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21-wishes · 3 years ago

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Alternating between Vancross and BKS is important to heal my heart and soul 🤣♥️ even though it might be only temporary angst free 😅👀

As I was reading I was like hmmm I wonder what her name means and then i read it’s heart in Irish 🥹♥️ and then I remembered that the name Liam is also Irish 👀

As the professor continued to drone on about the current image on the screen, Liam’s eyes shifted to the right, landing on the back of Croía’s head.

You know what I can’t wait for? For the time when they sit together -if at all. Her sitting all alone is breaking my heart 💔

One thing, in particular, he picked up on just from working on their paired assignment together was her lack of confidence in herself.

This is what you were saying earlier and it’s what Liam helps her with isn’t it 🥹♥️

in his opinion, these were still things she should know.

They are. Her family is shitty and I’m waiting to find out just how bad.

Just then, a small group of third-year Cordonian nobles called out to him from across the quad;

Why was this so funny to me 😂🤣😅

Let me ask you something,” he said, and Croía met his gaze again. “Are you struggling with this because you’re focusing too much on what your kingdom would actually do?”

I love how he helps her, he doesn’t give some lame pep talk, he actually gives her a method without manipulating her opinion. Like literally just make the decision you want but make one and stick by it because you want it and I love him so much 🥹♥️

Croía stared at him for a moment; he was so confident, but not in a smug or egotistical way.

And if that’s not the hottest thing ever I don’t know what is. There’s a fine line between confidence and cockiness.

At his words, he watched Croía smile; it was a brilliant smile, the first that he’d seen since meeting her that reached her icy blue eyes and made them sparkle … and made his heart skip a beat.

“No,” Liam chuckled. “Not comparing. Maybe I just want to get to know you a little better,” he said as he looked at her.

🥹🥹🥹😍😍😍

“I got you by one,” he chuckled. “Liam Dominic Alexander Nikolaos.”

All I’m thinking here is did she choose Dominic as an LI in The Crown and the Flame and that’s why it’s part of his name since he’d be considered a descendant of his? 😂🤣

Croía found herself hanging on every word, wondering what that would have been like growing up. Her parents were the exact opposite. Amazing? That was a far stretch. Fun? Her parents never heard of the word. Loved and respected by their people? More like feared. “My parents aren’t like that at all,” she said quietly.

“Bye.” Liam shut the door as he rubbed the back of his neck. He dropped his hand from the knob and knitted his brows in thought before he turned, heading back toward his room with a curious smile.

Whatcha up to my boy? 👀👀👀

She was always overlooked and often reminded that she was “a mistake” as she heard her mother refer to her on more occasions than she cared to remember.

Well, I was unfortunately right. Colossal bitch sounds like an understatement.

It made her feel … noticed.

Ooh sweetheart 🥺😭♥️♥️💔💔💔

“Croía is single,” Blaine shrugged, and Liam looked at him, caught off guard by his mention of her. Then, he registered his hesitation, but it was too late. “Dude!” Blaine sat forward with wide eyes.

🤣🤣🤣 All I can see is Blaine like,

“Well, you can blame that on your disgraceful excuse of a brother,” her mother spat.

This fucking bitch is getting on my nerves. I haven’t even played CoP yet and I’m already being protective of Trystan. 🤣😂 it doesn’t help that I imagine her exactly like Sigrid. 😂😅

“For god’s sake, stop stammering,” she admonished.

“Liam,” her mother interrupted. “The Rys boy …”

“Oh, um, ok. I miss—” The call was abruptly cut off by a click before going silent. “… you …”

I’m so nervous that she singled out Liam. What’s going on between Drakovia and Cordonia? 👀😰

Blaine and Alia looked at one another, having a silent conversation before they broke out into grins. He slung his arm over her shoulder and turned his mouth to her ear with a chuckle. “I have to tell you about the chat we had before we left the suite …”

Do you have any idea how long I’ve been hoping and waiting for this moment? For those two to find out and try to push them more into each other? 🤩🤩🤩 Since the prologue! since I found out that Alia is her roommate and she’s Blaine’s girlfriend and he’s his roommate and jdjdjdjdjdksnansjsjsbenendnsnsndnsnnnnsnsnssnIM SO EXCITED 🤩🤩🤩😍😍😍

“You know, it would be a whole lot easier to make these arrangements to meet up if I had your number rather than chasing you down after class or running into you when you happen to be with Alia,” Liam chuckled.

