Page 13

How did one redecorate a palace?Bekah looked around as she munched on her croissant, once again grateful her pregnancy hadn’t caused morning sickness.

“So we just empty the room and then put new stuff in?” she asked.

“I guess,” Joe answered with a shrug. “I’ve never redecorated. I’ll talk to Gen. She’ll know.”

Gen was... Her mind wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

He must have seen her puzzled look. “My older sister. She’s second oldest, after Ben. Evie is her twin sister. Evie is amazing, but Gen is the one who knows this kind of thing. She loves fashion and design. We may not want her to pick out the furniture, but she’ll know the process.”

“Gotcha.”

She also needed to go shopping for clothes. The clothes given to her fit well enough for now, but she’d already noticed her pants getting a bit snug before they left Athmetis. As she finished her breakfast, Joe put the plates and dishes back on the silver cart and wheeled it to the door, leaving it outside.

This life was so weird.

She went into the closet and found a business suit laid out for her. Who had done that? And when? The idea of someone besides Joe in their shared space while they slept disconcerted her.

Once dressed, she went back into the living area to find Joe had already dressed in a suit. His tie was held in one hand as he talked on his phone.

“Thanks, Gen.” He held up a finger in Bekah’s direction. “I’ll see you later.” Slipping his phone in his pocket, he started to put his tie on. “She’ll have her assistant take care of getting the room emptied, as well as setting up a time for us to look at some new stuff.”

“That’s great. Thank her for me.”

Joe shrugged as he tightened the knot. “I’m happy to, but you’ll see her later, and you can tell her yourself if you’d like.”

“I can do that.”

He held open the apartment door. The silver cart was already gone. As they walked down the wide corridor, Joe leaned closer to her. “Remind me later to tell you about the secret passages and what to do in case of emergency.”

Bekah blinked. “Secret passages? You have secret passages?”

Joe chuckled as they walked past the velvet ropes that delineated the family areas from the rest of the palace. “Yep. Not everyone knows about them or how to access them, but since you’re family, you need to know.”

“Do you have to use them often?”

They started down the stairs as he shook his head. “I think I’ve used them three or four times. The most recent was a few years ago, not long after Ben and Katrín married when someone driving what you’d call a box truck died as he drove down the street leading to the gates. He stepped on the gas as he died and went through the gate up to the portico. We were all sent to secure locations until they knew it was safe.”

A shudder ran through Bekah. “That couldn’t be fun.”

“It wasn’t,” Joe admitted. “I was with Zach and Zay at the time, though, so I wasn’t alone. That would have been worse. I’ve done that, too, and your thoughts start to drive you crazy in minutes.”

“I can’t imagine.”

Before they could say anything else, they reached the outer office. That’s what Bekah thought it would be called. The seating area had a desk area in the center but a number of doors were along the wall behind.

The man behind the desk stood and bowed slightly in their direction. “Your Royal Highnesses, the king had asked that you wait in the conference room.”

Joe inclined his head toward the man. “Thank you.”

Without waiting for someone to give more direction, Joe opened one of the doors and stood aside, letting Bekah enter before him.

But she didn’t know where she was going, so she waited for him. A minute later, they were in a conference room. No one else waited with them, but Joe held a chair for her.

“How long will we have to wait?” she asked, her voice hushed. She didn’t know why, but it seemed like a place to be quiet - like a library or church.

“I don’t know.” He glanced at his watch. “I doubt we’ll be here more than two hours if they don’t need us, but it will probably be at least forty-five minutes. It’s one of those things where we have to be ready, in case they need us early.”

“I see.” She looked around the room. “So we just sit here?”