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“How can you say that?” He opened his mouth as if to say more but then thought better of whatever the thought was. “We’re holding your ex here for his broach of our laws.”
“You are?” Her heart chirruped. “For how long?”
“As long as we can. By Einvarian law, anyone who commits a crime here, citizen or not, is subject to Einvarian punishment. No one breaks into this palace and doles out threats and gets away with it.” He smiled the first smile he’d given her since she’d returned. Lily was glad to see it, though the accepting expression didn’t appease the wretched feelings inside of her.
“Good,” she said.
“You should press charges against him as well. Our police will listen to your story. We can contact this actor’s agent. Tell him the truth of what happened. Surely, he will be understanding.”
She didn’t argue, mostly because she didn’t know how laws factored in when a crime was committed by a U.S. citizen in a foreign country. Either way, it sounded like Damon no longer had the upper hand, and she was grateful. But he still had the emails. Something needed to be done about that.
Henrik exhaled but pressed on. “My father thinks you should also be held accountable for using the crown to further your interests.”
Lily hated the nauseous feeling swelling inside of her. She examined Henrik’s expression, searching for proof of his feelings. This must be tormenting him. Why else was he acting so distant and formal? She thought of the wishes they’d made, the wish she’d made. She’d hoped for change, for a chance with him. That would never happen now.
“Do you think that’s true?” she asked.
Henrik watched her with steely eyes. His face remained placid, so different from the lighthearted, carefree man who’d offered to help her the day they’d met. Undoubtedly, he regretted that offer now. “No. I twisted your arm through this whole debacle every bit as much as your ex did.”
“You never threatened me,” Lily corrected. “You never hurt me or forced anything on me. You never threatened my reputation.”
“That’s true,” he said.
“But I threatened yours.”
Henrik’s gaze snapped to hers, but he didn’t deny it.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you from the start,” she said, needing, wishing he could see just how sorry she was. How badly she wished she could undo everything and make things right.
“It’s okay. I wouldn’t have wanted to admit the truth either.”
“So…” She wrung her hands. “So am I free to go?”
Pain struck across Henrik’s face. He opened his mouth as if to speak, considered, and then closed it again. In his moment of hesitation, hope sprang anew. Was he going to give her another chance?
“If that’s what you wish. I can have a car prepared to take you wherever you’d like to go,” he said.
He didn’t beg her to stay. He didn’t insist they could work through this. He didn’t renew his offer to make her his princess.
And why should he? She was unwantable, plain and simple. Her mistake was unfixable. By communicating with someone in the public eye in the past, that communication had been used to cast a bad light on the people involved. It could happen again, so easily, and she didn’t want anyone jeopardizing Henrik’s reputation because of her.
She wasn’t fit to run a country, not when she couldn’t handle a simple business dealing without messing it up. How could Henrik trust her now after she made such a terrible mistake? She inhaled the finality gathering between them. There was no other solution than her departure. Not now.
“I’m sorry,” she told him.
“Me too. Can I walk you out?”
“No thanks, I’ll find my way.” She couldn’t bear the shame of having him accompany her to the door.
“It won’t be any trouble,” he said. “I’m already headed to the holding cells to pay your—to pay Damon a visit.”
This changed things. Lily’s moody, solemn self-condemnation momentarily paused. “Can I see him before I go?”
If Henrik was mystified by her request, he didn’t show as much. “Of course.” He rose and offered her a hand, which Lily refused to take.
Her legs were stiff. She straightened gradually and stretched from her awkward nap, then accompanied him out the door. Henrik led the way deeper into the castle than she’d ever been, down corridors and more stairs than she could count. Unlike every other time they’d been together, their conversation was stilted and non-existent.
The holding cells’ entrance was several floors below the castle’s main level. The ceiling, the floors, the bars guarding each cell, were all white and the combination of so much whiteness with the fluorescent lighting was almost blinding. Lily had to wait for her eyes to adjust.
