his daughter to live a life of misery? Did he know what kind of sleazebag Miguel was?

I doubted it.

I picked up my phone. Erik answered on the first ring.

“What’s up, bro? Did she leave?”

“Yup.”

“You okay?”

“Nope.”

“I’m sorry, dude. I remember when Aria left me. I was a mess.”

Understatement of the year. I had to drag Erik out of bed to get him to work on time. And he was my officer.

“I remember. But she showed up in your BUD/S class.”

“Yup. Fate has a way of working things out.”

“Yeah, well, I doubt Giselle is going to leave her life of luxury to become a Navy SEAL. Or to become a Navy SEAL’s wife.”

“But you love her man; I’ve never seen you like this. Did you try to get her to stay?”

“Yeah, that ship has sailed. I begged her to; she said no. She’s a princess. It’s not that easy.”

“Nothing worth doing ever is.”

I paused. No. Love definitely wasn’t easy.

But nothing worth having ever was. I had worked so hard to become a SEAL. BUD/S was legit hell. There were so many nights that I had wanted to quit, but I pushed through, knowing the end result would be worth all the pain and misery to get there.

Giselle was mine. I wasn’t going to let her go.

But I had made a mistake by asking her, offering no solution to her problems.

I needed to talk to her father. The king.

Until she walked down the aisle, I still had a chance.