“When he comes back can you have him come see me? Even if I’m sleeping? I don’t care how late it is. I need to know he’s safe.”
“Of course.” Dad kisses my forehead and tucks me into bed like I imagine he would have if I had grown up with him. “Get some sleep, dear. They won’t be able to get to you ever again. I’ll have guard posted outside your door.”
As my eyelids grow heavier, I catch glimpses of my dad as he moves around the room checking balcony windows and watching me as if I might disappear at any moment. What feels like an instant later, I’m woken from a dream of running through the darkness that stretches on forever.
“Adella? It’s Quinn.”
I gasp sucking air into my lungs. “Quinn?” I sit up and look around to verify I’m in my room and not still running in the tunnels.
He gently lays me back and covers me back up. “Everything is fine now. They won’t ever hurt you again.”
“Will you lie with me for a minute?” Please let him say, ‘yes’. I want the comfort I know I’ll find in his arms.
He sits on the bed and kicks off his shoes, then crawls into the blankets with me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close. “I’ll lie with you for an eternity.”
“Do you mean it?”
“Of course. I love you, Adella. More than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything. You’re cuore mio. The thought of losing you hurts more than I can express.” I attempt to blink away the sting in my eyes and roll over to face him.
“That’s what I was hoping you would say. I love you, too.” I’ve been denying it for weeks now, but it happened.
He leans to me cradling my face gently with his hands to press kisses against my lips.
“I’m not going to break.” I murmur against his lips. “It’s just a few bruises.”
He pulls me closer, deepening the kiss and wrapping his arms around me. I don’t ever want to think about how close we came to never having this moment again. He holds me close, and I close my eyes. There’s no tension in my body, only the warmth and content that has settled into my chest.
Chapter Sixteen
The sun is shining when I open my eyes. I’m still encircled in Quinn’s arms and for the first time ever I see him looking disheveled. He’s in my bed fully dressed in rumpled clothes and his hair a mess, but despite his appearance his face is relaxed and he’s breathing evenly. He’s positively adorable. I lay for a long time looking at him.
He loves me. He loves me, and he told me so. We made some silly and childish mistakes before, but we can go into this now with nothing holding us back. Being kidnapped and having your life threatened really puts everything else into perspective.
The door clicks, and I look over to see Mrs. B stepping in. She looks at Quinn sleeping and whispers to me, “Morning Your Highness. Are you hungry? “
“Not so much but I’m parched.” My throat is still scratchy and raw from breathing the chilly air as I ran last night.
“Your father asked me to let you know he’ll be up soon to check on you. He just had to tend to… some things.” She looks around the room at everything but me.
“Some things, like Danilo and Eleanor?” I don’t need to be protected. If anything, I need to know they will pay for what they’ve done.
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll be back with a tray for you shortly. Him, too?” She nods at the still sleeping Quinn.
“If you wouldn’t mind.” She nods again and shuts the door.
I go to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I wish I hadn’t. My hair is a stringy tangled mess, underneath my eyes is dark, and cuts and scratches cover my arms including the big scrape on my forehead. I brush my hair and teeth and go back to the bed and sit next to Quinn smoothing his hair trying to wake him.
“Quinn.”
He blinks his eyes open and his gaze settles on my face jolting upright.
“Adella. How do you feel?”
“Just sore, I landed pretty hard in the tunnel.” He lifts my pajama leg to see my knee. A deep purple bruise has spread across it while I slept. It’s stiff and a little hard to bend but could have been much worse.
“I don’t know what I would have done if they had hurt you.” He kisses my shoulder and gently pulls me close to him.
“They had quite the plan, thank goodness they didn’t know about those tunnels. Now I have to go in front of the country looking like I’ve been drug to hell and back.
“You’re beautiful, cuore mio Happy birthday.”
“Thank you.” It’s so strange to think it’s my twenty first birthday. Today will be one the most monumental of my life.
Quinn pulls me close, cradling me in his arms. I soak up the comfort and love that he gives me. The door clicks, and Dad walks in. He stops when he sees us. Mrs. B. must not have warned him.
“I’ll check on you later.” Quinn kisses my cheek and climbs from the bed grabbing his shoes. He turns to my dad with a small bow. “Your Majesty.”
“Quinn.” He waits until the doors shuts and sits on the foot of the bed. “Should I be concerned about this?”
I shake my head, ponytail bouncing against my back. “No. We talked last night. Everything will be different this time.”
“I’m not sure what happened before, but I can’t watch him hurt you again, Adella. It truly is a parent’s greatest pain to watch a child hurt and be unable to help them.” His red puffy eyes glisten. He was just as afraid for me as I was for him.
“After last night, even if our relationship doesn’t last, I’ll just be happy I’m alive to experience it,” I croak through emotions threatening to clog my throat.
