17. Chapter 17
~LIAM~
A nother event. Another tux. Another evening of feeling completely out of place.
There is one difference this time, however. Tonight, for the fundraiser that Ellie’s worked her ass off to plan over the past month, I’m her date.
Not security.
Her plus-one.
We’ve fielded questions and looks, photos and stares, all evening. Similar to the state dinner, I’ve stayed close to Ellie and have kept my mouth closed.
I’ve never been so fucking uncomfortable in my life. This tux is itchy. The food is bland. The conversation is stuffy and boring.
“It seems she took my advice,” I hear Gretchen sneer to Vivienne. “I must say, if I had access to a man like that, I’d be all over him, too. Just look at his arse.”
How can Ellie stand this? She’s talking with another group of women, laughing at something one of them said.
At least, I think it’s a laugh. It’s not a sound I’ve heard from her before.
Just like last week, this is a Princess Eleanor I don’t know. She’s rigid, formal, and fake.
And since I’m not on duty, and Phillip is just a few feet away, I decide I need a stiff drink.
“Can I get you something to drink?” I ask Ellie, who turns and smiles up at me.
“I’d love a glass of champagne. Thank you.”
I nod, turn to exchange a look with Phillip, and then walk away, needing a break from the monotonous conversation and the rude comments.
I have pretty thick skin, and I give exactly zero fucks what anyone here thinks of me. That doesn’t even cross my mind.
But the change in Ellie does bother me. I don’t understand why she acts so differently here. She’s an entirely different person than she is in private.
I walk with my drink out a side door and take a deep breath of fresh air. I just need a minute to pull it together, and then I’ll stick by Ellie for as long as she wants to stay.
After all, relationships are all about compromise, right?
I only take a few drinks from the beer bottle and leave it on a table as I turn to walk back inside.
I frown at Phillip, who’s standing against the wall. Ellie’s nowhere in sight.
“Where the hell is she?”
“Restroom,” he replies. “Just around the corner.”
He should be around the corner, too, standing outside the door. I make a mental note to have a conversation with the other man later and hurry to the restroom.
I stop cold at the scene before me.
“I’ve told you I love you.” A man is standing in front of Ellie, his arm braced on the wall next to her head. “I sent you gifts. I’ve thought of nothing but you for weeks. I was so worried when you disappeared, darling. You even made me resort to sending messages from different numbers, I was so desperate to reach you.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ellie mutters, shaking her head. She stares at him with pity and annoyance. She’s not scared. She’s not hurt. “Beau, there’s no relationship here. There never was. And trying to contact me, from any number at all, after I specifically told you I never wanted to speak to you again, isn’t just a violation of my privacy, it’s absolutely creepy.”
I wait, and I listen. So far, she’s holding her own.
“Did you get my gift?”
“The knickers? Yes, I got it. Then I cut it up into pieces and threw it away. Because, just like you, anything you send me is garbage.”
“You’ve always been an ungrateful little hag,” he sneers. That’s what I was waiting for.
“That’s enough.”
Beau’s head comes up, and he scowls at me. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Doesn’t matter,” I reply. “You’re bothering the princess, and you need to be on your way.”
“Or what?” Beau gets in my face now, breathing hard. He smells of scotch, and his eyes are crazy.
This man is absolutely mentally unstable and shouldn’t be anywhere near Eleanor.
“Or I’ll escort you out.”
He smirks, looks me up and down, and then it’s like a lightbulb goes off over his head. “You’re the security guy she’s hooked up with, aren’t you?”
“I’m her security,” I confirm and wonder where the hell Phillip is. “And I’m telling you to leave now or be escorted out in front of the cameras for everyone to see.”
“You wouldn’t do that, you worthless piece of shite.”
“I need backup,” Phillip says behind me, and I watch as he takes Beau’s elbow in his hand and drags him from the hallway. “This is the last time I escort you away from the princess, arsehole.”
They disappear, and I turn back to Ellie. I’m full of anger, and I feel helpless. At Ellie’s request, I didn’t bring my weapon with me tonight.
Because I wasn’t on duty.
I could have easily beaten the piss out of that asshole, but that’s not the point. I can’t be with her and protect her at the same time.
“I’m so sorry you had to see that,” she says. “I didn’t know he would be here this evening.”
“Let’s go.”
“I can’t.” She frowns at me. “Liam, I’m hosting this fundraiser. I can’t leave until it’s over.”
“Fine. I’m going back. I’ll see you when you’re finished here.”
“You’re seriously leaving me here? I didn’t do anything wrong with Beau. Nothing happened.”
Frustration bubbles through me. I shake my head and push my hand through my hair.
“I know that. But I can’t stay here any longer, El. I’m sorry. Enjoy the rest of the party, and I’ll see you in a little while.”
I wait for Phillip to return to her side, and then I leave, taking a cab back to the palace.
“That’s not how it’s done here,” Ellie says as soon as she walks into her apartment and toes off her shoes, losing at least five inches of height. “You don’t attend an event with me and then leave without me. You were my escort, Liam.”
I drag my hand down my face in frustration.
“Ellie—”
“You embarrassed me,” she continues, fuming as she stomps around the living space. “Gretchen and Vivienne had a marvelous time talking behind their hands and laughing at me all night.”
“What do you care?” I roar, finally fed up with it all. “Why do you give a shit what those prissy bitches think of you? They’re not your friends or your family.”
“They’ll talk,” she says. “They’ll spread rumors and talk to the press. I’ll be dragged through the media.”
“Because I left an hour early?”
“Yes!” She throws her hands in the air. “Yes, because you left me there alone, without an escort. Liam, this wasn’t a birthday party for a child, or a private dinner with friends. It was a fundraising gala for a cause that I feel strongly about. I was asking those people to donate money. And you left.”
“You’re damn right I left, Eleanor. I was miserable there. Those people don’t give a shit about the children’s hospital. They care about being seen and having their photos taken and talking about stupid, frivolous garbage that no one cares about. I don’t know how you can stand to be around those people.”
She stops and stares at me. “I am those people, Liam.”
“Tonight, you were,” I agree, hating every word coming out of my mouth. This isn’t how this was supposed to go. We were supposed to have a calm conversation. “I don’t recognize you. I didn’t last week at the state dinner, either. Princess Eleanor is a very different woman from Ellie. I’m so fucking in love with Ellie that I can’t breathe without it hurting.
“Princess Eleanor? The jury’s out on that one. Because what I’ve seen of her is very different from Ellie.”
“What are you even talking about?” she asks, pacing the space. “Do you know how crazy you sound right now? I am Princess Eleanor.”
“Well, then we have a problem.”
She swallows hard, and just when I think she’s going to cry, her cheeks redden with anger. “If you can’t stand the sight of me doing the job I’ve been groomed for since the bloody day I was born, then you’re right, Liam. We have a problem. I can’t be the carefree, on-holiday woman you saw in Montana all of the time. I have a job. One that I rather like, actually.”
I nod and walk into the closet, fetching the bag I packed as I waited for her to return from the gala.
Ellie’s eyes widen when she sees me walk out again. The color that brightened her cheeks fades.
“Liam, we need to discuss this.”
“It’s always going to boil down to this, El. I. Don’t. Fit. In. Here. It isn’t your fault, or mine for that matter, we just come from two very different worlds. I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
I walk to her and press my lips to her forehead, and then, while my feet can still carry me, I walk out of her apartment and text security to ask for a ride to the airport.