The Prince and I

by R. S. Lively

  She blinks at me, unaffected or worried. “Is that all?”

  “Is that all? That’s enough. She plans on hurting you.”

  “No. She can’t do that. If she did then…” Her eyes become as wide as saucers. “Oh.”

  “Oh? Oh? Oh, what? What are you going on about?”

  “Well, if I am out of the picture completely, maybe then she can get her hands on Jesse. But that doesn’t make sense either. Jesse is eighteen soon. It wouldn’t make sense to want him, unless…”

  “Unless?” I prod.

  “Unless she makes sure that when Jesse turns eighteen, the only person she has to worry about is him, to get his trust fund. That must be it! Dad had to have left him a trust fund!” she shouts with an epiphany.

  “If he left Jesse something, shouldn’t he have left you something?” I want her to start seeing that her father cared. We just have to prove it.

  “I suppose. I just don’t understand why she needs me out of the way…” She spins around, searching for something, getting every angle, the floor, the ceiling, down the halls, everywhere. “Where is Jesse? Where is he?!” she shouts.

  “I haven’t seen him since…” Since he left to go get coffee. He never came back. We give each other a quick look and sprint down the hall. “Move! Move! Get out of my way!” I yell, pushing nurses and doctors out of our way to get to where we need to be. We have to catch up with them.

  “Move!” I keep screaming, but it’s too late. I run at full force into a young man, smashing into him so hard the items he has in his hands fly out, and he skids ten feet down the hall. “I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!” I shout, running past him. I’ll pay for it.

  Peeking over my shoulder to make sure Rosie is still with me, I see that she isn’t. She’s stopped at the man’s side that I ran into. She must feel my eyes on her because she looks up, and nods, telling me to continue.

  She trusts me enough to do this without her, and that means everything. I finally reach the swinging doors and burst out of them, sprinting to the entrance and bolting outside. The air hits my hot, sweaty face, and I watch a Range Rover peel out of the parking lot. “Damn it!” I kick the trashcan sitting next to the pillar, sending it flying. It crashes a few feet away, and old drinks and takeout containers fall out of it.

  “Dude, what’s the deal?” Jesse comes walking down the sidewalk with a coffee in hand—Starbucks.

  “What the fuck, Jesse!” I march toward him and grab him by the shirt. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “What the hell? I went and got coffee. I didn’t want the shit here. It tastes bad.” He wiggles to get free of my grasp, and I let him go, stunned that he is still here.

  “I’m sorry. Rosie and I thought…”

  “Thought what?”

  “We saw your stepmother and sister here. We thought they took you.”

  “They were never interested in me. They always had it out for Rosie.”

  His words freeze my veins. I give him one last look and it must speak volumes because I’m dashing back into the hospital. Time slows. Every step feels like an eternity. I hear Jesse behind me, his quick footsteps tell me he is thinking what I’m thinking.

  I push open the double doors and see the man who fell putting an ice pack to his head. In a fury of panic and fear, I grab him, spinning him around to look at me. He was the last one to see my sweet, he has to know where she went. “The girl. Where did she go? What happened?”

  “I don’t know, man. She got up to follow you. I haven’t seen her since. You really hurt my head.”

  “Add it to the hospital bill. I don’t care. I’ll pay for any damages. Which way did she go?”

  He points in the direction I just came from. That’s impossible. I didn’t see her. My heart stops beating. She’s gone.

  And I have no idea where she is.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Rosie

  I flush the toilet, groaning from the dizziness taking over my body. All that running and stress finally got to me. I didn’t have time to tell anybody. I ran to the furthest restroom and spilled my guts. I’ve been throwing up so much lately—being with Luca is wonderful, but all the stress in my life is starting to affect me negatively. I’m pretty sure I’m losing weight, and I’m not sleeping as well.

  Moaning again, my voice echoing off the bathroom stalls, I grab onto the handicap rail and boost myself up. I stumble over to the sink and take a good look at myself. I’m paler than usual, and my boobs look huge. “Not bad though.” I turn to the side, pretty impressed. I press them and hiss. “Ow, what the hell?” I press them again, and yep, they are sore.

