17. Ruby
Chapter 17
Ruby
H e made me chicken quesadillas.
I didn’t even know we had the ingredients for chicken quesadillas.
I was expecting grilled cheese. Maybe scrambled eggs. That’s what I would have probably made. I mean, I can cook. I just don’t very often.
And honestly, it is a universal truth that food other people make for you always tastes better than food you have to make for yourself.
“These are so good,” I say for the fourth time.
Henry chuckles. “Your standards are too low.” He pauses, then says, “Maybe I should be glad about that.”
I roll my eyes as I chew. I swallow and say, “Right. My low standards that include only fucking gorgeous, smart, over-protective bodyguards who love to throw money around and have sexy British accents and huge cocks.”
He chokes on his bite and reaches for his iced tea. When he’s swallowed, he frowns at me. “There is exactly one man who fits that description in the entire world, for your information.”
I nod, taking another bite. “I’m aware.”
He seems satisfied with that answer, but he’s still watching me with narrowed eyes.
“What?” I ask.
“You have to eat your vegetables too.”
He cut up a couple of bell peppers and arranged them in a colorful fan on my plate. I roll my eyes and pick one up, biting into it. “You know, you seem to think my body is in perfectly fine shape,” I say.
“It’s in amazing shape,” he agrees. “And I’d like to keep you around for the next eighty or ninety years in good shape.”
I freeze with a sliver of pepper halfway to my mouth.
That sounded very…relationship-y.
Did I screw up? Sex was inevitable between us. It just was. But Henry cannot expect that it means I’m staying here in Emerald now.
And if he starts talking about that, asking me about it, even begging me… I might say yes. And I fucking hate that . I want to go to law school.
In fact, I think I need to go to law school.
I need to help people. That’s who I am. And today showed me clearly that Emerald, Ohio, doesn’t need me. I need a bigger place, a place with more people, a place where people don’t form little community centers inside bars.
Of course, anyone could form a community inside any place. It was just about bringing people together. There are people like Ada, Will, April, and Dan everywhere. Just because they’re in a bigger city doesn’t mean that inside that city there aren’t little communities…
But no. I force myself to stay on track. I need to go out and make a difference. Emerald and the people here will be okay without me. I need to find a place that also needs me.
“Henry,” I start. “Today was awesome. And the idea of not?—”
“I want to tell you about how I came to work for Cian.”
I frown, my train of thought derailed. “Okay. Why?”
“You need to know why I’m so loyal to him.”
I shake my head. “He’s your best friend. He’s basically your brother. You love him. You don’t have to explain that to me, Henry. I get it.”
But he takes a breath and moves his chair closer to mine. “I need to explain why I keep saying that I have to choose him over you. It’s more than just my feelings for him.”
I sit up a little straighter, sensing that this is serious. “Are you okay?” I ask him. A thought occurs and I frown. “Are they somehow forcing you to stay with him? Coercing you? Because I will…”
I’m not sure what I can do. I know self-defense, and I would shoot someone who threatened someone I love, but I don’t have a gun, or extreme survival skills, or a crazy network of resources that could outrun or outsmart the royal family.
“I’ll take you somewhere,” I finally say. “Hide you. I know people who can make fake IDs and…” I frown. “That’s about it. But I have a lot of influence over Scarlett, and she has a lot of influence over Cian, and we will use it to help you.”
Henry’s looking at me with a mix of wonder and amusement. “You’d convince your sister to cut Cian off to save me?”
“He’s really crazy about her. I think the threat of never seeing her naked again could get him to do almost anything,” I say.
Henry smiles and nods. “I think you’re right. Living with him in those months they were apart was awful. Now? He’ll never let her go again.”
I nod resolutely. “Okay. I’ll get Scarlett to get Cian to help you.”
“What if he’s in on it?” Henry asks, clearly amused now.
I feel the tension start seeping out of me. I shrug. “Poison? Suffocation?”
His eyebrow arches. “First, your sister would be very upset if you killed her husband. She’s pretty crazy about him, too. Second, suffocation is a very aggressive way to kill someone. I don’t think you’ve got that in you, Gem.”
