Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Stellan
In the driver’s seat of my car, I look over at Margot. She looks anxious, chewing her lip and bouncing her knee.
“We are almost back to the palace,” I say. “Have you thought of what you’re going to say to your bosses?”
She looks over at me with a worried smile. “It’s all I’ve thought about since we got in the car. Yet I haven’t come up with anything good. What do I say? Sorry about the story, but I’ve decided to date the crown prince?”
I shrug. “Tell them the truth. They can’t be mad at you for that.”
She gives a huff of laughter. “Yes they can. They have every right to fire me. If I lose my job, I might get a call from immigration, wondering what I’m still doing here.”
I fix her with a long look. “You won’t. I’ll have Erik make some calls.”
Sighing, she looks away. “I wish I didn’t need you to call in any favors. But thank you for doing it.”
I pull the car up the long driveway in front of the palace, putting it in park. Glancing over at Margot, I tug her hand into my lap. She turns her head toward me, biting her lip.
I reach up and tuck a strand of her hair back behind her ear. “I have to go in and tell my grandmother that I’m defying her. You have to go tell your editor the same thing, basically.” I inhale deeply. “If it helps, I’m still in love with you.”
She laughs. “It definitely doesn’t hurt.”
I pull her in, kissing her fully on the mouth. Then I turn her loose with a sigh. “All right. I’m ready to face the firing squad.”
Margot nods, opening the car door. “Yeah. Text me later and let me know how it went.”
I climb out of the car and lean against the roof briefly. As she stands and grabs her bag, I stand there, looking at her ass and her bare legs in her super short dress.
God damn. After a weekend like we just had, where we fucked until we were too exhausted to move every single day… I should have found the saturation point with Margot. I should be content and fulfilled. And yet… I’m not.
I don’t know that I’ll ever be, to be completely honest.
I bite my lip, smiling. “I will.”
She wrinkles her nose and then walks away, heading for the Politiken offices. I take a deep breath and look up at the palace. Then I stride toward the main entrance, jogging up the steps.
As I enter a few people are waiting for me. A butler, several maids… and Erik, standing tall, looking especially Scandinavian with his blond hair and enormous stature.
“Erik,” I greet him. “How are things?”
Just from the way his lips thin, I can tell that he is irritated with me. He just turns and heads toward the carpeted stairs in front of us. “You were missed yesterday.”
I follow him up the stairs and into the grand hall, heading toward my study. He bursts through the door and strides past the leather armchairs and the fireplace, throwing himself down in the leather couch with a loud sigh.
“Well?” he demands. I close the door and sit on a corner of my oak desk, crossing my arms and pursing my lips.
“Well what?” I ask.
“You cancelled your appearances yesterday.”
Cocking my head, I squint at him. “So?”
“So… you missed the board meeting regarding the children’s cancer center to be named after Anton. You knew that was important to me!”
That gives me pause. Anton was Erik’s little brother; he died of childhood lymphoma. The board meeting was a meeting of the royal family, in which they voted on which projects to fund.
“Ahh. Shit.” I wince. “Did the family really vote against a children’s cancer center?”
“It got funded, but barely. That’s not really the point, Stellan. You promised me that you would be there to champion Anton’s name!”
I blow out a breath. In the back of my mind, I knew that coming back to Copenhagen was going to be like this. I knew that I would be disappointing someone and letting someone down. I always am, I guess.
It’s just usually not Erik.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”
Puffing out my cheeks, I sigh. “I spent the weekend with Margot.”
Erik stills, his eyes tightening on my face. “What do you mean, you spent the weekend with her?”
At that moment, the door to the study swings open. I turn and watch as my grandmother glides in wearing a light gray pantsuit.
I paste on my coolest smile. “Ah, Momse. Good, I can tell both of you at once.”
My grandmother arches a brow. “I hope you are about to tell me why you felt like shirking your duties yesterday. It was very difficult to get enough royals to cover all your engagements.”
I want to roll my eyes, but instead I just continue to smile. “I’m dating Margot Keane.”
Her nostrils flare. Erik shakes his head, glaring at me.
“That’s a bad idea,” he mutters.
I shoot him a glare.
Ida raises her chin and looks me square in the eye. “Is that the journalist from America?”
“Yes.”
She brushes a bit of invisible lint from her jacket sleeve. “You know that you can’t marry her.”
I hold up a hand. “No one said anything about marriage. I haven’t even looked into that possibility yet.”
She eyes me. “Stellan, you were raised to hold yourself to high standards. Certainly higher than a poor American reporter. I mean, really! I’m not even sure that our constitution will allow the crown prince to marry a foreigner, much less someone of such a different class than our family.”
My lips thin. I draw myself up to my full height. “I know that Margot isn’t your choice, Momse. But for now, she is mine. So you can either deal with it or you can find someone else to be your well-behaved little pet prince.”
Ida’s hand goes to her chest. She opens her mouth to retort, but I’m already turning my attention to Erik.
“And you.” I glare at him. “I am sorry that I missed the vote yesterday. That was wrong of me. But I’ll tell you now… I won’t tolerate anyone telling me how to live my life. You need to get comfortable with the fact that I’m dating Margot.” I look at Ida. “Both of you do.”
Erik looks angry. “You don’t even know any of her past, Stel. Trust me, she has plenty to hide.”
“Really?” I ask, crossing my arms. “Tell me. Go ahead. Get it out of your system now.”
Ida clears her throat. “I had someone look into her background. It isn’t pretty.”
I make a disgusted sound. “So what? Unless one of you is willing to tell me what kind of mysterious things Margot has done that I don’t know about…”
There is a silent moment where Ida and Erik look at each other, their frowns heavy. I shake my head.
“I didn’t think so,” I say.
A butler hovers in the doorway and clears his throat. “Pardon me, but the crown prince has a number of engagements to prepare for today…”
“Thank you,” I say to the butler. Swinging back to Erik and Ida, I shrug one shoulder. “Being the prince never ends.”
Then I turn and stride out of the room, following the butler.