by C R Riley
“Funny, funny witty little woman you are Larkin Moon Cross. I only want you to answer my question with complete honesty. I don’t intend, nor did I ever really, on making you keep your word unless it was absolutely what you want. So if you are not completely sure that this life is one you can deal with then …”
I rise to my feet and place a finger over his moving lips. “I guess you will never know that answer until you ask the question. Now as you said earlier, shall we get on with it?”
One nod is all I get.
The man’s confidence has long been forgotten. He is not the King right now. Not the Ruler that declares something and expects it to be done without question. He is only Antonio, the man I love. And he is standing here before me ready to do and say anything to get me to agree.
He drops to his knees—yes knees—and grabs my hands. Bringing them both to his lips as he kisses them before he lets the right one go. His eyes meet mine and he stares at me like no other man ever has.
“Be the queen of my heart Larkin, own it like no one else ever will or has. I beg of you my love, to agree to all of this. Accept me for who I am and say that you will marry me.”
I hadn’t even realized he’d slipped the ring out of the box until he slides it on my finger. The fit is almost perfect. The unique design has me staring at it longer than I intended. It’s not a new ring, instead I can identify that it is an antique, a ring that has a story behind it. My mind starts to wander off and imagine the first time a man offered it to a woman.
“Larkin, you are killing me here my love.” I catch the panic in his voice.
My eyes search his again and the love I discover there has me dropping to my knees. No need for him to be the only one begging now is there. I take his face in both of mine and squeeze it tight. “Sorry about that. Lovely ring by the way. Ask me again.”
He grunts. “Accept me for who I am and say that you will marry me.”
“There isn’t a force on this world that could keep me away from you my sweet handsome man. Yes. Yes, I will marry you.”
Remember the alpha male I said lives inside of him. That is very true by the way, but there is also a very insecure boy that hides in his shadow. One that as soon as I speak those words, collapses onto his hunches and wraps his arms around my center. He presses his face against my stomach and begins weeping, letting it all out.
I don’t interrogate him about it. This isn’t a sad cry. This is a deep-down release of something that has had him trussed all his life, making him feel like he may never escape the confinements this kind of life brings. So instead I lean forward and hold him against me while I caress his hair.
His hold tightens, “I love you Larkin.”
Kissing the top of his head I smile, even though I know he cannot see me. “I love you two Antonio. I promise to love you always.”
Finally, he pulls back and stands. Even all red-faced with tearstained cheeks, this man is still the most absolute stunning man I have ever laid eyes on. He tugs me into his side and together we stand there in silence and watch as the sun disappears behind the horizon.
Chapter 26
Larkin
Eight weeks, in case you didn’t already know this, really isn’t very long. It feels even shorter when you know that the time you have with someone is limited.
A lot of things can happen however in that eight weeks. Some good, some not so good, and then some that are just interesting. But no matter what, one thing remained constant during all those situations. The love Antonio and I had didn’t falter once, if anything it was strengthened.
I’ll start with the good of course.
I have never been in love before. I figured that out rather quickly after spending these last several weeks with Antonio. How I felt in the past towards a man did not even compare to how I felt towards this one.
It was the simple things that I found the most revealing to me. The little gestures meant more than the time we set aside each evening to do what couples in love often do.
Kissing is what I mean just to be clear. Not once has Antonio tried to take things past that, well not really. He expressed his thoughts on how he wanted our relationship to progress, making it clear that he intended on waiting until our wedding night to express his love in that way. Guess he figured he had been able to sustain this long a few more months shouldn’t be that difficult. I agreed.
It was the fact that he woke early enough every morning to get the coffee started for me. Made sure I had a hot cup waiting on the counter as soon as I descended the stairs. Cooked me frozen waffles with sausage for breakfast most mornings. If I wasn’t in the mood for waffles, then he’d make toast or a bagel if that seemed to sound better. I didn’t have the heart to inform him I wasn’t really a breakfast eater. The love that seeped out of him by that gesture was enough to get me to learn to become a breakfast eater.
Then there were all those times he showed up with lunch. Nothing special really, just sandwiches. I knew Helena didn’t prepare those sandwiches, the man bringing them to me had. And while that may not seem all that big of a deal to most, it was a huge deal to me. He could have easily asked either one of the other women at the house to prepare us lunch and they would have done it without question. Instead he took the time to not only bring me my lunch most days, but fix it for us as well. Love in its truest form.
The last touching gesture was when he took me back up to the orchard at sunset, lugging my art supplies with us. When we got there, he’d toss out a blanket, setup an easel, and then lie back and let me do my thing. We would stay until the light was no longer suitable enough for me to see what I was doing. Then he’d repack it all and carefully transport my canvas back down.
Since I hadn’t painted in a very long time it took me almost two weeks to finally be satisfied with my initial work. Then it took me another couple of weeks to finish it exactly how I wanted. And not once had the man complained when I tossed out the unsatisfied creations. He only sat back and relaxed, sometimes sleeping I believe, patiently waiting on me to get it just right. It was the fact that he understood my need to paint, sketch, or doodle as my form of therapy. That he made sure when he sensed my stress to drag me up that hill.
