Chapter 29
ADDISON
Imay have balls of steel, but I can’t be in the ballroom when the cloth is pulled off the canvas.
I burst out of the room, rushing to the end of the hallway as fast as I can with my heels clicking on the floor. Thankfully, the corridor is empty. Everyone is still enjoying the party, but I need to disappear.
The queen and Tatiana will not be happy. Louis might not be either—that’s the part that terrifies me most. But enough is enough. I can’t keep pretending, and I don’t care who knows anymore.
I won’t become Henri.
A few nights ago, alone in the studio at two a.m., I made a choice. Delphine had shared what had been discussed behind closed doors, and she confirmed that Tatiana would not end things with Louis. So, I picked up my brush and made a decision that could ruin everything.
Adrenaline rushes through me, and I ball my hands into fists while resting my back against the cold stone.
I take long breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth as I hear the queen’s muffled voice.
Silence falls, and it’s followed by gasps.
There’s a low roar of voices as I hear someone else speak. Louis maybe?
“Shit.” I grab my dress by the handful and push off the wall, needing to get lost.
Inside my bra is the key to Louis’s loft, and I rush toward the east wing. As I go, I think about who was in attendance and how many people will post this on social media. I didn’t warn him, and right now, I have no idea if he’ll thank me or hate me for this.
The door bursts open and slams against the wall.
“Addison!”
I glance over my shoulder and see Louis rushing toward me. His hair is wrecked, and he’s moving fast. He closes the distance within thirty seconds. I brace myself for the worst.
As soon as I open my mouth to explain, he grabs my face between his hands and kisses me.
I freeze for half a second, but his mouth is warm and urgent. My body reacts before my brain does. I grab fistfuls of his jacket to keep myself upright because my legs have stopped working. When he pulls back just enough to look at me, he’s breathing hard.
He stares at me, cycling through shock, confusion, fear. “Do you have any idea what you just did?”
“Committed treason with art?” My voice aims for light but comes out shaky and full of nerves.
He lets out a laugh that sounds almost unhinged. “You stunned a room of two hundred people into silence.”
“Are you upset with me?” I blink up at him.
The question hangs between us.
His thumbs trace across my cheekbones, and he shakes his head. The dazed look reveals something sweeter. Louis laughs. “Upset with you? Fuck no. You’ve officially become the bravest person I’ve ever met. You just … you unapologetically painted what you wanted regardless of the consequences.”
“Isn’t that what art is supposed to do? Change things?” My voice is steadier now. “Seemed more efficient than a speech.”
“I’d say so.” He’s smiling, the one I’ve only seen when we’re alone. “That was such a Cross move.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment.”
“You should.” He laughs. “Let’s just hope history is kind to us.”
The ballroom doors crash open again. Guards flood into the corridor, and the queen’s voice rises over the chaos, demanding someone stop us. Louis looks back at the commotion and then at me, and a shit-eating grin spreads across his face.
“Can you run?” he asks, grabbing my hand.
“Wait,” I tell him, kicking off my heels and scooping them up.
We sprint down the corridor, and the marble is cold under my bare feet. Just as we round a corner, another guard shouts at us. We’re being surrounded, but Louis runs down another hallway.
“This is a terrible escape plan,” I manage between breaths as my dress tangles around my legs. “We can’t run away from our problems.”
“Tonight, we can. We’ll figure this out tomorrow.”
He pulls me through a service door, and suddenly, we’re in a narrow passage with pipes and concrete and humming electrical panels.
The glamour of the palace vanishes, replaced by flickering fluorescent lights and the smell of industrial cleaner.
Louis doesn’t slow down as he guides me left, then right, until we’re deeper into the guts of the palace.
We pass through a kitchen, where staff in white uniforms look up from prep work, eyes going wide at the sight of the crown prince sprinting through with a barefoot woman in a ball gown.
“Carry on,” he says. “Please.”
Louis doesn’t stop to explain, just keeps moving, and my face hurts from grinning so much.
“Where are we going?” I ask as we bust through some double doors.
“Somewhere secret.” He glances over at me.
We move through another door and into a dim corridor lined with storage rooms. The fluorescent buzz fades behind us, and the concrete turns into old stone. A door slams behind us.
“They’re down here!” A guard’s voice echoes off the walls. “I heard them!”
