Chapter 17
KYLE
Istood with my jaw still hanging open, my mind slowly trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. First, I’d been arrested and stuck in a jail, then a woman identical to Nattie had rescued us, and now Nattie stood in front of me.
Except this wasn’t my sweet Nattie, the woman who didn’t know what French fries were. This was the queen of a small country.
Maybe there was a third one of them. Maybe that was Nattie.
I cocked my head, my brows furrowing. “N–Nattie?”
She huffed out a sigh, her shoulders relaxing as she grinned at me. “Kyle.”
My eyes widened. Nope, there wasn’t a third one. This was Nattie. Well, it wasn’t Nattie. It was Queen Regent Natasha.
What did that even mean? And why hadn’t she told me? A small part of me was hurt, but then again, I’d kept my identity a secret once, too. But that was for nefarious purposes. I didn’t want to believe that from my sweet Nattie.
I shoved all the questions aside, searching her eyes. The same warmth and connection I’d gotten from the moment we’d first met came rushing back.
I swallowed hard. Nothing else mattered but that. If she’d lied, she done it for a reason, and she deserved the chance to tell me what it was. Although the tangled mess we were faced with made me afraid to hear the truth. Was I just a pawn in a royal game?
Heck, when I’d rolled into New Orleans, I’d been ready to destroy my father. But all I’d needed–and wanted–was a chance to be family.
Right now, while I wanted to hear her story, I was so glad to find her safe. I took a step forward, stretching my arms out to pull her into an embrace.
The second my foot kicked out to take a step, the three men, the guard, and Nadia leapt to their feet, hands going to the weapons strapped to their hips.
“Whoa,” the man who had escorted Nattie into the room said, holding a hand out in front of him as he stepped between me and Nattie.
My heart hammered against my ribs as my eyes went wide. I instinctively raised my hands. “Whoa, whoa.”
“Stefan, otstupit,” Nattie barked, her voice authoritative and sharp.
The guards’ eyes went to Nadia. She tilted her head slightly, her hand falling from the butt of her gun.
They eased off of their defensive positions, returning to a neutral stance.
“Give us a few minutes,” Nattie said.
“Nyet, Tsarina,” the man between us said.
“Nadia is here,” she shot back.
The man narrowed his eyes at her slightly. I wondered who he was. Just a guard or was there something more?
He waved two fingers in the air, his eyes flicking to the other guards. “Vsekh one, ostan’tes’ tol’ko ya I nadzornyy.”
I had no idea what he said, but it sounded official. I wondered if we’d be wrangled back to the prison cell we’d just been freed from. My heart thudded hard against my ribs.
Things had taken a weird turn. But then that was the story of my life.
The other guards shuffled from the room, leaving us alone. I still stood frozen, uncertain of what I could or should do. Flicking my gaze to Alex and Ava, I found them just as confused as I was–at least according to the expressions on their faces.
Nattie slipped past the remaining guard, her movements quick and deliberate. She hurried toward me, closing the space like it had been unbearable for her to be away. Her arms wrapped tightly around my neck.
My heart swelled as I wrapped my arms around her. I hadn’t been wrong about our connection. It hadn’t been one-sided. But…how would it work if she was royalty?
Nattie pulled back slightly, her teary eyes searching mine. “You came to Belvaria… However did you find me?”
“That is a question I would like the answer to as well,” the guard said, clasping his hands in front of him as he spun to face me.
“Uhhh, lucky guess,” I said, not wanting to give up Alex and Ava for their involvement.
“Wrong answer, doctor,” Nadia said as she rose from her seat at the desk, her voice low and laced with steel. “Now, you have two choices. You can tell me how you found her, or I can have the pleasure of extracting the truth from you.”
Extracting it from me? Seriously? What was this, a spy movie?
Nattie shot her sister a wide-eyed look. “Nadia, stop.”
She shifted her gaze back to me, her features softening as she gave my chest a gentle rub. “It’s all right. You can tell us.”
Her British accent still sounded odd to me.
