She gives me a pout. “Ouch. It’s lucky that I realize that you’re full of shit.” She grins. “Everyone wants me. Or a facsimile of who they think that I am.” She rolls her eyes. “Haven’t you heard? I’m the only princess and I’m almost old enough to marry. The boys flock around me like bees swarm around a rose.”
My fists clench. “You are so full of yourself, Annika. Christ.”
She blushes but keeps grinning. “Nah, not really. I just like to goad you because it gets you all tongue tied. Nobody else sees my wicked side.”
Shaking my head, I adjust my stance. “Lucky me.”
“I know, right?” Annika winks and then looks over her shoulder. “I don’t see Stellan… I think I’m going to leave.”
Arching a brow, I cross my arms. “What, you have somewhere better to be?”
She turns, pinning me with her gaze. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” She lifts up her voluminous skirts and tosses her head. “Goodnight, Erik.”
And with that, she heads out of the ballroom, strutting like she’s on a runway. I stare at her retreating figure, wondering why I find her so compelling.
She’s too young, too wealthy, too privileged… and that’s not even counting the fact that her brother is my best friend. She is the very definition of taboo and off-limits.
I heave a sigh and start searching the crowd for Stellan.
2
Annika
I look out the rear window of the chauffeured car, pressing a hand to the cool glass of the window. The sun has slunk behind the horizon now and the last rays of light are slowly disappearing on this June night. I stare at the bright flashes of Copenhagen’s stately skyline as we drive.
As the manor comes into view, I gaze at it out the window. My eyes widen as the car swings around the long, perfectly landscaped driveway. Every light is on in the house, every door thrown open. There are people spilling out of the house and across the lawn.
Straining to look out the window, I can hear the techno being pumped through the unseen sound system. I start laughing, looking over at my best friend Kalindi. She glances at the looming mansion, tucking a few strands of her long, shiny, black-brown hair behind her ear. A blush creeps into her cheeks, pink tinging her tawny skin just in the apples of her cheeks.
“I can’t believe that Stellan sent us here,” she mutters. Her accent is a melting pot of cultures: a little Indian, overlaid with British and Swiss, and finally finished off with just a dash of Danish. She turns her head to look at me. “Annika, are you listening to me?”
I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “Yes. You were saying that you are surprised that my big brother is supporting this enormous party. And my response is that it’s a whole new world out there. Stellan and Margot just told us as much by announcing their engagement tonight.”
She frowns just a bit. “Surely you support their marriage. Even though Margot is an American and a commoner.” She makes a sound of distaste. “I actually hate that term. It’s rather colonial, isn’t it?”
I sigh. “I have no problem with them. Margot is nicer than most of the girls who tried to date Stellan. And I have to love her fire.” I smooth out my skirt. “I’m just apprehensive about the press. They’ve been following me absolutely everywhere lately. If the paparazzi get one more photo of me that they can splash across the headlines of their papers, the royal press office may have a collective heart attack.”
She wrinkles her nose daintily. “We don’t have to go to this party, Nika. I mean… it is totally okay to tap out after… you know…”
My cheeks go pink and I look down into my lap. “My latest and greatest brush with being admitted to a psychiatric ward?”
“Well… yes,” she admits. “The doctors said that you just had a panic attack but…” She grabs my hand, looking at me with serious eyes. “I was there, Nika. And it was scary. You never had panic attacks before we came back to Copenhagen. Playing the royal princess and having the spotlight on you isn’t doing you any favors.”
I sigh, squeezing her hand. “Kal, you are sweet to worry. But I feel fine. I just…” I look out the window again, biting my lower lip. “I need to stay out of the newspapers. Stellan asked me to ‘cool it’ until the wedding so…”