by Nana Malone
"Yeah, mate, like trying not to get killed. Trying not to get my wife kidnapped." He shrugged. "You know, typical week for us."
I couldn't help but chuckle. "How is Penny?"
He rolled his eyes. "You know Penny. She's Penny. I tried to talk to her about volunteering for dangerous missions, and she ignored me."
"I don't think you’ll ever change that. What happened to the sweet, bubbly artist?"
"Oh, you think she's gone? No, Penny barely sleeps. She wakes up for the best light, or with an idea, and she has to get painting right away. She comes to bed with paint still on her fingers and gets it all over the sheets. The other day I woke up with blue on my nose. She laughed and laughed, and I had no idea why for a good 30 minutes until I went to brush my teeth. So she's still Penny, but she took her oath to protect this land to heart, and I'm not sure I should change that. Because she's her. But keeping her safe is a challenge."
"Tell me about it. You okay with all that though?"
Sebastian nodded. "She is who she is, and I'm not going to change her. I'm just glad she's rarely in the field any more. Sometimes you have to take your wins where you can get them."
"Yeah, I get that."
"Now, back to your brother. What the hell?"
"Yeah, I don't know, it was weird. He cornered me when I was at dinner with Ben."
Sebastian looked kinda sad. "Covington? How is he?"
"You know, he's good. He and East and Bridge are still thick as thieves. London Lords is doing well. Obviously, Jessa is on the team to help with their publicity and marketing."
"Yeah, yeah. I just didn't realize you and Ben had gotten to chatting."
"Yeah. But Reese was there one night, and he cornered me."
"And?"
"Apparently when Dad died, he left me some things."
Sebastian frowned. "What did he leave you? Like an heirloom or something?"
"Sort of."
"Okay..."
"He left me an earldom."
Sebastian lifted a brow. "What?"
"Yeah."
"But no one told you?"
"Nope. Imagine my surprise. It seems that when Reese turned twenty-one and took over management of my father's assets, he noticed there was a trust that was unidentifiable. The old man had left me his title, which was supposed to be mine from the start. And he left me some land out near Somerset, which honestly, what am I going to do with that? But I guess it's part of the inheritance, so I have to manage the land and the people and whatnot. And he left me a boatload of money."
Sebastian blew a whistle low under his breath. "Jesus Christ. That could have fucking come in handy when your mother passed."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"But why didn't you know? The lawyer should have—"
I shook my head to interrupt him. "My stepmom. She didn't want me to have any of the money. She worked it out with her lawyer to extend the terms of the trust. Told him I was unfit to manage it. She would only have been able to keep it hidden until I was twenty-five, which she managed to do."
"You're twenty-six now."
"Yes, well, Reese found out about it a year ago and has been trying to track me down, but I haven't exactly been available. And I don't exactly take my brother's calls. And you yourself don't want him to have access, don't want anyone from his side of the family to have access to me, so… There you go."
Sebastian cursed under his breath. "Fuck, mate." He ran his hands over his face and stared at me. "You could have had your money and title last year?"
"None of that matters, honestly. It's money. I make a damn good salary, and it's not like I pay rent. I'm a member of the Royal Guard, so I follow you around, and I basically get to fly anywhere I want to go. I have money. Money's not a problem."
"Then what’s the reason for the face?"
I swallowed hard. It was do or die time. "Well, being an earl looks real good on paper. It makes me an eligible match."
His brows furrowed. "For what?"
I swallowed hard. "An eligible match to marry Jessa."
He blinked at me once. And then again. And then guffawed hard. "Mate? What are you on about? Any idiot can see you love her."
It was my turn to blink. "You know?"
"Oh what, you two thought you were being slick? With the way you were eye fucking each other? And the way you fight? Like the stakes are high. And you hold her like you would rather die than let her go. Yeah, I know."
"And you're okay with it?"
"Yeah, dumbass. I think it's fantastic. You love her. Clearly, she loves you. So why are we even talking about it?"
"Well, okay, if it doesn't matter to you, it will certainly matter to the Council."
Sebastian rolled his eyes. "You guys don't listen. I control the Council."
"Yes, you do. But we don't ever want to do anything where you play your hand when it's not absolutely necessary. You and Lucas got to do what you wanted, be with who you wanted, but you're the king and the prince and kind of uncontrollable. I don't know how it works with princesses. You could have attempted to force her to marry someone to forge allegiance, for all I know."
Sebastian shook his head at me. "No. Women's lib has made its way down to the islands even. There's no way Penny would let a law like that sit. We, between my father and myself, we were able to pass a law to make illegitimate children heirs here. The princess can marry whoever the fuck she wants. And I happen to approve of her choice if she says yes."
My body relaxed. Everything I'd been concerned about dissipated. "You'd back me with the Council?"
"There's no need to back you. I’ll just walk in and say, ‘This is the lost princess. We found her. Fantastic. Oh, by the way, she's getting married. This is her husband-to-be.’"
"You know as well as I do they need to sign off and make her official. Maybe you don't mention the part about where she's getting married just yet? At least not until I ask her anyway."
