my sister,” he lashed out, his lids narrowing. “She’s young and needed you to be the adult, not her.” She wasn’t even a year and a half younger than us. “But you are supposed to be my fian—girlfriend,” he corrected himself. “You can’t be rebellious and stupid. You are at my side.”
“What?” I sputtered. “I am not a dog, Theo.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No. For once, explain it to me. You have been saying that a lot after insulting me lately.”
He exhaled, his shoulders lowering. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that… I’m just stressed.” He rubbed his forehead. “Do you realize how much pressure is on me lately? That’s why I need you to help me, not add to it.”
I had no doubt he held a lot of responsibility, but he seemed to think he was the only one.
“I’m not a prop. Some girl who smiles and waves like a robot.”
“I know that,” he snapped, then took in another deep breath. “Just ever since coming back from the RAF, everything’s been different. Everyone demanding something from me.” Vulnerability watered his eyes. “It’s just… a lot.”
I moved to him, my hand touching his arm.
“I need you to be by my side, Spencer. Have your unyielding support. We have to be a unified front, no matter what. Because they will try to topple us. So we have to be together on everything. Strong.” He swung to me, clutching my hands. “We can make it through this. No matter whatever my father, the media, or the polls say about us.”
“What are the polls saying about us?”
He glanced away.
“Theo?”
“There was a poll in The Post about you being right for me, right for this country.” The Post wasn’t some flippant little puff newspaper. It was the main one people went to for news. Even they decided to jump in and decide my worth.
“What did it say?”
“That’s not important.”
“That bad, huh?” I flinched.
“It doesn’t matter.” He squeezed my hands, pulling me into a hug. “I love you.” The three little words sounded rehearsed, like he was trying to remind himself as well as me.
He pulled back, gazing down at me. “My father and I are attending a summit meeting being held today at the Seymour Hotel.” Hazel’s family owned one of the most prestigious hotels in Great Victoria, and it soon would be going global. Yeah, they weren’t hurting in the slightest. “I guess there have been some protesters out front, so we will have extra guards on us.”
“Protests?”
“A few of the leaders attending are known for their brutal regimes and are not well liked.” He scanned my face, his lips frowning. “As a leader, I will have to interact with rulers who go against every fundamental belief I have. That’s just how it is, Spencer. We can’t pick and choose who we deal with.”
“I didn’t say anything.” My forehead lined.
“You were thinking it.” He cupped my face. “I know you.”
In fact, I wasn’t. I was not na?ve. Of course leaders had to meet and engage with other countries whether or not you liked them.
“Actually, I wasn’t.”
He snorted as if I was lying, pecking me on the lips, the feeling we had been married for twenty years and were not young and virile, dumped down my body. We should constantly be wanting to tear each other’s clothes off, sneaking into a cupboard.
When was the last time we had sex? A week ago? Two?
“The event starts at three p.m. I’m sure your assistant will have an outfit ready for you. See you later.” He kissed me quickly again, turning away, heading out, his assistant appearing out of nowhere, handing him some papers as he moved out of the room.
Identical to his father.
A shiver darted down my spine.
“Spencer! Spencer!” My name bounced under the awning, booming off the pavement, shredding my eardrums the moment the back door of the SUV opened. I hesitated to get out. Cameras flashed, the commotion raking at my already frazzled nerves. The rain only pressed more people in closer to the guardrails keeping them technically off the hotel property, but creating a claustrophobic atmosphere.
The chants and drums from the protest in front of the hotel seeped from all around, unsettling me.
When we drove up, there were a lot more protestors than I figured filling up the pavement and the park across the way, holding posters, banners, and pictures of dead children, tortured men, and raped women. It twisted my stomach to imagine a government doing that to their own people because they