38. “All of Me” - John Legend
“All of Me” - John Legend
The sunshine has lied again. From inside the music room, it looks like a balmy day, full of sun and crisp air, with not a single snowflake on the ground. In reality, it’s cold enough to turn my veins into icicles.
The sound of laughter behind me teases at my attention, and I turn from the bow window, my fingers tangled in Tundra’s fur. My mother and Olivia are sitting at the table behind me, deep in conversation. With everything that’s happened this year, I’m glad they have each other.
The Duke of Sutherland is awaiting trial without bail. Henry thinks he will be sentenced to no less than twenty years for his crimes. Henry himself got off with fifty hours of community service, a price he’s more than happy to pay for his participation.
He’s been working with the authorities for the past three years, trying to gather enough evidence to put William behind bars. His father is a genius and not to be underestimated. He had the entire operation designed so that all leads pointed back to Henry himself.
It took most of Henry’s time and energy to finally be able to bring the entire empire down.
The base of their operations was at the palace the whole time, right under my nose, and I never suspected a thing.
In exchange for his cooperation and the risks he took to do it, the judge granted him leniency and a quick trial.
The press have their hands full covering the nest of maggots Henry’s revelations uncovered. They’re currently too busy to worry about my love life, something I’m all too grateful for.
My eyes find Henry on the other side of the room, talking to Beatrice.
The two of them have their backs turned to me and their heads bent over something.
Bea’s tinkling laugh fills the air again, and I smile.
It’s good to see them as friends instead of worrying that there might be more going on between them.
Henry’s plans in the new year include selling the majority of his businesses to fund the necessary steps we need to take to set up the income streams for the Royal Estate.
When I balked at this, he said it was the least he could do, considering the investments he made were with money from his father’s insidion ring.
He is also having a memorial erected in honor of all of the children who overdosed on the lethal drug.
I walk back to the table in the middle of the room, the remnants of Christmas dinner still strewn over its surface.
Tundra trots along beside me, fully back to his goofy self.
We kept the staff bare bones today so that as many of them as possible could celebrate with their families.
We’ve been fending for ourselves, and it shows.
Cleaning this mess up is going to be a chore.
I sit in the chair next to my mother and set my glass of port onto the table. She turns to me and smiles, clasping my shoulder in her warm, firm grip. I place a small peck on her cheek. The air between us has thawed since her big revelation, even if we still have a long way to go. We’ll get there.
Thanks to her, we have big plans to redeem my image with my people. I also have an interview scheduled next week with the most promising candidate for press secretary to come across my desk yet.
Bea twirls her way back to the table as well, resting her arms on the back of an empty chair. “Should we take this party to comfier seats?” she asks.
Henry approaches me from behind and bends to plant a kiss behind my earlobe. His hands find their way to my shoulders as his lips stray farther down. I do my best to stifle the moan that awakens in my throat. “Let’s ditch the lot of them,” he whispers.
I grin as heat climbs my neck. I slide my hand up to his, twining our fingers together.
“Soon,” I say, turning to meet his kiss.
We keep it chaste—our mothers are in the room, after all—then follow Bea to the sofa and chairs clustered around the fireplace.
Tundra settles his head on my lap. He’s never more than a few feet away from me at all times.
Henry stokes the fire with a poker, and the blaze roars with newfound oxygen. There’s a quick knock on the door. It opens to reveal Davies in his classic black suit. I bolt to my feet, and Tundra gives a surprised whine.
Henry stands, a giant grin on his face. “Looks like one of your Christmas presents has arrived,” he says to me.
I look back at Davies in confusion. “I don’t understand.” Then I spot the familiar earpiece in his ear. “You rehired him?”
Davies offers his own smile in return, a bigger one than I’ve ever seen on him before. “It’s an honor to be back in your service, Your Majesty. I just wanted to say happy Christmas.”
I want to hug him but know that would be uncomfortable for both of us. I settle for shaking his hand. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me.”
He nods. “It’s been my pleasure, ma’am.” The twinkle in his eye tells me he really means this.
“You should be celebrating with your family, not stuck here,” I say.
“Tyson is with his mum and her relatives. I’ll see him later this evening. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than here, ensuring your safety.”
“Hopefully the days of high vigilance are over.” I chance a quick glance over my shoulder at Henry, but he’s deep in conversation with Rosalind. Worry lines pucker his brow. “But your loyalty will never be forgotten.”
A red flush tints Davies’s cheeks through his bristly stubble. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my queen or country.”
“I know.” It’s taken me a while, but I’m finally recognizing that there are those whose commitment to Wesbourne rivals my own—men and women who lay their life on the line to protect not only her citizens, but also her monarch.
I will never view my security team as a burden again, not when they are jeopardizing so much for me. “Happy Christmas, Davies.”
He bows once and leaves as quietly as he came.
I move back to the sofa, taking a seat next to Olivia this time.
Bea and Rosalind are still speaking in hushed tones with Henry.
Olivia smiles at me, but sadness lurks in her eyes.
She just found out her husband was the mastermind behind a large drug operation, responsible for thousands of overdose deaths and the ripping apart of far too many families.
“How are you doing?” I ask, stroking Tundra’s head.
“Better today.” She gestures around the room. “This is helping get my mind off things.”
“I’m glad.” I reach for her hand. It’s cool to the touch. “You’re welcome here anytime.”
Henry and I haven’t talked about the future yet.
