Nicholas
WE ARRIVED AT Solterra the next day, the motorcade rolling through the gates of the de la Vega summer palace as Gilbert sat beside me, having gone over our schedule down to the minute.
He wasn’t the one I wanted sitting beside me, but I didn’t have a choice, not today. I just had to suck it up and get through it.
Gabriel had given me the rundown of his conversations with Alejandro when he’d been pretending to be me, so I had a few talking points filed away. I hated being so resistant to someone who was probably a pleasant enough man, but having my choice taken away didn’t exactly endear him to me.
I wondered if it was the same for Alejandro.
He stood at the top of the palace steps dressed in a cream-colored uniform with a deep red sash, looking every inch the prince my advisors wanted at my side. The wide smile he gave me when I stepped out of the car seemed genuine, and I forced myself to at least try to seem amiable.
“Your Majesty,” he said as he descended the steps. “Welcome to Solterra.”
Though I’d never been to the palace, I wasn’t unfamiliar with Solterra, having traveled there a number of times over the years. It was always on the too-warm side for me, with lush, tropical flowers and never-ending blue skies. Beautiful, but not moody enough to feel like home.
Alejandro bowed before clasping my hands and leaning in to kiss both cheeks.
“Your Royal Highness,” I said. “Thank you for having us.”
“Please.” He waved a hand, gesturing at the palace. “For today, Solterra is yours.”
“I appreciate your hospitality.”
Alejandro’s answering smile was blinding, and it was easy to see why he was a favorite of the press.
“Anything for the king. Come. You must see the gardens before lunch. My mother insists all royal tours begin there so you can admire the roses properly, and if you don’t, she’ll consider it a personal insult. ”
I managed a small smile. “I would never dishonor the queen in such a way. Please, lead the way.”
As he led us down to the gardens—maybe the most stunning I’d ever seen—my mind wandered to where Noah was right now.
Heading inside to prepare my room and help the Solterra staff with anything they needed, no doubt.
He wouldn’t get a glimpse of the gardens or be able to enjoy a day on the beautiful grounds, couldn’t be by my side, and I felt the loss of him even as I tried to focus on what Alejandro was saying.
He was charming, maybe too charming, but it didn’t come off as fake, and I needed to remember he wasn’t the villain in this story—though maybe it would be easier if he were.
He was easy to like, something Gabriel had already mentioned, but now I could see it for myself.
He wasn’t all cold politeness; he was informal and bold, teasing those who walked with us and making jokes my father would’ve thought were inappropriate.
That struck me as ironic, since it had been his idea to marry our kingdoms together. What would he have thought about Alejandro if he’d been on this very tour?
THAT EVENING AS I dressed for dinner, it was with a room full of my staff and not just the one-on-one I was hoping to get with Noah after a full day of being entertained.
And I still had hours to go, because I had no doubt dinner service would be several courses taken at leisure.
Gilbert had his ever-present tablet in hand, rambling off a detailed list of the other guests that Alejandro was hosting this evening in my honor, while Baxter nodded along like he was memorizing that information for when he’d help supervise service this evening.
“Lift your arm, please, Your Majesty,” Noah said, helping me into my sash, adjusting it just right across my body.
Being this close and not being able to touch him was almost impossible, but I kept my hands to myself…
somehow. His hands moved quickly, efficiently, never lingering the way they did when we were alone.
I breathed in the familiar scent of him, letting it wash over me as he carefully pinned my medals to my jacket.
For a moment, our eyes met, and we didn’t have to say a word.
This was torture.
How could I not notice the downward tilt to his mouth, or the way his hazel eyes looked darker today? I couldn’t imagine having to be in his shoes, what it must be like to see me with Alejandro and having to melt into the shadows.
I would’ve been happy to disappear into the shadows with him right about now, instead of readying myself for a performance. Where was Gabriel when I needed him?
“All set, sir.” Noah fastened the last medal and took a step back, scanning me to make sure everything was right where it needed to be. Then he nodded, and when he looked up at me again, I felt my heart squeeze.
“Thank you…Bennett,” I said, remembering at the last second not to use his first name with others in the room.
