by Alexa Riley
“Whoa. Easy there, Carlos.” He holds his hands up, and I barely stop in time to keep from running into him. “I need to talk to you.”
“It has to wait,” I say, barging past him.
“It will only take a second. Carlos - ”
“No,” I say, cutting him off and pushing past. I can talk to him later. Right now, I need to find Heavenly.
“She left!” he shouts at me, and I stop in my tracks.
“What?” I ask, turning and stomping back to him.
“I just got home a second ago after being out all night. I saw Heavenly running out of the palace, and she jumped in the car. Then she asked my driver to take her somewhere. She seemed to be in a hurry. Does this have anything to do with you?”
“Fuck!” I turn and punch the wall, leaving a fist-sized hole in it. “Where did she go?” I shake my hand out, thankful that nothing feels broken. Nothing but my pride.
“I think she went to see her brother. I caught his name before the door closed. What did you do?”
“Why does it have to be something I did?” I say defensively, but all the steam leaves my body. Romy is right and he knows it.
“Because Heavenly is the sweetest, most precious thing in the world to this family, and if she’s upset, it’s because you did something to her.”
“It’s just a misunderstanding. One that I intend to clear up as soon as I can.” I lean back against the wall, hating how I’ve messed things up.
“May I give you a piece of advice?” Romy says, leaning on the wall beside me.
“You’re going to anyway, even if I say no.”
“Correct. But I’d like to give you the illusion that you had a choice,” he says, and his voice is smug.
“Go ahead,” I say, ready for the verbal beating I deserve.
“Let her go and talk to Karim. She’ll come back to her grandmothers tonight to check in on her. Then make your move.”
“What are you saying?” I ask, looking at Romy with suspicion.
“I’m saying that it may be a lot easier to tell her exactly what you want if you take her by surprise.”
“Are you suggesting that I sneak into her room?” The skepticism in my voice is clear, but the idea is taking hold.
“I’ll leave it open to your interpretation. But I think the best way to get Heavenly’s attention would be a surprise encounter.”
“Do you know this from experience?” I say, pushing away from the wall and standing directly in front of him. Suddenly I’m angry at everyone, and if my brother dares to touch her, I’ll take him to the ground.
“Easy, killer. Restrain the claws. I’ve always seen Heavenly as a sister and nothing more than a sister. Though I can’t say the same for you now, can I?”
I don’t respond to the question. I stand up and straighten my suit jacket, looking anywhere but in his eyes. “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”
“As a matter of fact, I’m on my way to see our mother. I’m sure she’ll love this turn of events.”
Romy is smug as he pushes from the wall and makes his way down the hallway. Little does he know she’ll have news of her own. There’s a wedding to prepare for.
Now I just need to talk to Karim and ask him for Heavenly’s hand. And then tonight I need to make things right with her.
Maybe Romy is right. Maybe getting her alone and in a position where she can’t push me away would be best. I could wait until nightfall and go to her room. She’s been sneaking into mine for years, and maybe it’s time she received some of that in return.
Maybe if I show her exactly what I’ve been after all these years, she’ll realize that I’m not just an option. I’m her only option.
3
Heavenly
“Karim!” I scream as I fly out of the back of the car and run towards him. He turns just in time to catch me, dropping the bags he has in his hands. He gives a little grunt, and I hear his wife Giselle giggle from behind him.
I hug him tight, unable to stop myself. He hugs me back, and I glance over his shoulder at Giselle, who has giant smile on her face. She looks like she is glowing with happiness. Her hands rest on her very round belly, and the sight of her makes me happy, but envious at the same time. I drop my head onto his shoulder and cover my eyes, not wanting to cry. I try to fight the tears, try to forget what just happened and remind myself that I’m happy for Karim and Giselle’s happiness.
“Someone is excited to see us,” my brother teases, but I only hug him tighter. He’s still for a second. “What’s wrong?” He must feel the tension in my body.
Of course I always hug my brother when I see him, but today I’m holding on a little longer. I need the comfort. Once I’m calm and not about to burst into tears, I pull back, and he places me on my feet.
“Who has upset you?” He looks around as if he’ll find someone close by. Giselle comes to stand next to him, slipping her hand into his. She places her other hand on his arm as if to comfort him. After a second I see a little bit of the tension leave his body. He’s so different now that he has Giselle. She’s been a blessing to our family. She’s started to heal us from the loss of our parents.
Karim and I haven’t been as close since my parents died, but Giselle has changed that. She’s reminding him what family is and that not everything is about work. I’d gotten so used to not seeing him much anymore that it felt normal. It wasn’t until she started pushing us all back together that I realized how much I’d missed us.
I ignore his question, not sure if I want to talk to my brother about Carlos. I don’t know how he’s going to feel about everything - me trying to pick my own husband, or Carlos declaring I’m his.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him, to try to move the conversation somewhere else.
He narrows his eyes for a moment. He’s not fooled and knows what I’m doing.
