
Truth or Spare (Princes Take New York #2)
Chapter 1
Chapter One
The Olympia Apartments, the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York…
N ew year, New York, but same Theobald Anton Christoph Aelbehrt von Hessen.
Fluffy clumps of snow floated past the windows, covering Central Park and making it softer and sparklier from his gilded vantage point. High above the hustle and bustle of 72nd Street in Muriel Hormsby’s elegant apartment, Theo felt even more disconnected from humanity and more restless than usual.
“Still watching the snow?” Matteo asked as he strolled into the sitting room.
Theo turned, raising a curious brow as his brother buttoned a new tuxedo coat and gave each sleeve a tug. “Where are you headed? It’s Monday night,” he noted, making Matteo roll his eyes.
“This city never sleeps and you know how insistent Muriel’s friends can be. I’ve promised to stop in at a few places tonight,” he said, causing Theo to grimace as he checked his watch.
“Not how I’d prefer to spend the evening but I can be ready in twenty minutes.”
“Nee. Don’t bother,” Matteo said quickly, waving Theo off and backing away.
A frown furrowed Theo’s brow. “You’re going without me? Again?” They had returned from spending the holidays in Austria at Schonbühel a few days earlier, but Theo was already regretting the decision. He had only come to Manhattan to keep Matteo out of trouble but he kept ditching Theo in the evenings.
“You know how dull these things can be and there’s no telling where I’ll end up,” he told Theo with a dismissive wrinkle of his nose. As Austrian royals and houseguests of the notorious heiress and widow, they had been inundated with invitations. Neither enjoyed society or had any interest in rubbing elbows, but were used to doing their duties for the family’s sake.
But Matteo had been particularly popular and busy since their return. “Was machst du gerade, Teo?”
He draped an overcoat over his arm and clicked his teeth as he backed toward the front door. “Better you didn’t know.”
“What does that mean?”
“For plausible deniability,” Matteo said obviously, then stopped Theo when he started to protest. “I’m not a child anymore. Neither is Eli. It’s time for you to stop playing mother hen and do something for yourself.”
“Quatsch! I do things for myself all of the time. I got a facial this afternoon and I visited Greece last summer by myself,” Theo pointed out and Matteo shook his head.
“You got the facial because that woman complimented your crows feet and said they made you look distinguished.”
Theo gasped and covered the corners of his eyes. “Just wait until it happens to you,” he said, but Matteo snorted.
“All I have is this face so you won’t catch me outside without sunglasses. Or laughing. Sunscreen, hyaluronic acid, and peptides are my holy trinity,” he said and flashed Theo one of his perfect smiles.
All four of the von Hessen brothers were attractive. They had their Italian mother’s dark hair, olive skin, and brown eyes, but the rest of their striking features had been inherited from their father. Theo was considered the handsomest because of his good looks and charming personality, but Matteo was the beautiful one. With big, puppy dog eyes, heart stopping cheek dimples, and full, pouting lips, Matteo could be dangerous and he knew it.
“You went to Greece because you heard someone needed rescuing,” Matteo said accusatively. “Leo didn’t need your help and Eli was too busy for us, so you jumped at the first opportunity you saw to save someone. Did you get an email or read an article online?” he asked with an expectant look.
“It wasn’t anything like that,” Theo muttered under his breath. “I overheard a doorman telling a repairman about his uncle,” he said, sticking out his tongue.
Matteo laughed and pointed. “Do something for yourself for once. I dare you,” he whispered tauntingly.
“I have everything I could possibly want.”
If Theo was being completely honest, he was spoiled. Their upbringing had been modest because their father had been disowned for marrying a commoner. Theo’s and his brothers’ fortunes were reversed when his older brother, Leopold, was named the next Margrave of Hessen. Theo had wanted for nothing after that and believed that the best way he could repay the universe and his parents for his good fortune was to take good care of his brothers.
“It will always be my job to look after you,” he said simply, but Matteo shook his head.
“We’ll always look out for each other. We always have. But what about you, Theo? What do you want and how can we help you get it?”
“I…” Theo floundered, unable to come up with anything that didn’t revolve around Eli becoming a tenured professor or keeping Matteo out of trouble.
“Genau!” Matteo gave his head a sad shake. “You keep running from the truth but we’re not little boys anymore and we don’t need you to look after us. It’s time to put yourself first and think about your own future.”
“Why do you say that like it doesn’t include you or like I’d be better off on my own?”
