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Yet none of those options were available to Maisy now. Her phone was gone, so she couldn’t call Lily or listen to music. Her e-reader was gone, so she couldn’t read. She couldn’t leave the villa to take a walk. And although the villa might have a bathtub, going to look for it would mean being out in the main living area, where Xander was.
Maisy didn’t feel that she could face Xander right now.
But all this meant that Maisy was alone with her thoughts, which was just about the worst situation she could be in. She couldn’t even sleep — her long nap on the plane meant that she was now wide awake.
Over and over, her mind returned to the ceremony in the wedding hall. She remembered Xander’s words and his quip, and relived again and again the moment she’d realized she was marrying the wrong brother. She remembered stepping into the hall on her father’s arm and seeing the man she thought was Niko at the front of the room, looking at her with an expression she’d never seen on his face before. She remembered the dull shock of realizing that this marriage was legally binding, despite the deception.
And each time her mind cycled through those memories, Maisy was hit again with the full force of how wrong everything had gone today. This morning (or was it yesterday morning now?) she’d been so sure of how things would go on her wedding day. And now, everything was in pieces.
Maisy rubbed her eyes and pushed herself to her feet. Even facing Xander would be better than sitting her alone, moping and getting lost in her thoughts. She steeled herself and stepped into the main living area.
To her immense relief, Xander was nowhere to be found. Maisy crossed to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. As she did so, she noticed the ring — her wedding ring — glinting on her finger. It was yet another reminder of how wrong everything had gone. She slid it off and set it carefully on the windowsill. She would need to put it back on when she and Xander went on their excursions, but for now, there was no need to wear it.
Maisy leaned against the counter and sipped her water, her gaze drifting across the villa. She and Niko had seen pictures of it during their honeymoon planning meetings with the publicity team, but she hadn’t paid them much attention. The honeymoon, like the rest of the wedding, had been out of their hands for the most part. Maisy hadn’t gotten to make many decisions. Neither had Niko. That was the life of a royal couple, it seemed.
And now, again, Maisy wasn’t allowed to make her own decisions. Just once, it would be nice to shrug off the mantle of familial responsibilities and expectations and do what she wanted, just because she wanted to.
“It’s a nice place, isn’t it?”
Maisy started, jerked out of her reverie, and saw that Xander had entered the villa from the terrace.
“It’s fine.”
“The view from the terrace is beautiful,” Xander continued. “If you can let go of your fury for a moment, you might be able to enjoy yourself a little.”
Maisy bristled. Xander had no right to tell her to put aside her fury or suggest that she try to enjoy herself.
“Of course, you’re enjoying yourself. You never care what anyone thinks — especially not me.”
“Hey, that isn’t true.” Xander looked affronted. “I care what people think. Especially you.”
“Right. Because the hallmark of a person who cares about others’ feelings is tricking someone into a marriage in front of a thousand people then casually enjoying their brother’s honeymoon with their brother’s fiancée.”
“I know you’re upset, but I’ve explained why I did what I did. I don’t think there’s any reason for me to sit around feeling guilty. What’s done is done. Now we need to move forward.”
“What a fun way to live.” Maisy crossed her arms. “Oops, I destroyed two lives. Oh, well, time to move on.”
“Can I point out that I messed my own life up pretty badly, too?” Xander was starting to sound annoyed. Good. Maisy would rather fight with him than try to pretend everything was okay. “It’s not like I wanted to be whisked away from my home to an isolated island with a woman who hates me. And to have to pretend to be my bland, boring brother the whole time. And to playact a marriage when you can’t even look at me.”
His words were so open, so honest, so far from his usual lighthearted, carefree attitude that Maisy paused. Xander was right — this wasn’t exactly fun for him, either. And he had been trying to do the right thing, even if it had been misguided and poorly thought out. Maisy’s anger deflated a little.
“I guess you’re right. You didn’t ask for this.”
“I didn’t.” Xander crossed the kitchen to stand in front of her. “I’m not asking you to forgive me or to move on. But it would be nice if we could get through these next few days without torturing each other.”
Maisy let out a snort before she could stop herself. There was no way they could get through the next few days without torturing each other, not when every glimpse of Xander reminded her of why she’d needed her wedding day to go as planned so badly. Just looking at him was torturous.
“Fine. I see your point. I think the best way to get through this is to give each other as much space as we can. Agreed?”
“Okay. If that’s what you want.”
“It is.” Maisy spoke with much more certainty than she felt. “And with that, have a pleasant afternoon.”
Maisy picked up her glass of water and crossed to the bookshelf on the opposite side of the living room. There were a few board games, some paper, and a few books, either left behind by previous residents or planted by Safa. Either way, Maisy was grateful. She selected a book, mostly at random, then brushed past Xander and into the bedroom. She shut the door behind her. The heart-shaped cutout meant that the room was hardly private, but it was better than nothing. Maisy flopped back onto the bed, opened the book to the first page, and grimaced at the beginnings of a romance.
Maisy was a romantic at heart. She always had been. And books like this had always been among her favorites. But her long-arranged engagement with Niko and the mess of the wedding had hardened her heart to all things romantic. Still, there were no other options. So, she settled in to read about an Alaskan lumberjack who rescued a new teacher from an airplane crash and took her home to nurse her back to health.
A few hours later, Maisy was roused from a scene — in which the teacher was helping the lumberjack save a baby rabbit from a trap — by a delicious smell wafting in from the kitchen. Maisy sniffed experimentally and her stomach roared with hunger. Now that she thought about it, it had been a long time since she’d eaten. Except for a few snacks on the plane, she hadn’t eaten since the morning of her wedding.
