Page 127 of Heavy Crown

“No,” I say. “No. He didn’t try to sway me at all. He was really kind, but he was also really honest about his disease, about Nick’s preparedness to take over, about how you’ve always been keen to rule.” The heaviness of that conversation weighs on me again. “After I talked to him, it made me realize you hadn’t thought your decision through very well. Maybe being with me forever was an impulse. Something you’d regret. Then you showed up without a plan.”

“The car accident on West Shore Road—”

“But if you were really going to let Nick take over, you could have sent him,” I say. “If you intended to step away, you could have let Nick handle the public side, and you didn’t. You didn’t because you wanted to be there. That’s not an accusation, but it was another sign you weren’t ready to let Bellerive go.”

Alex is quiet for a long time, and when I glance up at him, he eases my hair behind my ear. “That’s incredibly insightful.”

“I love you a lot,” I say. “And it was really important to me that your choice was the right one for you, not just the right one for me.” Tears fill my eyes. “I had no idea how hard it would be to watch you with her. It was like… it was like—”

He draws me tighter to him and kisses my temple. “Would have killed me too,” he says. “If the situation was reversed, it would have fucking killed me. Being without you was already unbearable.” He gathers me closer, and we sink into each other for a beat. “Have they been all right to you? I don’t have a lot of faith in people who send their daughter a text message when she almost dies.”

His scornful tone makes me smile, and I bury my face in his chest. “They let me in the door, and my mom gave me a really great hug.”

“We’re going to be much better parents.”

Parents. The realization we’re in this together, and I won’t be trying to manage on my own, spreads a layer of warmth across my body.

“What now?” I ask.

“We go into the house to gather your things. Spend the night in a hotel. Back to Bellerive tomorrow braced for the storm we’ll have unleashed. You in?”

“I’m in,” I say. “I’m all in with you.”

forty-seven

Alex

Although it killed me to say it, I told Rory’s parents they’d be welcome to visit Rory and me wherever we landed. Their reception, both when I arrived and after we’d gotten Rory’s things together, wasn’t exactly warm, but Rory values her parents despite their shortcomings. I understand all too well the complex parent-child dynamic.

We’re sitting outside the hotel near the Toronto airport while half my security team sweeps the premises. Rory’s hand is locked in mine, and she hasn’t let me go for more than a moment or two since I stopped her from collapsing in the barn.

“If you were…” She hesitates. “If you were becoming king, this is what our life would be like?”

I chuckle. “Probably still what our life will be like. Until we can be sure we’re not under any threat, we’ll have a team of security that Bellerive pays for. We’ll have to negotiate all that into the exit plan.”

She sighs. “I’m sorry you have to do all this.”

“Bellerivian draconian royal laws. Who I marry shouldn’t matter, and I’ll be telling Nick to get rid of this law as soon as he’s got the crown on his head.” My chest constricts at the thought, but I keep my tone upbeat. “Not your fault. I’m going into this with my eyes wide open. I promise.”

She squeezes my hand.

Kane opens the door, and we’re led through the lobby straight to our room. Rory’s bags are already there, and so is my small suitcase.

Kane does one last sweep of the rooms and then closes the door behind him. He’ll be just outside in the hallway, and the others will be in the adjoining room.

Rory takes in the large suite with a sitting area, massive bathroom, and king-sized bed, and she laughs. “I never in a million years thought this would be my life.”

“No?” I draw her toward me and smooth the tendrils of her hair that have escaped her loose braid.

“Maybe once or twice I let myself hope.” She gives me a small smile. “Feels like I’ve loved you forever.”

I frame her face, and I kiss her. She meets my lips, but there are still tinges of the sad desperateness that’s coated us for weeks. We’ve spent so much time believing we can never be that even now this isn’t quite real. I want to wipe away any lingering doubts the only way I know how, and that’s to be as close to her as humanly possible.

Her kiss becomes more insistent, and she shoves my suit jacket off my shoulders. The frantic can’t-get-close-enough pace I’d been half expecting comes to life between us. We’re shedding clothes and walking toward the bed, our lips breaking contact only long enough for a gasp, a moan, or a pant of frustration when a piece of clothing doesn’t come off quite how we expected.

How did I ever convince myself I could survive without her? This time when we go over the cliff together, there’ll be no breaking or drowning. The depth of the water might still be unknown, but it’s deep enough to last a lifetime. We’ll be swimming and floating, and when the swells come, we’ll cling to each other. The rest of the world can come tumbling down around us, and as long as I’ve got her, I’ll be just fine.

“I need you, Alex,” Rory says when we get to the side of the bed. “I need this.”