Page 55 of Royal Icing

If Leo hadn’t found her, she’d be dead right now. Her mom would be childless and alone, Cooper would be without a mother. But Leo had given her a second chance at life. And she would give it all she had.

Minutes later, they waded out into the knee-high snow, blinking at the harsh sunlight.

Cooper plodded along happily, unbothered by what was probably eighteen undisturbed inches of snow.

Emma staggered along in the drifts with Leo’s help. Her damn jeans clung to her. It was unpleasant, but nothing like the punishing freeze of the night before. Leo was silent on their walk back. She had trauma-dumped all over him. What was it about him that made her open up? She had never confided in a stranger this way.

Stranger wasn’t the right word anymore. What was he? An acquaintance? A friend? Could someone really be your friend if you were never going to see them again?

Unless he came to visit Ruby in New York.

She banished the thoughts of the future from her mind. Only five days remained before the ball. The timeline was almost impossible. There wasn’t time to do anything crazy like fall in love with a prince who lived in a different country, even if she wanted to.

Leo took her past the courtyard and around to the same door she had almost gone through the night before. He cracked it open, and there was a rush of sound on the other side.

“How nice of you to join us.”

Shit. That was the queen, and she didn’t look happy to see them.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

LEO

“Where have you been all night?”the queen asked, looking at him in a way she usually reserved for servants who brought the wrong kind of tea. “And why are you with the baker?”

Leo bristled. “The baker has a name, Mother. Emma fell through the ice during the storm last night. I’m taking her to see the doctor.”

Fewer details were better. She didn’t need to know that they’d technically spent the night together.

The queen was silent for a moment. She turned to look behind her.

“Rosa, take Miss…Emma to see the royal physician.”

Emma squeezed his arm before she and Cooper were swept away by the maid.

Silence fell as his mother looked at him. Her eyes were sharp, angry. “I explicitly told you not to get involved. You’ve left me with no choice. She’ll have to go home.”

Fuck.Leo’s heart flew into his throat. He’d just destroyed her dreams. Why the hell hadn’t they walked in separately?

“You can’t send her home.”

She looked at him disdainfully. “Watch me.”

“Do you know what she’s done for this family?”

“Yes, we’re all very impressed that she knows the Heimlich,” the queen said disdainfully.

Well. That showed how much she valued his life.

“Not for me,” Leo said. “For Ruby.”

The queen paused and looked at him.

He explained the situation from the night before but left out the drinking.

The queen’s mouth dropped open. “Paul? He had the audacity to lay a finger on a member of the royal family? We won’t stand for it. Beatrice, get Lord Axley on the phone immediately.”

“So you won’t be sending Emma home?” Leo interrupted.