Coria out there living my dream 🥹 you go girl do it for all of us 🥹♥️🤣

Liam shook his head with a grin, fighting back a laugh. “It’s not that. My phone keeps autocorrecting your name to Cocoa,” he chuckled. He glanced over when he heard her laugh, smiling at her. “I’m gonna leave it.”

“Yeah,” Liam grinned. “It’ll be my little nickname for you.” He then noticed the empty beer bottle in her hand; he stood from the sand, brushing himself off before he held out his hand. “Come on, Cocoa, let’s go get another drink,” he chuckled.

STOP. THIS IS TOO FUCKING CUTE!!

🥹😭😍♥️♥️

“Man,” Blaine laughed. “That was smoother than the cream cheese I put on my bagel this morning.”

I literally laughed out loud at this 😂🤣♥️

Truth be told, however, he was looking forward to hanging out with Croía that day, even if it was just to work on their assignment.

That’s true love right there 😂

Croía started toward Liam’s room, hearing the faint sound of music. When she neared his door, she cautiously peered inside; Liam was sitting on his bed with a guitar across his lap, strumming a soft tune. She went to announce herself, but stopped, watching him effortlessly move his fingers over the strings; she didn’t know what song he was playing, but it managed to capture her full attention.

NENSJSJSJSKSKSKSMDNDNDJAJJAN

IT HAPPEEENEEEDDD 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 I remember when in chapter one I think? I mentioned please have it that Eleanor teaches him guitar and you said you already planned this scene 🥹😍😍😍

Then, he slightly shifted so his body was at an angle just behind her shoulder; his one arm encircled her, helping her to position the instrument properly, and she felt the heat rise to her cheeks. His right hand positioned hers on the strings over the sound hole with the pick between her thumb and forefinger, then his left hand gently covered hers, guiding her fingers at the neck.

👁👁

nodded. “Ok, now keeping your arm nice and fluid, just brush the pick against the strings, almost as if you’re painting and making a brush stroke.”

Ok but why did I imagine those words being slowly whispered in my her ear 🥵🥵🥵

The sound of heels clicking against the marble floor softly echoed in the corridor. Once at her destination, she knocked on the closed door, waiting for the ok to enter. When she heard his voice, she opened the door and stepped inside, offering a smile. “Hello, darling.”

The vagueness at who the characters are at the beginning of some scenes get me all nervous then I relax, but I feel like a day is gonna come where I won’t relax 😂🤣😅

Constantine being so confident nothing is happening between them is funny and anxiety inducing. Like will Liam falling for Croia push Constantine to his canon behavior and attempt to get between them? Or since Eleanor is here things are different? The amount of keysmashes and theorizing this and BKS evoke is insane and I love it! 😂🤣

I love the moodboard at the end it’s so perfect and beautiful! They’re so spot on and I admire and appreciate all the effort you put in these stories! From moodboards to music to face claims! Everything is so well-thought and perfectly chosen! 😍♥️♥️♥️

Vancross - You’re Looking At Me (Chapter 5)

Most of the characters belong to Pixelberry.

Summary: A group of friends embark on their final year at Vancross Institute with the hopes of making it their best year yet. When a new face with a complicated family plagued by secrets and rumors arrives on campus, new friendships are formed, a new relationship blossoms, and threatening challenges arise.

Title inspiration: Give Me Your Attention - The Waiting

Main Pairing: Liam x OC

A/N: Multiple crossover series (but heavily focused on TRR). There will be random sprinkles of canon throughout this story, but for the most part, it’s pretty much out the window. Thank you to @the-soot-sprite for looking it over. Please excuse any errors.

