Dusk (Equinox Book 1)

by Bradley, H. J.

  “Getting married.” He leaned against the wall of Cornelia’s front foyer of her penthouse apartment. With a shrug of his shoulders he let himself glance around at the ridiculous opulence around him, and grimaced at the schmuzy American décor. In a way it was kind of embarrassing that he had never noticed any of this before, but then again under normal circumstances he would be more interested in getting laid and then out of here as quickly as possible. “It’s kind of a done deal.”

  It felt like her hazel gaze was boring right into him from across the room and she folded her arms across her chest with a tinkle of her bangles. “I wasn’t aware you were dating anyone.” Her eyes narrowed. “At least nothing serious.”

  Johann shrugged his shoulders again. “I’m not.”

  He hoped that she would notice how much he didn’t want to be here and let him go, hopefully having forgotten about him quickly enough as she turned to one of her many admirers. Johann really hoped that he wouldn’t lose a friend from this, but he had never been very good at separating his friends from the people he should be sleeping with.

  “Then what the hell is going on, because I was of the opinion …” Her voice trailed off when she must have noticed the look on his face.

  To say that he was confused was an understatement. Though he had been aware that Cornelia wanted a relationship with him there was no way that she could have ever thought that would end in marriage. Their family already had one problematic socialite gold digger trying to fuck her way onto their throne; they certainly didn’t need another one. “You can’t think I was going to marry you?” As he watched she fidgeted slightly and he had his answer. “Her name is Princess Myfanwy of Wales, and we’ve been engaged for as long as I can remember.”

  “You’ve led me on all this time?” Cornelia’s words were all but spat at him, and Johann had to fight with himself so as not to flinch.

  “No, I have not.” He folded his arms across his chest defensively. “I never promised you anything, I’ve never been in a position to promise anyone anything.”

  That was a complete and utter lie. From what he had always understood of his engagement, if he had found someone else that he loved and wished to marry then he could have broken things off with Myf. Though he was beginning to think that maybe he had never had any plans to break his engagement, and that was something he wasn’t ready to analyse just yet.

  “No, you didn’t.” Cornelia tapped her fingers against her upper arms. “But I suppose that doesn’t matter much, if this is a political marriage then nothing between us has to change. After all most royals have mistresses, don’t they?”

  A mistress. He knew that most of his family and friends simply assumed that it wouldn’t be long until he was straying from his marriage, and frankly it was disturbing that nobody considered Myf in all of this. “Cornelia, I won’t be taking a mistress, I owe my fiancé more than that.”

  Cornelia narrowed her hazel eyes at him. “You owe her? Nobody even knows she fucking exists Johann, I mean you say she’s a princess but I’ve never even seen her picture in a magazine.”

  “She’s Caitlin’s sister.” Johann felt himself beginning to become frustrated at Cornelia’s attitude. “Look Cornelia, I’m sorry but it’s time for us to go our separate ways romantically.”

  “You’ll regret it.” She sauntered over to him, placing a hand on his cheek before ghosting her lips over his. It took quite a bit of his self-control not to kiss her back, but luckily the memory of sweet awkward kisses in the grass beside a bonfire was enough for him to keep his mind. “We both know you’re going to come crawling back to me.”

  Side stepping away from the cloud of her expensive perfume, he shook his head and then pressed the down arrow for the elevator. “Goodbye, Cornelia.”

  ***

  Mattie, his Personal Protection Officer and best friend, was seated on one of the leather couches in the foyer. He had one leg crossed over the other while he read a paperback novel, his rakish chestnut coloured hair falling into his eyes.

  “Hey.” Johann called across to him the moment that the elevator doors opened. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Mattie raised an eyebrow at him as he shut his book and then stood up. “That was fast.”

  “I didn’t sleep with her.” Johann turned on his way to the door to glare at the other man. “I came to break it off, you know that.”

  Shrugging his broad shoulders Mattie joined him at the door as the doorman opened it for them. “Wouldn’t be the first time you decided to go for it one last time.”

  It was actually quite disturbing how well Mattie knew him; then again they had been all but living in each other’s pockets for years. “I’m engaged now.” Johann nodded his thanks to the doorman as they stepped out onto the Manhattan sidewalk. It was nearly midnight but New York, as usual, was lit up entirely by artificial lights and Johann rolled his shirt sleeves up as the warmth of the summer night hit him full on.

  “From what I understand you’ve been engaged your whole life.” There was an edge to Mattie’s tone that made Johann groan.

  “Are you still mad that I didn’t tell you before?”

  Mattie glared at him even as he held open the door of the big black Mercedes that had just pulled up so that Johann could slide onto the back seat, following him in before closing the door with a sharp snap. “As your PPO this is the sort of information I need to know.” Mattie folded his arms across his chest and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

  “Why would you have needed to know that I was engaged to a woman on the other side of the world?” Johann let out a laugh that quickly trailed off when he saw the hurt look on the other man’s face. It wasn’t very often that Mattie showed emotion, and in doing so it let Johann know that he had done something very wrong. “Mattie, I had to keep it a secret.”

