“What’s she doing?” Jade asked, stepping closer.
But they soon knew. The little girl pushed at the sleeves of the dress she was wearing, wiggling and tugging to get it off as fast as she could.
“Oh my gosh,” Serenity said, her voice choked with amusement. “She’s changing right here in the street. Oh my gosh.”
Clearly the little girl didn’t have much concern for her modesty, so Serenity and Jade stood close to her and hid her from view the best they could while she changed. Not that there seemed to be many people out at this time. Probably because it was the hottest part of the day.
When she had the dress on, they stepped back and watched her spin in circles, her eyes fixed on how the dress fluttered around her legs. Serenity thought that she’d never in her whole career felt such satisfaction at seeing one of her creations on the person for whom it was designed—not actresses on the red carpet or politicians’ wives at an Inaugural ball or models walking the catwalk in front of the style icons of the world. This was joy. This was magic.
Serenity pulled out her phone and looked up a video on how to say “What is your name?” in Greek. The girl heard it and responded instantly, saving Serenity from having to try pronouncing the words herself.
“Talia.” Then she turned back to the alley and let out a sharp whistle, and five other little girls emerged from the deep shadows down the alley way. They all wore threadbare clothes and hesitant but hopeful smiles.
Her meaning was clear.
Deep laughter from behind them made Serenity turn back toward the main street. Alex was there, his car parked at the corner. As he walked toward them, he shook his head and grinned at her. “It looks like you have more dresses to make.”
Serenity burst out laughing. “I guess I do. Will you please tell them that it will take me longer than one day?”
Alex told them and then waved the little girls off, calling a friendly goodbye to them as they scampered off. “Don’t worry. I’ve met Talia’s mother, so I can arrange for you to come back with the dresses whenever you want. She’s a widow, by the way, and overwhelmed with working and raising her three kids by herself. They live in one room of her sister’s house and have a pretty meager existence.”
Serenity nodded. “Well, we’ll have to see what we can do about that, then, won’t we?”
Alex smiled down at her, but somehow his expression still seemed somber. “Yes. Though you will not be here to help for long, will you?”
Her stomach twisted. “No, I guess not.”
Jade made a snorting sound. “As if we can’t help just because we’ll be in New York. I was thinking… Since Ben is flying out here tomorrow, we should have him bring some cotton fabric with him. He’ll have a lot more to choose from there.”
“That’s a great idea. Go ahead and text him about it. No, wait, he’ll have all kinds of questions, so you’d better call him.”
On top of it, Jade already had her phone out. But as she walked a short way down the street to make the call out of earshot, Alex leaned against a wall, his arms crossed, and studied her with a sharp look.
“What?” she asked.
“That was interesting.”
Serenity shook her head, still not getting what he was talking about.
“I would have thought you’d call Ben yourself, since he’s your fiancé.”
Dang. Double Dang. Drat it all.
Furious with herself for slipping up, she grasped the first excuse she could think of. “It’s tricky being engaged to someone who still technically works for you. Having Jade communicate about work assignments with him creates less tension.”
Alex nodded but didn’t look convinced. “I see your point, but I wouldn’t have thought this was work. This is more personal, wouldn’t you say?”
Serenity flung her hands up in the air. “I guess so. I wasn’t really thinking about it. You know how I am. I tend to boss people around no matter what’s going on. Now, can we please get back? I have a lot of work to do.”
His eyes flashed with amusement, but he didn’t look as if he’d accepted her excuses. “Of course. I’ve been waiting to do so.”
Serenity waved Jade over toward the car, and they all got in. As the driver headed back up the hill, Jade got off the phone with a satisfied smile. “Ben is on it! He barely even complained about having to bring another suitcase.”
“Good,” Serenity said, wanting to avoid any further conversation about Ben. She tried to give Jade a warning look to say no more.
But Alex wasn’t ready to let it go. “Did he ask after Serenity?”
Jade looked as if someone had poked her in her ribs. “Oh, uh…yeah, of course. He always does, right?” She turned to Serenity. “He said to tell you he loves you and can’t wait to hold you again.”
Serenity closed her eyes. Jade was good at many, many things…but apparently, lying wasn’t one of them.
She had a feeling her fake engagement was about to be exposed, but she wasn’t going down without torturing Alex first. “Man, I can’t wait. I didn’t realize I’d miss him so much. You know, maybe I’ll give in and marry him when we get back instead of waiting till after the fashion show.”
Chapter Eleven
Two days later, Alex sat in his private office, receiving a full report from Tymon on Daniel Travers. He had been positive that Serenity hadn’t known everything about the man and had immediately gotten his intelligence people on it as soon as he’d gotten the man’s name.
“One of his models disappeared about eight or nine years ago, never to be heard from again. There have been other suspicious things that lead my sources to think that Travers has the connections to make someone go away if he wants them to.”
Alex stood and began pacing, trying to take in all these pieces. “Okay. You think he might put a hit out on her?”
Tymon shook his head. “He’s left her completely alone all these years while he was in prison—at least as far as we can determine.”
