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Maisy snorted. “I love Niko? What makes you think that?”
In that moment, everything gelled into crystalline focus. It was like the world stopped for just a moment as Maisy sat in her sundress with her drink, casually asking why Xander thought she loved his brother.
“Don’t you?” Xander asked. “I mean, you were going to be married. And you seemed upset after the wedding.”
Maisy took a deep breath, then let it out. “I shouldn’t… This is a mistake. Let’s, um, let’s eat. Forget I said anything.”
Xander wasn’t sure how he was supposed to forget a bombshell like that, especially when it made his heart race like it did. If Maisy didn’t really love Niko, well, that changed everything. Didn’t it? But Xander also knew that forcing Maisy to talk wasn’t going to help anything. So, he just nodded and turned his attention to the remainder of his dinner, which was quickly going cold.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, then Maisy let out a soft sigh.
“I’m sorry for what I said about Niko.”
“There’s no reason to be. It’s not like I’m going to report back to him.”
“Sure, but you are his brother. If I were going to tell anyone I didn’t love Niko, it shouldn’t be you.” Maisy seemed to realize the significance of her words at the same moment Xander did, because she clapped a hand over her mouth.
“You don’t love Niko?” It was half question, half statement.
“I don’t. And he doesn’t love me, either.”
“Maisy…”
“No, I know that for sure. I know it because we talked the night before the wedding.”
“You did?”
Maisy nodded. “I was in my room, tossing and turning and trying to sleep, when Niko knocked on my door. He was very clearly drunk. I invited him in, and we sat down at the table in my room so we wouldn’t wake Lily, and had… probably the first honest conversation we’ve ever had.”
Xander’s brain aligned Maisy’s story with his own memories of the night before the wedding. Niko must have gone to her room after speaking with Xander on the terrace. The only question was why. Xander had reminded his brother of his duties, not told him to go running off to Maisy to say he didn’t love her. Maisy had mentioned previously that she knew Niko had cold feet, but Xander hadn’t expected anything like this.
“And what did he say?” Xander prompted.
“He said he was having second thoughts about the wedding. That he wasn’t sure being married to me was what he wanted. And you know what I felt? I felt relief. A warm, cascading sense of relief, because I didn’t want to marry him either. I just wasn’t brave enough to go against everything our families wanted for us.” Maisy raised her margarita in a toast, then took a long sip.
“Wait.” Xander held up a hand. “You didn’t want to marry Niko because you didn’t love him, or because you didn’t want to be queen?”
“Both.” Maisy let out another sigh. “I didn’t want any of this. So, we talked, and we agreed to call off the wedding.”
Xander’s mouth practically fell open. The bride and groom had agreed to cancel the wedding the night before?
“I don’t understand. If you agreed to call off the wedding, why did it seem to still be on the next day?”
“When Niko and I spoke, he insisted that he be the one to take the heat. He said he’d send a note to his parents and that I would show up for the wedding as though nothing was amiss. That way, I would look like a jilted bride, and it would seem to be all Niko’s fault. He told me he had a good reason prepared to tell his parents and everything. I offered to find our parents and speak with them together, but Niko insisted.”
“So, on the morning of the wedding, you got ready as though everything was fine.”
“Exactly. And then, to my surprise, I heard that Niko was ready. When I stepped into the wedding hall and saw him — you — at the front, I assumed he’d changed his mind. And despite everything, I was a little excited. I thought, maybe, if he were willing to try, it could still work out. And his vows were so sweet. He seemed like a completely different person — which, of course, he was. He was you.”
So much new information was coming at Xander that his tipsy brain was having trouble processing it. Slowly, the pieces clicked into place. Neither Maisy nor Niko had wanted to get married. They’d had a plan in place. Yet Xander’s stunt to try to save the day had ruined it instead.
“Maisy, I’m so sorry. I had no idea that you didn’t want to marry Niko or that the two of you had a plan.”
“I know you didn’t. But I hope you can see now why I’m so angry.”
Xander could. He’d trapped Maisy into a loveless marriage by masquerading as Niko — there was no way the royal family would let Maisy walk away when the Aenicean people already believed her to be married. The fact that Maisy didn’t love Niko was music to Xander’s ears, but it hardly seemed important in the face of what he’d done. He was filled with guilt.
“I do. And I understand if you never forgive me.”
