by Kat Mizera
“Luke, why don’t you go wait with your dad while they examine her?” Erik said gently. “You can come right back when they’re done.”
“No, thank you.” Luke’s grip on my hand tightened. “I’ll just stay here with Mom.” His gaze suddenly wavered and he looked down at me. “Is that okay, Mom?”
I nodded, giving his hand a squeeze of reassurance and smiling at Erik.
Erik smiled too, hanging back as the doctors did their thing and Luke hung on to my hand for dear life.
By the time the doctors left us alone, I was tired enough to go back to sleep but it felt like I’d missed a lot so I managed to keep my eyes open a little longer. I was still trying to wrap my head around words and phrases like gunshot wound, coma, and oxygen deprivation. I felt normal, other than really tired and sore, so I wasn’t sure if they were talking about brain damage or what.
“I see my two favorite men in the whole world have met,” I finally managed to say, holding out my free hand to Erik since Luke still hadn’t let go of the other one.
“You missed out on a lot,” Luke said, nodding. “King Anwar shot you but he’s dead now and—”
“Let’s not overwhelm her with details,” Erik said, gently interrupting him. “In fact, now that she’s awake, why don’t you go tell the others because I’m sure your sisters are going to want to see her.”
“I’m on it.” He nodded briskly. “I love you, Mom. I’ll be right outside if you need me, okay?”
“Thanks, hon.” I watched him go with a fond smile, finally meeting Erik’s gaze. “What do you think of your son?”
“Jesus.” He rubbed his hands down his face. “You did the most amazing job with him. You and Nick.”
“And Sandor and your parents and my mom and Nick’s parents… It really does take a village.”
“That hasn’t been my experience with parenting,” he said. “Mostly it’s been me and Liz, with a little help from nannies.”
“You were dealing with different circumstances.” I reached out my arms. “I’m so tired, but I need to know what happened. Maybe the cliff notes version.”
“Well, Anwar snuck in and tried to kill me but you threw yourself in front of a bullet to save me.” He stared down at me. “Why would you do something so crazy?”
I frowned. “Because I love you. I wasn’t trying to take the bullet, just trying push you out of the way, but either way, I have no regrets.”
“You are my everything,” he whispered, bringing my hand to his mouth and kissing my knuckles. “The fact that you almost died to protect me… Babe, that was the bravest, most noble thing I could ever imagine someone doing for me.”
“Wouldn’t you have done the same for me?” I asked quietly. “I mean, didn’t you give up literally everything to protect Luke and me?”
“I guess I did.” He leaned over and gently kissed me. “I love you, Casey. Speaking of which…” He paused, digging around in his pocket and pulling something out. “This is yours.”
He handed me the pink dragon diamond ring and something felt a little scratchy behind my eyes. “I, um, I’m not divorced yet.”
“Jayson called and asked me if I thought you’d want him to file the same day you were shot, before he knew about it obviously, so technically, you’re free to do whatever you want. Which means I’d like to see you wearing my ring again.”
“Yes.” I held out my hand and he slid the ring on my finger. I’d taken off my wedding ring the day I found out about Jay and Liz, so this felt right. Perfect, in fact.
There was a light knock on the door. “Mom?” Sasha stuck her head in.
“Come on in.” I held out my hand to her and she came in, the twins trailing behind her.
I was too tired for this, but these were my kids and they needed to know I was okay. So I hugged and kissed them, doing my best to keep my eyes open as they barraged me with questions and love.
“Mom looks half-asleep,” Sasha said, meeting my eyes. “Now that you’ve seen her, I think it’s time to go get some dinner and we can come back in the morning.”
“I’ll be much more awake tomorrow,” I said, hugging them all tightly.
“I love you, Mommy.” Jessie held on the longest and I stroked her hair.
“I love you too. All of you.”
“I’ll see you later, Mom.” Sasha nodded at me as she ushered the twins out.
I closed my eyes but reached for Erik. “Don’t leave me. I know you must be exhausted, but I don’t want to be here alone.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He kissed the top of my head and that was the last thing I remembered.
When I opened my eyes again it was morning because there was bright sunlight streaming through the window. Erik wasn’t beside me anymore, but Sandor was and though I briefly wondered where Erik had gone, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” He leaned forward and reached out a hand to me.
I took it and tugged him closer. “Give me a hug,” I said. We didn’t do it often, usually just on birthdays and holidays, but today I felt like I needed one because he gave the best hugs in the world.
“It’s really good to see you awake,” he whispered against my ear.
“It’s good to see you here with me.”
He pulled away and moved the chair closer to the bed so he could hold my hand while he sat beside me.
“Erik desperately needed a shower,” he said before I could ask. “He’ll be back any minute.”
“I figured.” I smiled. “He left you in charge?”
“I volunteered. I needed to see for myself that you’re okay.” He squeezed my hand between both of his. “You know, I’ve always admired your strength and resilience. How you bounced back after every tragedy, every new kick in the face…but what you did the other day, that was way beyond anything I could have imagined. You’re badass, Casey Hart.”
