Royal Ruse - Emma Lea Page 0,106

there was something liberating about being around someone who saw through all the mess to the person I was beneath.

I owed Frankie a lot. I owed her so much I didn’t think I could ever repay her, even if I spent the rest of my life trying. And I would, I would absolutely spend the rest of my life trying to show her how much her friendship meant to me if only she’d give me a chance.

But I’d messed everything up. Now we would live out the rest of our lives in two different countries and I probably wouldn’t ever see her again. I doubted she would take Jamie’s offer of a job, not if she knew I would still be around. Frankie may have been the bold and brash one of our relationship, but she was also an avoider. She avoided things that cut too close to the bone. That loud and spontaneous persona was just a tactic she used in her avoidance arsenal. I knew this about her and I knew she would avoid me like the plague for the rest of our lives.

One day I would be able to breathe again. One day it wouldn’t hurt so much. One day I would wake up and my first thought wouldn’t be of her. It wouldn’t be any time soon, but one day the hurt would fade to a dull ache rather than the sharp stabbing pain that currently afflicted my chest.

“We’ll be landing soon,” the flight attendant said bringing me out of my reverie. “Is there anything I can get you?”

I shook my head. “No, thank you.”

She nodded once and then walked to the back of the plane. I huffed out a rough sigh and leaned back in the seat. Once I had my feet back on Kalopsian soil, I would attempt to push Frankie from my mind. I couldn’t continue to walk around like a zombie. I had a lot of work to do and people were counting on me. The king was counting on me. Getting lost in my work would be good, it would distract me from the absence of Frankie in my life.

The plane landed, and I was ushered to the helicopter. I didn’t take any notice of the cerulean water beneath us as we flew across the Aegean Sea to Kalopsia. Even that reminded me of Frankie. The way she’d been so enamored with the color of the water the first time we choppered across it.

It didn’t matter where I went; Boston or Kalopsia, the palace or the compound or the distillery, there were memories of Frankie everywhere. Her fingerprints were all over my life and on every aspect of my life and I knew her ghost would be my constant companion for a while yet.

We touched down on the helipad and I crossed to the waiting car. Deacon opened the door and nodded at me. I smiled in return. I wondered if Deacon was disappointed Frankie hadn’t made the trip back with me. I knew the two of them had become friends as he’d chauffeured her around for her research. His face gave nothing away, and I slid into the car and rubbed my chest. If I thought coming back here would make it easier to get over Frankie, then I was wrong.

I didn’t take any notice of the scenery as we wound our way up to the palace. I would see the beauty again, one day, when everything stopped being so gray and lifeless.

My door opened, startling me out of the fugue I’d fallen into. I slid out of the car and thanked Deacon before turning toward the stairs. I took them slowly, the jet lag catching up with me—well, the jet lag and probably the after effects of standing up to my parents. Being brave took a lot of energy, besides which, I hadn’t been sleeping very well since Frankie left. I felt like I could sleep for a week now, if given the chance.

The door opened before I got to it and I looked up. It wasn’t the regular doorman who opened the door.

“Frankie?” I asked stupidly, not quite sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

“Hey Lucas,” she said with a grin.

My eyes ate her up greedily. I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her, but I knew I couldn’t. Not yet, maybe not ever, but she was here, and that had to mean something…right?

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I came here for you,” she said before throwing