  I wonder if I’m about to start my period. I turn on the faucet and splash water against my face, sighing from how good it feels. It reminds me of sweating on a very hot day and jumping into a nice, cold lake. The relief makes me want to float and relax, staying submerged in the icy water forever.

  But Luca doesn’t have forever before he starts freaking out. I snatch a few towels out of the holder and dry my face before pulling the door open to hear yelling coming down the hall. Oh, no.

  Luca.

  I hurry along as fast as I can, leaning against the wall for support since I still feel really weak. When I make the turn, there’s Luca, yelling at some poor doctor about how he needed to do his job better.

  I roll my eyes.

  I’ve been gone five, maybe ten minutes tops. He is so dramatic. “Luca!” I try to shout, but my voice is hoarse from throwing up. “Luca,” I say again, putting one foot in front of the other as I tremble like a newborn over to him.

  He finally sees me, pushing the man he is talking to out of the way to run up to me and grab me. He spins me around, squeezing me too tight. “Luca! Put me down. Put me down,” I hit his back with quick slaps as my stomach rolls. Right as my feet hit the floor, I vomit again, and this time, I don’t make it to the bathroom.

  “Nurse! Someone, please help her!” Luca says frantically.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if they left me here to throw up a lung with how he is acting, but color me shocked when the guy Luca pushed over runs over to me. He checks my pulse and yells for a gurney. Jesse is at my side in a few seconds too, and I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face. “You’re here. I thought they took you.”

  “We thought they took you. You can’t do that again. From now on, you have to tell us where you go, okay? You have to. There’s no room for argument here. We have threats now, Rosebud.”

  “Okay,” I say, and the word is followed by a painful moan. My hands fly to my stomach, and I roll from side to side trying to get the feeling of my stomach turning inside out to go away.

  The male nurse invades my vision and his smile is kind, even after being bulldozed by a prince. I wonder if he would take it as a compliment.

  “Hey there. How long have you been getting sick?” he asks, rolling me down the hall. The lights flash every time we pass, or maybe it’s cause I’m blinking, I don’t know, but it’s hurting my brain. They are so damn bright.

  “It’s been like this for three days. Really bad. We have had a lot of stress though,” Luca answers for me.

  Good. I do not feel like speaking. I may just toss whatever is left in my stomach if my mouth opens. I roll through a door and he pumps the brakes, making sure I don’t go anywhere. “We are going to get her checked in, but in the meantime, I want to run a few tests, okay? So get comfy, you aren’t going anywhere.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t even think about arguing,” Luca growls. I know that tone. That’s the ‘No room for argument’ tone.

  And I want to argue, but I just don’t have the energy for it. I’ll do it later.

  “Alright, is there any chance that you are pregnant?” the nurse with the goose egg on the side of his head asks, waiting for me to say something so he can check the box on the sheet of paper is he holding.

  I open my mouth to say no, but the word doesn’t come out, it gets trapped in my throat. I
glance up at Luca, and he has a big smile on his face. His hand comes to my stomach, and the familiar warmth seeps into me, soothing the nausea.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” the nurse says. “My name is Michael. I’ll be your nurse, okay? Just don’t run me over or anything and we will be fine. I’ll get a blood test to confirm the pregnancy. I’ll be right back.” He slides the chart on the rail of the hospital bed.

  Luca steps in front of him, and the smaller man takes a step back. The prince holds out his arms, telling the much smaller nurse that he means no harm. “I’m sorry about running into you. I was hoping you could check on another patient. Caroline Addington?”

  Michael cocks his head, thinking. “That is so weird. That is the Queen of Belgium’s name. I bet your mom gets that all the time.”

  Luca rubs a hand over his mouth and smiles. “Yes, she does. Could you check on her for me?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Michael prances out, happier than a kid in a candy store.

  “Jiffy?” Luca raises a brow. “What’s that?”

  “It means he will be back soon,” Jesse says, crossing his arms over his head and stretching out in the chair.

  “Jiffy. You Americans really know how to make up words. Why not just say you will be back soon?”