“They will pay for what they’ve done. All four will be going to prison for a very long time. Eleanor is trying to negotiate for a smaller sentence and telling everything Danilo did and had planned.”
“What about the baby? With the mom in prison and no one knows who the father is who will take care of it.” The baby is innocent in all of this and will have to pay one of the highest costs for its mother’s choices.
“It will likely go to the closest relative, it’s unlikely Eleanor will be out of jail before the baby is an adult.” How sad. Eleanor’s parents have all passed and her siblings, that just leaves…
“Dad, Quinn is the baby’s closest relative.” Would he want that responsibility?
“I’m afraid you’re right. There are several months to sort it out and find a nice family to adopt the baby. Don’t worry about that today. We have a ceremony to get ready for.”
“Adella!” My mom bursts through the bedroom door like the devil himself is behind her.
“Mom!” She runs across the room dropping her purse and kneeling in front of me. She’s so frantic, so full of emotion. It’s so strange.
“I just arrived this morning, I had no idea. I was on the plane by the time they tried to contact me and let me know. I heard as soon as I landed and came straight here are you okay?”
“I’m okay, Mom.” She pulls me in for a hug. A real hug that lasts more than a second or two.
Dad stands awkwardly watching us and clears his throat.
“Emily.”
“Lex.” Lex? Really? Wow. She has a nickname for him and it isn’t something terrible like giant jerk face. This could be a good sign.
“How are you?” As much as I want to listen, I creep around them and out the door to leave my parents to their awkward first meeting in twenty years.
I meet Mrs. B. in the hall with a tray of coffee and take a cup.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” I ask Mrs. B and take a sip of my coffee.
“I’ll keep an eye on them. You go down and get some breakfast.” Of all the ways I imagined their first meeting to go, an awkward stare off in my bedroom the morning after I was kidnapped was definitely not one of them.
With my handy team of makeup artists, hairdressers, and a last-minute wardrobe change so my dress covers the scratches on my arms. No one will ever guess how I looked before the
y started with me. All my bumps and bruises are hidden. Now in my dress, I look like a future queen, the golden lace covers my arms completely, long flowing skirts, and a train to trail behind. The shiny gold material is covered in stones making it shine even more. Once again, the gorgeous sapphire and diamond tiara is placed on my head. My dad offers me his arm for the walk to the grand hall. There are no nerves or uneasiness this time. It’s the easiest walk I’ve ever taken. I know I belong here. This is what I’m meant to do — what I was born to do. I’ve stood in front of these people countless times for the past few months, but not to do something so significant. My official crowning as the incontestable heir to the crown.
I take my place on the platform in front of my family and friends and everyone else who could squeeze into this room. The television and newspapers are here to broadcast the ceremony across the country.
Dad takes the small leather-bound book that holds the signatures off all the kings before him and hands it to me. All my ancestors have held this book and said these words. A shiver runs up my spine, and I blink away the tears. I’m proud to follow in their footsteps.
“I, Adellaide Katrina Bowes Dunsany, pledge my intentions as the rightful heir to the crown of Messalinia. To uphold the honor and integrity of the crown and House of Dunsany when my time as queen begins. Per sempre e sempre mi impegno.”
The crowd replies. “Cosi sara.”
My father beams at me and nods. I glance out to the crowd. Mom, Seneca, and Quinn are in the front. Mom wipes a tear from her cheek and claps her hands together. Seneca smiles at me eyes glistening, and Quinn winks. The heat creeps up my neck to my face. How can he still make me blush after everything we’ve been through?
I will make sure they will always be as proud of me as they are today. Once the pictures are taken, I make my exit.
Dad allowed Seneca to plan a birthday party for me to take place after the ceremony. It isn’t the typical tradition following the ceremony, but Seneca insisted I have a big birthday party. And Dad can’t say no to anything involving me. He is always trying to make me happy, although I am perfectly happy the way things are. Mrs. B and Clara tuck my skirt into bustles and the book is placed back into its protective box.
When I return through the double doors of the great hall I’m met with a thunderous applause. Mom and Seneca rush to me.
“You look gorgeous, Adella. That dress is amazing,” Seneca says, holding my arms out to admire the dress.
I spot Nico standing off to the side staring at Seneca. “I think someone wants to speak with you.” I nod in his direction and she turns to look.
She groans. “This guy. I’ll be back soon.” I’m not sure what happened in the past forty-eight hours that she’s so upset with him.
“How bad is it being here?” I ask my mom when Seneca is gone. After I ate breakfast, everything was thrown into full speed, and I haven’t had the chance to talk with her.
“Nothing like I thought it would be, but I had some bigger concerns when I got here. Are you sure you’re all right? Feeling good?” She runs her eyes over me looking for a sign I’m not okay.
