“You can’t stop me, Luddie.”
“I won’t, sir,” he says. He gives me a wary glance. “Just … you’re the only king we have. Promise me that you’ll let Nicklas drive the way back.”
Nicklas.
I can’t help the sour smile on my face. I pat Ludwig on the back and move past him.
No one has any idea, do they?
Or if they do, they’re incredibly good at keeping Helena’s secrets.
I ought to have a secret of my own one day, one that’s better than faking a loveless marriage.
Because that’s the truth now. She may have fallen out of love with me but I was soon to follow. How can you let your heart beat for someone when they’ve already torn it in two?
I grab a light jacket from the hall and head out towards the black SUV. Normally Helena insists on riding in a Rolls Royce or Town Cars but with the rugged terrain here on the island, a Land Rover is better.
I get in and start heading down the long winding driveway past the dormant rows of our own on-site winery and out the gates.
I’m struck by a vague memory, of being a child when we used to come here as a family. Running through the vineyards with my sister Stella, hiding from my nanny when it was bedtime. I was so young and so free, only because I didn’t know any better. I didn’t realize the trap of royalty, that having money and privilege came at a terrible price that you could never ignore.
I was groomed to be a king from the day I was born.
I just never knew what that meant.
I never knew what it would take from me.
My hands tighten on the wheel as I drive through the dark, under old oak trees. The road twists and turns like an artery.
I’m trying to think about what I’m going to say to them.
But whenever I form words in my head, rage takes over.
So I let my mind go blank for the rest of the drive until I’m pulling up just outside the airstrip, thirty minutes later. Normally I wouldn’t go anywhere without Ludwig, or a royal attendant such as Edward, but as King, I can make my own rules and tonight I needed to be alone. Besides, no one would even suspect that it’s me behind the wheel at this tiny private airstrip at the base of the mountains.
I keep the car running, peering over the steering wheel to see one of our small private jets. Helena and Nicklas are walking away from the plane. She’s a little ahead of him, keeping up appearances. For now.
They walk through the gate in the chain-link fence, Helena spotting the car.
But as they get closer, her gait slows, her brow is furrowed as much as the Botox will allow. Rain has started to fall, blurring her image through the windshield. She knows it’s me.
I get out of the car and nod to her and Nicklas.
The look on her face is priceless. I wish I were a bigger man than to relish such petty desires but it’s the truth. She’s looking at me with pure disappointment, realizing now that she can’t spend her trip fucking Nicklas. Followed by fear. Fear that she’ll be found out, fear that I know something—why else would I be here?
“Did you have a nice flight?” I ask them, keeping my voice steady and light. It’s amazing how well I can do that. My features rarely betray the inferno inside.
Preface