by Violet Paige
Nic made a circle of blocks around his daughter before joining us. He took the last cup of coffee from the tray. The mood in the room shifted. Play time was over.
“I’ve given this some thought, Sophia.” His eyes lingered on Adaline. “It won’t take long to have you and Adaline relocated to Spain. You won’t have to worry about any of the details. I’ll make sure everything is taken care of. The complete move will be handled by the palace.”
“Are you insane?” She raised her voice, before lowering it quickly. “I’m not moving. I never said we would move.”
“I didn’t ask.” He clenched his jaw.
“If you think you can use the crown to bully me into submission, you’re wrong. My daughter is an American. And this is where she’s going to live. You may visit when you like.” She folded her arms.
“You’ve already had eighteen months with her. I don’t see why you think you get to bargain. It’s not up for discussion. You and Adaline will have a royal residence in Spain. You’ll have a full security detail and I will have her on weekends. We can split summers. That is the best compromise you’ll get from me.” His eyes were dark as coal. I shuddered. This wasn’t going the way either of us expected.
I realized I had only been privy to Nic’s version of yesterday’s meeting. I hadn’t taken into account how set Sophia was on staying in South Carolina.
“You can’t force us to move,” she hissed. Her eyes landed on me. “Are you part of this? Is this one of your grand publicity solutions? The master fixer does it again.”
I pressed my lips together. “Sophia.”
But Nic cut me off.
“This is what I want.” His voice was low, but angry. “I want my daughter. Do you have any idea what it felt like to realize I had a child you had lied about? Can you even fathom that kind of pain? Have you even tried?”
Sophia closed her eyes. “I have to protect her. Not you. She’s innocent. She still has a chance.”
He paced in front of the doorway. “She can have the world. But not if you get her hurt or killed.”
Sophia gasped. “Don’t say that.”
He leaned toward her. “You know that’s a possibility if she doesn’t have security. Why do I have to travel with agents? Why does the king? Hell, my entire family? You can live in some dream world where our daughter gets to play in the park and grow up like a regular care-free American child, or you can put her first. She’s not normal. She’s royal.”
“Nic?” I looked in his eyes. He was frustrated and angry.
“What?” he snapped.
I exhaled. “Maybe Sophia and I could talk for a minute?”
He threw his hands in the air. “I’ll be back.” He slammed the front door behind him as he stormed toward the park.
Sophia placed her mug on the coffee table. “If you think for one second you can change my mind or fix this, you’re wrong, Kenley. She’s my daughter. You don’t get to voice your opinion this time. It’s not about you and your angles.” She used air quotes in an irritating way.
I realized there may be some pent-up frustration surfacing. Had she resented the way I handled news about their relationship? Did she disagree with the tactics I used as Nic’s manager? How much of her anger now was from our interactions years ago?
I couldn’t dig two years in the past. I needed to help the man I loved bridge this divide. That one was over.
“You know him,” I began. “He isn’t going to back down about this. He never will. And can you blame him? You hid his child.” I shook my head. “That decision has been made, but what you decide now can either make life easy or difficult.”
Her mouth opened in protest.
“I’m not threatening you. I’m warning you. I’m telling you Nic is going to come after you with everything he has if you put up a fight. Right now, he has a soft spot for you, or at least he did twenty minutes ago. He believes you wanted to give Adaline a normal life, but he’s right. She can’t have this.” I waved my hands around. “Without you recognizing she’s a tiny princess. He wants her to be safe. I know you want that too.” I watched Adaline move from the blocks to a stack of board books.
“So what does the fixer propose?” Sophia asked. “I’m sure you have a solution. You always do.” She folded her arms across her chest. “But I’m not moving to the palace. And I have no interest in Spain. I love it here. I have friends. I have a job I love at the gallery. My gallery is thriving here. Adaline has friends at the park and a nanny she adores. I’m not going to disrupt her life because Dominic demands it.”
“There has to be something you’re willing to offer as a compromise,” I urged. “It could be something small.”
She sighed. “He can see her. They can spend time together. That’s something.”
I nodded. It was probably a large concession, considering she had done everything she could to make sure he didn’t know about her.
“And of course, I’m willing to accept the security. I don’t like having agents around, but I understand. He’s right. If that nurse in France told anyone else, Addie could be in danger. I’ll accommodate the agents and any alarms or security systems he wants to install.”
“Ok. That will make him happy.” I smiled. “And I think everyone will sleep better.”
Sophia strummed her manicured nails on the mug. “It’s not that I don’t want Adaline to meet her uncles and aunts. And Galona is beautiful. But she can’t grow up there. Maybe summers.”
Just then Adaline waddled over and handed a stuffed panda bear to me.
“Thank you, love.” I smiled.
She ran to Sophia and climbed in her lap. “I don’t know that I’ll have more children,” she admitted. “I didn’t think I wanted any.” She laughed. “But as you can see, this one has changed everything. And I’m trying to do everything I can, Kenley. It’s not her fault she has a prince for a father.”
“No. It certainly isn’t. But he’s a wonderful father. Give him a chance. He loves her.”
