Chapter 40
ADDISON
Iwake up slowly, like I have nowhere to be, which I don’t.
Sunlight streams through the sheer curtains of Louis’s bedroom.
The sheets are soft against my bare skin.
His heavy arm is draped across my waist, and his breath is even against the back of my neck.
We’ve been in this bed for what feels like days, and maybe it has been days because I’ve lost track of time.
A few days ago, after the meeting with his parents, we stumbled back to his quarters and collapsed into bed, fully clothed.
At some point, I peeled off the red dress and tossed it into a corner, where it still lies in a wrinkled heap.
We slept for sixteen hours straight; we woke up long enough to eat something, have incredible sex, and then slept again.
It’s like our bodies were trying to detox from months of stress.
A little over a week ago, I was banned from this country, and now the palace has released a statement, declaring the king’s full support of his son’s choice to be with whomever he wants.
The internet is calling Louis The People’s Prince while reporters compare us to fairy tales.
Our relationship has been accepted on a worldwide scale, and none of it feels real yet.
I roll over to face him. His dark hair is a disaster, sticking up in six different directions, and he has a pillow crease on his cheek. He’s staring at me, but his gaze is unfocused.
“Where are you right now?” I ask.
He blinks and looks at me. “The letter. I keep thinking about it.”
“Isabella’s letter.” I thread my fingers through his under the sheets. “I can’t believe it.”
“If it wasn’t for you, that letter might have been lost to time, along with the hidden Isabellas.” He squeezes my hand. “It’s odd how all the pieces fell into place. It’s almost like this was meant to be.”
“I believe it was. Maybe, in some weird way, your grandparents sent me to you.”
“That’s a nice thought.” Louis grins.
We lie there, wrapped up in each other’s arms. Louis and I have been given the chance they never had.
“I have something planned for today,” Louis says into my neck as he pulls me even closer.
“Oh, really?”
“Yep.” He gives me that smile, the one I fell in love with, the one that promises trouble. “It’s a surprise.”
“Fine,” I say, sliding out of bed. “Can I shower?”
“If you want,” he says. “Be quick.”
“I will,” I tell him.
It takes me all of ten minutes before I’m standing in the closet, looking at the clothes I had Kendall ship from New York.
I find some comfy jeans and a cute shirt and slide them on.
“Is this a sandals type of adventure or actual shoes?” I ask Louis.
He moves to the doorway, wearing jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, looking like a prince pretending to be a normal person.
“Never mind. How you’re dressed answers my question,” I say.
“Great. Ready?” he asks.
“Lead the way.”
He takes my hand and does exactly that.
We stroll through the palace, down corridors I recognize and some I don’t. We slip out a side door and into the gardens, then beyond them into the wild part of the grounds, where the manicured hedges give way to tall grass and ancient trees.
The path narrows as we move farther from the palace, while vines twist overhead and block out patches of sunlight. The air grows cooler, and my calves start to burn from the downhill descent. Then I hear the soft rush of water.
My pulse races because this sound can only mean one thing. We walked this path once before, in moonlight, with fireflies drifting around us like scattered stars.
We push through a curtain of hanging vines, and the waterfall appears, pouring down the rock face into that glowing turquoise pool.
Smooth stones rest at the bottom, visible through water so clear that it barely looks real, and wildflowers bloom along the edges, where mist settles on the petals.
In daylight, the afternoon sun throws diamonds across the surface while tiny rainbows appear in the spray.
It’s even more beautiful than the memory I’ve been carrying.
“You brought me back,” I whisper.
“I had to. It’s beautiful in the morning.” He leads me toward the water’s edge, to the rocks where we sat that night, where we stripped naked and jumped in, holding hands. “This is where it really started for us.”
Standing at the edge of this pool, I’m flooded with memories from that night. The moonlight splashed across his bare skin while his hands gripped my waist beneath the surface. That night, I knew I couldn’t go back to being the woman I had been before I met him.
I made up my mind that I’d do anything for the adventure with him. Anything.
We opened our hearts that night and proved how we felt in the weeks that followed. Nothing has changed for me other than falling even harder.
“I think about that night often,” Louis says, pulling me back to the present. “What we said to one another, what we promised.”
“It was special. Back then, I really thought it was the right person, wrong time scenario.”
“Right person, somewhat-late scenario.” He laughs. “I told you I always get what I want.”
I snicker. “You do.”
He turns to face me and takes both of my hands in his. “I had no idea how serious it would get. I’m so damn glad you didn’t give up on being with me. You could’ve, and I wouldn’t have blamed you.”
“That was never an option.”
His thumb runs across mine.
“May we both win,” I say, reminiscing.
He squeezes my hands. “We have.”
“You are everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Louis grins, tucking loose strands of hair behind my ear.
“In chess, the queen is the most powerful piece on the board,” Louis says. “She can move anywhere and do anything and protect the king in ways no other piece can. Without her, the game falls apart. Without her, there’s no victory.”
He releases one of my hands and reaches into his pocket. A smile spreads across his face. “You’ve been three steps ahead of me since the moment we met. You see things I miss, you push back when I want to retreat, and you refuse to give me up when every logical thought screams you should.”
He pulls out a velvet box, and I go still because I now understand what this is and what’s happening. I’ve waited my entire life for someone to look at me the way Louis does.
“This ring belonged to my grandmother.”
He opens the box. The center diamond catches the afternoon light, and then I notice it’s surrounded by pink diamonds.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Addison. What we have is real, and I’ve been given the opportunity that no one in my family has ever had. I get to marry the love of my life.”
The tears are falling freely now, sliding down my cheeks, and I don’t wipe them away because I want to feel every second of this.