Noah’s eyes searched mine, so many emotions flickering through his gaze, one after the other. Then he bowed his head and I was whisked away to the formal dining room that overlooked the vast grounds, which seemed as though they were dripping in gold from the setting sun.
“You look very handsome this evening, Your Majesty,” Alejandro said as we settled into our seats, and it would never not feel strange to sit at the head of someone else’s table, but that was the way of it as king.
“Thank you,” I said, returning his once-over with one of my own, playing my role to perfection. “You look very dashing as well.”
His smile was bright as the footmen moved between us and his other guests to pour glasses of wine, like some well-rehearsed dance.
It was a standard task that was so seamless and efficient, I wouldn’t usually pay attention to it.
But the fact it was Noah standing at my side did nothing to help my awareness of the fact he was there.
Close enough to touch. Yet so far away he might as well be on another planet.
But by my side was the rightful place of my senior footman—and, in my mind, the only place for Noah.
“I can’t tell you what an honor it is to host you this evening. I was very pleased to hear your tour would bring you my way.”
I reached for my glass and took a sip, knowing I needed to play the attentive and content fiancé. Gabriel had done such a convincing job of being thrilled to be betrothed to Alejandro that if I messed it up now, this union’s failure would be on my shoulders alone.
“A happy coincidence, that’s for sure. We appreciate your hospitality.”
“Of course,” Alejandro said, leaning over and placing his hand over the top of mine, and it took everything I had not to jerk it away. “I was thrilled to learn I’d be seeing you again so soon. Our time together at Montclair was cut much too short.”
My heart raced as he stroked his thumb along the back of my hand, but it had nothing to do with his touch and everything to do with the feeling of guilt churning in the pit of my stomach, knowing that Noah was seeing this.
It also occurred to me that this touch was a little more personal than I’d presume to partake in after one meeting.
Just how close had Gabriel gotten to Alejandro de la Vega?
“Well, hopefully this makes up for it.”
“One night?” Alejandro chuckled. “Doubtful. But what’s more romantic than a long-distance love affair?
” He said it with such drama as he fell back into his seat and looked down the table at the rest of his guests.
“Am I right? They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. I suppose that will make us madly in love by the time of our nuptials.”
There was a muffled cough to my left, and I turned to see Noah standing ramrod straight beside one of Alejandro’s footmen, his head angled high, his eyes fixed on the opposite side of the room.
For a moment I thought I’d imagined it, but then Noah shifted on his feet and I saw his jaw bunch.
“Sir?” Alejandro said, waiting for me to respond.
It took every ounce of acting skill I possessed to force a smile to my mouth. “I have no doubt about it.”
But I must have been convincing, because Alejandro’s guests all raised their glasses in a salute to the “loving couple.”
I felt like I was going to be sick.
The first and second courses came and went smoothly enough, though if anyone asked me what I’d eaten, I wouldn’t be able to say.
My mind was constantly wandering to the man on my left offering a platter, replacing my cutlery, or filling my glass, instead of the man to my right whom I was supposed to be concentrating on.
It wasn’t fair to either man, and the longer the dinner went on, the more irritated I became with myself. What kind of man was I to be breaking bread with one while thinking about another? And even worse, having that man serve the bread.
It was despicable behavior, certainly not the kind befitting a king. But when my serviette fell from my lap and Noah immediately appeared by my side to replace it, my mind transported me to our time together the night before.
I glanced down as he gently placed it across my lap, and the sadness in his eyes just about broke my heart before he moved back to his place with the other staff against the wall.
“How are the plans coming along for the coronation?” Alejandro asked, when it was clear I wasn’t going to be driving the conversation, and thank God for that.
I was too busy trying not to focus on the man in my periphery.
He might’ve been invisible to everyone else in the room, but to me it was as though he had a spotlight on him for every little movement he made.
“They’re…a lot,” I said, forcing my attention back to the prince.
“So I should plan our wedding, then? Give you a brief respite from the madness?”
I wanted to tell him not to bother, that this was never going to happen. But that was wishful thinking. It didn’t matter that I never wanted this wedding to happen. It mattered that it would strengthen Valoria.