The door opened and Nic walked in the house. “I’m sorry.” He looked at Sophia.
She sighed. “I know. I am too.” She extended her arms and he held Adaline.
There were many times he had melted my heart, but nothing compared to watching him with his daughter.
35
Dominic
I hoped I had given Kenley enough time to put an end to Sophia’s madness. Adaline needed to know her father. And I hoped soon she would be a big sister. I couldn’t let my children grow up far from each other. I didn’t know what my life would be like without my siblings.
I depended on Kenley to talk reason into Sophia. She was the one person I trusted to solve this nightmare.
Sophia cleared her throat. “I have an exhibit to prepare at the gallery. It’s a large event and I’m going to be there until late tonight. I would be willing to cancel the sitter, if you’d like to spend time with Addie and watch her instead.”
“Done.” I answered.
“That would be wonderful.” Kenley smiled at Sophia. “We’re staying on the beach. Does Adaline like the ocean?”
Sophia nodded. “She does. I’ll pack her bag with plenty of sunscreen and her favorite snacks.”
“We have a chef,” I interjected. “She can have anything she wants.”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “She gets what she gets, and she doesn’t throw fits. Right, Addie?”
I could tell Sophia was trying to make sure her daughter didn’t grow up spoiled. That was going to be hard to combat for a while. I wouldn’t be able to deny her anything. I had a lost time to make up for.
“Why don’t I go with you to pack the bag?” Kenley offered. “You can explain everything to me.”
They left and I held my daughter. “Just you and me.” I bounced her around the living room. We had a full day to spend together. It was starting to hit me, this is how my days should always start out.
I looked at Adaline.
“I promise you, we’re going to get to know eac
h other.”
I closed the French doors behind me and walked onto the deck.
“How did that go?” Kenley asked.
It was dark on the beach. There was nothing but stars in the sky. It was clear and breezy. The waves crashed.
“Sophia seemed happy it went well. I assured her we made sure Adaline had her afternoon nap and there wasn’t a trace of sunburn on her.”
I sat in the chair next to Kenley and brought her into my lap. I had spent my day with Adaline.
“I’m glad,” she purred, rubbing her hands over my chest. “I missed you today.”
“I missed you too.” I kissed her.
She sat forward. “The beach was fun, wasn’t it?”
I nodded. “She’s a cute kid.”
Kenley laughed. “She takes after her father.”
“I had no idea children were so exhausting. No wonder my parents stocked the nursery with nannies.”
“Maybe we should go to bed,” she suggested. Her hands slid under my shirt, raking her nails over my ribs. I inhaled. “If you have another afternoon with your daughter like today planned, you might want to sleep while you can,” she warned.
“The staff is gone.” I kissed her throat. “We don’t need to go inside.”
She licked her lips. “The agents are still around.” Her hips rocked into my lap. My cock grew hard.
“They’re always around. If I waited for them to be out of earshot every time, I’d never get to fuck you, baby.”
She gasped. “Is that what you want to do right now?”
I looked at the cabana that enclosed the west side of the balcony. Canvas curtains were the only partition, but that was enough.
“Oh, that’s what I’m going to do right now.”
I waggled my eyebrows. Kenley giggled when I stood. She wrapped her legs around my waist and I walked inside the cabana. I turned and tied the canvas together, enclosing us inside.
The sound of the waves crashing on the beach echoed around us.
I slid the tie from her robe and watched it fall to the floor. She was wearing a satin gown that brushed the tops of her thighs. I groaned at how her tits poked against the material.
She smelled like the sun and beach. Her hair was still damp at the ends from her shower.
I gripped her ass, squeezing hard.
“Nic,” she sighed.
I laid her on the couch and knelt between her legs. I pushed the gown to her stomach and inhaled the clean scent through her panties.
I peeled them over her legs and off her ankles. I growled as my fingers pried her slit wide. Kenley whimpered when I spread her legs so I could feast on her pussy. I drew a long lick from her ass to her clit. She bucked from the cushions before pushing herself forward, offering me the sweetest delicacy.
I thrust my tongue inside her entrance, keeping her folds open. Her clit was hard. I flicked it when I heard her begin to pant with urgent need.
“Oh, Nic.”
“I need to hear you, baby,” I groaned.
She tried to press her knees together, but I held them down as she purred with pleasure. She was fucking exotic. She propped up on her elbows and watched me suck and lick with abandon.
“I’m going to come,” she whimpered. “Oh shit.” Her head fell back and I pumped my tongue with more energy until I felt her clamp against it with the full power of her climax.
Her eyes opened and she grinned. I slid my pants down and freed my aching cock. I climbed on the couch, pushing my cock to her entrance. I was inside her with a sudden thrust.
“Oh fuck.” She was my home. My north. My everything. I belonged inside her pussy. I knew it the instant I felt her walls surround my dick, guiding me, leading me, loving me.
The wind kicked up a corner of the canvas and her eyes widened. But I kissed her and she forgot we were on the deck. That the only thing separating us from the rest of the world was a curtain. I rocked into her, taking one ankle to my shoulder.
“Oh God, Nic,” she purred.