  “Because jiffy is quicker.”

  “It’s lazier, Jesse,” Luca adds, sitting on the edge of the bed. His hand drifts to my midsection again, heating my stomach.

  Jesse’s voice cuts through the haze I find myself in, dreaming of Luca holding our baby. “You’re pregnant? I’m going to be an uncle?”

  “Maybe. We don’t know for sure yet. It may just be a stomach bug, but it’s been really killing me.”

  “We will get it taken care of.” Luca bends down and kisses my forehead. “Nothing can ever happen to you. You scared the hell out of me earlier. I thought they took you from me. I would burn this town down for you. Everyone was about to be in danger.”

  “So angry.”

  “No, I just love you and want nothing to happen to you. You’re mine. You both are. I’d tear this world apart if it meant finding you.”

  “Woah there, killer. That is very intense,” Jesse pipes up as he throws the tissue box in the air, catching it over and over again .

  “What I feel for your sister is intense.”

  “Does this mean we’re moving to Belgium?” Jesse asks nonchalantly. “That would be really cool. Hey, do you live in a castle? Or is that just in movies and stuff?”

  “I don’t know. That’s a conversation for another time, okay? There are other things to worry about.”

  “Now is as good a time as any.” Jesse drops the tissue box and stands. “Listen, I’m up for it. As long as I get to be with you. I mean, I do get to be with my sister, right?” He glares at Luca.

  “Of course you do. I wouldn’t take her away from you like that. She is your legal guardian. And you’re family. The castle is big enough for all of us.”

  Jesse’s smile brightens his entire face. Pure excitement and joy, just like a little kid. “So you do live in a castle? Wicked, dude!”

  “I don’t understand that term. Wicked? Doesn’t that mean bad? It isn’t. The castle is beautiful.”

  Jesse and I burst out laughing. His accent makes it sound so proper. “Wicked means cool.”

  “That is the exact opposite of what wicked means. Don’t Americans learn proper English?”

  “It’s slang, Luca.” I take his hand in mine, adoring that he isn’t aware of certain words.

  “I see. Wicked.” He rolls it around on his tongue, trying it out for good measure. “I don’t like it.”

  The door opens with a knock and Michael peeks his head in. “Am I interrupting?”

  “No, you’re fine.” Luca says. “They’re teaching me words that make no sense.”

  “You aren’t from here. Your accent gives you away. Well, believe me, you are not missing anything with the English language. It is not as beautiful as Spanish or French.” Michael snorts, setting the tray of needles and vials down.

  “Oui, Michael. I agree with you.”

  It isn’t all the time that Luca lets his native tongue slip. He should. I love it when he speaks to me in it. Especially when we are in bed and he is on top, and he whispers lines and lines of filth in French. He could be saying something useless like he needs to do the laundry, and I wouldn’t know. I wouldn’t care. The language still turns me on.

  “Oh, the Queen of Belgium still hasn’t woken up. But her vitals look good. And may I say, your dad is terrifying. No wonder he’s a king, which makes you the prince.” He gasps, turning his attention to me. “Does that mean you’re a princess? I’m taking blood from a princess?” He takes out a rubber band and ties it around my arm. “No matter how neat it is, sorry, I’m still taking your blood.” He lets the band go with a pop, stinging my arm a bit.

  “Ow,” I say in protest.

  He rolls his eyes, wiping the patch of skin with a disinfectant wipe. “Please. Labor is going to be so much worse. This is nothing.”

  “That’s not reassuring at all,” I say.

  “It isn’t supposed to be. That’s just how it is.” He shrugs, shoving the needle into my arm. The red liquid flows into the tube, filling the small plastic container quickly.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you have terrible bedside manner?” I deadpan.

  “Yep.” He hums as he waits for the vial to fill.

  “I like him,” Luca says. “I’ll pay your moving cost and pay you triple what they are paying here if you move to Belgium. You’ll have to sign an NDA, but that’s just part of the job.”

  Michael stands, placing the vial in the cart, slaps a band-aid on my arm, and shoves a sucker in my mouth, with the plastic still on.

