Undo Me

by Ali Parker

  “I think I already know what I want.” I explained my plan to her, and her eyes welled up. The emotion within her burst to the surface, and I started to tear up as well.

  She took my hand in hers. “Did I tell you how lucky Luke is to have you?”

  17

  Luke

  Since Sophia wanted Matt to trek across the world to the palace, I had to give up my private plane for him. He was the only other significant person in Sophia’s life, and I wanted to be sure he would be on time for the wedding.

  Which was why I had to put Maddox on a commercial flight to Qatar and why I waited for him at the terminal so that he could tell me how much he hated me in person.

  After he berated me, I could ask for any last-minute advice about the meeting that I was about to have with the council.

  With Mother’s acceptance of the quick union between Sophia and me, I didn’t feel right about moving forward without informing them that I fully intended to marry Sophia while keeping my position as the king.

  While I knew they weren’t going to give up without a fight, I had to hold my ground. They would never respect me if I gave up under their wishes, and I wouldn’t respect myself. Sophia and I were meant for each other. We were meant for the kingdom.

  Thinking about all the possible outcomes of the meeting, I was all worked up when I spotted Maddox coming toward me.

  A tall, busty flight attendant beamed up at him as he typed something into his phone. He looked as if he had just joined the mile-high club. I knew he was already a member, so whatever had happened between the flight attendant and him hadn’t been so innocent.

  She walked away from him, waggling her fingers in his direction before joining the other navy blue uniformed attendants near one of the airport restaurants.

  “Do I want to know what that was about?” I asked.

  “Nope. I’m afraid your virgin mind might not be able to handle it.” He grinned at me before slapping a hand on my back. It might have hurt if I wasn’t expecting it. “Where is Sophia?”

  “She and Mother are nailing down the details for tomorrow.”

  “She and your mother?” he asked.

  “Mother is the only reason we’re pulling this off.”

  “Wow, that’s something I never thought I’d hear.”

  “Yeah, me neither.”

  “Fancy a drink?” he asked.

  “Sure.” Even though his flight was taken care of, I wanted to stick around a little longer at the airport. My meeting wasn’t for another two hours, and waiting at the palace was only going to drive me insane with worry.

  “So, I take it you’re not mad at me anymore about the flight?” I asked as we entered one of the restaurants.

  Maddox gestured to the hostess that we were going to sit at the bar. “I wasn’t mad. Surprised is all.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ve sent your plane across the world to pick up another man for your fiancée to have at her wedding. It sounds like the start to a bad romantic comedy. And you’re the man about to get dumped.”

  “He’s her best friend,” I said, settling on a bar stool.

  “I’ve heard it before, mate. But don’t worry. I have your back. No American is getting in the way of your happiness.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Thanks. I am happy that you were able to make it on such short notice. I couldn’t imagine getting married without you as my best man.”

  “Don’t fret about it,” he said, signaling for the bartender. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  We caught up on business and personal matters on his side, and by the time Maddox was ready for another beer, I cut myself off.

  “I’m pretty sure this is as close as you’re getting to a stag party. Drink up, mate.”

  “I can’t.” We had caught up with his life; now it was my turn. “I have a meeting in a little while.”

  “With the council?” he asked.

  He was more astute than I remembered.

  “Yes. I can’t show up intoxicated. I need to have a sharp mind.”

  “What are you going to tell them?”

  “That I’m not bowing down to their wishes. With Mother’s support, I think I can turn at least two of them in my favor. There’s a gray area surrounding the rules of marriage in the kingdom. They are reading the law with a more traditional mind. I need to turn it.”

  “Just like you did with your mother?” he asked.

  “Sort of,” I said. “She has a personal stake in all of this. They want Abir on the throne to keep with the traditional royal bloodline. Sophia is their way of leveraging that. They know I won’t let her go.”

  “But you’re not a pushover, either.”

  It was my turn to clap a hand on his back. “Exactly.”

  “I wish you the best of luck, mate. If you want to try out some of those fancy king lines you have in the back of your head, I’m all ears.”

  It wasn’t that funny, but I laughed, a little too hard. There was the Maddox I knew and loved. Everything was going to be okay. It had to be.

  After he knocked back a few more beers, we headed out to the car where my valet had waited while Maddox and I caught up.

  “It’s nice to have someone get your bags for you,” Maddox said, walking around with an air of lightness surrounding him. No matter who you were, whenever people went to airports, they walked as if the weight of the world rested on their shoulders. I’d had my valet grab the package and Maddox’s suitcase after Maddox arrived. It was one less thing that Maddox had to worry about during his stay. Both Matt and Maddox wouldn’t have to lift a finger this weekend; everything was to be catered to their specific needs. It was the least I could do after scheduling the wedding on such short notice.

  To keep distracted from the fateful meeting that I was to attend when we arrived at the palace, I pointed out different sights for Maddox outside the window. His nose was practically glued to the glass while I spoke.

  In our years as friends and business partners, Qatar was one place that I kept sacred to me. Sophia was the first person that broke that rule, and it was only a matter of time before I did the same for Maddox. I hoped he didn’t have hard feelings about it, but if he had, he didn’t show any emotion either way.