“First,” I counter. “Scarlett would be a lot less crazy about him if he’s actually a bad guy and he’s forcing you to work for him with blackmail or something. Second, I’ve got it in me if you need me to have it in me.”
Something flickers in his eyes. Heat? Yes, but also something that looks like gratitude? But that doesn’t make sense.
“Third,” Henry says. “You’re telling Prince Cian O’Grady’s bodyguard that you are willing to do him harm.”
I narrow my eyes. “Yeah, I am. What are you gonna do about it?”
Henry’s smile is slow and has a touch of the wickedness that makes my panties wet every time. Henry Dean is the only man to ever do that to me with a simple smile.
“I’m not sure,” he admits. “But I think it would be difficult to avenge my friend because we’d both enjoy all the things that came to mind far too much.”
I smile and lean in. “Well, for the record, I’d do whatever I could to save you. Say the word.”
He takes a deep breath. “You’re just determined to make it so I can never get over you, aren’t you?”
That makes my smile fade. But the wetness in my panties becomes an even bigger issue.
I don’t want him to get over me.
I don’t want to get over him.
This is going to be a big problem, but there’s really no way around it now.
Finally, he shakes his head. “No, Gem, I’m with Cian voluntarily. But it’s more than just because he and I are good friends. I need you to know that I’m not choosing him because of something like I love to play video games with him or because I love the private jet thing.”
“But you do love to play video games with him, and that private jet is amazing.” I feel this urge to keep things light. I can sense that whatever he’s going to tell me is not .
“I do, and it is,” he agrees. “But I can play with him online wherever I am. And I think he’d let me borrow the jet pretty much any time.”
He’s right. “So what’s it about?” I guess I’m ready to hear it.
“It has to do with my family. My parents. And Alfred Olsen.”
We’ve never talked about his family. Honestly, when we did talk about our pasts and histories, we spent a lot of time on mine because my family situation, my father being the pastor of the megachurch that seems to rule over half the town, and my single-mom sister Henry’s best friend was in love with, was all central to why Henry and I even met.
But I want to know everything about Henry, so I lean in. “Alfred Olsen? Linnea, Astrid, and Alex‘s grandfather?”
Henry nods. “He was also King Diarmuid’s best friend and one of his closest advisors. In fact, there were many times that without Alfred’s level-headedness and his general optimism and compassion, Diarmuid would’ve definitely made different decisions.”
“Like what?”
I’ve never tried to hide my fascination with the royal family. Once we found out that my sister actually had a one-night stand with a real prince, it was impossible not to get caught up in all of the stories, history, and gossip around them. The podcast fed that fascination and, of course, every little bit of information Henry would share.
It’s still bizarre to me that we know people who are actual royalty. Sure, Cara is a small country with very little international power or influence, but still, their mind-blowing wealth, their quirky history, their charming country…it’s all enthralling. Even if it’s much different from the movies and novels, there is still a fun fantasy-adventure feel to the whole thing.
“I want to hear it all,” I tell him.
“Alfred and Diarmuid met when they were young men. Before Diarmuid was king. Alfred came from an influential, wealthy family in Denmark, even before Diarmuid actually made him a Duke. Diarmuid took over the throne at thirty-nine after his father suddenly died. He knew he’d be king someday, but he wasn’t fully prepared. Alfred helped him through a lot in those early days. Along with Queen Roisin and Diarmuid’s friend Oisin, Alfred helped Diarmuid become the king he is.
“But Alfred was often frustrated with the fact that Diarmuid wanted to keep Cara quiet, under the radar, and more or less cut off from the rest of the world. Cara relies almost entirely upon their trade relationship with Denmark. Denmark is their only true ally, and Alfred knew it wasn’t good for Cara to be at the mercy of the whims of the government there. He wanted Cara to expand its friendships and kind of come out of its shell.
“But Diarmuid was afraid they were too small for other countries to care about? That maybe someone would try to take them over or something? That they needed that friendship with a larger, richer country to protect them?” I ask. “That makes sense to me.”
“Yes. And that does make sense. But it also kept him indentured to Denmark and whoever was in power there.”