“So why did he wait this long to come after her? If he has all these connections, why wouldn’t he attempt to have her taken care of while he was in prison and had a better alibi? Now that he’s out, if anything were to happen to her, suspicion would immediately fall on him.”
“Simply put, sir, he wants the pleasure of doing it himself.”
Alexios muttered a string of colorful Greek curses and stood. He paced across the room like an angry lion in a cage. “I want someone—no, multiple people—on this man at all times. He can’t make a move without us knowing it. I want the whole security team on high alert, and I want our shores and the airport watched. As of right now, he doesn’t know where she is, so that is working in our favor, but I expect that he will soon.”
“Yes, that was something else I was going to warn you about. You told us to watch Lydia’s social media, and she has begun a series of posts for her followers to guess who is designing her dress. She been dropping clues throughout the day, and they are growing less subtle. Serenity’s name has already been mentioned several times in the comments, though Miss Koettis has not yet confirmed anything. But the very fact that she is from Cristonia will direct his attention here if he learns of it.”
“I am not surprised. I didn’t think Lydia would be able to hold it in for long. I will speak to her tonight. I will keep Serenity safe, Tymon, no matter what.”
“Yes, sir. And we are all behind you.”
But none of that eased his worry. He couldn’t keep her safe forever, not like this. He smashed his fist into his other hand, the smack resounding through the room. “But what can we do when she goes home?”
“I don’t know, sir. Our resources and power are obviously limited in the US. And this could go on indefinitely until he chooses to move.”
“You’re too right.” Alexios ran his fingers through his hair, unconcerned that he couldn’t go to dinner with it in an unruly mess. In fact, he cared nothing for the dinner or Lydia or anything else right then—nothing but Serenity.
He had to see her, to ensure that she was okay. She would be, he knew, but knowing the threat against her, he didn’t think he’d ever be easy again if she wasn’t where he could see her at all times and know she was safe. At least he would have another two weeks or so before he had to come up with a plan to protect her in New York.
“Thank you, Tymon. If you could set everything we’ve discussed in motion, I would appreciate it.”
“Yes, sir, At once.”
When he was gone, Alex tried to restrain himself from going immediately to Serenity’s suite, but with zero success. Less than a minute later, he knocked on her door.
Jade opened it, and after one look at his expression stepped back, holding the door for him without saying anything. He went in, looking over Jade’s shoulder for Serenity, but she was nowhere to be seen. “Where is she?”
Her bedroom door opened then, and she stepped out wearing leggings and a long shirt that had slipped off her right shoulder. Her hair was up in a bun on top of her head, and she wore green striped socks on her feet. Any other time, he would have teased her about not living up to her fashion icon image, but all he could do was drink in the sight of her.
“I thought I heard your voice,” she said, closing her door behind her and moving toward him.
Jade looked between the two of them. “I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me…not that I expect you to.” There was a note of humor in her voice that Alexios didn’t miss.
When they were alone, the urge to hold her was so intense that his shoulders and arms ached with the tension in them, as if he was fighting his own body, keeping it in place. “I just wanted to know you were okay.”
Serenity gave him a quick smile, but it only lasted a second. “I’m perfectly safe, if that’s what you mean.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, he asked, “Have you gotten any further communications from Travers?”
“No. I haven’t gotten any more calls since the one earlier today, and Ben helped me get my number changed. Jade is screening all my emails, but so far there’s been nothing else.”
Alexios nodded, glad she was at least spared from any more communications with the man. But it didn’t ease his deeper anxiety. “Look, I don’t know what to do about this yet, but I’m going to take care of you. You can stay here as long as you like—”
“I can’t, Alex.”
“Why not?”
She bit her bottom lip, and he watched as she slowly released it to say, “There’s nothing I can do but watch and be careful. Somehow, I have to still live my life, or he’s already won. When I get back, I’m going to get a restraining order on him and keep in contact with the authorities. With his history, they should listen.”
“Okay. And I’ll hire security for you—”
“Alex, stop. I understand that you’re worried, and it means a lot to me. But you can’t do this. Your life, your focus, is here, remember? You’re going to be married and working to improve your country. Your people need someone with your heart and devotion. You can’t be who and what you need to be if you’re always worrying about me.”
He threw his hands out. “Well, it’s not like I can just stop either.” Realizing that he’d raised his voice, he took a breath and tried to calm down. “If I can’t protect you, it will drive me mad.”
“Alex, since coming here, I have gained a better understanding of why you chose this over me. And as the understanding came, my anger went. I can finally forgive you for walking away—and even for raising my hopes––even though this hurt will never go away. But we’ll have to deal with that. And you’ll have to let me go.”
He heard the heartbreak in her voice, and it echoed through him like a death knell.
It had taken every bit of strength he’d had to say goodbye to her back in New York. For their first few days of knowing each other, he’d been reckless and weak, allowing himself to give in to every desire to be with her. He’d brought coffee to her studio in the mornings, messaged her throughout the day when he’d been attending meetings and making public appearances, and every night for a week, he’d stolen away from his security and responsibilities and gone to her—either at her studio or her apartment. The compelling drive to be with her had not weakened over time. If anything, it was now stronger than ever. He’d known he shouldn’t be giving her false hope then, but he’d been too weak to stop himself.