  “Mate,” Maddox said as the car moved past the main gate and up toward the palace. “You’ve been holding back on me.”

  “I have?” I asked.

  He shoved my arm. “This is a palace! Like, a real palace.”

  “I am a king,” I said, chuckling.

  “I have a pretty wild imagination, but nothing that could have created this in my mind. I’m blown away. Thank god I have a seatbelt on.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” I said.

  “Like it? I think I’m going to move in. It looks like you have plenty of room.”

  “That, I do,” I said. Growing up in the palace, it was easy enough to hide from my parents. That was until the servants were employed to find me. They outnumbered my family by a lot, so I could never hide for too long.

  When the driver stopped the car outside of the side entrance, which I asked him to, Maddox and I got out. Another servant grabbed Maddox’s bag and went ahead of us to bring it to his room. I specifically asked him to bring Sophia’s dress myself.

  I knew the rule about not seeing the dress before the wedding, so I’d asked Marie to conceal it within the bag. Purple and pink tissue paper stared up at me from the package as I lifted it from the trunk.

  “It’s amazing,” Maddox said.

  “You saw it?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “The woman at the shop didn’t want to wrap it up until the very last second. She gave me specific handling instructions that I promised to pass on to the baggage claim people. It’s a good thing I went first class. From the way they banged up the coach passenger’s bags, Sophia would have had a wrinkly mess for a dress.”

  She had no idea the dress was coming. I knew her well enough to know that little things didn’t upset her. I
think I would have been more upset if the dress was damaged. And I had the means to rectify it.

  “Thank you for doing this,” I said to Maddox. “You really are a great friend.”

  He grinned. “Don’t make me blush, mate.”

  Walking inside the palace, I saw it through Maddox’s eyes. Each room we passed, he emitted a low whistle through his teeth. His reaction made me appreciate my home a lot more. For years in England, I tended to refer to the palace as my “childhood home,” but after becoming king and bringing Sophia and my best friend there, it was now just “home” to me. And it would be for the rest of my life.

  The realization pressed down on my shoulders, comforting me. If only I would have felt that way sooner.

  Even though I knew that Sophia was in my chambers waiting for me—as I asked her to—it was hard for me not to glance into every room to ensure that she wasn’t there. I had a plan in mind for presenting the gown to her, and I wanted it to be intimate and private. I wasn’t sure how she was going to react, but I wanted to experience all of it for myself. Since we were going down the smaller route for the wedding, I wanted to be there every step of the way, etching each memory into my mind so I could recall them throughout my life.

  I knew without a doubt that this was going to be one of the highlights of my life, and I wanted every memory to be perfect.

  “I know you have your meeting soon,” Maddox said, breaking through my thoughts. “If you want to get that to Sophia, I can find my way around here.”

  I nodded, only having less than thirty minutes until the meeting. I was cutting it close, but it was imperative that I do so. Giving my mind time to wander would only make the situation worse for me. “If you have trouble finding anything, just ask one of the servants.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Best of luck, and I hope you come out the victor.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  * * *

  Heading up to the residential wing, I focused on the dress in my hands. The longer I held it, the heavier it became. I knew the price tag since I paid for the dress, but now I knew why it was so expensive. It was well worth the cost of fabric, and I hoped it wasn’t too heavy for Sophia. Though, since she’d tried it on, I knew it was something that she wanted and liked. I just hoped she appreciated the gesture. I wanted to give her everything in life, but I had taken away most of the planning process from her. The dress was my peace offering.

  Knocking on the door of my chamber, I pushed through as Sophia called out to me.

  “You’re back!” she said, leaping up from the bed. Around her were several binders that the event planner had brought over that morning. The staff was going to be working all night on the wedding. A part of me felt sorry about it, but a wedding was a happy occasion at the palace. I was sure they wouldn’t mind. And they were getting paid for it.

  Sophia’s gaze fell on the package in my hands. “What is that?”

  “I’m going to give this to you and then turn around. You open it and tell me what you think.”

  Her head tilted to the side, and her eyes narrowed. “Why are you turning around?”

  18

  Sophia

  Taking the heavy bag from Luke’s hands, my head tilted to the side, and I narrowed my eyes. “I didn’t get you anything.”

  “I have all I need right here,” he said.

  I weighed the bag in my hands.

  “Just trust me,” Luke said and kissed me on the cheek.

  “Okay,” I said, bringing it over to the bed.

  Luke turned around. I couldn’t figure out why he was acting so strangely. First a mysterious package, and now he didn’t even want to see me open it?

  Knowing it was from him, I gently unzipped the bag and moved aside the pink and purple tissue paper. It wasn’t until the silky, white fabric moved under my fingers that I knew exactly what Luke had done for me.

  “Luke!” I gasped, pulling away the rest of the tissue paper. I couldn’t believe it! It was the dress from the shop in England. “How did you do this? When did you do this?”

  Luke didn’t move from his spot, and I understood why. I didn’t realize how superstitious he was. “I have my ways.”