I rolled her nipple between my fingers over the satin nightie. She groaned at the friction. Her eyes were full of fire and adoration. There was something carnal there that tore at my chest. She was mine. My dirty perfect girl. The woman I loved. The woman I wanted to give my baby.
My spine tingled with a wash of heat as my balls slapped at her, my cock driving deeper. Another thrust. Another fuck. And I was gone.
She cried out, and I pierced inside her heat, filling her with my come. It was primitive and animalistic but I wanted my baby inside her. Growing strong and healthy. The more I thought about it, the more my cock erupted, claiming her. I’d never wanted something like I wanted this.
Her pants turned to sighs of satisfaction. She ran her nails over my biceps and I shivered. The sweat rolled down my chest.
“There aren’t words for what you do to m.” I pulled out and sat next to her. She curled her knees to her chest.
Her eyes lifted to mine. “I want to keep it inside me a little longer,” she explained.
I exhaled. “Do you have any idea how hot that is?”
She shook her head. “It’s how much I want your baby. A brother or sister for Adaline,” she whispered. The tiny sliver of a strap slid from her shoulder and her nipple was exposed to the salty beach air.
Had she ever looked more like a goddess than she did right now? Her cheeks were flush. Her skin dewy. Her hair cascaded on the cushions. Her pussy swollen and full of my seed. And her tits were hard like perfect peaks.
I’d never felt connected to a woman like I did to her. I had loved Sophia in my own way. But it wasn’t the kind of love that lasted. It wasn’t the kind of love that could endure. I either didn’t have the patience for it back then, or she just wasn’t the right woman.
I didn’t care what it was, as long as I learned whatever lesson I screwed up with her so I could always be there for Kenley. So that I could be the man she deserved. Be the man she needed. She had given me something so pure and special. And I wasn’t fucking this love up.
36
Kenley
We had been in Charleston for three weeks. Nic and Sophia were at an impasse. We saw Adaline every day, but when he and Sophia were together, they couldn’t agree on where to raise the small princess.
We had settled into a routine at the beach estate. I had eased into my role as quasi-step-mother. Sophia didn’t seem as concerned with me as she did with the possibility Nic would try to take Adaline to Galona.
We had car seats installed. I had bought an entire nursey set of furniture as well as strollers and toys. The pool was secure and we had childproofed the entire mansion. Adaline ran around the beach house as if she had grown up under its roof.
Nic was a natural with her. They read books and chased seagulls on the beach. He taught her how to blow bubbles in the pool and even got her to jump in the shallow end.
I loved the city. My favorite place to go was the market. If I went early enough in the morning it wasn’t as hot. It gave Nic and Adaline time together while I shopped. It had been so long since I could do something so normal as shop. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed it.
There were those occasions when I would drop Adaline off at the end of the day that Sophia and I would talk. We were never going to be close like Ayla and I were, but there was a commonality we shared. We both knew Nic only the way a woman who had loved him could, and we both wanted what was best for Adaline.
The more I talked to her, the more I realized her life in Charleston was beautiful. Adaline may have been the reason she moved, but the more time I spent with her, I realized Sophia was the reason she wanted to stay. And for the first time since I discovered her secret, I got it. I understand what she wanted, and why.
Today everything had changed. I suddenly had more in common with Sophia. My hand ran over my stomach. I was still in my silk robe, not ready to get dressed. I wanted to soak in the moment a little longer.
I sat in the sunroom, scrolling through another round
of applicants Sutcliffe had sent over for royal managers. Trying to find a pair wasn’t easy. It didn’t help that I compared them to my own credentials. I couldn’t bring myself to schedule interviews.
I took a sip of lemon tea.
Nic walked into the room. “Good morning, baby.”
“Hi. How’d you sleep?” I asked. He leaned, kissing me on the neck. It always made me shiver with a tiny spark of electricity.
“I think I’m starting to get used to beach life. I like sleeping with the windows cracked. The ocean puts me right to sleep.”
I laughed. “You and Adaline,” I teased.
“Too bad, we have to leave. I can’t get this ocean breeze in my apartments.”
I sat forward, closing the laptop. “What do you mean leave?” It was the first time he had mentioned it.
“I talked to Damon this morning. This hiatus is over. He needs to take some time off with Molly. I have to head back to Freychon immediately.”
“Is everything all right?” I asked. “Is something wrong with Molly? The baby?”
“They are fine. But he has to go to London with her for two weeks. He doesn’t want her to travel alone, though he says she tried to convince him to stay. He wants me to take over.”
I bit my lip. “Oh, for her dissertation.” My shoulders relaxed. They had been going back and forth to London for a while. But I hadn’t known the king to take off for more than a few days at a time.
“What are you going to tell Sophia?” I asked. I wasn’t ready to think about returning to Freychon.
He looked out at the water. There were sailboats on the horizon.
“I was hoping if she saw Adaline with me, she’d be willing to move. She should know a daughter shouldn’t be without a father.”
“I know that’s what you want, but she doesn’t want to leave the U.S. If you try to take Adaline, it’s going to turn into a huge legal battle. And any goodwill she does have, will be gone. It will be played out in the international press. And she will hate you for it.”