“Shit,” Louis whispers and drags me through the nearest door into a dark stairwell, pressing me against the wall in the shadows with his body covering mine.
Footsteps thunder past us. His body is warm against me as we wait. My heartbeat thuds hard in my chest as I see a flashlight on the wall. We both go still, and I almost stop breathing.
Eventually, the light moves, and the footsteps fade away. We stay frozen for another ten seconds, then another, making sure.
“Clear?” I whisper.
“Think so.”
His hand is braced beside my head, and I follow the line of his jaw to the curve of his mouth.
“Tonight was torture for me.”
“I know. I was there.”
His lips brush my ear, and I shiver. “You look incredible in this dress.”
“I’ll look even better with it off.”
He breathes out against my neck. “You drive me wild. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
We climb the stairs and slip into an older corridor with oil lamps in brass sconces. This part of the palace feels forgotten, like we’ve stepped back a century. The passages get narrower and older until the hallway dead-ends at a stone wall.
I look at him with my brows raised. “Are we lost?”
“No.”
He presses a sequence of stones, and one of the blocks clicks. A section swings inward on silent hinges, and he pulls me through. The hidden door closes behind us, sealing us into darkness.
“One second.”
A match flares. His face appears in a warm glow as he lights an oil lamp on the wall, and then the others follow in line.
The room comes into view—with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stuffed with books, a fireplace with logs already stacked, a velvet sofa the color of wine that sags in the middle with age.
“Where are we?”
“A secret sitting room.” He crosses to the fireplace and crouches to arrange the kindling.
“I was a nosy kid, but also extremely nerdy. In my free time, I learned everything about the grounds and uncovered every secret I could. That’s when I discovered this place.
” The match catches, and flames lick up through the logs.
“No one’s been here in decades except me. ”
I drop my high heels next to the couch and move to the window. I pull back the heavy curtain just enough to peek out. The palace grounds are swarming with guards and guests.
“Holy shit,” I whisper.
Louis comes up behind me, looks over my shoulder, and shakes with laughter.
“This isn’t funny,” I say.
“I find it fucking hilarious.”
He lets the curtain fall, and I turn to face him.
“I’m actually afraid of what will happen,” I confess.
His hands settle on my hips, and he pulls me closer. “Tomorrow, I’ll speak to my father.”
“And if he disagrees?” I ask.
“Then I renounce.”
I shake my head. “Louis, no. You can’t do that.”
“I can’t give you up. Do you understand?” His hand cups my cheek, his thumb brushing my lower lip.
“But—”
“You’re not up for discussion. There will be negotiations. I’ve made up my mind, and nothing will change that,” he whispers. “Unless you decide I’m not what you want.”
I don’t have more words for what that does to me, so I kiss him instead, tasting champagne and possibility.
When I pull back, he’s smiling. It’s unguarded, and it makes him look younger, lighter even.
“That portrait was the most reckless but beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“I will never be able to paint anyone else sitting beside you.” The words come out before I can stop them.
“Good. That place is reserved for you.” He brushes a strand of hair from my face. “I’ve searched a lifetime for you, to feel like this.”
“It’s like nothing else matters.”
“It doesn’t.” He reaches up and removes pins from my hair, letting the strands fall around my shoulders. His focus is intense and careful, like this small act is the most important thing he’s ever done. The last pin falls, and he studies me, twirling a strand of my hair on his finger. “Gorgeous.”
“You unravel me, Louis. Everything about you, about us … I don’t know how this works out.” I swallow hard. “What if it doesn’t?”
“Did you forget that I always get what I want?” His hands find my zipper, and he lowers it inch by inch.
“Yes, but this is—” The silk pools at my feet, and I stand there in nothing but panties, letting him memorize me.
“Shh.” He places his finger on my lips and takes a step back, admiring me with soft eyes that are full of want and need.
My heart skips a beat.
“Like what you see?” I ask, licking my lips.
He shakes his head. “No.”
I playfully pout. “No?”
“I love what I see. Obsessed, actually.”
I move toward him, pushing his suit jacket off his shoulders, and it plops onto the floor.
Our eyes meet as I remove his tie and undo every button on his shirt.
He removes his cuff links, placing them on the mantel, then tugs his undershirt over his head.
Louis kicks off his shoes and socks, standing in just his slacks.
The fire pops behind us, throwing shadows against the walls as my eyes flick up and down him.