  “I’m supposed to be your best friend.”

  It was quite possible that Mattie was starting to set into a world class sulk, and with a sigh Johann reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “If you had known I was engaged you would never have let me get away with half the stuff that I’ve done over the past few years. Fuck nobody would have, I can’t believe that grandpa hasn’t dragged my arse back to Finland and locked me away.”

  “What’s she like?” Mattie finally turned to face him.

  Mattie had pretty much gone straight from Kai’s wedding to visit family in Italy and hadn’t been at the cabins for the summer holidays, which meant that he hadn’t had the opportunity to meet Myf. However, he hadn’t really had to explain her to anyone before, and he honestly didn’t know how he felt about explaining the seventy-two hours they had spent together. “What’s who like?”

  Mattie narrowed his eyes in response to his feigned innocence. “Don’t play dumb with me you arsehole. After all the women that you’ve messed around with over the years, I’m interested to know about the one that you’re going to be spending the rest of your life with.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose ultimately I’m going to end up knowing her as well as I know you, and I would rather her not be a bitch.”

  Johann couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped him then. “She’s not a bitch Mattie. Well, at least I didn’t see anything that would suggest it.” No instead all that he had seen of Myf was a slightly damaged but sweet woman, one that he so wanted to get beneath the layers to see the person inside.

  “Yeah, but she’s Cat’s sister.” Johann let out a deep breath at that. For some reason Mattie had a dislike for Myf’s twin sister Cat that there was really no reason for, certainly the other woman was high maintenance and opinionated but Johann would never have called her a bitch.

  “Myf isn’t anything like her sister.” Johann leaned the back of his head against the glass of the car window. “She’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”

  He turned his face away from Mattie to look out at the passing landscape of Manhattan, not surprised that it was no less busy at midnight than it was in the mid-afternoon. P
art of him wondered how Myf would handle New York after living so long in Australia which was nowhere as crowded nor fast paced as this incredible city.

  “You like her?” Mattie’s voice cut into his musings, and he turned away from the view to look at his friend.

  “Of course I like her.” Johann rolled his eyes. “We were friends for a long time you know?”

  A smug grin started to grace the other man’s face. “No, you really like her. She must be absolutely stunning for you to be this enamoured with her.”

  With a smile Johann dug into his trouser pocket to pull out his wallet. Since Mattie would be meeting the woman that was going to be Johann’s wife it made sense that he would see her. Ignoring the snort of amusement from Mattie about him keeping a photograph of the woman on his person, Johann drew out the photograph that Valto had given him at the wedding. For a moment he let his eyes wonder over the inspiring image of Myf in a bikini looking incredibly self-conscious and beautiful. “Here, and please don’t say anything bad.”

  Johann wasn’t an idiot, he was well aware that the woman in the photo was nothing like the girls he usually went for. He found himself looking away from Mattie who was staring at the picture in his hand with wide eyes, the last thing Johann needed was for someone to voice the concerns that he himself had been trying to ignore.

  “Holy shit.” Mattie’s voice broke on the last word, causing Johann to look back at him in surprise. “Is this her?”

  “Don’t, ok.” In a defensive move he folded his arms across his chest. “I know she’s not like the women I usually date.”

  “No, she’s not.” Mattie swiped his thumb over the photo slowly. “Fuck Johann, she’s incredible, like absolutely gorgeous. Certainly more my type than yours. If you’re not interested in her I’ll be more than happy to keep her company while you find other entertainment.”

  “Hands off.” Johann snatched the photo back out of Mattie’s hand and put it back into his wallet. “I’m taking this very seriously.”

  “Yeah.” Mattie’s words were whispered. “She really must be special.”

  Johann shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not entirely sure, but I would like the opportunity to find out. Without people trying to lure her away from me.” He ran his fingers through his hair before closing his eyes on a sigh. “I know nobody thinks I’m worth someone like her, but I want to give this whole thing a go. I really do.”

  Chapter Four

  Out of all the places that she had travelled to in her twenty-five years, Myf had never quite made it to New York. Her father had often insisted that Tristyn, and upon him walking away from the throne, Cat go with him when he was required to be before the UN, yet Myf was never considered of enough political importance for such a trip. She had spent most of her life hidden away from her family, her fiancé, and the entire world.

  Smoothing down her soft white cashmere jumper, Myf walked through the doors into the arrival hall of JFK Terminal 7. She knew that it was highly unusual for someone of her social standing to be arriving into the main terminal with the rest of the public, but she hadn’t had any desire to wallow in the pomp of first class. Unfortunately, that did mean she was surrounded by the thick, milling crowds of the main airport. Looking around desperately she couldn’t make out anyone she recognized, not that she had expected either Kai nor Johann to be here to meet her. Certainly they were far too busy, however it would have been nice for someone to at least show her how to get around in Manhattan and find her way home. It was just as she was dragging her suitcase from the carousel that she became aware of the handsome young man approaching her.

  He was tall with broad shoulders, rakish brown hair and sharp hazel eyes. Myf immediately felt a surge of attraction, not quite as overwhelming as what she had felt towards Johann, but enough to cause a blush to come to her cheeks.