“Okay. I guess that could also be bad. It’s like when Rachel Goosman told me I couldn’t be friends with anyone but her in second grade. Then when she was a shithead, I didn’t have anyone on my side, or anyone else to turn to.” I scowl remembering it. “And only Rachel came to my Halloween party. Scarlett didn’t even stay home for it, because she hated Rachel. A party with just two people is far less fun than parties with a bunch of people.”
Henry is looking at me with both brows arched.
I shrug. “It’s not a terrible metaphor.”
He laughs. “I guess not. What happened to Rachel?”
“She moved away, actually.”
He laughs again. “Well, then the analogy falls apart a bit. Denmark isn’t going anywhere. And they’ve always had lots of ‘friends’. It was only Cara that was cutting itself off. It still does to some extent. Though Torin is working to change that.”
“So Alfred didn’t change Diarmuid’s mind? The king didn’t mind having lame Halloween parties?”
“Pretty much. So, Alfred decided to make a plan B. When it came time for Declan to start preparing to take the throne, Alfred encouraged him to leave Cara instead.”
My eyes widen. “Wait. Declan abdicated because of Alfred?”
I know from my study of the country and the O’Grady family that all of the grandchildren abdicated the throne and left the country, but Declan actually left almost five years before the others did. And when he returned for Cian’s wedding—which also turned into his wedding—that was the first time he’d been back to the island since he’d abdicated.
Henry nods. “Diarmuid didn’t know that for a few years, and when he found out, he didn’t speak to Alfred for nearly six months, but yes, Alfred encouraged Declan to leave and invested in all of his startups. He felt strongly that someone in the family needed to be divorced from the throne, loyal to the country and family in their heart, but independent of their power and money.”
“Why did he choose Declan? He was firstborn, so he should have been king. Alfred could have just convinced Declan to be the king he thought Diarmuid should be, right?” I ask.
“Because Declan has the right personality to go out and kickass in business and politics in the US. Torin is the right one to lead the country. Alfred saw that in them even before Torin abdicated.”
“Did he panic when Torin left Cara?”
“He expected it. It made him happy. It meant Torin would have experiences that would make him an even better king. Because he also knew, somehow, that eventually Torin would return to Cara. It was hard to keep Declan in Portland though.”
“No way. Declan thought about going back to Cara?”
“Yep. Alfred practically had to chain him to a chair.”
“What did he do to keep him from going back?”
Henry grins. “He hired Iris.”
Oh, I kind of love this. “Iris kept Declan in the US?”
“Yep. They—she and Alfred—convinced Declan that everything was going according to plan and it would be fine. That Declan’s role was to build wealth, power, and connections outside of the royal family so they had that additional layer of networking and influence.”
“Wow.”
He nods. “We always called Alfred the Boss. He had the vision and the heart the family needed. He knew the royal family and his own grandchildren could, and would, use their privilege and resources to do good things in the world, if they were given the support and the occasional nudge in the right direction. But he really wanted to get them out of Cara to make that happen. He loved the country, but it was so small, and he wanted it connected to the rest of the world. The opposite, really, of what Diarmuid wanted. Until after Alfred died.” Henry sighs. “I think losing Alfred made Diarmuid realize that he’d been right about so many things. Then seeing all of the grandchildren actually out in the world doing great things, was the final proof.”
“Now that Alfred is gone, who is managing things in the US? Helping Iris?”
Henry smiles mysteriously. “No one.”
“What?”
“Everyone thinks there’s a new Boss, someone Alfred appointed to take over for him, someone pulling the strings. But…it’s Iris.”
“Iris is the big overall boss?”
“Yep.”
I only vaguely remember the other woman. But my impression of her was someone who was confident, take charge, and mildly irritated with…everything and everyone.
“I’m impressed.”
“Alfred loved Iris. He trusted her with everything.”
“And he was practically a prophet,” I say. “Everything is turning out the way he planned.”
Henry laughs at that. “Uh, no. Nothing is going according to plan. Everyone has gone rogue.”
“What?”
