Chapter 48
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
LEO
Someone knocked on the front door of Leo’s apartment. He opened one bleary eye and sat up in bed. Emma had left hours ago, and he’d come back and crashed after dropping her off. Who even knew he lived here? It must have been Sal.
He tossed off a blanket and ambled over to the door. He was in sweatpants and no shirt, but who in town was likely to care?
He opened the door without looking and almost fell over in shock.
“Mom?”
There was the queen, arms crossed and cheeks pink, looking like she had just walked down from the castle. He hadn’t seen her on foot in the village in forever. Years, maybe.
There was a ninety-five percent chance she was here to scream at him. But she had already cut him off—what more could she do?
“Good morning, Leopold,” she said very formally, as though he wasn’t wearing sweatpants with an adobo sauce stain on them from last night’s celebratory nachos.
“Come in,” he said, standing back to allow her to enter.
She stared at the tiny flat and the gaggle of kittens before turning back to him. Her brows were knit together.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
She stiffly held out a bakery bag. He opened it to reveal two muffins.
“I’m redeeming my auction item,” she said. “A meal with Prince Leo.”
“That was you?”
She nodded. “I have some things to say. And a birthday gift to give you.”
A birthday gift? Apparently she hadn’t forgotten after all.
She reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. She handed it over, and he thanked her. It didn’t feel like a wad of cash. So what was it?
“I’ve never missed one of my children’s birthdays before,” she said quietly. “I remember every minute of the day you were born. You were always so conscientious, even then. You waited until I had a restful night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast before attempting to make your arrival.”
He smiled. At least she wasn’t screaming yet.
“Spending your birthday without you was something of a wake-up call for me. I haven’t always been the best at showing it, but I hope you know I care about you. Very much. Your father does too.”
Leo fiddled with the envelope. His mom had never expressed feelings to him before. Was she ill? Or maybe this was a dream. That made more sense. He surreptitiously pinched his own arm but didn’t suddenly jolt into a different reality.
“It’s not easy being born into royalty,” the queen said. “I’ve seen how it’s affected your father and brother. I’m not proud of what I’ve done to you. It was an overreaction, cutting you off. I know you do a lot of good with the money.”
He shook his head. “While what you’re saying is valid, I need to apologize for what I said after the ball. It was needlessly cruel.”
The queen sighed. “It may have been cruel, but you weren’t wrong.” She moved to stare out the window at the street, a tiny slice of her kingdom.
“Somewhere along the way, I think I lost sight of what it means to be queen. When the country voted to transition to a constitutional monarchy, I took it as a slight. Like they didn’t trust me and your father enough to lead them.
When, realistically, it was just what needed to happen.
Monarchies are outdated, antiquated. I just wanted to remind them that we’re… still here.”
Leo came to stand next to her, and together they stared out the window. “You still have such power. You have so much capacity to do some good for this country.”
“I know. That’s why I’m meeting with parliament this morning.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“To discuss the creation of a new office and a new position. The minister of charitable giving. They would maintain oversight of the nation’s need for charity projects and be given access to funds to accomplish the necessary work.
I think I know the perfect candidate for it.
It’s highly irregular for a member of the royal family to hold a traditional job, but I can’t think of anyone better suited. ”
Leo turned to her. “You do mean me and not John, right?”
The queen let out a startled laugh, then quickly composed herself. “Yes, Leopold. I meant you. I see what you do for our people, even if you think I don’t.”
He was silent for a moment as he considered this.
It was the perfect job, a permanent solution to his ingrained need to help the people of this country.
He wouldn’t even have to do it on the down-low this time.
No one could stand in his way or hold him back.
He could do so much good. And he’d be more suited to that than taking care of elephants or working in a diner.
But there was the Emma part of it all. What would a permanent position here to do their relationship?
Leo bit his lip. “I do hope that the position will allow for remote work some of the time.”
The queen turned away from the window and sat primly on the edge of the couch. “Things are getting serious with the baker.”
He struggled to find the right words. “She’s more than a baker, Mom.”
“I know,” she said quietly.
“But you’re right. Things are getting more serious. And we need to have a conversation about what that means.”
She turned toward him. “Go on.”
