Page 209 of Ruin Me With Lies

That yanks a laugh out of me.“Yeah, it’s like that sometimes, when I’ve had a long day of sparring.My body demands extra hours of sleep to recover.”I sip my coffee.“Plus, I skipped my ice bath yesterday…due tosomeone’sunexpected arrival.”

“Don’t imagine moonlighting helped much either, huh?”

Another laugh.“Nope.”

He reaches out and fiddles with the ends of my hair.“You’re beautiful.”

Kiss me again...

Rodney drops something behind the bar and Stefano’s attention shifts to him.

Look at me.Only me.

Stefano’s phone buzzes on the counter.Before I can get a peek, he snatches it up, angling it out of my view as he reads the screen.He straightens and tucks the phone in his pocket, then holds his hand out to me.“Come on.”

No questions asked, I slip my hand in his and slide off the barstool.

Conversations fall quiet and bodies rise from chairs as Stefano leads me out.

Once we’re several feet away from Blue Court, he says, “You know, your dad and I got into it when I called him an archaic, egotistical megalomaniac for making people stand every time he enters a room...”

“Oh, that.”I take a sip of coffee.“Yeah, it’s annoying.I got tired of telling them to fuck off with that nonsense.It’s the only order they outright ignore.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s an official law withinTHE O, to stand in the presence of a Byrd unless otherwise indicated.And they take their oaths seriously.”

“They watch you like a hawk, too,” he adds.“Like you’re their property.”

Do they?It’s all so normal to me that I’ve never thought about how jarring it must look from the outside.“Well, they’ve sworn their entire lives to me, so I suppose, in a way, Iamtheir property.”

“Meanwhile my own men and blood are turning on me.”

“No, your menkneltwith you,” I remind him.“A few bad eggs doesn’t ruin the whole basket.”

“Hmm.You did try to foreshadow that, didn’t you?”

Noticing the direction he’s leading me, I wiggle my fingers in his grasp.“Are we going to my private stream?”

A slant smile pulls at his lips.“Had a chat with your assistants this morning.Learned that’s where you like to spend your afternoons.”

“You’ve been busy,” I say.“But yeah, I keep that stream all to myself.No one bothers me there, so it remains quiet and peaceful.All my best ideas come to me there.”

In a few minutes, we arrive at the narrow gap between jagged, moss-covered rocks that mark the entrance to the stream.The soothing song of gushing water greets us first, a cascading melody, soft and steady.

Cool mist kisses our skin as Stefano guides me through the snug passage, which soon gives way to a serene mountain hollow.My sanctuary.From a towering cliff, a powerful waterfall crashes into the rocky river below, which weaves between boulders before branching off into smaller streams that trace across the plains like silver threads.

On a raised grassy bank sits my robust tarp-tent, camping chairs, and my weatherproof hammock, bolted between two rocks.Today, there’s something new here.A full picnic setup.Blanket, basket, icebox, and a cake box.

Stefano gestures to the setup.“Mind if I crash your spot today?”

“Only if there’s aprinsesstårtain that cake box.”

Chuckling, he guides me over and we lower onto the blanket.He lifts the lid off the pretty cake box, revealing the perfectly classic Swedish treat, then throws me a wink.“Promised you, didn’t I?”

My mouth waters, and I shimmy my shoulders excitedly.

Stefano laughs, a glint in his eyes.“Real quick.Which do you love more: food, or me?”