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“You should have answered your phone,” he grunted in French, keeping his voice low so no one would overhear. Especially Dani, since she would understand everything we said.
“You know why I didn’t.”
Michel shook his head. “If you had, I could have warned you to take Dani to her place before coming home.”
“What the fuck is going on, Michel?”
“Your brother is here.”
5
TRISTAN
“Philippe is here?” I blurted, utterly shocked.
Michel nodded. “His guards called me during the drive so I could let the building security know.”
“Did they say why?” I was extremely happy to see my brother, but something had to be wrong if he’d come here, particularly unannounced.
Michel shook his head. “They wouldn’t tell me. Then Philippe picked up the phone and told me it was too important to discuss in any way other than in person.”
My first thought was that my brother might be sick, or maybe one of our parents, and he wanted to break it to me in person. But I couldn’t see him coming here for that. He would have asked me to come home.
“Do you want me to take Dani home?”
I grunted in frustration. “No. I told Dani we needed to talk. If I send her home now, she’s going to freak the fuck out. I’ll just have to figure something out so I can talk to Philippe in private.”
“His guards will be at your front door,” Michel warned me.
Son of a bitch. Then I breathed a sigh of relief. “She’s grown up with bodyguards because of her wealth. She knows you’re mine, so I don’t think she’ll find it odd that my brother has security.”
“Tristan?”
I schooled my expression and turned my head to smile at my princess. She’d climbed out of the car and was watching us curiously. “Is everything okay?”
“Absolutely, princesse. Michel was just telling me that my brother dropped by for a visit.”
Dani’s face lit up, and she beamed a smile at me. “That’s fantastic! I can’t wait to meet him.” Her expression turned cheeky. “And ask him about all the embarrassing stories from your childhood.”
I lifted my chin at Michel, then grinned at Dani as I walked to the trunk of the car to retrieve our bags. “I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to take the opportunity to embarrass me.”
Dani giggled and walked over to take the hand I held out. “Don’t worry, my brothers and sisters will no doubt spill all my secrets.”
We entered the building and got lucky when there was an open elevator waiting. As we ascended to my floor, I pulled Dani into my body and kissed her. I poured all of my love into it, hoping she would feel the depth and remember it when I told her the truth.
“I love you. More than anything. Tell me you know that deep down in your soul.”
Dani glanced up at me with her lips curved down and her eyes worried. “Is everything okay?”
“Just tell me,” I insisted.
“Of course, I do, Tristan. It’s every bit as much as I love you.”
The elevator dinged, and we stepped off. Turning to the left, we saw two large men dressed in black and obviously packing, standing in front of my door.
Both guards had been with my brother for at least a decade. They smiled when they saw me approaching and nodded respectfully before murmuring, “Bonsoir, Votre Altesse.”
Shit. I muttered a greeting back, then hustled Dani into the apartment before she could ask any questions.
“Um…did I just hear them call you ‘your majesty’?”
“Yes,” I grunted as I set our bags down and reached for her hand.
“Was that a joke?”
“Un blague?” my brother asked.
Our heads turned toward the living room to see my brother standing by the door to the balcony.
“Yes,” Dani replied in French. “A joke. They called Tristan ‘your majesty.’”
Philippe's gaze shifted to me, and he quirked a brow, then looked back at Dani. “Your French is flawless.”
“Merci.”
“You are Tristan’s girlfriend?”
“Fiancée,” she corrected. “Dani.”
I glared at Philippe. He knew exactly who the fuck she was to me.
“Is that so? Well, Dani, since the cat seems to have Tristan’s tongue. Let me introduce myself. I’m his brother, Philippe. Crown Prince of Auclair.”
Dani gaped at my brother, and I scowled, pissed as fuck that he’d blurted it out like that. “Crown Prince?” She slowly turned her head to look at me, her eyes wide and filled with hurt. “And that would make you…”
“Runner-up,” Philippe quipped.
“Ferme ta gueule,” I growled. I shackled Dani’s wrist, worried that she was about to make a run for it. I turned to face her and sighed. “Princesse…”
“You lied to me,” she stated as she stared at the floor, her voice filled with anguish.
I started to argue that omitting wasn’t lying, but really, whether it was or not, she didn’t deserve to be contradicted. I’d hurt her, and that was the only truth I cared about. “Yes,” I admitted. “I regret it more than you could possibly know, princesse.”
