Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Stellan
Five days.
It has been five days since Margot and I fell apart. Four sleepless nights, five agonizing, drudgery-filled days.
I sit in the backseat of another limo, my eyes closed, wishing… well, I don’t know exactly what I want. I want Margot to reappear, to explain why she was so wrong before when she said she couldn’t live like I do.
“Stellan.”
I crack open my eyes, sliding a look at Erik. He’s sitting beside my against the black leather seats, looking concerned.
“I’m here,” I say, adjusting my big body in the car.
He looks at me, scrubbing a hand through his blond hair. “We’re almost back at the palace.”
I loosen my tie, feeling miserable. “Ja, okay.”
Glancing out the window as Copenhagen flies by, I flutter my eyes closed again. Erik clears his throat.
“What can I do to make you less…” He pauses. “Whatever you are right now? It’s hard to watch you be so… listless. Is this still about Margot?”
I laugh and look at him again. “It’s about everything and nothing, all at once.”
He cocks his head. “Who rejected whom?”
His question puts a scowl on my lips. “That’s unclear. I laid out an ultimatum… and she backed away from it.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I just want to move on already. I want to be done with all of this.”
Erik squints. “You look like you haven’t slept in weeks. Maybe you need to talk to a doctor or something.”
I shoot him a glare. “It’s not that bad.”
“Today you kept calling the minister of health Prime Minister Kelley, even after you had been corrected numerous times. Yesterday, at the gala, you were totally distracted and got drunk in public. I could go on.”
I roll my eyes. “So?”
“So, you need to shake this off. You’re the fucking crown prince of Denmark.
If you want to drown your sorrows in women, all you have to do is say so.
If you want to do something daring and dangerous, I have like five activities up my sleeve, waiting for you to say the word. But you’ve got to pull it together.”
I clamp my mouth shut, glaring at the front of limo. When I don’t respond, Erik shifts his weight.
“I’m sorry that Margot hurt you.”
I look at him funny. My heart squeezes in my chest. “She didn’t hurt me.”
He slides me a skeptical look. “No? You wouldn’t call this behavior you’ve been displaying heartbreak?”
If I could kill with a look, Erik would be bleeding out right now. “No. It’s not heartbreak. It’s… disappointment. It turns out that all my initial biases about Margot were right on target… I just allowed myself to get distracted by the nice ass and pretty blue eyes that those things accompanied.”
He doesn’t seem to know what to say to that.
Furrowing his brow, he shakes his head. “It still sucks to go through a breakup. I mean… you’ve never really had to go through one before.
Because of who you are, girls just flock to you.
And you’ve never really spent any time with a girl who didn’t want the crown. ”
I roll my eyes. He’s right about one thing: Margot definitely didn’t want the crown or anything attached to it.
Outside my window, the palace looms close. The second we stop, I bolt out of the back seat, not waiting around for Erik. He has to jog to catch up with me as I head inside, taking the stairs two by two.
I come to a halt when I reach the landing, squinting at the circus that awaits me there.
No less than twenty young girls stroll up and down the hall, which is set up with a runway like a fashion show.
The girls model barely-there dresses for my little sister, who sits at one end of the runway, her head cocked.
Loud, upbeat music blares from a single speaker.
As soon as Erik and I walk over, suddenly the models are far more interested at making sexy faces in our direction than whatever Annika has them doing.
Annika turns around, spots us, and heaves a sigh.
“Girls, please!” Annika says, clapping her hands to get the models. “Take a five minute break, then we are all going again.”
“What are you doing?” I ask her, annoyed. “This is my private hallway, Nika.”
She scrunches up her face, standing up. I realize now that she’s also wearing a sparkly silver dress similar to those the models have on; if Momse saw Annika right now, she would have a heart attack.
Annika gives me a cool smile. “Hello, big brother. It’s nice to see you too.” She wrinkles her nose. “This hallway has the best light. I need tons of good natural light for the fashion show I’m working on. Don’t worry, it’s for charity.”
I grit my teeth. “Annika, take your models and your… party… somewhere else. I’m not in the mood.”
Annika pulls a face. “You suck.” She turns, cupping her hands to her mouth. “Turn the music off! We’re moving to another floor!”
I glance at Erik, who is staring at Annika’s barely covered ass so hard that it’s a miracle it’s not on fire. The look of longing on his face is an emotion I know all too well. It’s the exact look I used to give Margot, before we fell into bed together.
I reach out and shove him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
He glances at me, his eyes widening. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
Erik starts pushing his way past the models and the runway, trying to get to the door of my study. I’m right on his heels, shoving him again once we make it into the study.
“On top of all the shit that I’m dealing with right now, the breakup with Margot and the upcoming coronation… I have to worry about you trying to fuck Annika?”
He pins me with a hard gaze. “Jesus. No. I swear. It’s just been too long since I’ve gotten any pussy, that’s all.”
I glare at him. “That had better be all. You know better than to fuck around with Annika. She’s only eighteen. Barely an adult.”
“Stel, come on. Even if I was tempted — and I’m not saying that I am — I’m not stupid. Our friendship is more important than any crazy ideas my libido might have.”
Getting very close to Erik’s face, I stare him down. “It has better be. Twenty years we’ve been friends. Longer than Annika has even been alive.”
“Ja. I know. I wouldn’t do anything to mess that up, okay?”
I scan his face for signs of deception, but I come up empty handed. Shaking my head, I push past him. “You’d better remember that.”
He gives me an odd look. “You really are fucked up right now, you know that? You should be more focused on making some kind of decision.”
I throw myself down into one of the overstuffed leather chairs. “A decision about what, Erik?”
He takes a seat on the corner of my highly polished desk. looking down his nose at me. “It seems like you either need to call Margot, or you need to find some other way to deal with the breakup.”
I scowl at him. “I’m not calling Margot. Things between us are done and dusted.”
He shrugs a shoulder. “Okay. So let me throw a party. I’ll invite a ton of girls and we’ll all have a great time. You can have this weekend to party and recover, then be on your feet again by Monday.”
This idea of throwing a huge party leaves a bad taste in my mouth. “I’ll pass.”
Erik checks his watch, then stands and wanders over to the bar setup that we always have on hand. He pours two glasses of whiskey, sauntering over to hand one to me.
I take a sip, though it can’t be past two in the afternoon.
He drinks a little, looking at me. “You need to relax.”
“I don’t want to relax,” I fire back, feeling prickly.
“What do you want to do, then? Huh? You can’t spend any more time brooding.”
Sitting back, I stare at the whiskey in my glass. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to feel like this anymore,” I admit to him.
“Great.” He walks over to my desk and sets his tumbler down, pulling out his phone. I watch him texting for a minute.
“Who are you texting?” I ask.
He looks up at me. “You said you don’t want a huge party. So I am arranging for something more private and intimate. You, me, a couple of girls, a discreet evening.”
Draining the contents of my glass, I stand and put the glass next to his. “Just give me a few days by myself, okay? I just… I need time.”
His eyes narrow on my face. “To heal?”
“One more comment about how Margot broke my heart and I am going to punch you right in the nose.”
He grins. “That’s the spirit. No woman can keep you down!”
Rubbing my temple, I turn toward the door. “You are impossible. And on that note, I’m going to go lie down.”
Leaving my study, I head down the hall toward my bedroom. But Erik’s voice still echoes in my head.
And that’s not heartbreak you’re experiencing?
I don’t know what it is, but I’m ready for it to be over, and soon.