Page 34

CHAPTER 34

TRISTAN

I’ve been at the weekend house for the last few days. All four of us have been, decompressing from what we’ve dealt with over the past few months. I’ve already spoken with Amelia about how much I appreciate her being there for me and the people of Haldonia. The ones I haven’t spoken with are Shannon and Parker.

When I come downstairs, leaving Amelia upstairs under the covers, Shannon and Parker are kissing in the kitchen. “Sorry to interrupt.” I smirk at the two of them.

They’ve been sure to keep their relationship private. If it wasn’t for them sleeping in the same room, I would honestly have no idea they are together, as they don’t do public displays of affection and hardly ever talk about one another.

“Your Majesty.” Parker steps back, putting his hands behind him and gripping the countertop. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee.”

Without asking, he turns around and starts making it. Besides Amelia, Parker is the person who knows me better than anyone else. “Do you want cream or not?” See, he knows me well enough to know that sometimes I like it, other times I don’t.

“Yes, if you don’t mind.”

As I watch him make the coffee, I think about what I’m going to say to the two of them. They’ve done a lot to protect my family, and I want to give them a gift. “When I tell you this, I want you to keep an open mind. There isn’t a precedent for any of this. Not what we just went through, not what you have been requested to do, and not what you’ve done. I looked it up in the history of Haldonia, and this has never been done.”

“Tristan.” Parker crosses his arms over his chest. “You don’t have to do anything for me. The honor of my life has been taking care of you. Not only are you my king, but you’re one of the best friends I ever had. I didn’t anticipate that. When I was told that I was being assigned to your detail, I was so annoyed.” He laughs. “Because I had this preconceived notion of who you were. Which was my fault, and I was quickly put in my place.” He turns his gaze over to Shannon. “Then I saw her.”

Chuckling, I nod. “Yeah, the first moment I saw the two of you together, I knew something was up. It took you a long time to admit it though.”

“I have never admitted it, not to anyone except her.” He tilts his head down toward her. “So you can assume you know what’s going on, but I’ve never said it.”

She rolls her eyes, throwing him a smirk. “He loves to be the one to say he’s never admitted it. Hell, I’m lucky he’s admitted how he feels about me. This man is a steel trap.”

I’m surprised when I watch her reach over and wrap her arms around him. He opens his up and pulls her into him, dropping a kiss on her head. This is the first time I’ve seen the two of them offer any little bit of affection toward each other. Although I know they’ve been together for a while, I’ve never seen it before. “I was beginning to wonder if you were actually together or not. I could never catch you sneaking anything.”

He smirks. “I was taught to keep my private life private. I became pretty good at it after a while.”

He’s never talked much about his time in special forces, so I’m interested to hear why he was told to do that. “What was the reason? You hardly ever share anything, so consider me all ears.”

Parker walks around the island and pulls out one of the stools before dropping onto it. “You all might as well sit down. This could take a while.”

Shannon and I share a look before we do as he’s asked.

“Back in special forces, there was a big emphasis on keeping parts of our lives private. We were told not to have social media, and if we did to keep it scrubbed. To not allow anyone to know if there were people important to you. So almost none of the people who were serving with me had any of that.” He runs a hand through his hair and then scratches at the couple-days-old beard on his jaw. “Our superiors were scared that if someone knew we had people important to us—kids, significant others, parents—they would use them to get to us.”

Shannon nods, taking a drink of her coffee. “I can see that. If people know there’s a way they can bribe you, they will. It’s unfortunately very easy for the enemy to find out too many things about you with the simple click of a button. Once they have that information, they can use it to do what they wish. Which means they can try to get state secrets. It would be way too easy, and it’s a matter of national security.”

“Exactly. Which is why neither of us wanted anyone to know we were together.” Parker grabs her hand, holding it so that we all can see it. “I was worried that someone would accuse us of things we weren’t doing. Then there was a fear that someone would use her to get to me.”

I choose my words carefully as I talk to the two of them. “The last few months have shown us a lot of things. It’s been extremely eye-opening how quickly life can change. How things we thought would never be a worry, were. I can’t tell you the last time I was truthfully worried that another country would invade Haldonia. To be honest, it was never.”

They murmur their agreement, and I continue.

“Crona did a lot of things. Most of them god-awful. There are citizens of our country who will never be the same. I count myself as one of them.” I take a drink from my coffee cup. “When I close my eyes, I still see shit from out there on the battlefield. Will that ever change? I’m not sure, and I’m not sure whether I want it to. Before we were invaded and forced to defend our position, I took everything for granted. It wasn’t until we were stuck in the middle of that tent did I actually realize how different life was going to be.”

I’m getting to my point, but it’s important for me to explain to Parker and Shannon how much they mean to me, how they’ve become a part of our family through all the trials and tribulations we’ve had.

“So, what I’ve learned over the past few months is that life isn’t promised, and we could lose it all within the blink of an eye. There’s something I want to give the two of you. It’s never been given to a security detail for the king in the past. But I want my monarchy to be different. I want to be the type of king who leads by example and making the changes instead of talking about them. Words only mean so much.”

Parker’s eyes meet mine. “I think I know what you’re going to do.”

He’s a smart man. I have no idea he’s probably thought of this before. “The changes I want to make are plentiful, but they start with the two of you. We couldn’t have asked for better people to help protect us while we were going through this time. You all served your positions with great pride, which is why I want to offer you this.”

“Tristan…” Parker turns to Shannon. “Is this what I think it is?”

Shannon is stumped. It’s obvious in the way she keeps looking between the two of us.

“I’d love to be the king to give you the option to marry if that’s what you want. To let you have a family if that’s what you want. I know there are risks to it. Fully aware of that, but I’m willing to take those risks if you all are,” I finish, knocking my knuckles against the granite. “Of course this is a decision you two will need to make, but I won’t stand in your way if that’s where you see your future going. Neither will Amelia. We will be happy to stand by your sides. To let our child grow up next to yours. It would be an honor.”

She’s quietly crying, and Parker appears to be barely keeping it together.

“Your Majesty, I don’t know what to say.” Parker’s voice is quiet as if he can’t believe what I’ve said.

“There’s nothing to say. Just know I’m right behind you if this is what you want. All I ask is that you invite me to the wedding.”

Shannon giggles. “I’d fully expect you to come off the nicest cathedral in the country for us. I mean, you can’t offer this and then not let us go all out. I’m a stylist.”

Parker slings his arm around her neck. “Who could kill with her bare hands. Damn, I don’t think you know how hot that is.”

Picking up my coffee, I take it to the bedroom, waiting for Amelia to wake up. As I look out at the ocean below us, I toast to myself. Here’s to more quiet mornings with the people I care about, and the woman I love.