by H J Welch
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Also in Rosavia Royals
About the Author
Also by HJ Welch
Copyright © 2020 by HJ Welch
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Chapter One
Matty
“I can do this,” Matty Doyle muttered to himself as he stepped from the airplane onto foreign soil for the very first time in his life. He clung to the small hand currently gripping his own like a vise, and looked down at the top of his niece’s previously neatly-braided black hair.
After a dozen hours flying, it was sticking out all over the place. She was staring straight ahead as they and the other passengers thanked the crew and crowded down the gangway into the capital city of the tiny European nation of Rosavia. Matty swallowed down the panic that threatened to crawl up his throat and took a long, shaky breath. “I can do this.”
A woman with two children swinging from her hands smiled kindly at him as the kids shrieked and hopped about. She had tight, natural curls and a backpack crammed full of juice boxes and wet wipes that indicated she knew what the hell she was doing. She didn’t seem fazed as she deliberately caught Matty’s eye. “You sound like you’ve come from a lot further than London,” she said with a British accent.
Ordinarily, Matty avoided chit-chat with strangers like the plague, as would any true New Yorker. He’d thought it was a kindred trait his city shared with England’s capital, but perhaps this family was from the suburbs. Besides, they weren’t escaping this throng pouring into Alpina International Airport any time soon, and the lady seemed kind enough. A bit of distraction might be just what Matty needed from his bone-crushing dread.
“Yeah.” He nodded and squeezed Finley’s hand gently. He looked down to see her look up in trepidation with blue eyes that matched his own. “We transferred through there from JFK. It’ll be nice to breath un-recycled air again.”
The woman laughed as the crowd finally emerged from the plane’s gangway into a glass-walled corridor. “Agreed. I swear these two are made of farts.”
The kids giggled and blew raspberries at her. Matty was shocked, but the woman seemed unbothered. Apparently, that was something kids did? Did Finley do that? He should have asked his sister, Reghan, a few more questions before they’d left home.
“First time in Rosavia?”
Matty blinked as he looked back at the woman, who was smiling and seemed unruffled by the travel, the noise of the airport, the kids’ raucous behavior, all of it. “Uh,” stammered Matty. “First time anywhere,” he admitted sheepishly. Hell, he’d had to get his first-ever passport rushed through for this.
He was a long way from Queens.
The woman’s face broke into a delighted smile. “Oh, you and your daughter will love Alpina. All of Rosavia, really. It’s like a bloody fairy tale. We’re here for the rest of the summer. My sister moved here and we come over here all the time, don’t we?”
The boy and girl attached to her started babbling over one another about rose-flavored ice cream, a royal maze garden, and a lakeside waterpark, but Matty zoned out a little bit. He hadn’t slept in twenty-four hours, and had consumed nothing but peanuts and energy drinks in that time. He’d noticed the woman’s mistake, but didn’t have the energy to correct her.
But of course Finley did, and that was the moment she decided to pipe up.
“Uncle Matty isn’t my daddy,” she said in a rush to the woman with wide eyes. “I don’t have a daddy. My mommies had to stay home, because Mama got really sick, so Mommy has to take care of her, so Uncle Matty came all the way to Europe with me, and now we’re finally here, and I thought it would be greener.”
She took a deep breath, then bit her lip, her eyes shining with tears as they often did these past few weeks. The kid was a trooper, really, but there was only so much an eight-year-old could carry on her shoulders.
That was what Matty was for.
So before he could let his fears run away with him – that this woman might sneer at Finley for having two moms, or think that Matty wasn’t really her ‘uncle’ and report him – all the usual shit his brain came up with in a panic – he plastered the biggest smile on his face. Because that was what Finley needed.
“Yep,” he said brightly. “We’re going on an adventure.”
Of course the woman just smiled back. He had nothing to worry about. “How fun!” she said sincerely, yanking up the boy who almost tripped over his feet before he smacked into the linoleum. Matty assumed she was the pair’s mother, and admired her A+ parenting skills. Maybe one day, he wouldn’t be so terrified of being left alone with Finley, or even a kid of his own.
Unfortunately, having not let his mind go down the panic rabbit hole, it decided this was the moment to tumble down the melancholy one instead. The voice in the back of his head unhelpfully reminded him that before thinking about kids, he wanted to get married first. And that wasn’t happening now, was it?
Matty gritted his teeth and willed the voice to shut up, instead focusing on keeping his smile in place, but not so forced that he looked like a crazy person. Everything would be better once they got their luggage and got to the hotel. He could sleep and maybe have a cry in the shower, shake all these worries off, and be the damn adult in the room.
Finley was counting on him.
“Oh, look,” said the British woman, pointing with her chin and managing to twist the kids so they were pointing in the same direction. “That’s our carousel. Why don’t you go get us a trolly, Double Trouble?”
