Chapter 22
Twenty-Two
The rest of the morning and early afternoon crawl by in slow, unbearable minutes.
I pass the time unpacking and repacking the few things the embassy staff retrieved from my hotel, reorganizing the desk in the sitting area, straightening objects that don’t need straightening. I make tea. Forget about it. Make another cup. Nothing helps.
Desperate for a distraction, I ask the staff to purchase some yarn and a crocheting needle, and spend an hour hunched over, watching a “Beginning Magic Ring” tutorial, hoping it’ll calm my nerves. It does the opposite.
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, glaring at the fuzzy pink bird’s nest tangled around my fingers.
“Crocheting shouldn’t be this hard. It looked so simple in the video.
” I flop backward onto the sofa with a groan and toss the half-made disaster aside.
“Maybe I missed my calling. Maybe I should’ve been a sailor.
At least they know what to do with a mess of rope. ”
“You know,” a familiar voice says, “if you want to learn to sail, I’d be happy to take you out when we get back. Plenty of good spots in the Florida Keys.”
I bolt upright to see Leon leaning against the door frame, looking remarkably casual for someone standing in a high-security embassy.
“Leon! I’m glad you made it!” I exclaim.
“Hope I’m not interrupting you,” he says, pushing off the wood.
“You aren’t.”
A woman clears her throat.
My attention travels to the maid standing next to Leon. “Is there anything else we can get for you, Your Highness?”
“Oh, um, no. Thank you.”
The maid bows and retreats out of the sitting room.
“So, do I have permission to enter the royal chambers?”
“Oh—yes, of course.” I stand up quickly, tugging my ponytail free from the neckline of my jumper.
He steps inside, glancing around at the silk wallpaper and mahogany furniture. “Do I need to bow or something? I didn’t get the memo on the protocol.”
“No,” I stammer, heat rushing to my cheeks. “Never. Please don’t. I—just don’t.”
“Relax, kiddo,” he snorts, his voice softening into that familiar, steady tone. “Nothing’s changing between us just because you’re a princess. To me, you’ll always be Kaori—the first person I’d pick for a trivia team and the third person I’d call if I were stranded on a deserted island.”
I blink, momentarily distracted from my misery. “Third?”
“My kids come first. But you’d be ahead of Riverton.”
“Fair enough,” I concede, feeling a small piece of my old life click back into place. “But out of curiosity, why me above Theo?”
Leon lowers himself into one of the wingback chairs near the fireplace.
His knees give an audible crack. “Riverton’s a great guy and brilliant.
But he’d spend the entire time stuck in his own head, overcalculating the wind resistance of a coconut.
You, on the other hand, would probably figure out how to build a motorized escape raft out of a tree branch, three rocks, and some chewing gum. ”
“That’s a lot of pressure.”
“It is,” he says simply. “But you could handle it like the champ you are.”
We fall into easy chatter for a few minutes, debating which fruit trees would grow on this imaginary island and the statistical odds of either of us learning to fish without losing a finger. It’s a mercy—a few minutes of being just Kaori and Leon again.
But eventually, the gravity of the room wins. The conversation circles back to the thing neither of us wants to touch.
“Have you seen the latest headlines?” I ask, my voice dropping.
Leon exhales through his nose, the humor draining from his expression. “Yeah. It’s everywhere. You’d have to be living in a lead-lined bunker to miss it.”
My fingers curl into the fabric of my jumper. “Have you heard from Theo?”
“Not since the last text I sent you.” Leon leans back.
“After the lobby cleared out and stopped looking like a Super Bowl parade from hell, I checked his office. Empty. Checked every conference room on the floor. I even called in a favor with a buddy in security to see if he’d been pulled into a private briefing or escorted out the back.
” He shakes his head. “Nothing. He’s gone off the grid. ”
Leon’s mouth tightens. “Running away isn’t his usual move.
” He studies me for a moment, his eyes sharp and perceptive.
“I’ve watched that man take hit after hit from his father—professionally and personally.
He’s always just absorbed it. He’s like a machine that way.