Warnings: This series will contain nsfw material, language, alcohol and drug use, and is not suitable for minors. If you read, you acknowledge you are 18+

Catch up here

Perma Tags (if you’d like to be added or removed for this story, please let me know): @zaffrenotes @cocomaxley @emichelle @sweetest-marbear @indiacater @gibbles82 @classylady1234 @texaskitten30 @the-soot-sprite @ladyangel70 @esmckenzie @dcbbw @burnsoslow @bbrandy2002 @txemrn @charlotteg234 @kat-tia801 @neotericthemis @foreverethereal123 @choiceskatie @sirbeepsalot @debramcg1106 @gnatbrain @ofpixelsandscribbles @openheart12 @sincerelyella @superharriet @queenrileyrose @alyssalauren @aestheticartsx @forthebrokenheartedthings @kingliam2019 @indiana-jr @bascmve01 @rainbowsinthestorm @emkay512 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @gkittylove99 @forallthatitsworth @walker7519 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @amandablink @mainstreetreader @mom2000aggie @princessleac1 @21-wishes @appleone @tessa-liam @pixelatedpassion

Inside the lecture hall, Liam sat slumped in his chair as he stared at the projector screen at the front of the room; it was his last class of the day and he was ready for it to be over.

As the professor continued to drone on about the current image on the screen, Liam’s eyes shifted to the right, landing on the back of Croía’s head. She was leaning against the table with her head propped up against her hand. After their group Friday night out and taking Saturday to recuperate, she had come to his suite Sunday so they could work on their project. They had spent most of the afternoon working on the assignment, and afterward, when Blaine and Alia showed up, the girls ended up staying to watch a movie. Before Croía left that night, she and Liam had made plans to meet up again today after classes to work on the assignment some more.

Liam continued to feel curious and intrigued by Croía. She was still fairly reserved, but she seemed to be easing into her new norm at Vancross and with that, slowly starting to reveal more of the person behind her quiet and shy exterior. One thing, in particular, he picked up on just from working on their paired assignment together was her lack of confidence in herself.

During the first few times they met to work on the project, Liam couldn’t help but notice the way Croía seemed so unsure of herself when discussing their options regarding the assignment. Any time he would ask for her opinion on something, her response came out as more of a question rather than an answer. And he was still struggling to wrap his mind around her telling him that her parents never discussed matters like this with her.

These were things that had been drilled into Liam by his parents and tutors since he was old enough to understand and retain the importance. And while he understood her position as one of many spares, knowing she would more than likely never take the seat on her family’s throne, in his opinion, these were still things she should know. He had been taught that part of being a spare was to not only be an advocate but also a sounding board and advisor in these types of matters for the one who did have the crown. It was the entire reason they were given this assignment. Not everyone in their classes was an heir to a throne, but somewhere in their political futures, they could be dealing with a similar type of scenario in some capacity.

The professor flipping on the lights pulled Liam’s attention back to the front of the room; during the final moments of class, he reminded them of their paper due next week before finally dismissing them. As he packed up his things, Liam’s eyes flickered between his bag and Croía as she stood from her seat. They had made plans to meet but hadn’t spoken since, and Liam wasn’t sure if she remembered.

Liam stood from his seat and slung his bag over his shoulder. When he glanced up to find Croía, she was already at the bottom of the stairs near the door. He maneuvered his way past his lingering classmates down the stairs and headed out the door Croía had disappeared through before going out another door that led to the quad; after a moment, he spotted her walking along the pathway.

“Croía,” Liam called out as he walked after her.

Stopping when she heard her name, Croía turned to see him approaching her. “Hi,” she smiled.

“Hey,” Liam grinned as they started walking together. “I was wondering if you were still planning on coming by today?”

“Yeah,” Croía nodded. “I was just going to stop by my suite real quick before coming over.” She glanced up at him. “Unless you had something come up.”

“No, nothing came up. I was just checking.” Just then, a small group of third-year Cordonian nobles called out to him from across the quad; Liam waved before he glanced at her. “I’ll see you soon?”

“Yeah,” Croía answered. Liam smiled with a nod before veering off in the direction of the group as she continued along the pathway toward her building.

****

A long while later, Liam and Croía sat in his room inside his suite; books they had taken from the library were laid open and strewn across the floor in front of them. They had compiled lists of the pros and cons of each fake scenario and had written down paragraphed examples to back their claims taken from the history books in front of them. Now all they needed to do was make their decision so they could begin to work on the final and most important part of the project.

Liam glanced up at Croía as she finished writing down the last bit of a paragraph she was working on. He knew which direction he would choose to take in this fake scenario given to them; he’d known from the very beginning. But he wanted to see what she was going to choose. “So … what are you thinking as far as the choice?”

Croía looked at him hesitantly. “Well, um …” She glanced back down at their lists, buying herself time.

