He takes a few steps forward, his energy filling up the room.
“You needed a wife until your father died.”
“And then when he dies I’m crowned king. You get to skip off home while I pick up the pieces. You get to be free, while I’m—” He stops, his face burning red.
“That’s not my problem! I didn’t sign up for this life, you did.”
“I did, did I? I chose to be born to my parents?”
“No, that’s not what I—”
“You showed me a side of life I never knew existed.”
The day at the lake flashes in my mind, and a tendril of heat wraps around my heart as I gaze up at Liam.
“I hate you for making me care, but I’m not giving you up when my dad dies. I don’t care how many reporters you talk to.”
“I haven’t talked to any reporters!”
“That’s not what I saw on your laptop.”
Goddamn it.
“You didn’t see what you thought you saw.”
“I don’t care,” he says in a toneless voice that hurts me more than I’d like to admit. “I need you to do what’s best for Anglefell. You’re staying.”
Real panic blazes in my chest as he turns to walk away. “I can’t spend the rest of my life here. I have a life back there.”
“You’ll build a life here.”
“You can’t force me to stay here!”
He stops to look at me. Jealousy mingles with the fractured pain in his eyes. The selfish bastard knows he can’t stop me, but he’ll try his damnedest to keep me here in his gilded cage.
“So that’s it, huh? I don’t want to stay, so you’ll force me anyway? Prince Liam always has to get what he wants, no matter the cost.”
He smiles, and it’s a thin, joyless one. “It’s about time you took that to heart.”
“Jackass.”
Every few minutes, the air bursts with another swear word as though I’m suffering from an extreme case of Tourette’s.
“Motherfucking jerk.”
I take a few seconds to savor that one. Anglefell accents don’t lend themselves well to American insults. I’m literally the only one in the country who can say motherfucker and not sound like a complete idiot.
I pace my beautiful room, wanting to take a knife to the walls. I tear the curtains aside, gazing over the rolling landscape, the stone castle walls rising out of nature, the mist tumbling over the forest. It’s hauntingly beautiful, too cold, and always damp. I miss home.
He wants me to stay. More than that, he demanded I stay. And there’s no doubt I’m starting to think less and less of Ben and more about Liam. It’s as though he shoved Ben aside, invading my heart like some kind of parasite.
What kind of life will I have here?
I imagine even more lonely days inside the castle walls, taking photos and scribbling notes in my journal, maybe keeping a travel blog, updating the Anglefell Royal Family Facebook page, posing for Liam’s selfies. Every now and then, I’d probably make another faux pas and the press would run wild with it. Meanwhile I’d watch as all my friends graduated college and went on to pursue fantastic careers without me.
Out of sheer frustration, I grab the camera from my desk and sling it around my neck. I will find him and talk to him.
The tower echoes with my footsteps as I scurry down, admiring how they managed to make the electrical lights look like glowing candles. The guards part as I exit Liam’s tower and walk along the inner walls. This place is huge, and in the months I’ve been here, I fell like I’ve barely scratched the surface. People incline their heads at me as I walk past, and I give them an appropriate bob without even thinking about it.
Where the hell could he be?
“Daisy!”
Lucian stands behind me, his jock features knit into an expression of concern. Unpleasantness stirs in my guts. I don’t know how I feel about him anymore.
“You must come with me.”
“Where?”
He twists his hands together.
“It’s Liam. He’s distraught.”
“Is he okay?”
“I need you to come with me,” he says in a clipped voice. “Now.”
A bump of fear hits me. “What happened?”
“I’m not exactly sure on the details, but he wants to see us now.”
My breath hitches in my chest as I walk toward the bustling courtyard, and a car screams to a halt in front of us. The doors fly open.
“Please get inside.” He places a hand on my back, urging me to get in. There’s a man already sitting in there, a man wearing street clothes.