He nods. “It’s kind of a mess. Linnea and Torin were supposed to get married and produce the heir. Alfred had ideas for the work and causes everyone would be best at. Everyone is…adjacent to those ideas.” He grins.
“So Alfred thought the O’Gradys and Olsens needed to be bonded by blood? So there would be a next generation of amazing people doing good works in the world too?”
Henry pauses, then shakes his head. “That was purely emotional. Alfred and Diarmuid wanted their families to be one big, united family. They felt arranged marriages between their grandchildren was an obvious solution.”
I laugh. “If only arranged marriages weren’t so last century.”
Henry gives me a half smile. “For two men who were into making deals and networking, and even manipulating when necessary, for the greater good, it still made sense regardless of the date on the calendar.”
I guess that makes a kind of sense. I’m more convinced after seeing that photo of Declan and Astrid. If they actually have a love match and true passion between them, that’s amazing.
“Anyway, I owe Alfred Olsen my life.”
Whoa. That makes me focus fully on the man in front of me again. I lean in. “Literally?” With this group, it wouldn’t surprise me if Alfred pulled Henry off the edge of a cliff or scooped him out of the ocean or something equally dramatic.
Henry nods. “Yes. And figuratively.”
“How did that happen? How did you meet Alfred?”
“My family was also very wealthy. Alfred and my father had several people in common. They were in a similar social and business circle. So when my family situation… got complicated, Alfred found out about it and intervened.”
“What happened?”
Henry takes a deep breath and turns his palm over. I slip my hand into it, and he intertwines our fingers. He stares down at the tabletop as he begins talking.
“When I was fourteen, I was at home alone with my mother. My father was at work, my brother was off with friends. It was our country home, so we had fewer servants, and, I don’t know, they just weren’t there that afternoon.” He takes another deep breath. “There were some branches that were brushing against a bedroom window on the upper level of our house. This house wasn’t as big as our regular house, but it was still enormous. Mom wanted to cut those branches back before we had guests come stay, believing that the branches scratching against the window would be a nuisance. She couldn’t find the gardener, so she hauled a ladder out herself and climbed up. I was in the house but didn’t know what she was doing. She didn’t tell me or ask me to help. I went looking for her later and—” He stops and squeezes his eyes shut. I dread what he’s about to say, but I put my other hand on top of his, sandwiching his between mine.
“She had fallen from the ladder and hit her head on the stone path.” His grip on my hand tightens. “She was dead. Lying there in the grass of our side yard.”
Oh, God.
I can’t breathe.
I stare at him.
He’d found his mother dead? As a child? When he was home alone?
That’s so horrible. I don’t want to think about it, but this is Henry. I can’t shy away from this. This is his past. His truth.
My eyes sting. My heart breaks for the little boy that he was, who had to find his mother that way. For the man who is still, clearly, so broken by it. For the sudden, awful loss that has been a part of his life for so long.
“My God, Henry,” I choke out. “I’m so sorry.”
He swallows hard and keeps going. “My father was beside himself. He was never an emotional man. That was the first time I ever saw him show any emotion other than anger, or boredom, honestly. But his grief was… indescribable. I’ll never forget the look on his face. Or the look when he turned toward me and said, “This is all your fault.””
I gasp. “Henry, no . How could he blame you for that?”
He’s not looking at me, and I’m torn between wanting him to focus on something other than the image of his father’s face and not wanting to see the crushing pain in his eyes.
“I could’ve climbed the ladder for her,” he says, his voice ragged. “Or I could have insisted she find the gardener. Or gone to find him myself. Or insisted that she wait. Or I could’ve at least been there when she fell. Maybe, if I’d been there, I could have called for help. We could’ve saved her.”
Obviously, he’s been haunted by these thoughts for years, and I have to wonder if he’s actually heard these words from his father. I grip his hand tightly. “Henry, you didn’t even know what she was doing. It’s not like you refused to help her. And even if you had, it’s not your fault that she fell. It was an accident .”
He doesn’t respond to that. “My father stopped speaking to me after that,” he says. “He couldn’t stand to be in the same room with me. He told the family counselor who came to the house that I was a reminder of her and what had happened, and he would never forgive me.”