He takes the damage, recalibrates, and keeps moving. ”
Leon exhales. “But today wasn’t business as usual. Dragging you into it crossed a line. It was a personal attack. And Theo finally pushed back.”
My pulse stutters.
“If I had to bet,” Leon continues, “I’d say Theo is finally done playing soldier for Darth Harris.
” He meets my eyes, his expression dead serious.
“Because if he didn’t draw that line today, he would’ve lost you.
And whether he’s ready to admit it to himself yet or not, you matter more to him than this company and his career.
You’re the one person, aside from yours truly, who can get him to smile and crack a few jokes.
He’s another person when you’re around. You make him happy. ”
A small bloom of warmth spreads through me. I want to believe him. I just hope Theo doesn’t end up regretting it—regretting me, and the fact that I’m the reason he broke that promise to his grandmother. I know how much it meant to him.
“I made a choice too.” I draw a steadying breath, shifting the focus back to the only thing I can control.
“I’m planning to file a formal harassment report with HR and a police report here.
Mr. Harris threatened me, Leon. He fired me without just cause, tried to smear me publicly, and dragged Theo into the mud with him.
” My voice tightens. “If I don’t do something, he just keeps winning. I can’t let that happen.”
Leon’s eyes widen, and then he lets out a low, appreciative whistle. “Good for you. Maybe this time, Harris will finally hit a wall he can’t climb over.”
My breath hitches. “This time?”
Leon hesitates. “I know of a few people who’ve gone to HR about him over the years. He buried the reports. Then he buried the people.” His jaw flexes. “But this is different. He picked the wrong woman this time.”
I knew I couldn’t be the only one. I hope my coming forward will encourage others to do so. I cross my arms, and the anxiety rushes back in. “I just hope it’s enough. I don’t know if my word will hold up against his.”
Leon’s expression turns steady, immovable. “It won’t just be your word, kiddo. We’re in this together. The whole team has your back.”
I step forward and pull him into a hug, leaning into the familiar, steady presence of my work dad.
“While we wait for the fallout from all that . . .” Leon says, pulling back with a conspiratorial glint in his eye, “I think I know where Theo is hiding out.”
“Why didn’t you lead with that? Where?”
“It just hit me, kiddo. But I’m pretty sure he’s headed to Devon,” he says simply.
“His grandmother’s farm.” The pieces click together. Theo is headed to his safe haven. Home. “I need to get there. Now.”
“Hold your horses, kiddo. I need to call his grandmom to warn her. She doesn’t like surprises.”
I frown. “How do you have her phone number?”
“When Theo first moved to Orlando, he didn’t have a soul in the States. He had to list someone as his emergency contact for the HR paperwork, and since I was the only one who didn’t give him a headache, I got the job.” Leon gives a shrug.
“Last winter, he came down with a nasty case of the flu. High fever, totally out of it. I practically had to carry him to the clinic, and when he was at his most delirious, the only thing he wanted was his grandmother’s shepherd’s pie.
I ended up digging her number out of his contacts just to get the recipe.
We’ve kept in touch ever since. She calls me the ‘only sensible man in the company,’ which, considering the competition, is a pretty low bar.
” He pulls out his phone. “Give me one sec.”
Thank goodness Leon was there because if Theo had been in London .
. . well, I don’t even want to think about him lying in a flat, feverish, alone, and only half-conscious, with nobody to take care of him.
I mean, I’m sure his grandmother would’ve made the trip to London, but the point is, he couldn’t count on anyone in the Excelsior office.
He doesn’t have a work family here like he does in Orlando.
As Leon has said, we take care of our own.
Or rather, they do. I’ve forgotten I don’t have a job anymore. But that’s a problem for later.
“Mm-hmm . . . thanks for letting me know, Margaret. I’ll be in touch with you again once we have our game plan.” He hangs up. “She thinks I'm right on the money and Theo is headed to Devon.”
“There’s a lot riding on this. What if we’re wrong?”
“We aren’t. There is nowhere else the boss would go. Trust me,” he says.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “Then there’s where I need to be. Except my security team isn’t going to let me just wander out the front door.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Leon stands, crossing the room with a calm, deliberate gait. “Just take them with you. The cat’s out of the bag, Kaori. You have nothing left to hide. Make it easy on yourself and just tell them where we’re going. At the end of the day, they work for you.”
