Chapter 46
Courtney
It’s a lazy Saturday morning and I’m still in bed.
Micah had a rough night with teething so he’s asleep beside me and I’m scrolling on my phone.
I’ve been watching junk journaling videos and though I’ve never been one for crafts, it feels like something I could do.
There’s no rhyme or reason to it, and you can journal with text, just pictures and images, or both, depending on your mood.
There’s over a hundred dollars in beginner supplies in the cart of this shop I got sucked into, and the frugal part of me thinks this is ridiculous while the part of me that now has millions of dollars in the bank thinks I need a hobby.
My finger hovers on the “buy now” button just as a text pops up that makes me gasp.
DANIIL: Good morning. Are you home? Could you let me in? I brought pastries.
What on earth?
Wait—he’s here? With breakfast?
I kick free of the covers, drop my phone, and run for the front door.
“Hey, sweetheart.” He’s leaning against the door jamb looking equal parts disheveled and gorgeous.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” I ask in a hushed whisper. Like someone might hear us.
“I brought breakfast.” He cocks his head. “Can I come in?”
“I…yes, of course. I have to go get the baby—he’s in my bed.”
“Can I get him?”
“Uh…sure.” I take the bag of what I assume is pastries as he brushes past me and heads for my room.
I put the bag down in the kitchen and turn on the coffeemaker on autopilot before following him. He’s on the bed, one of his big fingers gently stroking his son’s cheek.
Tears prick my eyelids.
Nothing could ever be more beautiful than the sight of my son and his father. Together. It was a complete accident, but Daniil and I made the most beautiful, perfect little angel in the whole world. Everyone probably says that, but I don’t care.
“Come join us, sweetheart.” Daniil holds out a hand to me and I’m drawn in.
“Daniil…” I blink back tears as I put my hand in his. “Why are you here?”
“Because I’m completely in love with you.” His beautiful blue eyes meet mine. “I missed you. Both of you. I don’t know how we’re going to make this work, but we have to. I know you’re worried about his safety, and I am too, but I can protect you better if I’m here.”
“Here? As in Vegas?”
“Vegas. New York. Hawaii. You pick a place, and we’ll live there.”
“I don’t understand—what changed?”
“Me.” He tugs me closer, so I’m pressed against his side. “Living without you isn’t living, Courtney. I’m just taking up space and air. There’s no purpose to my life.”
“Mine either,” I whisper, searching his face for answers. “But Micah…”
“Micah will be a happier, healthier little boy with both his mother and his father raising him. If you want me to say he’s not mine, we can still do that. But I don’t want him to spend a single second wondering why his father didn’t want him.”
“You took the oath…”
“I know. But there are ways around it. I will always love and protect my family when I can. That doesn’t mean I have to live there and do it twenty-four-seven.
I love you, Courtney. More than anything.
More than my country, my heritage, my bloodline.
Without you, none of that means anything.
I can’t live without you.” He pauses. “I don’t want to live without you. ”
“But—”
“I can’t promise you that nothing bad will ever happen again, but I can promise you I’ll do everything in my power to keep you and our family safe. Always. And whatever you need me to do to prove that to you, I will.”
There’s so much sincerity in his voice, it’s more than I can stand. I don’t want him to grovel. Not when he’s already bared his soul.
“Daniil.” I curl into his arms, snuggling into his warmth.
For the first time in a month, I feel whole again. Like a part of me was missing until this moment.
He loves me.
He said it that last night in Limaj, but I didn’t know for sure whether he meant that he was in love with me or that he simply loved me too, since it was such an emotional moment.
There’s no doubt about his meaning now.
“Say it again,” I whisper.
He smiles. “I love you. More than anyone or anything in this life, other than my son. And I always will. Whatever it takes for us to be together, we’ll do it. If you want me to—”
I don’t care about the details anymore; I just care about him.
So, I cut him off by stuffing my tongue in his mouth and showing him how I feel.
He kisses me back, urgently, until tiny feet start to kick and Micah whimpers, alerting us that he’s awake.
We break apart reluctantly, but there’s plenty of time for kissing later.
“What’s up, big guy?” Daniil rolls onto his back and puts Micah on his chest. “Did you miss me?”
“Dada.”
It’s the first time he’s said it in days and my heart melts all over again.
* * *
Much later, after we’ve had breakfast, fed and changed Micah, gone for a walk, had another cup of coffee, and finally put Micah down for his nap, we curl up on the couch.
“I have an idea about something,” I tell him. “I was considering it on my own but now…this might be kismet.”
“Tell me.” He searches my face.
“What would you think about buying Westfield & Carruthers?”
He blinks. Apparently, I’ve caught him by surprise.
“Buying it?” he repeats softly.
I explain what Chains told us.
Our eyes meet and at the same time we both breathe, “yes.”