Now for the not so good stuff that happened. Key word here is not so good, nothing about it is horrible, but some of it definitely caused some ripples.
After our private engagement outing in the orchard, we knew that once we announced it there could be a slight uproar. So, we wanted to make a plan before letting the cat out of the bag. Except somehow it got leaked two days later, which had been harder on Antonio than me. The fact that someone had betrayed him, us, had sent him into a fury. I don’t think I have ever seen a person so infuriated. He had gathered his security team and ripped them up one side and then down the other. Demanded that they locate the person responsible for sharing something so private and then instructed them to make an example out of that person.
Turns out it wasn’t one of the staff after all. It ended up being his sisters doing. Isabel had texted Gabriela as soon as she spotted the ring on my left hand. Gabriela happened to be with several of her friends, one of them had read the text when it came in and blurted it out. It was all a very innocent mistake and one both girls felt really bad about.
Isabel had been terrified to tell her brother about it after hearing him yelling. She finally had a meltdown in the kitchen with me when she overheard him going off again after his team hadn’t been able to locate the person. I wrapped her in my arms and comforted her the best I could. Then shouted for Antonio to come into the kitchen and shut up. I informed him about what had happened, and that his reaction about the whole stupid incident was the reason we were still dealing with it. I’m not sure who was more surprised about my lecture Isabel, Antonio or his men.
So, after everyone had calmed down, we decided to make an official statement. We called Alejandra and disclosed the details we agreed could be shared. The three of us were able to come up with a suitable press releas
e that basically gave a short statement about our relationship.
It stated that we met four months earlier when I joined the architectural team scheduled to come to Hermosa Islas to work on several historical properties. Both of us were attracted to the other person, and at first Antonio kept the fact of who he was a secret. Reminded his people how while that seemed impossible, there were many world leaders out there that most of them would not recognize if they walk right up to them. Shared that after the big celebration that took place at the Palace we began dating. Not all that long afterwards Antonio decided that he wanted to court me. During that time, it became very evident to us that what we had was unique and had quickly turned serious. We had fallen in the best of ways and realized that it was love in its truest form. Which is when Antonio made his decision to ask me to be his wife. There was no mention of what that meant, that by becoming his wife I would also become their Queen. He didn’t want to mention any of that. He wanted to make a point that he wasn’t asking me to serve as queen, but to be a wife first and then accept any responsibilities that came along with that. Sounded reasonable, I guess.
Once the Palace released an official statement it was time to deal with the fallout. The nation seemed to be split on how they felt about the King’s choice. Which put some strain on our budding relationship.
I went off one night after reading one reporter’s opinion on the matter. He called me a dumb American girl who was living out her childhood fantasy about meeting a prince and falling in love. Claimed I didn’t know the first thing about being a real Queen and should step aside and let someone more qualified take the job.
The job.
That had been the words that sent me into a tirade and had the entire house, besides Antonio, running to their safe corners. I paced the floor while giving that jerk a piece of my mind. I went on about how he made it sound like I was an uneducated babbling stupid blonde bimbo. All because I didn’t recognize Antonio, since I had never once heard of Hermosa Islas until a few months ago. I wondered if he could tell me who all the World Leaders where if only given a picture. I wanted to know what any of that had to do with being Antonio’s wife. Did it not matter that I was madly in love with their King? That I’d chosen this life, not because of the stupid privileges that would be given to me, but because of the love that filled my heart whenever I saw him.
I ended the tirade by pointing my finger at my beloved fiancé and made it clear that I was going to show them all just what kind of Queen I could be. That I’d be the one who would change all these stupid rules while proving that any woman with half a brain could do the job as long as she had a man who loved her standing by her side. Declared that we were going to be the best King and Queen duo that ever ruled. I might have gone a little overboard towards the end, but dang it I was really, really pissed.
When I was finished Antonio rose to his feet and stood there for several long minutes. I started noticing how his breathing was labored and that he was clinching his jaw. He was also far enough away, making all of him visible to me, meaning I didn’t need to divert my eyes to catch the reason for all of that. The large thick elongated bulge, just slightly to the right, was sort of hard to miss—quite literally. I was even harder—pun intended—to miss when he stalked towards me and pressed his body firmly against mine as he wrapped me in his arms. Which is about the time I recalled him once telling me he had a whole different kind of reaction when I went off and let it all out.
For the first time in my adult life I actually had a few really naughty thoughts and furthermore wondered what it would be like to have a man do certain things to me. Guess that is why I may have pressed harder against him and did a little maneuver with my hips. Which probably explains why I ended up getting shoved up against the wall only a few feet away. We stayed like that, continually repositioning our bodies, practically having sex with our clothes on. His hands never wandered and neither did mine, but our sexy parts sure seemed to be trying to get very well acquainted.
