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But her clothes had been removed and, unless she wanted to wear some of his actual clothes, this was going to be the best she could do.

Hesitating for just a second, Bekah opened the door between the bedroom and living area.

Both men stood as she walked in, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized the second person.

Thor.

“Good afternoon, Your Royal Highness.” Thor bowed his head her direction.

“Is it afternoon? And please don’t do that.” She sank into a chair as they both took their seats. “We only got married so I could get out of Athmetis.”

“I would recommend you keep that tidbit to yourselves. It is likely the assumption of anyone who would have cause to think about it, but there’s no reason to give them confirmation. I’m not saying it could lead to an international incident or anything quite that dire, but I wouldn’t recommend risking it.”

Bekah nodded. “So what do we tell people? I’ve only been widowed three months.” Two days after she got pregnant. Weeks before she realized it.

“You’ve known each other a long time. While in Athmetis, you realized there’s something more between you. Keep it simple, and you don’t have to straight up lie. Let people believe what they want, and don’t answer any questions unless you have to.”

“Use lots of words to say not much of anything,” Joe told her with a sigh. “Just like politicians. I swore I wouldn’t be one of those. Ben has to, at least to some degree, but I never wanted to be like that.”

“It’s always something that was going to be part of your life, most likely, Josiah.” Thor’s voice took on a fatherly tone.

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”

“Where do we go from here?” Bekah felt comfortable enough to pull her legs as close to her chest as she could and wrap her arms around them. She wouldn’t feel like that if her new brother-in-law had been in the room. “And what about luggage? I have no clothes.”

“Some clothes are being brought in for you. You can hide out here for a couple of days, but at some point, you’ll need to be seen in public.” His body shifted slightly so the second statement included both of them. “Church on Sunday, I’d imagine. I’m sure the PR folks can tell you if you need to hold hands or what the minimum is to keep people from asking too many questions.”

“Doesn’t your family have some sort of no PDA rule?” Wasn’t that a royalty thing? The Queen and Philip never showed affection in public during his lifetime, did they?

Thor gave a half-shrug. “Ben and Katrín aren’t overly affectionate in public like they might be if he wasn’t the king. Gen and Levi are while Evie and Pete are not, but that’s more a function of who they are as people and as couples than any sort of PDA rules.”

So maybe it was a British thing.

A knock sounded on the door a second or so before it opened. Joe and Thor didn’t quite jump to their feet, but they did stand up as a bearded man entered.

Bekah wondered if she should stand, too, but she didn’t think she cared quite enough to make it happen.

The man waved a hand, and they both sat back down.

“I’m glad you’re home, Josiah.” The man turned to Bekah. “You must be my new sister-in-law.” He held out a hand. “Rebekah, isn’t it?”

She moved just enough to shake his hand. “Bekah, please.”

“I’m Benjamin, or Ben if you prefer, in private at least.” He tilted his head toward her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Bekah wrapped her arm around her legs again. “Likewise.” She should probably address him properly, but everything threatened to overwhelm her, and she didn’t.

He took a seat on the couch. “I need to know what happened in Athmetis. What happened with the accident?”

Joe explained what happened in a nutshell. The king asked insightful questions before agreeing that getting out of Athmetis had been the best thing for both of them, even if it meant getting married.

There was something else though. Something Benjamin wasn’t letting on.

She didn’t know how she knew that, but Bekah found herself believing that Benjamin wasn’t telling them everything.

A glance at Joe told her he likely agreed with her. What could it be?

The door to the hall opened again.