“Uhhh,” I murmured, my eyes going from Nadia to Nattie’s guard, then back to Nattie, “I don’t want to get anyone thrown back in the dungeon.”
“No one is going to the dungeon,” she answered, her hand still pressed against my chest.
“That remains to be seen,” the guard answered.
“Stefan, please,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“Stefan is correct. It defies the odds. I would like to know how this happened. Particularly with Nikolai back in the country.”
Who was Nikolai, I wondered.
“We tracked her phone,” Alex piped in from across the room. “Or rather the burner phone she had since I’m pretty certain that wasn’t her real phone.”
“Right,” Ava added with a nod. “Would someone mind telling us what’s going on here? It’s been a whirlwind since your guards hauled us off of our plane.”
“For landing here without a flight plan or any known reason,” Nadia shot back. “We were well within our rights to detain you.”
“Stop,” Nattie said with a shake of her head. “They were merely trying to help. They assumed me a battered woman. And then someone shot at us, and I disappeared.”
“After I got knocked out. Nattie, I was so afraid that something bad had happened to you.” I rubbed her arms, still trying to wrap my mind around the turn of events.
“Except you’re not a battered woman.” Ava crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. “So, what was the game? Just a queen out for a little fun?”
“How dare you speak to her that way?” Nadia said.
“It’s fine,” Nattie retorted as her sister glowered at Ava. “They deserve an explanation. And no, I was not a queen out joyriding. The situation here is–“
“None of your business,” Nadia interrupted. “At least, not yet.”
“Nadia—“ Nattie began when her sister flicked a hand through the air.
“You understand that she is Queen Regent, and that there must be protocols in place to protect her. Surely, you do not wish us to break them. So, you have no objection to us vetting you properly.”
I licked my lips, wondering what that meant. Would the trouble I’d brought to New Orleans when I’d arrived be held against me?
Nattie heaved a sigh, shaking her head.
“Actually,” I said, trying to buy myself time and information, “I really don’t know what a Queen Regent is, so I don’t fully understand?”
Nadia’s eyes rolled to the ceiling as she heaved a sigh.
“I am not yet Queen,” Nattie answered softly, leaning closer to me. “But I will become Queen.”
“Isn’t that a princess?” I asked, my brows knitting.
“Not when there isn’t a sitting King or Queen on the throne, no,” Nadia answered.
“I’ll explain everything as soon as they have finished the background checks,” Nattie said with a squeeze of my hand.
My stomach clenched, shifting my weight from foot to foot. This wasn’t going to go well. There was no way I would pass a royal vetting.
“Is that a problem, doctor?” Nadia asked.
I snapped my gaze to her, swallowing hard. “Uhh, no. No problem.”
I shuffled again, heat washing over me. “Uh, just…there may be like a DUI maybe from my college days, and uh, a potential felony from when I first met my dad, but…you know, other than that…”
I shrugged, wondering if I’d be tossed right back into the dungeon.
Nadia stared at me, her jaw hanging open and a confused expression on her face. “What?”
“It was no big deal, I promise. It was just a mistake. I was trying to impress someone, and I may have gotten arrested for stalking. Really was just a big misunderstanding, though, and I didn’t even spend a night in jail.
” I pressed my lips together, sneaking a glance at Nattie.
Her expression remained neutral. Was she that good at not reacting or was she mad? I couldn’t tell.
She’d probably lock me up and throw away the key after that confession.
Nadia’s features twisted more. “No one cares about your DUI or your strange love life. I only care about your connections and their ability to harm my sister.”
“Ohhh,” I said, heat rising into my cheeks as I realized I’d just confessed to way too much stuff. “I would never hurt her.”
I wrapped an arm protectively around Nattie’s shoulders.
“As has been said, that remains to be seen. Until it has, you will remain in your chambers.”
I grimaced, my gaze shifting between Nattie and Nadia. “Like the dungeon?”
Nadia slid her eyes closed. “You really are trying my patience. No, not the dungeon. Bedrooms are being made up. You will stay in them until such time as you have been cleared by security. Do you understand?”