“Your birthday, silly,” Giselle chimes in. I glance up at her for a moment, thanking her silently before fixing my attention on my brother again.
“Are you here because of my birthday or because it’s the birthday that means I’m able to marry?”
I say it with more force than I intended and take a step back from him. I can’t help that my words come out a little heated. It’s not like he showed up at my last birthday. Sure he sent a gift and even called me, but he didn’t show up. Now he looks like he brought bags and might be staying a few days.
He lets out a deep breath. “I deserve that.” He runs his free hand through his hair, and I watch guilt play over his face, and I feel a little guilty myself. Things weren’t easy for him either. “I am here for your birthday, Heavenly. That’s all. I won’t pick a husband for you or even entertain ideas. That’s all up to you. I don’t want you to live with that hanging over your head. I’ve been there, and I would never do that to you.”
“Really?” I feel my eyes start to water all over again.
“To be honest, though, I thought I’d get a request from King Carlos or his family. Every time I got a new offer for your hand, I thought it would be from them.”
My heartbeat picks up just thinking about Carlos, wishing that he had asked for my hand because he wanted it, not because he felt bad for me. My face must turn a shade of red because Giselle giggles and my brother raises his eyebrows in question.
“I thought about marrying Romy,” I admit. My brother shakes his head at that, making a face. “What? He’s nice and funny. Whatever.” I give up trying to talk Romy up. It’s fruitless. He’s all those things, but he’s also a bad boy, and everyone knows it.
“What does Carlos think about this idea of you marrying his brother?”
I shrug, unsure if I want to talk about it yet.
“You look beautiful,” I tell Giselle grabbing her and pulling her in for a hug. Yeah, definitely not ready to talk about Carlos. I think I might burst into tears if I do, and I know my brother will be on his doorstep two seconds later.
One of my hands goes to her belly. I’m going to be an a
unt soon, and the thought of that makes me so happy. She’s really brought so much out in my brother in such a short time. Maybe making him chase her had something to do with that. “Let’s feed you. You must be hungry.”
“You’re hungry?” my brother asks, worry in his voice. I’d roll my eyes if I didn’t secretly think his constant doting on her was adorable.
“Come,” I tell them. My brother picks up the bags he dropped, and they both follow me into the house. I go straight for the kitchen, where my brother puts Giselle in a chair before getting her something to drink.
I watch them for a moment, thinking about how much I want something like this, about how angry I got when Carlos said I’m to marry him. I know it doesn’t make sense. I’ve been in love with him for what feels like forever, even though I said I would marry his brother, knowing it would never be a marriage of love. Something about doing the same with Carlos feels so wrong.
Thinking of having a loveless marriage with him makes my heart ache. He would love me, but not the way my brother and Giselle love each other. It would slowly eat me alive until there would be nothing left of me. Would he have a mistress? He doesn’t even want me in his bed anymore. My stomach turns at that notion, and I shake my head to free myself from those gloomy thoughts. No, he wouldn’t have a mistress. Carlos is too loyal for that. But we’d likely have separate rooms.
I know Carlos is just trying to do what he thinks is best for me. It’s what he’s always done - been my protector. It’s how he sees himself. I’m the little girl from next door who needs a keeper. The annoying sidekick that he lets hang around. Maybe it’s time I let it go. For a moment I thought maybe I could love him from afar, but who was I kidding. Seeing him with a wife will kill me, too. Maybe I need some space to clear my head.
I start making noodles in butter. I used to make it when I was younger, and my brother and I always loved it. We’d sneak down to the kitchen late at night when we were supposed to be in bed and I’d make it for both of us. This was before either one of us had a care in the world. Then we lost our parents, and things changed. I realize now how much he’s like his old self again. More laid-back. It’s crazy what love can do to a person.
“Maybe after my birthday I could come back home for a while.” My brother stops petting his wife’s hair as she sips her drink to look at me.
“I tried to get you to come home last month and you told me you loved it here.”
He did. He’d asked me to come home. He apologized for letting me ever come and live out here with my grandma in the first place. At first I’d been upset to leave my childhood home, but it was for the best. Karim had so much on his shoulders as it was, dealing with his own grief and having to take his place at the throne. Being here saved me. Carlos saved me, but maybe it’s time to go home. Though I’m not sure it’s my home anymore.
I shrug. “Maybe I need a change.”
“Or maybe someone broke your heart,” Giselle says softly. “I know the look. I had it once, too.”
Karim drops his head, kissing her on the cheek and whispering that he loves her. Karim did break her heart, or so she had thought, having read everything all wrong.
“Do I need to go next door?” my brother asks, standing back up to his full height.
“You can beat someone into loving me?”
My brother stares at me, and I know he’s thinking it over. “You’re always welcome to come home, you know that. But don’t run, Heavenly. Never run.”
He pulls his wife closer, and I’m sure he’s thinking about how she’d run from him.
I glance down at the counter, and I know he’s right. I can’t leave. Not yet. I’ve been bottling up my feelings for Carlos for years, and I’ve either got to let them go or let them out. I don’t want to make the same mistake Giselle did. But I deserve someone who will come and rescue me.