Because it’s exactly the right thing. For him and for me and for us.
A business in a field we’re both familiar with.
Positions of power so we can dictate our own hours.
Doing something with purpose, to help people.
These are just some of the things I’ve been thinking about since the meeting with Chains, but I don’t have to say it all because somehow, Daniil instinctively already knows.
In some ways, we’re a lot alike. The drive to accomplish something in life is ingrained in us.
With him it was his oath as a Royal Protector and his devotion to taking back his country.
For me it manifested in my service in the military and flying helicopters.
Now it’s going to be something different.
“What would you think about living in California?” he asks after a moment. “Moving the business there once we take over.”
“Why California?”
“It’s big and there are places we can build a compound where we can live and run the business—safely.”
I stare at him. “It’s like we share a brain sometimes.”
“I’ve been thinking about it for several weeks, it just didn’t take shape until now—shadow security guards.”
“Shadow security?” I ask curiously.
“A venture where we work in the shadows to help people. Celebrities with stalkers, women running from abuse—I haven’t worked out the details yet, but that’s where my thought process is. I have the money so why not help people?”
“I also have money,” I whisper, batting my eyelashes. “Did you know I have a sugar daddy?”
“You do?” He widens his eyes playfully. “I hope he gives you lots of spending money.”
“He does. In fact, I was going to use some to buy Westfield and Carruthers. I didn’t get as far as what the focus would be but yes—women on the run, stalkers, those are the things that give what we do meaning.”
“Don’t get me wrong, if we’re going to put people with exceptional skills on the payroll, we need money rolling in so there will be all the regular bodyguard and security stuff too. Just with a twist.”
“Shadow security.” I roll it over in my mind. “I think that’s what we call it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Shadow Security. In capital letters. That’s the name of the company once we buy it. With a slightly different mission statement.”
“I like it.” He nods.
Everything is snowballing out of control and even though it’s exciting, it’s all a little overwhelming. And I have to be positive he’s serious because I couldn’t survive if he left me again.
“Are you sure, Daniil? I feel like I’m pulling you away from the life you were born to.”
“You’re not. I’m here because I finally realized it’s not the life I want. Something changed while I was in exile, and though I had to help Erik get things off the ground, now that it’s up and running…I needed to pivot. I need you and our son. And he gave his blessing.”
“He did?”
“He’s the one who told me to get on the plane to Vegas the moment the pipeline bill passed.”
“It passed!”
“It did. And I got on the first plane to Vegas. I’ll still have responsibilities until the elections in January. Can you hang in there until then? It’ll be a long-distance thing for a while but—”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why will it be a long-distance thing?”
“Do you plan to come back and forth to Limaj with me?”
“Absolutely.” My gaze burns into his. “Now that you’re mine, I’m not letting you go. I will suck it up and pull up my big-girl pants if I have to. Besides, we’re going to have to visit, right? They’re still your family.”
“Our family,” he corrects gently. “Because you’re part of me now.”
“I love you, Daniil Gustaffson.”
“I love you too, Courtney Grimshaw. Will you marry me?”
I freeze. “Now?”
“We’re in Vegas—why not?”
I frown.
“You want a big, girlie wedding?” he asks, his lips quirking up.
“Maybe. I’m considering my options.”
“Well, you just let me know. We can run out and elope today and then have the big wedding in Limaj next—”
“Winter,” I interrupt, biting my lip excitedly. “I’ve always dreamed of a winter wedding. With snow and horse-drawn carriages…”
“Is that your wedding fantasy?”
“It is.”
“Ask and you shall receive—a winter wedding it is. January? It will be spectacularly cold in Limaj, but the palace looks beautiful covered in snow. And I can certainly round up some horses and a carriage or three.”
“Then I’m happy.”
“No interest in a ring?”
I shrug. “I have you—that’s all I need.”
“Well, me and a winter wedding.”
“Okay, yes.” I grin.
He presses his lips to mine. “Tomorrow, we go ring shopping.”
“Okay.”
“Elope now, wedding later?”
“Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
“And then we go talk to Chains.”
“Yes.”
“It feels like everything is moving really fast…”
“Are you afraid?”
I pause thoughtfully.
Am I?
For some reason I’m not.
Nothing has changed but everything is different.
He’s still a prince but won’t be a working royal after January.
He also won’t be a politician anymore.
He took his oath as a Royal Protector, but Erik gave him a loophole.
We can have a modicum of anonymity.
Nothing will ever be perfect, and I know bad things can still happen, but I’m less afraid with him at my side, so we can weather those storms together.
I rest my head against his shoulder. “Thank you for being my prince,” I whisper.
“Thank you for agreeing to be my princess. For the rest of eternity.”
Tomboy Courtney Grimshaw is going to be a princess.
That’s pretty fucking cool.