Jesus. I hate Henry’s father. So, so much.
I wonder if King Diarmuid could do something to him.
Or maybe Jonah or Colin. They’re highly trained bodyguards. Surely, they know some good, appropriately horrible torture techniques.
Or Iris.
She’s the boss now.
“Henry.”
He keeps going. “After that, my younger brother, at only thirteen, got into drugs. Six months later, he got high at a party and drove himself and a friend home. He smashed the car into a brick wall, and he and his friend were badly injured. They were in the hospital in intensive care for a month. The friend’s family sued my father for ten million dollars. They won.”
Oh God. This just keeps getting worse. I rub my hand over my chest, where my heart is literally aching. Tears prick my eyes. “Henry. God.”
“I want to tell you. You need to know how this all happened.”
I meet his eyes. There are so many emotions there that I want to look away. But I can’t. This is a huge, impactful part of the life of the man I love’s life. I need to know it. And no matter how painful it is for me, it’s a hundred times worse for him. If telling me helps him in any way, I will listen and take this in.
I nod. “Go on.”
“My father also blamed me for my brother. He said I should’ve realized my brother was so upset. I should’ve gone to the party with him, I should’ve realized he was using drugs, I should not have let him take the car, I should have picked him up from the party, there was a whole list of things I should’ve done.
“So, before my brother even came home from the hospital, my father sent me to boarding school. Honestly, at the time, I thought maybe it was best. I didn’t want to be around my father either. So I didn’t argue or fight it. I just packed my bags, and our driver, Steven, drove me to school and dropped me off at the front door.” He pauses. “I never went home again.”
I stare at him. “What? You never went home again?”
He meets my gaze directly. “I never saw my father again after I left my house that day. He never came to see me, and I never went home. He died six years ago of a brain aneurysm. My brother and I reconnected at his funeral, and we’ve been very slowly rebuilding our relationship, but it’s not easy. And—” He takes another deep breath, then blows it out, as if blowing out the painful words and memories. “My life has been very good anyway. I’ve missed my brother, but I never missed my father. It makes me feel terrible to say that, but it’s true. He was a cold man before, and after all of that happened, the way he blamed me and then just threw me away, I realize now that he was not a good father. I’ve accepted that, and while I haven’t forgiven him, I have let it stop influencing me.”
I nod. I think that’s good. His father didn’t deserve to know this amazing man. He sent Henry away. That was his choice. “Fuck him,” I say simply.
Henry nods. “He tried to reach out once after he found out I was working for the royal family.”
“I’ll bet he did.” I’m not sorry I’ll never meet the man.
“It felt really good to say, through the palace, that I had nothing to say to him, and I didn’t want to hear from him ever again. And I never did.”
I squeeze his hand. “Did you meet Cian at boarding school or something?” I think about how he is when he’s with the O’Gradys—happy, comfortable, clearly relaxed, and fully accepted.
Damn, I love them.
They’ve made my sister feel all of those things, too. And they helped heal the man I love. I will always be a loyal royal fan-girl.
Henry shakes his head. “No. I was at boarding school for two mostly uneventful years. I’d go home with friends for the holidays. I spent summers taking additional classes or working.”
Oh fuck. I hadn’t even thought about him being alone on holidays.
I hate his father even more now.
“Then, one day, I was pulled out of class because this man, Alfred Olsen, wanted to meet with me.”
“How did Alfred find you?”
“There were a couple of events, I believe one was a Christmas party, where Alfred expected my father to have his children with him. When he didn’t for the second or third time, Alfred started asking around. He immediately came to the boarding school when he found out where I was. He told me that I had been selected for a special program and transferred me to another school. It was a school that Alfred helped fund, of course, and was for people who were tapped for special assignments.”
“Assignments?”
“It was much like the Secret Service or the CIA. Specially trained, secretive, select. But specifically to be bodyguards for very important people. I learned martial arts, marksmanship, archery, all about every available kind of technology and several that weren’t available yet. I learned to skydive, deep sea dive, and wilderness survival. Anything and everything I would need to become specialized security for dignitaries.”