There hasn’t been time, between his hearing and preparing for the holidays this past week.
But regardless of where we stand, Olivia will always be like a second mother to me.
Besides, the palace was her home for most of her life. She belongs within its walls.
“Thank you,” she says. She reaches for the bracelet on my wrist. “This looks familiar.”
I twist it so she can see it better. “Henry and I made them for each other one summer.”
“Ah, that’s why. I’ve seen him wearing his recently.”
A firework of bliss explodes in my heart.
I don’t think he’s taken that friendship bracelet off since the day I found it in his box of things.
I don’t know what it symbolizes for him, but for me it’s a sign that my gut was right.
He has always been all of the things I thought he was.
The boy I adored and the man I love are one and the same, no matter what has happened these past ten years.
I found my own bracelet a few days ago and eagerly slipped it on. Until I get a tattoo, it’s the only way I can think of to symbolize that I’m his, completely and irrevocably.
“I’m so glad he has you,” Olivia says.
I realize that my eyes have wandered to Henry of their own accord. I pull them back to her, blushing. “I’m the lucky one.”
She fumbles with the wedding ring she still wears. “I also want to apologize for my husband’s actions.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. You’re not responsible for what he did.”
She looks at me with watery eyes. “I feel like I should have known somehow.”
I understand that feeling, despite it being illogical. “He was brilliant at covering his tracks.”
“He was.” She sniffs and dabs at her nose with a tissue. “I still don’t understand how he was poisoning your coffee. Henry tried to explain it to me, but my brain hasn’t been functioning the same recently.”
Memories of the thallium poisoning threaten to make my dinner rise in my throat. I shove them away. “He had thallium added to the vanilla syrup in the coffee shop.” Which means I am far from the only one who has been suffering the adverse effects of his far-reaching power.
Olivia clucks beside me in sympathy. She bears no blame in any of this, but it can’t be an easy truth to live with.
My phone buzzes on the table in front of us.
Maisie: Happy Christmas!!!!!!!!
Attached is a picture of her and Beck in the most atrocious sweaters I’ve ever seen. I snicker and show the photo to Olivia.
“Oh my,” she says, covering her smile. “Those are . . . unique.”
I slide the phone back onto the table as Bea claps her hands. “Who’s ready for presents?” she squeals.
Henry sits beside me and puts his arm around my shoulder as we exchange gifts with the people we love.
Being with him, actually with him, in public is still such a new sensation that I feel a bit like a preteen with her first boyfriend.
Heat grows in the space where our thighs are pressed together, and the way his fingers trace imaginary lines over my shoulder is extremely distracting.
“Leave her alone, Henry,” Bea says, watching me unwrap the gift she’s given me. “She’ll never get it open at this rate.”
Our gift exchange continues until the pile under the tree is gone.
“This is one of the best Christmases ever,” I say, sliding my hand up and down Henry’s thigh, relishing the way he jerks when I get too close to his groin.
The port has loosened my reserve, and I snuggle into him, no longer caring who sees us displaying affection.
Let the world know I love this man. I’d shout it from the pinnacle of the palace if I could.
“It’s not quite over,” Henry says. His voice rumbles under my ear from where I’m cozily leaning against his chest. “I still have one more gift.” He shifts me off and stands.
I glance over at the tree, but the floor beneath it is empty.
Instead of walking away to retrieve anything, he kneels in front of me and takes my hands in his.
Oh my god. It’s the only thing I can think, because I know what happens next in this story.
“Celia, you are the most incredible woman I know. You are so brave and dedicated and passionate. You would do anything for those you love. Watching you on fire should be considered one of the wonders of the world.”
Tears well up in my eyes, and there’s no way to stop them from spilling over.
“I know we haven’t talked about what the future holds for us,” Henry continues. “I know our relationship has been unconventional in every single way. But I’ve spent most of my life in love with you, and I don’t want to go another day without waking up next to that beautiful smile.”
He slides his hand into his pants pocket and pulls out a small velvet box. “We’ve done this once before. That time, the only answer I got was a nod. I’m hoping you’ll be a little more enthusiastic this time.”
Laughter rings throughout the room and reminds me that we are not alone. The giant, insurmountable lump in my throat has also joined us.
“Celia Eleanor, queen of my heart and my country,” he says, then pauses. He’s fighting tears of his own, but there’s a smile at the corners of his mouth. “Will you marry me?”
He pops open the box, displaying an exquisite ring. It’s not the diamond-and-emerald one he used to propose when we did it for king and country, but it’s stunning all the same. I cover my mouth to keep my sob from becoming audible.
“Say yes already!” Bea says.
I hiccup-laugh and meet Henry’s gaze. “What a ridiculous question. Of course I’ll marry you.”
He seals his mouth to mine before I even have time to process what’s happening. I barely register the pop of the lid shutting on the box before his hands are threading through my hair, holding me in place as he gives me a taste of what’s to come when we’re alone.
“Get a room,” Bea groans.
“Beatrice,” Mum scolds, but there’s a smile in her voice.
Henry and I pull apart, grinning like idiots at each other. God, we must be repulsive, but I don’t care. He slips the ring from the box and holds it out. “You sure about this?”
“Don’t give her a chance to back out, dude,” Bea says.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything,” I say.
Henry slides the gold band onto my finger and kisses my hand just like he did the last time. The action might be the same, but my heart couldn’t feel any more different.
“To the start of forever,” he says.