35. Nick
Chapter thirty-five
Nick
C lark, one of Johann’s underlings in the Royal Guard, pulls the Range Rover through the circle drive that lies in front of Stoneleigh Cottage. I wait impatiently in the car while he helps Willa with her luggage.
Not sensing anything amiss, Willa hops into the backseat as Clark shuts the door behind her. She startles when she sees me sitting less than a meter away from her.
“What are you doing here?” she sputters.
Trying to keep my emotions in check, I repeat her question back to her. “I believe the better question is: what are you doing here? Why are you leaving?”
With an angry huff, Willa crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m leaving because I heard what you told Alex about me. If you really feel that way, I have no choice but to leave.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve never said a negative word about you to Alex. Or anyone else, for that matter. I love you.”
“You think being called a gold-digger isn’t negative?”
My eyebrows knit together in confusion. “I don’t think you’re a gold-digger! ”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Willa sasses, though her voice trembles. “That wasn’t the exact phrase you used. You said something about me being a magpie, addicted to gold and glitter.”
And with that comment, it dawns on me what happened. What she must have overheard.
“That wasn’t me.” When Willa opens her mouth to argue, I rush on, “Or rather, those weren’t my words, Willa. I was repeating to Alex what Mother said to me earlier.”
Caught off-guard, Willa shuts her mouth.
“After you told me about what Mother said to you this morning, I confronted her. I suspected she didn’t have that talk with you out of the goodness of her heart,” I pause as I consider the idea that Mother may not have any goodness left in her heart, but that’s beside the point.
“Although she refused to admit to her motivations, I'm confident it was another ploy to steer you away from me. You were too strong to be run off by her open hostility, so she switched up her game plan and played upon your heartstrings and inner fears. By pretending to care about your future and showing you her vulnerability, she was able to scare you and insert unwarranted doubts inside your heart.” I scoff. “Her vulnerability doesn’t exist, by the way. Apparently, she cheated on Father throughout their marriage, so don’t believe her little act. ”
Willa’s jaw drops and I’m sure her head is spinning, given the tug-of-war of emotions she’s undergone today. “What? But why? Why would she lie to me? She’s the one who asked me to be your fake girlfriend! Why is she so hellbent on destroying our relationship?”
“Take your pick of reasons.” I hold up my hand and tick off each potential reason on my fingers, starting with my first finger.
“She thrives on maintaining control, and she knows she’s lost control of us after realizing that our relationship isn't fake.” I pop up a second finger.
” She hates that the press instantly loved and accepted you.
In contrast, it took her years of courting the media to finally win them over.
” Third finger. “She believes that your popularity threatens her own. She isn’t willing to face the possibility that her reign is coming to an end.
She probably believes that you've stolen her place.
That you'll usher in a new generation of female monarchs who are more accessible and likable.”
“But…but,” Willa sputters in frustration. “Favorability ratings aren’t like pieces of a pie! Just because I've gained popularity with the Belgrovinian people doesn’t mean I've stolen her place. The citizens can like both of us!”
“Sadly, I’m not sure that Mother is emotionally equipped to share the spotlight.”
Willa slumps against the backseat. “I can’t believe I fell for her act.” She turns to face me, her expression fearful.
“She’s conniving and convincing. She even had me doubting my understanding of her actions. Only a few minutes ago, I asked Alex if it was possible that her intentions might have been good when she spoke to you.”
“How did…how did you know? How did you find out that I was leaving?”
“Luck and happenstance,” I reply. “Johann was in the same room as Clark, the guard who answered Mother’s phone call when she requested a ride to the airport for you.
Johann found it suspicious, so he alerted me.
” One side of my lips quirk upward. “Johann was actually afraid that Mother may have been kidnapping you.”
I slide my hand over Willa’s. Her watery eyes rise slowly to meet mine.
“Oh, Nick,” she begins.
“Don’t. Don’t apologize. Just tell me you still love me and want to be with me.”
“I do. I love you so much, which is why it hurt so much to hear you say those things about me.” She slides across the leather car seats and burrows into my arms. “Please say that you forgive me.”
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing to forgive. Your emotions were manipulated. I’m sorry my family, or at least my mother, is so fucked up. Will you come back inside with me now?”
When she nods, I trace the contours of her cheek with the back of my knuckles before grabbing her wobbly chin.
She’s on the brink of tears and her breath is coming in shudders.
In an attempt to keep her calm, I seize her lips, pressing them against mine.
I need to reassure her—and myself—that we’re going to be okay.
Her hot tongue laps against mine and I cannot get enough.
Especially since I feared that I may never have the opportunity to kiss her again only moments earlier.
When Johann burst into the solarium and told me that the queen had requested an armed guard take Willa to the airport, I was in shock.
I didn’t know what caused Willa to flee, but I had to stop her.
Whether it was through kidnapping, manipulation, or some other ruse, I knew my mother was behind it.
My hand weaves into Willa’s hair as I yank her to me, eliminating the millimeters of space between us. I kiss her over and over, never wanting to let go.
When she swings her leg over my lap to sit astride me, I emit a low growl from the back of my throat.
My dick is so stiff in my trousers that it’s bordering on painful.
I grip the waistband of her jeans with my fingertips.
I’d love nothing more than to unsnap them and slip my hand between her legs to feel how badly she wants me.
And hope that it’s as much as I want her.
“Come, let’s go inside, so that I can finish what we’ve started, my darling.”
“Yes, please.” Biting her lip, Willa peeks at me through her lashes. “I have been naughty. I probably deserve a punishment, sir.”
I groan out an expletive and hastily lead Willa back inside Stoneleigh Cottage, locking the door behind us.
When I fall into bed that night with Willa snuggled into my side, I finally take a deep breath.
And for the next week, all is calm. Unfortunately, those upcoming days of placid waters were the calm before the storm.