Page 138 of The Unlikely Heir

“Someone leaked it. I was going to talk to you, talk to the queen, do this properly.” I rub a spot between my eyebrows.

“Yeah, it’s not just the fact you didn’t forewarn me that’s upset me. It’s the fact you’re doing it at all.”

I feel my anger flair to match his. How has he not realized what an impossible situation I’m in?

“I called it because that’s my job! It’s my job to represent the British people! And if the public sentiment is for a referendum on the monarchy, it’s my job to deliver that! It has nothing to do with things between you and me.”

“So, what, you just end a thousand years of my family history and expect me to sail off happily into the sunset with you?”

“It’s not personal, Callum. It has nothing to do with how I feel about you.”

“Well, that’s where we have to agree to disagree. Because this feels extremely personal to me.” He blows out a deep breath, and for a second, he looks so defeated that I want to close the gap between us and wrap my arms around him. I take a step towards him, but when he raises his gaze, the unflinching conviction in them stops me in my tracks.

“I am good at my job. What I do matters. It matters to the public.” His voice is low but gets stronger as he speaks. “Sometimes, people just need something they believe is larger than themselves. Can’t you see that? Something collective that bonds people together as a nation. And I can do that.

“And do you know what the most ridiculous thing is? You’re the one who helped me realize I could do it! How crazy is it that the man who helped me realize my purpose is now snatching it all away?”

“I’m not snatching it away. I’m giving the people of the UK a chance to decide the future they want.”

Callum’s forehead crumbles. “Did you think about what this does to my grandmother? She’s given her whole life to the crown, to preserving the legacy of the monarchy. You are undermining her entire life’s work.”

“I made the decision I had to, Callum. I made the decision I would have made if we weren’t together. I couldn’t take my boyfriend’s grandmother’s feelings into consideration when making a decision that affects the whole country.”

Callum absorbs my words before turning those big green eyes on me.

“What does this do to us?” he asks quietly.

“I want you, Callum. Not your title.”

He raises an eyebrow. “In fact, it’ll be easier for you if I don’t have a title, right?”

I owe him honesty. “Yes. It would be easier.”

I simply want to be with Callum. And I can’t deny that Callum not being the heir to the throne would make that a whole lot simpler.

He continues to stare at me.

“Would it really be so bad if you weren’t heir to the throne anymore?” I make my voice soft. “We could be together with no issues.”

A flurry of emotions runs across his face. “Would it really be so bad if you weren’t the prime minister anymore? Because we could be together with no issues then, right?”

I flinch. Callum’s gaze is unyielding on mine.

“You were right that hard conversations have to happen sometime. So let’s have a hard conversation now.

“What happens if the British public decides they do still want a monarchy, and you are reelected at the next election. What happens then? Would you want me to give up my place in succession?”

“I’d never ask you to do that,” I say.

“But we can’t be together if I’m the Prince of Wales and you’re the prime minister, can we? Unless we continue to hide year after year. And it will get out, Oliver. We can’t pretend something like this won’t be leaked. Look at what just happened with the referendum. So we either can’t be together anymore, or if the referendum comes out in favor of the monarchy, you’ll need to give up your job or I’ll have to give up my right to the throne.”

“Don’t you think I know all this?”

The agony in my voice seems to deflate Callum’s anger.

For a few moments, we just stand there, our gazes locked together.

“Have you decided how you plan to vote in the referendum?” he asks.