“I would never say that. We’re always stronger together,” Matteo countered and held up a finger. “That doesn’t mean that we aren’t holding you back. You could have your own business or your own Jonathon, but you aren’t even trying because you’re saving yourself for us.”
“Maybe…” That was probably likely, but Theo didn’t want to speculate on where else he’d be if he hadn’t given his brothers 100% of his time and attention. What was the point?
“Baba,” Matteo said and slipped around the front door before Theo could explain that or question him any further about his plans for the evening.
He had a feeling that Matteo was up to something and might find himself in serious trouble soon. Theo always had a second sense when it came to his brothers and it had always been his job to wait up and wade in whenever one of them needed help.
Despite being the second of four, Theo always considered himself the “big” brother and had taken his responsibilities seriously. Leo was the oldest and fated to hold the title and wear the crown. But it was Theo’s calmer nature and clearer head that had kept the family dynasty intact when there had been questions about Leo’s character and suitability as Margrave of Hessen.
The title had originally belonged to their older cousin, Maximillian, but he had abdicated after a messy public divorce. While Austria did away with its monarchy in 1918, The Foundation of the House of Hessen was established to preserve the legacy of the von Hessen dynasty and oversee its holdings. Theo had been happy to play the role of the perfect margrave-in-waiting in case Leo couldn’t be reined in. Having a charming and charismatic backup had taken the pressure off of Leo and had given him time to grow into his title and learn the diplomatic ropes.
All was well now in Austria and Leo was settling in happily in his fairytale castle at Schonbühel with his beloved Jonathon. Having Theo at home to take care of “the babies” had made it possible for Leo to focus on his studies and his responsibilities as Margrave. Leo had just started his first year at university and Elio was a toddler when their parents had died. Matteo was six. At only sixteen, caring for Matteo and Elio and being Leo’s confidant gave Theo an outlet for his grief and a sense of purpose.
Lately, Matteo didn’t want a wingman and Elio had forbidden his brothers from visiting Cambridge, insisting he could focus better without their meddling. That often left Theo at loose ends and he didn’t know what to do with himself. What was he, if he wasn’t his brothers’ caretaker and their conscience?
The question had haunted Theo as Elio grew more independent and thrived at Cambridge. For Theo, university had simply been a requirement and his younger brothers had followed him to England so he could help them with their homework and take them to lessons and matches around his own studies. Theo had believed it was his duty to hold their family together while Leo served in the Austrian Army and was being groomed to be Margrave.
That was enough before and Theo had been content with his role as his brothers’ “big” brother. Now, he felt like he had miscalculated or had been abandoned, in a way. He hadn’t prepared a backup plan for his own life, once his brothers no longer needed him. And while Theo was glad they were succeeding and happy, he suddenly worried that he was at risk of ending up alone.
“Time for another adventure!” Theo said briskly as he turned from the window, heading for the guest room he had been occupying. But his steps faltered and Theo frowned as he took out his phone. “Where?”
Traveling and solving other people’s problems was how Theo usually avoided dealing with his own grief and the occasional bout of what-if-I’m-worthless-without-my-brothers. He had visited all the wonders and explored the world’s greatest cities. Theo had dug wells and saved farms—by hiring skilled professionals, obviously—and had funded an array of projects around the world. But no amount of tourism or philanthropy had filled the void or helped him find a real, sustaining purpose.
“Fine. I’ll do something different this time.”
Instead of buying a first class ticket to someplace exciting or exotic, Theo decided he’d stay inside the state of New York and skip the luxury amenities. He didn’t want to go too far, in case Matteo still needed rescuing.
A quick search revealed that there were several trains and buses leaving Manhattan. He decided he’d try his luck with a Greyhound and perused the routes heading Upstate and away from the bigger cities. Theo had heard that there were more farms and that rural New York was vastly different from Manhattan. He considered himself a country boy at heart, having spent much of his childhood in the Italian countryside in Umbria, and wondered if that was what his life had been lacking.
“Perhaps some time in the country—without my brothers—is exactly what I need.”
He was self-aware enough to accept that he’d never pass as anything other than a posh, pampered tourist, but at least Theo could leave his brother’s title behind and see who he was in the real world. Theo had spent so long as a royal-in-reserve and on the edge of the aristocracy, he was rather curious to see what he could make of himself with a fresh start.
“What’s this?” he said when he recognized a name on the map. It was far off to the north, on the Canadian border, and about thirty miles east of Lake Ontario. “I had a smashing time in Norway’s Oslo. Let’s see what New York’s Oslo is like and if I can make it there without my brothers.”