Page 7

CHAPTER 7

AMELIA

I’ve never been in the castle with no one else really here before. It’s kind of freaky how quiet it is, but at the same time, we’re spending time alone and together. Tristan and I don’t get enough of that as a pair of newlyweds.

Walking into his office, he has a seat behind his desk. It never fails to make my core clench as I look at him in that position of power. He’s so hot sitting there, like he’s able to command the country to do anything at the snap of his fingers.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Tristan asks as he stares at me.

“I see you in different ways every single day. Sometimes you’re my husband, other times you’re my crush, my best friend, and then when you sit behind this desk? You’re hotter than anyone else I’ve ever seen.”

He grins. “What do you think when you see me back here?”

If only he knew, and do I really want to tell him? It gives him an advantage over me, one I’m unsure if I want to give him that power. “I see you as the strongest person I know. Most people would be scared to take over a country at your age. Even though you’ve been preparing for it your whole life, it’s still overwhelming. How are you handling it?”

“No one has asked me that before.” He scoots up closer to his desk and puts his hands on the polished wood. “Thank you for asking. I am overwhelmed. There are a lot of parts of the job I always assumed he wasn’t very good at or that he didn’t care about. Now I’m beginning to see there are a lot more issues at stake than him just wanting to make something happen. There are checks and balances in every part of our government. Even if I wanted to, I can’t make the decisions I want to.”

“How does that make you feel? It would make me frustrated.”

“It does.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I had all these grand plans of the changes I was going to make. How I was going to come into office and within the first one hundred days I would let the people of Haldonia know they were cared for.” He shrugs, grabbing a pen and clicking it off and on. “That’s just not what’s happened so far. I’m learning to temper expectations and take the small wins, ya know? It helps having you by my side.”

“How’s that?” I ask, laying my head down on the desk and gazing up at him. “I haven’t done anything other than accept a bunch of invitations for us to appear in public. I feel as if I’m the one who’s holding us back to make those changes.”

“No.” He shakes his head.” I wish you’d known my mom. You remind me so much of her. She might have spent most of her life doing these same appearances you’re talking about, but the people loved her. If there was anyone they wanted to see out in public, it was her. Anytime there was some sort of disaster, or a worry about the people of Haldonia, they would look to her, not my dad.”

“And did she help them to feel better?”

His eyes get sad. “She helped me. I was never scared when she was around. If my mom was there, I knew there wasn’t anything that would hurt me. I counted on her.” He clears his throat. “And it killed me when she died. I wish she would have met you.”

“I wish I would’ve met her too. Go ahead, and do what you need to. I’ll be right here waiting for you. All I wanna do is watch you work.”

He raises his eyebrows, but takes his jacket off, undoes the buttons on his shirt, and pushes them up past his elbows. My eyes watch him as he works, his brows furrowing as he reads a few pieces of paper and then scrawls his signature on them. I know what I do every day when I’m in my office, but I’ve always wondered what he does. It’s not as if I think he’s wasting his day doing nothing, but I have no idea what a king does in his office.

An hour later, he looks up to me. “Thanks for being patient. I’m ready to go if you are.”

My stomach feels as if a bunch of small birds are flying around in it. “I can’t wait to see your car, and I really can’t wait to watch you driving it.”

He reaches out to take my hand. “Let’s go, Lia.”

Little does he know I would follow him wherever he wants to go.

This is another thing I’ve never done. Been in the garage of the castle. I, of course, knew it was there, but I never had a reason to go there before, and I’ve never thought about going down there on my own.

“What all is in here?” I question as we ride the elevator down.

“Cars mostly, a couple of motorcycles, and a few vehicles that are special to the country. My mom’s old car is down there. Sometimes I go sit in it. If I inhale deep enough, I can still smell her.”

“Do you want to show me her car?”

There’s a pride in his gaze I’ve never seen. “I’d love to show you her car.”

When the elevator comes to a stop and we exit, he brings me over to a white Mercedes G-Wagon. “She was so regal in this thing.” His voice is reverent. “I can still see her sitting tall in the seat. When she got this car, she was so excited to travel wherever she wanted to as long as security said it was okay.”

It’s been lovingly cared for, but I’m ready to see the car we’ll be driving tonight. “Show me yours.”

“Oh babe, I’ll show you everything of mine.”

The tone in his voice brings heat to my cheeks. “You know what I mean in this instance.”

“I do, but let me introduce you to the baby I had before you.” He struts over to the other side of the garage and hits a button. There, a sleek, black car that looks like the definition of sex sits before us. It’s shiny. “This one is mine.” He runs his hand across the hood, touching it like a lover. “Let’s go, Lia. I wanna fly with you.”