The kids raced off, arguing about who would get to push the luggage cart. Matty exhaled as the throng from the plane began to mercifully disperse as they circled the carousel. He suspected the woman had announced where their luggage was going to come out from for his benefit, and he was fucking grateful. He didn’t mind being mollycoddled in the slightest. In fact, if anyone else could jump in and take charge right now, he’d kiss them.
Well…almost anyone else. Jeremy could go fuck himself. It had taken Matty a while to realize that there was a difference between someone loving and caring for you…and a controlling, manipulative asshole.
Sadly, Super-Mom here wasn’t his type, but he still beamed at her as they arrived at the moving belt. “How do you keep up with them?” he asked with a laugh.
She tapped her chin and hummed. “Mostly wine,” she said sagely with a wink.
As the two other kids came hurtling back, Finley tugged on Matty’s hand eagerly, smiling brightly for the first time in what felt like weeks to him. “Is my bow gonna come out soon?” she whispered excitedly.
The British woman lifted her eyebrows in surprise before attempting to school her expression. But she’d heard correctly, and Finley didn’t mean the kind of bow that went in her long, black hair.
; “Finley’s a championship archer,” he said proudly. “She qualified for an elite training program here in the city.”
To his own surprise, the two British kids became suddenly still, staring at Finley with open mouths. “You know how to fire a bow and arrow?” the boy demanded.
“Like Meri-Mera…like in Brave?” the younger girl asked in awe.
It was like a lightbulb flicking on. Finley suddenly stepped out from behind Matty’s legs and started talking non-stop about her number one passion, waving her arms around as she described the bows she’d owned and the training she’d had.
The woman chuckled. “Can I hire her as a babysitter?” she joked. “I haven’t seen them that still since Animal Crossing came out.”
Matty watched his niece, overwhelmed with pride for a moment. Not just for Finley, even though it was a huge relief to see her acting like her old self again, but for himself. I can do this, he firmly reminded himself. He wasn’t going to fuck this up. He could be responsible and capable and all those other things people in charge of kids had to be.
So what if Jeremy had dumped him just when his sister’s cancer had come back? So what if he’d called Matty selfish for prioritizing his family over his boyfriend? Yes, the universe could be a real dick sometimes, but Matty was a capable adult. He had to be, for Finley’s sake.
“She’s hoping to make the Olympics someday,” Matty murmured. She was so young to have such motivation. She definitely got that from her birth mom – his sister, Reghan. Determined and ferocious, the both of them. It made Matty rethink his ambitions, of which he had startlingly few.
Reghan would also be fine. Matty just needed to make sure this trip for Finley went as smoothly as possible, so his sister could focus on restarting her chemo with her wife by her side. Simple. One step at a time. All he had to do was collect their bags, find the Uber pick-up point, then check in at the hotel. Just because Jeremy had obsessively taken charge of all those kinds of things when he and Matty travelled out of state didn’t mean Matty couldn’t cope now.
And he refused to wish that douchebag was here. Matty might have wanted someone else to take the reins for him, but not that badly. Besides, he was getting a small kick from knowing that he’d managed to get himself and his niece all the way to Europe in one piece. His sister would be proud of him.
One step at a time. I can do this.
“Well,” said the British woman, sounding apologetic. She hefted a case from the conveyer belt, then stacked it alongside the other big one she’d already retrieved and the smaller carry-on bags already on the cart. “That’s us done. Come on, kids. Good luck with your archery,” she added, beaming down at Finley.
“Can we go watch Finley’s tournament, Mum?” the little boy asked, clutching his hands together. “She said we could! It’s in two weeks.”
The woman smiled and nodded at Matty. “Maybe. We’ll see,” she said neutrally. Then she held a hand out to shake. “I’m Shommie,” she said.
“Matty,” he replied.
“Uhh, sorry,” said Finley in her adorably bossy voice. At least, it was usually adorable. “But Uncle Matty’s gay.”
Matty and Shommie spluttered, but at least Shommie also laughed. “And I’m married,” she assured Finley, wiggling her ring finger at her. “But sometimes grown-ups make friends, too.” Finley nodded, apparently satisfied. Shommie just smiled and shook her head, fishing out a business card from her pocket. “If you do ever want to grab a glass of wine, though, my sister and I would be happy to show you one of the good-but-cheap bars in town.”
Matty took the card, a little dumbfounded. Did people really do that in real life? Make friends so easily?
Suddenly, the thought of having a kind face during the next two weeks was overwhelmingly comforting. “Thank you,” he spluttered. “I might just take you up on that.”
Shommie grinned, then snapped her head down, looking at where her kids had begun hanging off the luggage cart and pretending they were medieval knights. “All right, you horrible lot!” she cried, pointing toward the exit. “Into battle!”
They tore off, and with a final smile, she left Matty and Finley by the luggage carousel.
