she had no choice but to tell Kelsey everything ASAP. Before someone else beat her to it.
“What did you and Elias do last night?”
Kelsey threw her a naughty grin. “How much detail do you want?”
Ewww. She saw Elias every day now. He’d quickly become like an older brother to her. Mallory needed zero visuals in her brain of him doing half-naked things. Sure, the guy was bodyguard ripped and broodingly hot…but, again, like a brother.
“A few descriptive verbs of the activity will be sufficient.”
Kelsey winged her with an elbow. “I was just teasing. We had dinner with his father. It was nice. Eight kinds of awkward at first, though.”
“Really? What about that talk you had to clear the air? I thought you absolved him for the kidnapping.” Because, of course, the man Kelsey loved came with serious baggage, in that his dad had been in charge of her security the day she was taken from the Villanis. His dad had even begged Elias to stop dating Kelsey when he first found out about them.
“I tried. I pointed out that he was attacked and drugged, so there was no forgiveness necessary. That, in fact, he’d risked his life to try and save me. He listened. It probably only got him over five percent of his guilt, at best. And that talk happened over three months ago.”
Three months was a blip in guilt-land. “Remember, he’s been carrying around that burden for twenty-four years. That’s got to wreak an emotional toll. Hard to erase it all with a single conversation.”
“You’re right.” They jogged on at least a hundred more feet before Kelsey continued. “I think it was more awkward because of the whole princess thing. Did I not tell you from day one that being a princess would be a pain in the neck?”
OMG, yes. Repeatedly.
Kelsey Wishner had to be the only woman on the planet who resented being transformed in the blink of an eye into a beloved, wealthy princess. “He’s been guarding the royal family his entire life. Why would you being a princess make him awkward at dinner?”
“I know, right? But Elias explained that his dad’s, yes, guarded the royals forever. As a job. He doesn’t ever hang out with them and interact as peers.”
Hmm. Mallory had been, ah, wary of meeting actual royals. Super uncomfortable at the thought of that car ride with King Julian to the Dolomites. And she’d probably always be more than a little nervous around the grand duchess—because everybody was. The woman was a force of nature.
But overall, once you started talking to them instead of bowing before them, the members of House Villani were just kind, smart, thoughtful, interesting people. And Kelsey had none of the ingrained standoffishness that occasionally popped out in the rest of her family. She was casual, easygoing American to her core. How could the dad not be at ease around her?
She’d solve this. Before confessing her own drama to Kelsey. Because she hated the thought of her little sister being uncomfortable.
“Hasn’t Elias been best friends with Christian forever?”
“Yes. Like brothers, except better, because they never fight.” Kelsey bit her lip. “Okay, they did fight once. About me. But once in a lifetime is pretty good.”
Mallory hoped they wouldn’t be fighting again in the near future…about the other Wishner sister. “So his dad must’ve interacted with Christian as simply a normal, teenage, hormonal idiot of a boy, right?”
“Ooh, that’s strategic.” Kelsey slowed to a barely there jog. For which Mallory was über-grateful, as her lungs burned and her thighs burned and her glutes, yes, burned. “You think next time I should bring Christian along? That he’d feel less intimidated by my title with him there?”
“It’s worth trying.”
“Thanks, Mal. You always know just what to do. Maybe we could do a brunch next weekend. The four of us.” She stopped abruptly, grabbing just above the iPod strapped to Mallory’s biceps. “Wait—better idea. You should come, too. The five of us.”
Well, crap. That was her opening. On a silver platter. With a doily of convenience. No more waiting around. No more avoiding the awkward conversation.
No more having her prince solely to herself as the most special secret ever.
But clearing the air with Kelsey was important. Mallory took a step back, pulling out of her grip. “I think Christian would like that. Me tagging along, I mean. Because, ah, I wanted to tell you—we’re dating.”
Shrugging, Kelsey set off again in a slow lope. “Yeah, I know Christian is officially dating the boring and