“I can’t have you making snide remarks about her being American or being from a poor family. Emma’s background has nothing to do with her value and her worth as a human being. She’s incredible. Kind and funny and so smart. I think in time you’ll see that.”
The queen stood and reached into her purse. “I already do.”
The righteousness fell out of his sails. Considering she had cut him off for merely dancing with Emma, he had expected more of a fight.
“I won’t expose Emma to a toxic environment,” he continued.
There was no way to tell if this was a permanent attitude change.
“If you want to be in our lives, I am setting a boundary—today—that you will be kind. Or at the very least, neutral. I won’t have her treated like she’s ‘less than’ because of where she grew up or what her family situation is.
This whole ‘keeping the royal bloodline pure’ thing is archaic and creepy.
And you need to start attending therapy. Like, tomorrow.”
The queen pulled a face for a moment, then seemed to decide not to comment. She removed a small box from her purse and rose to her feet. She pressed it into his hand. “Fine. Emma’s unprecedented arrival here opened my eyes to a lot of things I was too stubborn to see. You have my word.”
“What’s this?” he asked.
She gestured at it, and he opened the lid. A massive solitaire-cut diamond winked at him from the box.
The fuck?
“For when you’re ready. It was your grandmother’s. I was planning to give this to your brother but…”
Was this his mom’s way of saying she approved of Emma? After cutting him off just for being seen with her? Maybe she had poisoned it.
“Well,” he said slowly. “Thank you. I think it’ll be a while till we get to that stage. We still have to figure out how to make this work.”
“Yes. Well. She came to see me, you know. After the protest.”
He froze. Was that where she had disappeared to?
“She explained a lot about your motives. And she shared her story with me.” Her eyebrows contracted, and she went back to staring out the window. “You’re right to be worried about the shelters in the kingdom. We need to do better. Incidentally, I have one more piece of news to share.”
Leo’s breath caught. This was either going to be really good or result in another royal shouting match. He carefully shut the door behind him and consciously tried to adopt a blank expression.
“There’s been an unfortunate issue with the permits for the new ski resort. So it seems the lot is available, after all.”
His mouth dropped open. “It is?”
“The deed is in your envelope. Your father’s already signed off on the project,” she said carefully.
His mind raced a thousand miles a minute. There was so much to do. He needed to call his project manager and the contractors and—
He stopped. First, he needed to be present in this moment with his mom. He had never seen her have a change of heart on anything. They should consider making it a national holiday.
Before he could think better of it, he ran in and hugged her tight. She was rigid under his grasp but relaxed enough to pat him awkwardly on the back.
“Thank you,” he said. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
He had never thought she would crumble this quickly. Emma’s plan had worked. Maybe public humiliation had been the right call, after all.
“Well,” she said, “you didn’t leave me much of a choice after you had half the country marching on the castle.” She waved a hand as if there were still protesters ready to boo her on the streets outside.
Leo pulled back and put his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry about the protest. I knew it would force your hand. I just needed you to see how important this project is. And the tremendous impact it could have on our citizens.”
“Well, you succeeded.” She turned away from the window.
“I fear I was too hasty when I cut you off earlier. Your suite at the castle is still yours, if you want it. And your salary, of course. I know you usually use it to fix things around the village, but I’d implore you to consider putting it toward your future. Whatever that looks like.”
Leo paused. Having access to that money again would be life-changing. He could help the village again, make sure Emma had everything she needed. But for some reason, it didn’t feel right.
“I think collecting a royal salary could be a conflict of interest if I’m working for parliament,” he said carefully.
The queen nodded. “Very well. I’ll just have it funneled to the charity fund. I’m off to parliament. Make sure your resume is shipshape. And don’t wear those pants to your interview. In fact, you should probably burn them.”
She strode to the door, then paused and turned around. “You would have made a great king, you know.”
His cheeks grew hot. “Well, it’s too bad I was born second.”
“Yes,” she said softly.
The door closed behind her, and Leo was left standing in the middle of his studio apartment, body vibrating with energy like he had just slammed forty espressos.
He looked at the box in his hand and tucked it into a drawer. He didn’t have the mental energy to process what that meant right now.
There were a thousand things to do, and he had to share the good news with Emma.