  “You’re serious? Why? Is this because you knocked me to a different state?” He throws his hands on his hips, a bit sassy.

  “No. I like that you are to the point. I would rather have someone with her that knows her.”

  “I hardly know her. Anyone can be her doctor at this point. It’s just the beginning.”

  “I don’t care. You’re here now. If you don’t want the job, I’ll find someone else.” Luca waves him away and sits down next to me, bringing my arm to his lips to kiss the place Michael took blood.

  “No! I’ll take it. Are you kidding? Will you be there?” He points to Jesse, a little glitter in his eyes.

  Jesse clears his throat and blushes. “I will, but I’m straight and underage.”

  “Story of my freaking life,” Michael mutters. “I’ll be back with the test results in a jiffy. And you can tell me the plan to move to Belgium. How fun!” says his perky self, and he skips out the door, whistling a tune.

  “Someone likes you, Jesse,” I poke fun at him. I know he doesn’t care. He’s hooked on Alice, for some reason. I think they talk more than her and I do.

  “Meh, he will move on. His heart will heal,” he jokes. He pulls out his phone when it starts to ring. “I got to take this!” He runs out of the room, leaving me curious.

  I know who it is, but it isn’t my problem. I’m still mad at Alice for being so secretive.

  “You know, if you’re pregnant, we need to see why you’re so sick. I mean, throwing up is normal, but it really puts you out, my sweet little fox.” He rubs a thumb over my stomach, making it swirl, but in a good way. It doesn’t make me feel sick.

  “It’s just morning sickness, people have it all the time.”

  “Oui, but not like that. It worries me. Please, just ask Michael.”

  “I love you, you know. Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Everything.”

  Luca scoots me over on the bed and lies down next to me. He throws an arm around my shoulder, and I nestle into his chest, inhaling the scent of clean pine and pure masculinity. He smells like home. Jesse comes back in and lies back in the chair, seeming a bit upset, with red cheeks, but I don’t ask him what
’s going on. He will talk to me if he wants.

  We stay like that for a few hours until Michael’s perkiness skips through the door again. “Hey-o, everyone. Well, the tests confirm that you are pregnant. Congratulations. Considering how ill you are, I believe you have hyperemesis gravidarum. The doctor will confirm. He should be in any minute. Yay! A royal baby.” He claps.

  “One, what is hyperemesis gravidarum, and two, you can’t say a word of this to anyone, understood?” Luca deepens his voice, a threat if Michael opens his mouth.

  “It’s where your morning sickness is all the time, but a million times worse. It’s actually a health risk for her and the baby. And yeah, I like my life, but I’m not stupid enough to let this spill, like are you kidding?” He laughs, opening my medical chart and scribbling something in there.

  Holy shit. I press my hand to my stomach, letting the moment sink into me.

  I’m pregnant.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Luca

  “Yes, Luca. Right there,” Rosie moans, clutching onto my hair, pulling me further into her depths. I dive my tongue into her cream-filled dessert, eating her candy like my life depends on it.

  We are back at the bed-and-breakfast now, waiting for my mom to wake up still. It’s been a week, which isn’t too long, but now, the doctors will call us if there is a change. Until I get the call that she has woken up, I’m going to stay in bed with my woman, my pregnant woman.

  Ever since she has been carrying my child, I swear the pregnancy makes her taste sweeter. Everything about her taste better. Her kiss, her touch, her pussy, everything, and I need more of it.

  I latch onto her pink, erect clit, and suck it into my mouth, growling around the morsel. She arches her back, removing her hands from the bed and slapping them against the mattress. Her mouth drops open on a silent moan when I nibble on the flesh. She loves it when I do that. It makes her orgasm happen quick, sending a burst of sweet nectar into my mouth.

  She tries to close her legs, but I keep them spread; the farther they go, the more sensitive her clit is, and I’m trying to drive her wild, mad, insane with my pleasure. My thumb circles over her aching hole while I dine on her peach. Rosie whines when she feels that, thrusting her hips down to try to fuck my thumb.