If Isaac hadn’t come in when he did, I’m pretty sure I would have learned a few more details about what occurs when a man gets extremely aroused.
And that was the interesting part of our time together.
Interesting because I had a really challenging time keeping my hands off Antonio after that. I mean I didn’t do inappropriate things, not really. It was more like I had a really difficult time not thinking about what might have happened had we not been interrupted. That seemed to have me touching him a lot more than before. I would purposely bump into him when we were cooking. Reach over to get something and let certain parts of my body brush against his. Let my hands roam a little more when we started getting intimate. Kiss him so passionately at times that it activated all kinds of unusual responses that I had always thought were exaggerated by those who talked.
Eight weeks of all of that made it go by faster than one might expect. And this week has been the longest one of my life yet. We have talked daily since they departed Sunday to return back to Aragon Palace. But all the elements I had gotten accustomed to were suddenly gone and I found myself alone again. I learned that I didn’t like the solitude as much as I once had.
I am heading to Aragon now after a very long day. After I make a stop by the office I will proceed to the Palace. Tomorrow we are scheduled to throw an official engagement party. I have been told that afterwards we could start discussing dates and begin planning a wedding.
I had no idea how I was going to plan a wedding when I was attempting to renovate a chateau. It was taking a little longer than I had first predicted. We are a month behind schedule. Those passageways are causing most of my current setbacks and headaches. Closing off the ones I deemed too dangerous wasn’t as easy as it should be. Nor was reinforcing the ones I decided to keep. No way was I going to take a risk or leave any chance on them not being stable. So instead of working on those items we had originally scheduled, we are spending our time on the passages, and I knew I was going to have some explaining to do.
I enter the office a little after six, and head for the main conference room. I know they are all waiting on me because I called before heading this way. So I’m not surprised to find them there discussing one of the other projects while they wait.
I am however surprised to see Zach here. He doesn’t typically visit overseas offices unless they are having a personnel issue. And that’s when it hits me and I realize that I haven’t been summoned here to discuss those delays at all.
Bradley dismisses the other team and then asks Chandler to close the door. The only people left are Cameron, Zach, Chandler, and of course Bradley. Cameron dials a number and Timothy’s face suddenly appears on the video screen hanging on the wall.
Chandler’s smug expression alerts me I am really not going to enjoy this meeting.
“Larkin, thanks for taking the time to stop by and meeting with us today.” Zach starts the meeting. “We have a few issues we need to discuss.”
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask already knowing that answer. Don’t they say if you have to ask that question than you already know the answer? Although I really don’t think I do.
“Technically no.” Cameron answers.
“Is this about my work or about my personal life?” I once again ask, but this time I’m not sure what the answer will be.
I know for a fact that there is no policy about dating clients. While it is frowned upon, and not encouraged, there is no written policy prohibiting it.
Nicolette Manchester is a prime example on why the policy was never composed. She is engaged to one and that client went after her, making it very clear what his intentions were from the beginning. She had tried to blow him off, even pass his business over to another. But he had refused and driven her insane for several long months.
“When did you hear about the Hermosa Islas project?” Bradley asks me as he flips through some papers.
“When I returned from Mexico City. I needed to get out of Chicago. You all know why; I was looki
ng for a project that would get me out of there as quickly as possible. My original Tokyo trip got pushed back, so I knew I had time to take something else on. Janice happened to be there late one night and we talked. I came to Zach the next morning.” I have no idea where this is going.
“You don’t remember Chandler mentioning something about it in Mexico City?” Cameron asks watching me closely.
“No. We did not discuss other projects while we were there. I remember him saying something about wanting to get assigned to a project when he got back, but I don’t recall what project it was. Is he claiming otherwise?” I glare at the man they just mentioned.
“What about reading an email from Janice, asking you a few questions that pertained to it?” Zach has a huge question in that question, and I can see my answer better match up with what he already knows.
“Honestly no. I read several emails on a daily basis. Maybe you can jog my memory since you seem to think I did?” Yes, my patience is beginning to wear thin. “Look, why don’t we just cut to the chase here. Stop beating around the bush and just asks me what you really want to ask me.”
The room goes completely silent.
I cross my arms and wait. Stare at each one of them. Look them directly in the eyes. I even frown at the video screen as I stare at Timothy. I wait to see if any of them has the balls to accuse me of doing something unethical.
Timothy finally breaks into a stupid grin. “Nicolette warned us not to take you on. She said that this all had to be a coincidence and that you would never use this company like that.”
“I don’t understand.” I lean back in my chair, making it clear I am still pissed and would like an explanation.
Zach shakes his head in disgust, but not at me really. “It was brought to our attention that a few emails were unintentionally sent out with a few confidential documents attached. Janice Bcc two such documents to you and Chandler. She sent one to him because she wanted him to look it over before inviting him to join her once he returned. The one she sent to you contained client information that should never have been sent out in the first place. Both were supposed to be private correspondents between the client and her. Neither should have been Bcc and should have been brought to our attention immediately once they were.”