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“All these years? He’s only been out for two. Less than two.”
“But you’ve been talking about him since he won that contest show. He’s your favorite.”
I shake my head. Teo’s been paying attention to all of my fan-girling all this time? “Not my—well, okay, he’s one of my favorites.” We stop in front of the idol. “No offense, but I’ve been a Stray Kids fan since their debut. Han Jisung is my favorite favorite.” I fan myself with a hand.
Hyunjae laughs and winks. “He’s my favorite, too. And a nice guy. I met him when I first joined the company.” He swings around and says something in Korean too fast for me to follow, but it includes the name Han Jisung. The other idols cheer and boo, each faction trying to overpower the other.
Laughing, we join the others and Hyunjae introduces us as Eva and Teo. Just like Hyunjae said, they know who Andi and Teo are and don’t seem to care about the royalty thing. We chat with them until their manager arrives to take them back to their hotel.
Celeste confers with the venue security, then hustles us out a back way to a pair of taxis waiting in the courtyard. Hans holds a door for Andi, who climbs into the back. Celeste takes the front passenger seat. The car starts forward as soon as she gets in, so Hans slams the rear door shut, staring after it in disgust. With a shrug, he turns and points at the second car. “I guess the four of us are taking that one. It’ll be cozy.”
Teo looks at the car, then back at Hans. “I think Eva and I will walk. The hotel isn’t far.”
Hans glances at the second car, then at Lina. “You wanna walk, too?”
She slaps his arm and darts a meaningful look at us. “No. Get in the car, idiot.”
They climb in, and the car pulls away. Hans rolls down the window and yells something, but I don’t catch most of it. Teo pulls out his phone and types, then slides it away and holds out an elbow. “Shall we?”
I take his arm. It feels much more natural than holding Eduard’s arm did. As if my fingers were perfectly made to fit the crook of his elbow. The evening is cold—it’s November, after all—but Teo seems to radiate heat. I scoot a little closer as we walk, trying to be subtle.
“Are you cold?” He stops and touches my fingers. “You’re freezing!” He pulls a pair of gloves from the pockets of his leather jacket.
“It’s just my hands. Don’t you need those?” I pull away as he tries to give me the gloves.
“I have pockets.” He frowns at my bomber style jacket and short, white skirt. “And weather-appropriate clothing.” He hands me the gloves and starts to unzip his coat.
“I’m good.” I lower the zipper on the neck of the jacket to show him the inside. “It’s fully lined. And I’m wearing insulated tights.” I zip the jacket to my neck, then lean over and pull the flesh-colored fabric away from my leg. “See? Fleece on the inside, believe it or not.”
I slide the gloves on and take his arm again. He sticks his hands into his pockets and uses his elbow to steer me through the arched opening at the rear of the courtyard. We walk past dark windows and a closed door to emerge on a narrow side street. “How do you know where we’re going?”
“Andi told me. It’s the hotel the family always uses in Vienna.”
“The family.” The warm feelings inspired by Hyunjae’s teasing seem to crumble to a lead ball in my stomach. Regardless of how I feel about him, Teo lied to me. I leave it hanging for a few seconds, but he doesn’t say anything. Stopping, I pull him to a halt beside me and fling my hands out. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a freaking prince?”
He frowns, his brows nearly meeting in the middle. “Didn’t you—I thought—Eduard told you ages ago. I mean, he called me cousin several times.”
I make a soft raspberry. “I thought it was like Hawaii. ‘Hey, cousin!’” I wave across the street, as if greeting a friend. A couple walking on the other side frown in confusion and hurry on. “You know, small country, everyone is related. And we saw that picture in the palace—you look so much like the old grand duke.”
“Exactly. He’s my grandfather. And Eduard’s. That’s what cousin means.”
I pull my hand away and stamp a foot. “I know what ‘cousin’ means. English is my first language. Don’t use your royal patronization skills on me.”
“Sorry.” He reaches across his body to grab my gloved fingers and put them back on his arm. With a little tug, he starts us moving again. “I really thought you’d figured it out. Lina certainly knows—she’s always chattering about royals. Andela isn’t exactly in hiding, either. Really, it’s kind of shocking you didn’t know.”
“I checked the palace website—there’s no Prince Teodor in the biographies.”
“Teo is not my official name. Legally, I’m Sebastien Teodor Florian. Our parents use our middle names, so that’s what we use. But my picture is there for everyone to see.”
I wish he’d stop being so reasonable. “Everyone on the page looks like Nicholas Cage.”
“Still?” He laughs, and I can’t help snickering, too.
“That stupid extension keeps reloading on my computer. Dad had to have gotten Rob’s help with that.”
I want to be angry with Teo for lying to me. I’m not really sure why, though, especially after my talk with Hyunjae. Teo’s family’s decision to keep their heritage quiet isn’t his fault. The only thing I can really blame him for is not telling me sooner. “Why didn’t you tell me when we got here? You knew I didn’t know then.”
He squirms a little. “I should have. I meant to tell you. Then there was that whole Bundespolizei thing, and I got distracted.” He smirks at me. “You got yourself arrested, and I had to rescue you.”