  I rushed across the room and into his arms. He was still facing the door, and I had the urge to bring him over to the bed to show him. But if he wanted to keep that tradition alive with our wedding, I wasn’t going to ruin it. “I can’t believe you did this for me. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “Your face is thanks enough.”

  “You need to tell me how you pulled this off,” I said, then put my hand on my hip. “Did you follow me that day when we were in England?”

  “No,” he said, his expression darkening. “I trust you completely. The other day when you were out on a walk with Mother, your phone rang. I wanted to be sure that you didn’t leave anything at the hotel in England, so I picked up. Marie was a very persuasive woman. She convinced me that this was the dress you wanted to get married in.”

  “She’s right,” I said, glancing over his shoulder to see the dress on the bed. Remembering that day in the shop, I couldn’t wait to put it on again.

  “So, I made the arrangements and had Maddox pick it up before he came here.”

  “I’m in shock.” I had no idea that he’d done this for me. In some ways, Luke could be a locked vault. I wondered if there were any more surprises up his sleeve. Though, I would have to be on my game in the future. Even though I didn’t have as many connections as he did, I would make us even somehow for this amazing gesture.

  “That’s a good thing,” he said, cupping my face in his hands.

  The alarm on my phone trilled from the desk across the room. “Oh! I need to go pick up Matt at the airport. Do you want to come?”

  Luke shook his head, and a frown curled his lips. “I can’t. I have a meeting with the council in fifteen minutes.”

  I blinked. “Fifteen minutes? Where did that come from?”

  He sighed and took my hands in his. Worry lines creased his forehead, and I had the urge to smooth them out for him. “I’ve decided to inform the council of the wedding.”

  “I thought you wanted to wait?” I asked. “Until afterward so they couldn’t fight it.”

  He shook his head once. “I don’t feel right about doing that. My whole life, I’ve made decisions with my gut. This time is the same as any other. Going behind their backs will make all of this worse.”

  “All of what?” I asked. Was this the decision that Luke hid from me over the last week?

  A pained look crossed his face. “The council wants me to either give up the throne or give up you.”

  “What?” I asked, stepping away from him. This was bigger than I thought, but somehow, deep down, I knew it had to do with me. “I can’t believe they would force you to make that choice.”

  “Me neither,” he said. “But they did. It’s been on my mind for a while now.”

  “I know,” I said. “I’ve been trying to get it out of you.”

  “I know,” he said. “But I didn’t want you to run away again.”

  “Why would I run away?” I held up my left hand, wiggling my ring finger. “I made a promise to you.”

  “I know,” he said. “And I trust you to keep that promise. But I wanted to figure out a solution before telling you. If you knew that I was faced with this choice, would you have given me the option to give you up?”

  Of course, I would have. I knew Erol wanted Luke to be king, even when Luke didn’t see it in the cards for himself. It was why I didn’t put up a fight the second time I left. Luke had to be the king.

  “I would have,” I admitted.

  “Exactly. So, now that we have Mother on board with our relationship, I think that will help.”

  “Can they remove you from the throne?” I asked.

  “The way that they interpret the law, they’d probably try,” he said. “But I know I can turn two of them to my favor. With them knowing
that there is a union and an heir in the works, they might concede.”

  I wasn’t going to get on the topic of an heir. Gia had told me the council pressured her enough that she ended up adopting. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for them.

  “I can’t believe this is happening now,” I said. “Do you want me to send a car for Matt?”

  “No,” he said, drawing me closer to him. “Be there for your friend. I don’t want you pacing the room while I’m in there. I have no idea how long it’s going to take.”

  “Okay,” I said and lifted onto my toes to kiss him. I pushed all of my love into that kiss. Luke’s arms tightened around me as if he were pulling strength from me.

  As a king, he was the face of the royal family. But I knew him best. He was still a man and had feelings. The council telling him he couldn’t have the woman he loved in his life was preposterous and disgusting. While I didn’t know the politics of the country well, I knew that Luke would always do the right thing.

  When I pulled away from him, I said, “Good luck in there. I’ll be back here as soon as possible.”

  His finger traced the line of my jaw. “I’ll look forward to that. And to see you in that dress tomorrow.”

  He brushed past me, and when the door closed, I let go of the breath I’d been holding. Walking over to the bed, the dress mocked me. It was a symbol of something that might not happen. What if the council refused to have Luke as king because he wanted to marry me? What would we do then?

  A sharp rap on the door shattered my thoughts into a million pieces. Did Luke need to tell me something else before he went in to see the council?

  I raced over to the door and flung it open. A female servant bowed her head to me. “M’lady, the car is ready to take you to the airport.”

  I sighed. “Thank you. I’ll be right down.”

  She nodded and shuffled away from me.

  I went over to the bed and brought the dress to the armoire. I made sure that after hanging it up that I replaced the tissue paper to cover the white material as much as I could. Luke wouldn’t peek, but I didn’t want to give him one single detail of the dress until the day of our wedding. I wanted him to be as excited about the dress as I had been.