I was a little confused. “Wouldn’t you have put yourself in front of a bullet for Erik? Isn’t that your duty as bodyguard to a royal or whatever?”
“Yes, but that’s different. I chose that as my life’s work—to protect him and subsequently his son, because he asked it of me. I trained for it, both from the perspective of a member of the royal family as well as through the military and then my training with the CIA. You—and I mean no disrespect by this—are just a regular woman. No military or espionage training, not royalty, just an everyday woman who stepped up and did something extraordinary. I’m proud to call you my friend.”
“We’re a lot more than friends,” I said softly. “We’re family.”
“Yes. We are.” He leaned over and kissed the top of my head.
“Hey, hands off my woman,” Erik said with a laugh as he came in.
“Dude, if I didn’t make a move in the eleven years you were gone, you think I’d do it now?”
“Now, boys,” I said, chuckling. “There’s plenty of me to go around. I just need to stop falling asleep mid-sentence and stuff.”
“Sandor? Sandor, where are you?” A woman’s voice filled the hallway and we all looked in that direction curiously.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“Ma’am, you can’t go in there.” I recognized Xander’s voice.
“The fuck I can’t,” the woman responded.
“Lady, I don’t care who you are but you can’t—”
“Elen?” Sandor walked to the doorway and cocked his head. “Jesus Christ, where the fuck have you been? I’ve been calling for days!”
39
Erik
I hadn’t seen Elen in years and my first glimpse of her caught me by surprise. She was mostly the same, but buffer and tanner and a lot less docile than the Elen I remembered. She was looking at Xander with fire in her eyes and it would have been amusing if not for the situation.
“It’s all right,” Sandor told Xander. “This is my sister.”
“I told her repeatedly she wasn’t allowed in Casey’s room,” he replied, giving her a dirty look.
“I’m family,” she said. “So you can fuck right off.”
“Easy, sis.” Sandor told her. “His job is to protect Casey.”
“From me?”
“No one knew you were coming.”
“I was with a group climbing Mount Olympus in Greece,” she said. “I had no cell service or access to email.”
“I’ve done it twice,” Xander said, eyeing her. “Did you get to the top?”
“I did not,” she said, scowling at him. “I dislocated my knee.” She motioned to the brace on her leg.
I decided to break up whatever this pissing contest was going on between them. “Hey, cuz.”
She turned to me with narrowed eyes. “You’re a real little shit, you know that? You know how much I cried when you died?”
“I’m sorry. I was trying to protect everyone.”
“I don’t need protecting.” She threw her arms around me. “But it’s really good to see you.”
“You too.” I hugged her.
“Now someone needs to tell me what the fuck is going on.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I came down off the mountain, got cell service and saw four hundred messages from my brothers and Uncle Ben, not to mention my dead cousin is all over the media and my cousin the king is dead.”
“We probably should take this conversation somewhere more private,” I said. “Let’s go back into Casey’s room and she can get caught up too.”
We went back to Casey and I watched as the two women embraced like old friends. I’d kind of forgotten that I’d introduced Casey into the fold of my family just before the shit hit the fan, but this brought back all kinds of memories. It had also been jarring to see Sandor embracing her. I wasn’t jealous—that’s not who we were, not Casey and me and certainly not Sandor and me—but I was still a man who loved this woman more than life itself. I constantly had to remind myself that she’d had a life during the eleven years I’d been gone and I had to be patient while getting used to seeing parts of it.
“So tell us everything,” Elen said after a few minutes.
“Well, it kind of started with Daniil and me.” We all turned in surprise as Jesper came in.
“I hope you don’t mind that I invited him to join us,” Sandor said. “He had updates for us as well, from Daniil, so I figured it would be easier this way.”
“Casey, I’m glad to see you’re feeling better.” He leaned over to kiss Casey’s forehead.
“Thank you.”
“You’re pretty badass,” he said, grinning at her before turning to me. “No one’s ever jumped in front of a bullet for me, so you should do everything in your power to keep her this time.”
I laughed. “See that ring on her finger? Believe me, I’m not letting her go again.”
“I hear you made an honest man out of my brother,” Elen said to Jesper.
His face sobered for a moment and then he shrugged. “I don’t think that’s going to be true for much longer. Everything that’s happened has changed things between us, but that’s neither here nor there. The separation is amicable.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I didn’t realize you’d split.”
“Well, the writing was on the wall, you know? You can’t keep those kinds of secrets from someone without breaking the very foundation of a relationship like ours.”
My eyes drifted to Casey’s but there was nothing but sympathy in hers.
“Anyway, here’s the latest.” Jesper leaned against the wall.
“Let’s keep this as private as possible,” Sandor said, walking over to the door and closing it.
“Since Daniil was appointed President of the General Assembly before Anwar’s death, he’s currently running the country, though he’s already publicly stated he doesn’t want the job of king. Sandor’s name came up, of course, but Daniil informed them Sandor also has no desire to rule. On paper, that leaves Elen, even though we’ve never had a female monarch in our history.”