“Oh, yeah, definitely, yes. I understand–we understand.” I waved a finger back and forth to include Alex and Ava. “And thanks. We really appreciate it.”
She did not even crack a smile as she took a step toward the door. “I will have the guards escort you to your rooms.”
“Oh, umm, now?” I asked.
She froze, staring at me wide-eyed, another confused expression on her face. “Have I been unclear in some way?”
I rubbed my chin. “No, I just…thought I could talk to Nattie a little more.”
She didn’t bother to respond, striding to the door to call the guards.
Nattie glanced up at me, her dark eyes soft and reassuring. “We’ll see each other soon.”
The kiss she placed on my cheek sent a rush of warmth through me. I wanted to kiss her back, but I was afraid someone would shoot me, so I figured I’d better not.
Instead, I squeezed her arm and offered her a fleeting smile as one of the guards escorted me from the room.
My eyes lingered on her as I stepped into the hall with Alex and Ava.
Nadia shot me an unimpressed glance as she slammed the doors in my face.
We walked through halls that looked more like they belonged in a museum than someone’s residence.
Even my dad’s overdone place wasn’t this ornate.
Crystal chandeliers hung from vaulted ceilings, casting golden light over intricate tapestries.
Rich red carpets cushioned our steps, and the faint scent of polished wood lingered in the air.
It felt like I had stumbled into a fairy tale. Except in this story, I wasn’t the prince, I was just the unwelcome guest.
We reached a set of double doors. Pushing inside into a living room area, one guard, his accent thickly Slavic, motioned to another set of double doors. “The couple.”
He twisted toward the opposite side and motioned at another set of doors. “You.”
I winced a little at the curt exchange, offering a weak, “Thanks,” before they left us behind, slamming the doors and locking them from the outside.
“Wow,” Ava said with a shake of her head.
“Really. Bro, you know how to pick ‘em. A queen?”
“Queen Regent,” I reminded him, still not certain I understood the term. “But I’m pretty certain it kills my chances with her.”
“Why do you say that? She seems into you,” Ava answered.
“She’s royalty, Ava. Those people don’t marry normal people.”
Alex clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re not normal, bro. Face it.”
“Okay, fine, Mr. Comedy. I’m not normal. But they don’t marry abnormal people like me. They marry other royalty or people who are carefully vetted. I probably won’t even pass the ‘stay in the castle another night’ test.”
“Yeah, they are being weirdly secretive,” Ava said, crossing her arms as she sank into one of the antique-looking chairs. “What’s with all the security?”
“Probably normal for royalty.”
“Okay, so why was she in the Hamptons on her own?” Ava shot back.
“Escaped?” I suggested. “Wanted a few hours to pretend to be normal?”
Ava narrowed her eyes, clearly unhappy with the answer as she tightened her arms across her chest. “It doesn’t add up.”
“Okay, so what then?” I asked.
Alex settled onto the couch, clasping his hands as he leaned forward. “I don’t know, but something is definitely off.”
I collapsed into an armchair, rubbing my eyes. “How do these things always happen to me? We’ll probably be sent packing tomorrow morning, and I’ll be straight back to where I started in terms of relationships.”
Alex offered me a consoling glance. “Sorry, bro. Tough break, though Sparky warned you that there was something weird about her.”
I covered my face with my hands. “I know, I know. I should have listened. I totally should have listened.”
With a sigh, I let my arms drop. “Still…this puts a whole new spin on my terrible luck.”
“I’m still not convinced you’re going to be sent packing,” Ava answered.
I furrowed my brow as I stared at her. “Huh? Are you serious?”
Ava lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “If they wanted to get rid of us, they would have. They’re vetting us. We’re being kept here for a reason.”
“What?” I asked.
Ava chewed her lower lip, her gaze in mid-space. “I don’t know. But I do think she’s into you. But there’s way more going on here than meets the eye.”
I raised my eyebrows. Was I being kept here because Nattie liked me? Or was there something more nefarious going on?