  “Your Royal Highness.” He gave a quick bow and immediately reached for her suitcase. “I trust your flight was comfortable.”

  Myf glanced around quickly, hoping that nobody around her would notice his antics. She hadn’t gone by her title for many years now, and she didn’t know what she would do if people were to suddenly start paying attention to her.

  “Who are you?” She reached out to take hold of his shoulders when he tried to bow again, however when he stood back up there was a wide grin on his face. “Don’t do that.” She gestured with her hands in a way that she hoped he would understand meant the bowing and title using.

  "Mattie.” He pressed a hand against his chest. “I’m your fiancé’s PPO.”

  Oh, well, that made complete sense, and she was pleased that at least enough thought had been put into her arrival that someone was here for her. Though it seemed unusual that Johann would send the man that was supposed to be protecting him. “Where is Prince Johannes?”

  Mattie’s laugh was a deep booming sound which filled the terminal and caused a lot of the other passenger to turn and stare at them in surprise, something which made Myf duck her head so that her hair covered her face. “Oh, I can’t wait for the first time you call him that.” He patted her on the shoulder. “He’ll probably burst something.”

  Uncertain whether this was a good or bad thing, Myf simply decided that it would be best to play with the hem of her jumper. “I’m sorry.”

  Mattie laughed again. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

  Once outside of the terminal, the pure humidity of New York in summer hit her full on, and she took a few seconds to try and breathe through it. It wasn’t that she wasn’t used to this sort of weather, but it was currently winter in Australia and she hadn’t thought that she would be facing this. When she was finally able to take stock of her surroundings she found herself completely surrounded by activity. There were people everywhere bumping into each other, yelling, and basically looking like a solid wall of bodies every which way she looked. Taxis and coaches were roaring past, narrowly missing the people that were weaving between them.

  Panic clawed suddenly at her breast and she pressed her hand to her sternum to try and ward off that feeling. Ahead of her she noticed that Mattie had come to a stop beside a huge Mercedes, his eyes filled with concern and Myf felt herself flushing at the thought that she must be making quite a scene. Taking several deep breaths she made her shaking legs walk towards where the PPO was standing with his arms folded across his chest. “So which hotel am I staying in?”

  Honestly she would be happy in a small boutique hotel where she could all but hide herself away until her courtship period was over without disturbing the life that Johann had created for himself in New York. However, she did know that neither her step-mother nor Cat would ever allow for her to have a hotel that didn’t meet their standards, especially now that she was presumably going to be more in the public eye.

  “Hotel?” Mattie looked confused as he opened the door to the car and gestured for her to enter. “You won’t be staying in a hotel, not for four months.”

  “I couldn’t possibly impose on Kai and Steph for that long.” The very idea of it made her chest cramp painfully with anxiety, she hated being a nuisance. “Seriously, I can find a motel to stay in.” Sliding into the car, she leaned against the soft leather seats and sighed deeply.

  “A motel?’ Mattie eased himself onto the seat beside her and then shut the door. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, before leaning forwards and whispering something to the driver. “Don’t be silly, Johann picked out your apartment himself.”

  Myf threw him a harsh look at those words. She couldn’t think of anything worse than a home picked out by someone that had been brought up entirely in the extravagant lifestyle of the royals. Not only that but Johann was known for his taste in expensive and flashy things, and that wasn’t only the women he tended to date. Undoubtedly she would end up living in some horribly oversized penthouse somewhere that she would feel uncomfortable in for the next four months. “I really wish he hadn’t bothered.” Her hands fidgeted in her lap and she refused to meet
his concerned gaze.

  “He wanted to.” Mattie reached over and placed his large hand over hers so that she would stop tapping her fingers against her legs. “I think he thought it was some romantic gesture.”

  A romantic gesture? Well that seemed entirely out of character, and completely unnecessary, after all she was going to marry him no matter the circumstances. It wasn’t like he had to win her over simply to make sure she walked down the aisle. “He really didn’t need to.”

  Mattie squeezed her hand lightly and then let go of her. “Just let him fall over himself trying to court you.”

  ***

  The apartment was not only in the centre of Manhattan but it was so completely unlike anything she was used to that it took her breath away. Opulent was the only word that she could think that would describe it, certainly the penthouse apartment if she had her bearings correct. As Myf stood in the foyer near the lift and looked into her enormous living room, she found herself wishing that Lowri hadn’t agreed to let Johann find her somewhere to live during their courtship period.

  “I can’t live here.” She followed Mattie further into the apartment, nervously removing her shoes when she went to stop onto the luscious cream carpet of the living room. “No seriously this is ridiculous.”

  “I think it suits you.” Mattie’s voice echoed from the other side of the apartment, and Myf slowly followed the sound of it until she found herself at the threshold of what appeared to be the master bedroom. “After all, you are a princess.”

  Myf couldn’t help the way that she shook her head at those words. Even though she was a princess by birth, she hadn’t lived in that world for so long now she didn’t even know what it meant anymore. “I couldn’t feel less like a princess.”