He chuckled. "We can make a big old announcement or no announcement at all. It doesn't matter. My point is, you don't need a title. You never did. You were already my brother."
All of a sudden, the spot between my nose and my eyes hurt. It stung a little. My eyes were filling with... oh motherfucker, I was not crying.
I sniffed deep. "Yeah mate, cheers."
Sebastian angled his head to look at me more directly. "Mate, you're not crying, are you?"
"No. You're crying."
Sebastian guffawed. "Bring it in. If you're going to cry like you’re on some bloody American talk show, we might as well hug. I want a hug. Come in."
I backed away. "No, we are not hugging."
"Don't make me chase you down."
I squared my shoulders. "I swear to God, if you try to hug me it's going to get ugly."
He grinned at me then. And I knew just like when we were children, that it was on. And as we wrestled like schoolboys in the billiards room, I could feel the warmth spread through my chest. An empty hole that I had been carrying around for years, was suddenly overflowing. Far too full. I'd always had family. I just didn't know it.
Jessa
I should have known it was Roone at my door. The incessant banging, and then barging in as if he owned the place.
I lifted up my laptop. "Hey, you can't just walk in here."
He lifted a brow. "I'm sorry. This is my girlfriend's place. I was here last night. I gave her several orgasms. I figured that gave me permission to walk in whenever I damn well please."
"They're still my quarters."
He grinned at me. "Right next to mine. You're lucky I just didn't come through the bathroom, but I figured that would scare the shit out of you."
"Yes. Yes, it would."
"Get your things. We're going on a tour."
"What? I have work to do. You know I still have a job."
"Yeah, but it can wait. I happen to know your boss, and I approved some time off for you."
"You're insane. Approving time off is not in your job desc
ription. Also, I generally need to be told about time off." He was being impossible. "What do you want?"
"Well, I'd very much like to give you another big O, but I want to show you your home."
"Well, Lucas took to me to the beach the other day already. Maybe we can do this tomorrow?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Come with me. We are going to have fun today. I'm taking you to all the isles."
The islands? "What like in the whole Caribbean?"
He laughed. "What? No. The Winston Isles."
Why had I never considered that there were more islands? I knew that there were two, but more than that was never even a thought in my head. "Wait, there's more than two islands?"
He nodded. "Yes. Some of them are so small, they really just qualify as barely inhabited landmasses, but there are eight islands in all, and we're going to see them all today."
"Well that's insane. I don't have time."
"Well, you have time now. Come on."
"But can't I just—" I really wanted to lounge in bed, get some work done, and nap. I was exhausted. I’d had protocol meetings for the Regents Council, and our Queen Mother awoke me early for breakfast. She was lovely. A part of me wanted to resent her, but I couldn't. She was beyond nice to me. Chloe was sending me work for London Lords and filling me in on all things Evan. Apparently, he had taken an unexpected vacation as well, which was good for him, because maybe that would loosen him up a little a bit and stop his insane stalker tendencies.
And then, Penny, Bryna, Jinx, and Ariel had taken me out for tea in the rose garden, which had been fantastic, but it had also taken up a lot of my work time. I was so tired from all of the activities, and the protocols, and the rules, and all the things that I needed to do and see.
"I want to hold my girlfriend's hand as we walk. Put your laptop down and come on."
I really didn't want to protest, but this was my new life. I lived in a beautiful place, and I was spending so much of my time working. "Fine. Let's go."
He took my hand, and then he gave me the sweetest kiss, brushing his lips against mine. I sank into it, letting my body and my brain relax. The way it did every time I was with Roone. With him I felt amazing. With him I could do anything. With him I was just me, he was just him, and none of this other craziness existed. He groaned and pulled back, "I know what you're doing. You're tempting me with your feminine wiles. Trying to keep us in this room. But we're going out."
I laughed. "Oh, you caught me."
As it turns out, I was happy I'd gotten the opportunity. First thing's first, of course, we left with a massive guard. And by massive, I meant two follow cars, and the lead car.
"Way to announce who's in the car."
He laughed. "Oh, this is just for show as we leave the palace. Watch what happens."
Fifteen minutes away from the palace, our car veered harshly to the right as an identical car took our place. And what a ruckus they made. As they headed toward the city center, I looked through the windows. I noticed a pretty black girl in the back seat. Hair straight, just like mine. She looked... like me.
"What is happening?"
Roone laughed. "Decoy. I've already told the guards where we're going, so the pomp and circumstance decoy is to throw anyone off. Now we get to enjoy our day as if there's no one following us. We won't see them, but they'll be there."
I grinned at him. "You did this ahead of time for me?"
"Yeah, of course. Besides, they're your guards now. You could tell them, ‘Hey, I want to go naked on the beach,’ and they would be obligated to clear one for you and make sure not a single passerby saw your gorgeous tits."
"Are you serious right now?"
"As a heart attack. This is your life now."
He was right. I didn't notice a single guard. It felt like we were by ourselves.
On the ferry across to one of the smaller islands. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight. "I just can't believe any of this."
He squeezed me back. "Believe it, princess."
I chuckled into his hard-as-hell pecs. "I still can't believe you were actually calling me by my title the whole time."