Only then did Matty realize that a lot of other people had left from their flight as well.
He frowned and turned his attention back to the moving belt, scanning the bags that were still trundling around. But, no, none of them were his or Finley’s. He’d tied rainbow ribbons around all of them, just in case he didn’t recognize any of the cases he’d borrowed from Reghan and her wife, Lola. Finley’s precious bow case had several attached to it, as well as a whole sheet of unicorn stickers plastered all over, just to make it extra identifiable. The case, the bow, and the sheath of arrows inside were worth a lot of money.
“Uncle Matty?” Finley said, her voice strained, no doubt starting to worry what Matty was already thinking.
Where the fuck was their stuff?
But Matty smiled down at her. “Don’t worry,” he said cheerfully. “I bet ours will be the last off, as they’ve come all the way from New York. Here, why don’t you help me look?” He picked her up, even though she was slightly too big for that now, and balanced her on his hip. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held her hand above her eyes, like a scout looking over the sea from the crow’s nest of a ship.
There were only a few people left now, and unhelpfully, they were looking as anxious as Matty felt. But there were still a couple of bags circling the belt, and he made himself breathe slowly in and out. Nothing to worry about, they just had to be patient, and…
The carousel juddered and ground to a halt with a dull squeal.
In his arms, Finley went rigid as undoubtedly the fear rushed through her as fast as it did Matty.
All their clothes. Their toiletries. Finley’s irreplaceable bow. Where were they?
“Uncle Matty?” Finley whispered, her lower lip trembling.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
But he was starting to think he’d been wrong. He could not, in fact, do this.
He was pretty sure he was totally screwed.
Chapter Two
Cas
Prince Cassander Fabian Ivor von Rosavia was a grown man of twenty-nine. Some might even say that he was an extremely capable and well-educated grown man, one who took on too much responsibility and was too mature for his own good.
And yet, there were still two words that could flood him with guilt and make him cringe. Especially, when they were spoken by a certain fiery red-headed woman.
“Your Highness?” Valentina Roth called down the corridor sweetly. Her words bounced off the palace’s marble corridor as much as the click-clacking of her pencil-thin high heels. Cas grimaced, attempting to plaster a not-guilty smile on his face as he turned around to face his approaching valet.
He loved the woman, he genuinely did. But the truth was he’d been caught red-handed, and they both knew it.
“Hi,” he said, attempting to use the voice he usually reserved for addressing international dignitaries. Instead, it came out as a sort of squeak.
Valentina’s red lips twitched as she peered over her black glasses. She came to a halt in front of Cas. She was a good foot shorter than him, but he stared meekly down at her all the same. She was resting a slim leather portfolio on her hip like a baby, its front embossed with the royal crest. She rested her hand on the other hip and tilted her head, making her large red curls bounce.
“Your Highness,” she said pleasantly. “I thought I’d find you here.”
Of course she did. The woman knew everything. Cas sighed and slipped his hands into his old, faded school hoodie that he’d never normally dare be seen in, glancing around the deserted corridor that was tucked near the back of the palace walls. Not many people came down here. Usually.
“I was just…” Cas began, scrambling around for an excuse. But Valentina had already slipped out a sheet of paper, resting it on top of the leath
er portfolio, and produced a fountain pen from within her perfectly fitted suit jacket.
“I’ll just need your signature on these. Some of them are for Leo, but you know how it is.” Cas did. It was easier for Cas to simply take care of it rather than try and track down his older brother.
“Of course,” he said, seeing his plans vanishing before his eyes as he began signing. What other calamities would he have to cover for his brothers?
But Valentina smiled as he handed the documents back. “Excellent. Then you can go.”
Cas blinked at her, then glanced down the corridor that would eventually lead to one of the palace’s lesser known exits where his car was parked waiting for him. No driver, of course. Just a packed bag in the trunk.
“I can?” he asked with a frown. “Go, I mean?” Normally she fought him harder than this.
He honestly wasn’t sure when it had started. Some time in the past five years, probably? All Cas knew was that every now and again, he just had to escape this madness, even just for a little while.
He knew it was irresponsible to sneak off without even letting anyone know where he was going. But Valentina and his security detail always seemed to be aware of where he was in the city, and anyway, nothing had ever happened. It was amazing how just putting on casual wear could make the citizens of Rosavia look straight through him.
Because from time to time, that was all he craved. He was tired of being the responsible one and observing every tiny detail of his brothers’ madcap lives. Because then he inevitably tried to fix everything. And enough was enough.
“I talked to Leo after he skipped out on that damned dinner,” Cas said as he rubbed his eyes. He refused to feel guilty about this, but apparently his churning stomach hadn’t gotten the memo. “I’m not doing him any favors. He has to stand on his own two feet for once. It doesn’t matter if he thinks I’m better suited, I’m not the one who’s going to be king someday.”