“I’m fine, Mom. Do you plan to torture dad the entire time you’re here?” Mrs. B. said they didn’t even talk this morning just stood awkwardly for a few minutes after I left.
Her shoulders stiffen, and she holds her head up. “I’m not torturing him.”
“Okay, sure.”
“Maybe a little.” She shrugs and sips her drink.
Dad darts his eyes away when he sees I’ve caught him looking at Mom. It’s strange to see him act this way. So unsure of himself. So nervous.
“Would you at least talk to him?”
“That isnt why I’m here. I came for you.”
“I appreciate it so much, too. It would just be nice if you two could be in the same room without causing a ripple effect of awkwardness.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I’ll try harder.” She stands with me, and I raise my eyebrows at her. “Oh, now? Okay then.”
I watch her make her way over to dad, taking the longest route possible.
“Amore mio” Quinn places a hand on my waist and a quick kiss to my cheek.
I lean into him, happy to have all of him and give him all of me. “I love hearing you say that.”
“I love saying it.” He presses a sweet kiss to my lips.
“Have I told you how sexy it is when you speak to me in Italian?” I never gave away that little bit of information before because I didn’t want him using it against me. Now I want to hear it all the time.
His grip on my waist tightens and he leans in closer to whisper in my ear, “I’ll be sure to do it more, il mio amore.”
“Later tonight, I’ll show you just how sexy I think you are.”
“You don’t know what words like that do to me.” His low rumbling answer makes me smile.
“I do, or I wouldn’t say them.”
His eyes flash and tightens his arms around me. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I rest my head against his chest. I don’t know if we have forever, but we have right now and that’s enough.
Chapter Seventeen
Three months later…
“What a wonderful Christmas gift.” I look out the large windows at all the snow. The beautiful island I have made my home never gets cold enough to snow. As a surprise, Quinn planned a trip for us to the mountains. Of course, our cabin is a ridiculous mansion on the side of the mountain with a breath-taking view of the valley and little village. I may not be used to this life just yet, but I’m not as shocked as often.
“I’m so glad you like it.” Quinn wraps his arms around me from behind and I lean back against him. I love our little moments when we are just a girl and a guy. We still have two days left here to have as many of them as possible.
“It’s perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything more than to be here with you.”
“That’s good to know, because you’re all I want as well.” He nuzzles against my neck and leaves burning trails of kisses before pulling away.
I turn around to scold him and find he’s kneeling on the ground holding a glittering heart shaped diamond ring. My mouth falls open, I had no idea he was planning this.
“Will you marry me?” I’ve worn tiaras and necklaces covered in sparkling diamonds, but none of it compares to the ring being held by the man I love. “When my aunt Marjorie died, I thought I had no one left, but I was wrong. Your father continued to be there for me as my uncle and a father figure. Then you came along, and I felt like the piece that had been missing from my life was found. You and your father have been family to me when I had none, and then I found love. With you I hope to always find love, happiness, and family in each other.”
His words both fill and squeeze my heart. He has me, forever. His eyebrows press together as he stares up at me and I realize I haven’t said anything. “Of course I will.”
“Thank God.” He leaps up pulling me into his arms. “You were so quiet, I was worried you were going to say no.” He slides the ring on to my finger and kisses me hard. I hope he wants to get married soon.
“Quite the opposite. How quickly can we do this?”
He grins but it fades. “First, there is something that we need to discuss.”
“What is it?” He runs his fingers through his hair. My stomach flips at his nervousness.
“Eleanor’s baby. I’m her only family, when it’s born, they will come to me concerning guardianship. Marrying me means taking that on too. I should be the one to take the baby. I’m family.”
I hadn’t thought about Eleanor in weeks, but I knew all this already. What I didn’t know was if Quinn would want to take guardianship of the baby. Deep down I felt he would. He’s a good man with a kind heart and has a soft spot for children in need.
“Of course, you have to do it. I’ll support you no matter what.”
His shoulders relax, and he leans his forehead against mine. “You’re amazing, il mio cuore.”
“So are you.” I lift my lips to meet his and he tangles his hands in my hair pulling me closer.
“Mi piace come mi baci. We need to celebrate properly, now that you’re going to be my wife.” He scoops me up to carry me toward the bedroom. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have a man like him and I can’t wait for what the rest of our lives have to offer us.
The End
Acknowledgments
To Maryanne and Meghan. Without you two I would never have made it to the end. Thank you for believing in me and pushing me, especially at the times I was at my worst.
About the Author
Nichole Blithe is a contemporary romance author with a love of sassy characters. She writes across a broad group of romantic genres and varying levels of steam.
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Come back to Messalinia for the wedding and follow Seneca in Book Two of The Messalinian Royals.
A Royal Surprise Page 17