"Well, the first time it was a slip. Every time after that was because you liked/hated it, so I kept doing it. Now it's just a term of endearment."
I sank into his embrace, letting the heat of his body wrap around me along with the smell of his sandalwood cologne. The scent of hibiscus on the air and the sound of the ocean waves lapping against the ferry relaxed me. I was so content. I could do this forever. Lazily, I let my gaze wander as the ferry pulled away, and I saw something on the shore. I picked my head up and searched the shoreline again, a bit more alert and half-convinced I had seen something that wasn't supposed to be there.
"What's the matter, princess?"
"Roone, I swear to God I just saw Evan."
His body went stiff. He tapped his ear immediately.
"Sighting of Millston. Repeat, potential sighting of Millston on the shore of the big island."
"Wait, you have a mic in?"
He nodded. "Yeah. The security firm we work with when we travel to New York, they're sort of friends of the palace. They help us out with stuff, including some pretty crazy tech."
"Oh. Maybe I was overreacting. It's just that guy on the shore, he just looked like—" No, you're crazy. There's no way Evan is here. All of that is behind you.
"No, you have to have follow your instincts. If you think you saw him, chances are you did. So let's focus on confirming that instead of confirming that your crazy, okay?"
"Okay." As much as I didn't want it to, a feeling of uneasiness fell over me. I kept wondering what the hell he was doing there and why he’d followed me.
Or maybe I didn't see him at all. Maybe I’m just confused.
No. I no longer thought I was actually going crazy. Knowing now that my father was actually my stepfather helped a lot with those I've lost my mind feelings. But in so many ways, this was almost worse because I knew it was real. I knew I wasn't losing my mind and I wasn't going crazy. There was actually a boogeyman, and he had my number. I still tried to force myself to relax, to take a breath.
Next to me, Roone had relaxed some. He still held my hand, held me close, but I could tell there was a tension in him that hadn't been there when we left the palace. He was busy trying to follow my crazy hunch, and I felt bad for ruining the day.
But he didn't relent. He insisted we were still going to have a good time. And we did. By the time we hit the second small island with only a couple handfuls of residences on it and the best gelato in the islands, he was relaxed again. There had been no confirmed sighting of Evan on the island, and nothing else out of line had happened. Roone did do a time jump though, and said, "We have just enough time to do another brief walk through, a quick boat ride, and then I have to get you back. We'll do that other island another day. Does that work?"
"Yeah. I'm just happy to spend some time with you. It's been a little crazy. Since we got back, you've actually been working. I'm not used to that."
He chuckled. "Yeah, well, I have to earn my keep. I can't bring nothing to the table when I'm dealing with a princess."
"You bring everything to the table." I looped my arms around his neck and planted a kiss on him. As I pulled back, he stiffened. And then his gaze bore into mine. "Jessa, come on."
There was a small part of me that wanted to argue, that wanted to fight him, that wanted to ask questions, but that instinctive part of me that knew to trust him didn't have to think twice. His fingers gently pushed me in the direction I needed to go, and I took off. It had been a minute or three since I'd hit the gym, but it didn't matter. The instinct to just survive kicked in, and I bolted as he told me to run. I had no idea where I was going, no idea what I was running from. All I knew was that Roone said run, so I ran.
I ignored the burning of my lungs and the pain of my burning thighs. I ignored my elevated heart rate and the dizziness. I ignored the graying on the edges of my vi
sion. I just ran. I forgot to breath, I forgot to fight, but I ran.
It wasn't until I rounded a corner where I made the fatal mistake of turning back to see if Roone was behind me, and I hit a roadblock. I ran straight into someone, my whole body seizing, going tight, every part of my muscles engaging, and it hurt. I stumbled back, nearly falling until someone caught me by the arms and pulled me to them. But the grip wasn't familiar. It wasn't a grip I knew. Finally, I blinked up, confused, expecting to find Roone. Instead I found another familiar face. "Phillip?"
A man who'd been so kind to me once, so sweet, now gave me a smile that was all teeth. "Hello, princess."
28
Jessa
My body knew I was in danger before my mind knew. My mind kept trying to make excuses or mental rationalizations for what was happening.
Things like 'Oh, this makes perfect sense.' I kept trying to think of scenarios that made sense for why Phillip was in the islands. But I couldn't think of one.
"But your office. It was a mess. I thought someone had taken you."
His grip on my arms only intensified. You were supposed to think that. But that’s you, Jessa. Always convinced you know better. You're a fanciful one, aren't you?"
"I—"
"After everything that’s happened, you still can't see. I must admit, it was hard at times to get your father to believe too. But with a push in the right direction, I always seemed to do the trick."
"What are you talking about?"
"Like father like daughter, right?"
"What do you know about my father? You said he was your friend."
His grip only intensified.
"You have been a pain in the ass. You vanished for a week on us, running off with your boyfriend."
"Why does everyone think I ran off with Roone? I didn’t."
"Doesn't matter."
"You set off this whole chain of events, didn’t you?"
"If you had only stayed in England, if you'd only listened to me when I told you about your father, about who they were, about how they got power and how they held on to their power."