I open my mouth to argue, but the logic is sound. Yamada-san and Sato-san will likely be horrified by the idea of me venturing into the countryside in the middle of a scandal, but they won’t disobey a direct order. “I guess you’re right,” I murmur.
“I usually am.” Leon meets my eyes, his expression turning sharp. “Now, Theo’s got a three-hour head start, but he’s driving. If you go by air, you can catch him before he even pulls into the driveway.”
“Um . . . air?”
“Uh-huh. I was thinking helicopter. A plane seems a bit over the top, but hey, you do you, Kaori.”
I stare at him. Does he hear how insane that sounds? “Leon, I can’t just rent a helicopter. That will cost thousands.”
“Mm-hm. Probably deep into five figures.”
I keep staring at him. I have the funds, but it’s not something my parents would ever approve of.
They’d call it a reckless waste of resources.
But then I picture Theo’s heartbroken face in that lobby.
I hear his father’s voice telling him he was a mistake, a disappointment, a useful scandal.
Theo is currently driving toward the coast believing he is alone.
That I abandoned him in his hour of need.
For twenty-two years, I’ve always done what was expected of me, and conformed to the image of the “perfect” Japanese princess.
For once, it’s time I listened to my heart.
To hell with the rules. Five figures is a small price to pay for the man you love.
In fact, it’s the best investment I’ve ever made.
As it turns out, even when you have the funds and the Japanese Embassy’s security team actively helping to make it happen, chartering a helicopter on a whim is not simple. At all.
Leon and I are hunched over the small table in my suite, phones on speaker. Between us, a notepad is covered in crossed-out company names, flight times, and a few increasingly aggressive doodles Leon has added in the margins.
After we hang up on the sixth call, I press my palms to my temples.
“We’re wasting time. By now we could’ve been a third of the way there.
Admit it, Leon, we’re out of luck.” I slump back in my chair.
Desperate measures apparently require advance booking, rigorous safety checks, flight plans, and twelve thousand pounds.
He winces. “You’re right. I didn’t realize helicopters came with this much red tape.”
“We found a helicopter,” I say, frustration tightening my chest. “But what use is it if we don’t have a pilot available until tomorrow morning?”
My phone buzzes with a text from Alice.
Alice
What’s the latest? Any luck?
Kaori
Still grounded.
Alice
Well, luckily for you, I have a solution.
The dots dance on the screen as she types.
Alice
One word. Angela.
I slap a hand over my forehead. How did I forget? Alice’s lead protection officer is a former RAF pilot.
Kaori
Could I borrow her? Only I don’t know if the charter company would even allow it. “Bring your own pilot” isn’t standard practice.
Alice’s reply is instant.
Alice
My Angela is your Angela. She’d never turn down a chance to get back in the air. As for the company? Leave that to me.
Kaori
I shouldn’t ask, but what are you planning to do?
Alice
Just something my brother taught me.
Kaori
Which is?
Alice
People go the extra mile for a polite call from a royal and the promise of some positive press.
Kaori
A, no. I’d like to leave the press out of this.
Alice
Relax. I was thinking of volunteering Eddie for a charity flight and a photo op at a date TBD. It’s exactly the sort of currency these companies trade in.
Kaori
You’re not interested?
Alice
Absolutely not. The closest I get to helicopters is the flying elephants at Disney.
I laugh to myself.
Kaori
What would I do without you?
Alice
You’d figure it out eventually. Now—have you thought about what you’re wearing?
Kaori
No. Jeans? A jumper?
Alice
No, no, no! You need something to remind your bloke why he can’t live without you.
Kaori
Um . . .
Alice
Fortunately, my neighbor is a brilliant fashion designer. I know your taste, and she has the perfect piece in her new collection. I’ll send it over with Angela.
All I can do is stare at my phone before sending a thumbs-up emoji.
Theo, I’m on my way. Even if he isn’t ready to see me, it’s worth the risk. I’d rather face an empty farmhouse than live with the questions of what might have been.