“At age sixteen?” I ask, amazed.
He nods. “My first job was a short-term assignment accompanying a U.N. ambassador’s son on a skiing trip.”
“Oh. Like what you did for Cian,” I say. “You protected people around your age so you could blend in, seem like just one of the guys.”
“Exactly. I continued going to school, receiving special training, but then would be pulled out for various assignments.”
“All because Alfred didn’t like how your father treated you,” I say.
“That’s how I got on his radar,” Henry agrees. “But he did his research. Talked to professors, people who knew me, decided I was exactly the kind of person he wanted to bring into the O’Grady inner circle.”
“So he was recruiting you from the beginning.”
“Essentially. And then Fiona, Torin, and Cian abdicated and headed to the US. I got tapped to be Cian’s bodyguard a little sooner than they’d expected. But it worked out.”
I squeeze his hand. “It really did.” If I think of all the ways we could have missed ever meeting one another, I’m nearly overwhelmed that he’s sitting in my kitchen right now.
He’s from a wealthy British family. Was specially trained to be the bodyguard to a prince from a little island country. Then landed in Florida and then Louisiana.
How he ever ended up walking into my bar in Emerald, Ohio, is a miracle.
“So Alfred not only saved me from boarding school, he…gave me a purpose. Showed me I was not worthless. He kept me from just being thrown away. He gave me a place to belong. A family.” Henry has to clear his throat. “I’m a protector, just like you. And just like you, I’m lost when I don’t have someone to take care of. Alfred saw that in me, and he gave me exactly what I needed.”
“Yes, times about a thousand,” I say with a smile. “You take a protector and a caregiver and make them into the bodyguard of a prince, I’d say that’s pretty visionary.”
“Alfred knew that each of the O’Grady and Olsen kids would do something amazing with their lives and their power. Alfred picked very specific people for each of them and gave us the assignment to not only be their protector and their friend but to truly help them find and reach their potential. As I’ve gotten to know Cian over the years, I’ve been more and more flattered by that. Cian really does have the ability to do amazing things. The fact that Alfred thought I could be a part of that is humbling. Our whole team feels that way.”
I am having a hard time taking a deep breath. What I’m feeling at the moment is something I’ve felt before. For my niece and sister. Only the people I love with all my heart. It’s that combination of pride and happiness, knowing that they have found something that truly completes them, fulfills them, and shows them everything they are capable of.
And the realization that I have to let them go in order for them to have that thing.
“I am so grateful that Alfred Olsen saw that in you and helped you see it,” I say sincerely.
Henry studies my face, his eyes searching mine. “Thank you.”
“And I understand that you can’t leave Cian because you feel like Alfred gave you this assignment, and you owe it to him to stay with Cian. And the family. And your team. You are all in this together, right? You’d never leave Jonah and Iris either.”
Henry swallows hard. “Before his dementia got really bad, Alfred realized what was happening. He met with each of us, the bodyguards, about going forward. When we talked, he said that I had done so well. He said he knew he could leave Cian and the O’Gradys in my hands because I would always do everything I could to make sure they were safe and happy, no matter what. We all feel that way.”
I wet my lips. “It’s that ‘no matter what’ that’s got you, right? No matter if it’s hard on you, or if you have to give something up.”
He just nods.
Well…fuck.
I’m never going to feel this way about anyone else. And he’s staying here in Emerald, Ohio.
So…
I lean in and press my lips to his. “Thank you for telling me. I get it.”
He cups the back of my head, resting our foreheads together. “I knew you would. But I know it sucks.”
“I don’t know, it definitely proves that I have amazing taste in men. When I finally, fully fell in love with someone, I fell for the best man in the whole world.”
He pulls me in for a deep kiss. It’s slow and sweet, but it’s all-consuming. He tastes me fully, making sure I feel every stroke, every press, every emotion.
I’m about to climb into his lap and start stripping my clothes off when my phone starts ringing, and Henry’s dings with three texts in a row.
We pull apart.
We stare at each other for a long moment.
But then, because we are who we are, we, of course, both reach for our phones.
Someone might need us.