Just like a true princess.
4
Carlos
“Open the door, Heavenly!” I shout as I stand outside her grandmother’s house.
I waited until the car that dropped off Romy came back to the palace and I asked him where he took Heavenly. He said he only took her home, and I was so mad I could have punched myself. I figured she would have gone to her brother’s or anywhere but home. But I should have known. She wouldn’t have gone through the orchard because she knew I would have tracked her down there. She threw me off by jumping in the car, and I assumed she’d gone somewhere else.
I’m here to set things right, and I’ll force her to listen if I have to.
Suddenly the door swings open, and I’m shocked into silence when I see Karim standing there.
“What do you want, Carlos?”
At first I don’t know what to say. He looks pissed, and I don’t know why. But then my mind starts to catch up, and I assume that Heavenly has told him something that’s made him mad and now he’s going to take it out on me.
“I want to talk to Heavenly. But I’ll talk to you if you’re going to stand in my way.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, and though I know we match each other in size I have no doubt I would win in a fight right now. Because if I’ve got to go through him to get to Heavenly, then I’ll do it. I would go through fire to be with her, so there’s nothing that will stop me.
“I made the proclamation today. She’s to be my wife on the day she comes of age.”
“On whose orders?” Karim says, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Mine. You forget you’re in my kingdom, Karim, and my word is law.”
“I didn’t agree to the marriage. She’s represented and cannot be taken. That’s the law of all of our lands.”
“Just like the law of you taking your wife before your wedding night?” I throw back in his face.
His eyes narrow, and I know he’s wondering how I know that’s possible. But Heavenly tells me everything, including what her new sister told her.
“Yes, I know you broke the law, so don’t throw that back in my face. Some customs are outdated and meant to be broken. I made the royal decree, so you need to step out of my way and allow me to bring my bride home.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Karim says, uncrossing his arms and letting them fall to his sides. “You mean something to Heavenly. That much I’m sure of. We don’t need to come to blows over this. We can sit and talk.”
“Unless the talk is of wedding arrangements, I don’t feel the need to sit down. I’ve waited long enough for this day, and I won’t have anything standing in my way.”
“I’m not agreeing to anything until I talk to my sister,” Karin says. “I promised her I would let her choose, and I’m going to make good on that promise.”
“Then I’m sorry for the position I’m going to put you in. But you’re about to become a liar to Heavenly.”
Without much thought, I act faster than Karim has time to block. I ball my hand into a fist, reach back using all of my body weight, and then punch him in his jaw.
He falls back, and he hits the floor as if in slow motion. Giselle and Heavenly appear from behind him. Giselle screams and then goes after Karim, and I lunge for Heavenly. She tries to take a step back from me, but I snatch her wrist in one hand and pull her body over my shoulder.
Then time speeds up and I’ve got her draped over me as I run through the orchard and up to the palace. She’s kicking and hitting me the whole way, but I just ignore her. No one knows the orchard like she and I do, and I know they won’t be able to track us through it. I’ve known her long enough to know her tantrum will end just as soon as she sees through her cloud of anger.
“Calm down or I’ll lock you in the tower until you can be polite.”
“Damn it, Carlos! You punched Karim! What the hell were you thinking?”
She’s shouting every word at me, and I just grip her hip tighter as she tries to kick her way off my shoulder.
“I said be quiet. You’re about to be a queen. You should act like it.”
I feel her fists pou
nding on my back at that, and I smile. That probably pissed her off more than me punching Karim.
“Out of my way,” I growl to Romy as we pass him in the hallway. He laughs and pushes up against the wall, shaking his head.
“Romy, make him let me go,” Heavenly pleads as we pass him, but he puts his palms up as if to try to keep this situation away from him. “Damn you, Romy!”
“I said watch your mouth.” I squeeze Heavenly’s thigh as I take the stairs up to my wing of the palace. “I didn’t realize you had such a colorful vocabulary, Princess. Looks like I’m going to have to teach you some manners.”
“Carlos, if you don’t put me down right now, I swear I’m going to bite you on the ass.”
I reach up and slap one of her ass cheeks with my hand, feeling the slight sting on my palm. “That’s one, Princess. Keep it up and you’ll get three next time.”
I feel her teeth sink into my ass cheek, and I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from crying out and laughing at the same time. I can’t believe she actually bit me.
I give her three quick slaps to the ass as I carry her up some more steps, and she squeaks out in shock.
“You haven’t bitten me since you were ten,” I say, slapping her ass one more time just because I love the way it feels on my hand.
“I can’t believe you’re spanking me! I’m not a child, Carlos, and this is embarrassing.”
“The only thing you should be embarrassed about is running from your king. You should know better.”
“If this is what you’re going to do every time I run from you, then - ”
“There won’t be another time, Princess. Your pretty little ass is going to sit down and listen to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions.”
“There’s nothing you can say that will make me change how I feel.”