“Nor are we starting with me,” Elen said, shuddering slightly. “No interest whatsoever. We all know Erik’s the man for the job—why are we pussy-footing around this?”
“Because that’s not how things work in our country,” I said firmly. “I’m not going to steal the throne. After what Anwar did, the only way I’ll ever ascend is if it’s what the people want.”
Jesper smiled. “My friend, that’s all the people have talked about since your very memorable, albeit chaotic, speech the other day. The newspapers have your face plastered all over them and a petition was delivered to Parliament this afternoon asking they vote on reinstating you into the line of succession. Believe me, the people want you to be their next king.”
I wanted to be humble, to pretend like it was no big deal, but I couldn’t. Not here, in front of these people. It was what I’d been dreaming of, in one form or another, for a long time now.
“Babe?” Casey knew me too well to hide anything and I met her eyes almost guiltily.
“Just a little overwhelmed,” I admitted softly. “I was never meant to be king, and I never thought it would be something I wanted, but now that I’m on the cusp of it, it’s what I want more than anything except you.”
“Then let’s get to Limaj and make this happen,” Elen said impatiently.
“I’m not going anywhere until Casey’s on the mend,” I said. “The country’s been without me the last eleven years. They can wait another week or two.”
“You need to make a statement then,” Jesper said. “Daniil said Parliament is anxious to hear from you—as well as from General Sarrano. He’s been too ill to travel home, though, so he’s still here in Monte Carlo.”
“Was the evidence he collected presented?” I asked.
“Absolutely.” Jesper nodded. “That’s why they’re anxious to talk with you. And that’s why the press has been all over this. You’ve been somewhat sequestered here with Casey, but you’re a household name all over Europe, my friend. You’re about to become a very, very big deal.”
I shook my head. “That’s not my intention. My intention is only to help the country, and the people, to become strong and prosperous again. This isn’t about me.”
“But it is,” Sandor said. “There’s a reason the people want you. You were always a favorite, even when there was no chance you would ever rule. The people have always been drawn to you. Maybe it’s because you’re the firstborn son of the man who was supposed to be king, but whatever it is, they’re enamored with you. More so than ever now that Anwar is gone.”
“I just want to do what’s right.”
“You are and you will,” Sandor said.
“But you have a lot to do to make that happen,” Jesper added. “I understand wanting to be with Casey, but you need to get your shit together. Make a statement to the press that you’ll be traveling to Limaj as soon as your fiancée is better, that you’re willing to discuss the possibility of ruling, etc.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I’m going to need someone at my side in a chief of staff capacity.” I met his gaze. “You interested?”
He grinned. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I have a lot to work on…security, what I’m going to do about Luke, what Casey and I are going to do about our kids… It’s a lot and I can’t think about any of it until I know she’s better.”
“I’m going to be okay,” Casey said. “You do what you have to do and I’ll be right here, healing and complaining about hospital food.”
“Erik, I’m in for anything you need,” Elen said quietly. “A secretary, an ambassador, whatever duties are appropriate for an exiled princess—I’m here for you.”
“You want to be my secretary?” I asked dubiously.
All of us burst out laughing.
“You’ll need an inner circle you trust, so yes, if you needed me to, I would.”
“You were always my favorite cousin,” I teased, hugging her.
“Thanks a lot,” Sandor muttered, though the twinkle in his eyes
told me he knew I was kidding.
“Sandor, I’m going to need you heading up security,” I said. “I’d like you to get with Joe and see if I can steal Xander from him permanently.”
“You have a huge decision to make, though,” Sandor said. “About Luke. Are you going to claim him publicly?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. My overprotective side is screaming no, let him remain a Kingsley, where he’s safe and away from the insanity of royal life. But my overprotective side has made a lot of mistakes over the years, and he’s too important for me to fuck this up.”
“Well, you have a lot to think about,” Jesper said. “We’re going to have to sit down and put our heads together.”
“All of us,” I said, looking around the room. “You’re my family and the people I trust most. We need to be united in everything we do, starting now.”
I noted that Casey’s eyes had closed and she was dozing. Sandor followed my gaze and we both smiled.
“Looks like we wore her out,” Elen said gently.
“I’m fine,” Casey murmured. “You guys just keep going with your plans for world domination and I’ll drift in and out.”
We talked and planned the rest of the afternoon, taking breaks for food and when the kids came to visit Casey. So many things were up in the air, but watching her getting better and seeing us surrounded by the people we both loved calmed me in ways nothing else had since I’d left her. She and Liz seemed to have made up, she adored Leni, and the kids were already like one big happy family. I couldn’t have planned a family transition that was this smooth, and though I had no idea what the future would bring, with Casey back in my life, I felt better than I had in a long time.
That night, when everyone had gone and it was just Casey and me, she asked me to hold her. Even though the hospital bed was tiny, and I was not, I adjusted her IV lines and helped her move to the edge so I could scoot in next to her. She settled against me, her head against my chest as I stroked her hair.