Every wall I ever built, this man dismantled piece by piece until there was nothing left between us.
“If you’ll have me. I’m asking you to choose me, not because duty demands it or tradition expects it, but because we earned this.
Every time someone tried to end our game, we put the pieces back, and every time they told us it was impossible, we proved them wrong.
You make me want to be a better man. You make me braver and happier than I’ve ever been.
Let me prove to you, every single day, that I’m the man you deserve. ”
He sinks onto one knee, the velvet box open in his palm, the waterfall thundering behind him, and I’m shaking because this is happening.
“I called your family and asked for their blessing, and they gave it. Patterson and Jameson said if I ever hurt you, they’d break both my legs, which is fair.” He laughs softly. “Your father said he’d never seen you fight for anything as hard as you fought for us.”
A sound escapes my throat that’s half-laugh and half-sob.
“Miss Addison Cross”—his voice is steady, but his eyes are bright—“you are the most stubborn, brilliant, infuriating, talented woman I have ever had the honor to meet. I don’t want to play games anymore.
I don’t want to pass notes or steal moments or hide what we have.
I want mornings where I wake up next to you and have lazy Sundays.
I want the world to know that you’re mine and I’m yours.
I want to build a life together and grow old with you.
I want to watch you paint until the sun sets, then fall asleep next to you and do it all again the next day. ”
He looks up at me, this man who escaped his own palace and was willing to fight anyone who stood in his way.
“Please marry me, Addy,” he says. “You’re the love of my entire life. And I’d have no greater honor than for you to be my queen.”
“Yes. A million times, yes,” I say, moving to him, happy tears streaming down my cheeks.
He slides the ring onto my finger with trembling hands. It fits perfectly, the cool metal settling against my skin. The diamonds are full of promises kept across generations.
I’ve been proposed to twelve times. Twelve men who thought they knew what I wanted, who offered me rings and promises and futures I never asked for.
I said no to every one of them without hesitation because something was always missing.
A spark. A certainty. The feeling that the person really saw me and my heart.
With Louis, it’s always been different. Louis sees me.
He’s seen me since the beginning, when I was just a girl standing in front of a painting.
He didn’t try to change or mold me into someone else.
He challenged me and kept putting the pieces back, even when I tried to end the game because he refused to let me go.
This is what I’ve wanted my whole life.
Louis is on his feet, pulling me into his arms, and lifting me off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist, and our lips slide together. The mist settles on our skin, and I’m crying. Our future is stretched out in front of us.
“Thank you,” he says against my mouth, like he still can’t believe it. “You’ve made me the happiest person.”
He laughs, and it’s pure joy. I don’t care about anything except this moment. Eventually, he sets me down, but doesn’t let go.
“I love you,” he says. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, and I can’t wait to spend forever with you.” I press my palm flat against his chest. “I dreamed about a love like this, and then you came along and showed me it was possible.”
“Me too,” he says against my hair. “The first time we met, I knew I was going to love you forever.”
“At the gallery?”
“Yeah.” He grins. “And then I learned you created the subway series and was blown away. Beautiful, smart, and witty? Fuck me. I was doomed from the beginning.”
I’m smiling so hard that my face hurts. “Am I dreaming?”
“It feels like it.”
We stay at the waterfall until the sun is high on the horizon, sitting on the rocks with my head on his shoulder. The diamonds catch the light.
I think back to Isabella and Henri and how they hid their love for one another their entire lives. Louis and I get to stand before the world and declare what we are.
My stomach growls, and Louis chuckles.
“We should probably head back.”
“Five more minutes.”
He pulls me closer, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “We can stay as long as you want.”
Twenty minutes later, we hike back up the path, hand in hand. The palace appears through the trees, and Louis squeezes my fingers.
“Ready?” he asks.
“For what?”
“Forever.”
“Hell yeah.”
The rest of our day is jam-packed with congratulations and meetings.
Delphine insisted we have drinks and celebrate while Louis was meeting with his parents and the council.
By the time I make it back to the loft, the sun has fully set.
While I wait for Louis so we can have dinner, I sit on the edge of the bed and pull out my phone.
Right now, I need to talk to my best friend.
Kendall answers on the second ring.
“Hi!” I say a little too bubbly because I’m tipsy.
“Hi!”
“I’m engaged!” I announce.
She starts screaming, so I pull the receiver away from my ear. I can’t hear exactly what she’s saying as I lean back on the bed, laughing. She’s talking so fast that I can barely keep up.
“You’re going to be a queen—an actual queen. I need to sit down.”
“I’m in shock. Like, how is this my life?”
“I’m so happy for you and Louis!” Another scream. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I can’t either.” My voice cracks. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Her voice softens. “After everything you’ve gone through, after everything you were willing to risk … you deserve love like this.”
“I finally believe that.”
“A royal wedding? Oh my gosh. It’s going to be incredible,” she singsongs.
“Keke?”
“Yes?”
“I love you. Thank you for being my best friend.”
“Aw. I love you too, Addy. I’m so proud of you and excited.” I can hear her smiling.
The door opens, and Louis enters.
“Hi!”
He smirks, moving toward me. “Hi.”
“Hi, Louis! Congrats!” Kendall says.
“Thank you,” he says.
“I’m going to let you go celebrate. Call me tomorrow.”
“I will.”
“Future queen of Montclaire,” she says. “Still can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I.”
We end the call, and Louis pulls me to my feet and into his arms.
“Is my fiancée ready for dinner?” he asks.
“Do we have thirty minutes?”
“Why?”
I slide my hands up his chest and hook them behind his neck. “I need you.”
“Damn.” His brow lifts. “I think that can be arranged.”