For that alone, he didn’t deserve her forgiveness. And she hadn’t deserved the only option he’d been able to give her. Because even though they were being pulled in opposite directions, they belonged together. He loved her more now than he ever had—more deeply, more truly, and with so many more facets to his complete adoration and longing for her.
Without even intending to, he took a step toward her.
She threw her hands up as if to hold him back. “Alexios.” It was the first time she’d used his full name, her voice both plea and invitation. She was as conflicted as he was.
A knock sounded on the door. Alex wanted to turn and rip it off its hinges. “That door has been our saving grace one too many times,” he said, his voice a low growl.
Serenity blinked at him a moment. Her soft lips pressed together as she wiped her eyes with her fingers. Then, with a resolute set to her shoulders, she went and opened the door. Watching over her head, he was amazed to see his mother in the hallway, a few members of her staff behind her.
“My dear, I heard about the girl and the dress. I just wanted to come and tell you how kind—” She broke off as she spotted him standing behind Serenity. His mother looked back at her staff over her shoulder and then came in and closed the door behind her. “What is going on here?”
Alex sighed and put his hands in his pockets to hide his clenched fists. “Why do you suppose something is going on?”
She looked between them but spoke only to him. “Because you are here alone with her. At night. When you should be preparing to leave for the Koettis dinner party.”
“Exactly, Mother. How could you possibly suspect anything is going on when I am clearly leaving?” He motioned to his tux.
But his mother wasn’t convinced. She turned to look at Serenity, who stood with her arms crossed protectively and her head turned down. If only she didn’t look so perfectly lovely—so feminine with the luminous skin of her neck and shoulder exposed and her long lashes sparkling with the remnants of her tears.
His mother sniffed. “Because I have no dependence on your wisdom, Alexios. Not when I know she is your particular weakness.” Then to his surprise, she went to Serenity and pulled her into a motherly embrace. “I apologize for my son, inflicting himself on you when you have clearly determined to move on.”
Alexios stared in disbelief, his mouth falling open. “Mother?”
“I’m fine, Your Majesty,” Serenity said, her voice soft and thick as if the words choked her. “I believe he was just leaving.”
His mother nodded, rubbed Serenity’s arms, and stepped back. “Yes, he certainly was. And believe me, my dear, he will have quite a lecture from me.” Before he could protest, she swept up to him in full, regal authority and took his arm. “Come along, Alexios. You have importuned her enough.”
He looked back over his shoulder to Serenity, who watched them leave sadly but with some measure of relief. And he didn’t blame her for that.
Mentally cursing himself, he forced himself to bear his mother’s lectures all the way down the hallway to the sitting room where they met up with his father. But the more she harangued him, the more he tuned out what she said. A new sort of reckless rebellion swept over him, drowning out his absolute commitment to duty.
For the first time, he no longer cared how impossible it was to have a relationship with Serenity, what odds were against him, or how tangled the knot that bound him to Lydia. He determined to find a way to correct his course back to the only future he wanted to have. He would make a path that combined his duty with the one thing he wanted above all else in this world.
Her.
Keeping up the pretense of being a happy couple with Lydia taxed Alexios more than usual after the scene he’d just had with Serenity. Normally he could smile politely, make small talk, and diplomatically discuss politics with ease, if not enjoyment, but he had no patience for it tonight. His mother had returned home just to attend this dinner party, however, and it was important. Dignitaries from Greece, France, Spain, and Morocco were all in attendance.
It wasn’t until after the meal was over and the whole party moved to a less-formal gathering in the Prime Minister’s garden that he felt he might yet make some good of the evening.
When he thought of breaking off his engagement with Lydia, every gentlemanly instinct within him rebelled. Not only could he not do that to her—embarrass her in front of the whole world as the woman who was dropped by a prince—but the political ramifications for his family would be disastrous.
Cristonia was a monarchy, peacefully so for the most part. But democratic ideals were deeply embedded in the people’s minds as well. For the last fifty years, the government had shifted into a Parliamentary Monarchy, much like the United Kingdom, but with different nuances. One of these was that there was always pressure to shift the power more and more out of the monarchy’s hands into the people’s. Minister Koettis had served the nation for over a decade, and he was extremely popular with the people. His parents hoped that by uniting the two families through marriage, it would increase their own popularity and create more goodwill for the throne, as well as reassure them that the prime minister himself trusted them enough to give his daughter away to them in marriage.
No, with all that pressure, there was no way he could end the engagement.
But Lydia could.
“What is this new hairstyle you have chosen to wear?” his mother asked, stepping up next to him.
Alexios ran his hand through it. Usually he wore it spiked up on top, in a trendy but still conservative way. But now the longer hair on top fell forward onto his forehead. “Yes, I suppose so. You look lovely tonight, mother.”
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