Liam watched her for a moment; she was wringing her hands together and he could see the uncertainty in her eyes as she scanned the lists like she was going to find the answer there. “Let me ask you something,” he said, and Croía met his gaze again. “Are you struggling with this because you’re focusing too much on what your kingdom would actually do?”

Croía smiled sheepishly. “Maybe … I guess.” She sighed, leaning back against the foot of Liam’s bed. “Aren’t you doing the same?”

“No,” Liam shook his head. “I mean, do I think that my opinion aligns with the stance my parents and royal advisors would take on the same matter? Yes. But that’s not why I’m choosing the answer I am. I’m choosing it because it’s what I think would be best.”

“And what if they didn’t agree with you?”

“I would take their opinions into consideration, just as they would take my opinion into theirs. But at the end of the day, the decision would rest with me, so I need to be sure of my answer, which in this case, I am.”

Croía stared at him for a moment; he was so confident, but not in a smug or egotistical way. She couldn’t help but think at that moment how good of a King he would make when his time came. Cordonia was lucky to have him. And he was lucky to have parents who had taught him well, who had taught him to trust his instincts and to think for himself. She couldn’t say the same. “And what if your opinion doesn’t matter?” she asked.

Liam furrowed his brows. “It always matters,” he replied.

Croía let out a wry laugh. “Not where I come from.”

Liam now knew why she was so unsure of herself; she wasn’t used to freely giving her thoughts. He knew she had her own mind made up, he just needed to get her to say it out loud. “Ok … answer me this. Take this as if it was a real situation at this very moment.” Croia knitted her brows curiously. “What would you do? Not your family … not Drakovia … but you.”

“I …” Croía trailed off.

Liam watched her think for a moment, able to see her hesitation, almost as if she were searching for the right answer or at least the one she thought he wanted to hear, but that’s not what he wanted at all. There was no right or wrong answer, only her opinion, and she needed to know that it mattered. “Be confident in your answer, Croía. Don’t say what you think anyone else would want you to. Trust what your gut is telling you.”

Croía looked at him, this time meeting his gaze with newfound aplomb. “I’d go with the technology.”

Liam subtly smiled. “Why?”

“Well … for starters, I would take our military into consideration. How well trained they are, how big they are. If we’re a small kingdom, I would assume that our military is average at best, but we also have the wealth for training and weaponry. And by combining our military with country A’s, it could very well be just as large as country B. So that would put us around the same size, possibly bigger, with the added advantage of the technology. With country B … we should have cause for concern for any ulterior motives because they don’t seem to have anything else to offer but their military. And they’re said to be a kingdom known for their ‘military tactics.’ Tactics is a keyword there … they could be used to intimidating others and backing them into a corner to get what they want with underlying threats of military action. And they could potentially be looking to overthrow the smaller kingdom using those said tactics.”

Liam grinned wide. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” At his words, he watched Croía smile; it was a brilliant smile, the first that he’d seen since meeting her that reached her icy blue eyes and made them sparkle … and made his heart skip a beat. He cleared his throat and looked back down at the papers in front of them. “So … I think we’ve made our decision then, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Croía replied.

Liam leaned back on his arms, resting his palms on the floor as he looked at her again. “You know, I’m still surprised that none of this was ever discussed with you back home. Not that I mean anything bad by saying that … it’s just …”

“Not how you grew up?” Croía quipped.

“No,” Liam shook his head.

“It sounds like we grew up in two different worlds.”

Liam smiled at her. “So, tell me about your world, Croía.”

“Comparing notes, are we?” Croía asked with a hint of amusement in her tone.

“No,” Liam chuckled. “Not comparing. Maybe I just want to get to know you a little better,” he said as he looked at her.

“Ok,” Croía smiled, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin atop them.

“Let’s start with siblings. There’s eight, right?”

“Yes. And you have … two?”

“Leo and Lena,” Liam nodded. “So, you have me beat there.”

“Well, does it count if I only talk to two out of the eight?” Croia quipped.

“I’ll still give it to you,” Liam chuckled. “How about the names department?”

“Like the given royal names?” Croía chuckled.

Liam nodded. “What are yours?”

“Croía Alexandria Ophelia,” she replied.

“I got you by one,” he chuckled. “Liam Dominic Alexander Nikolaos.”

“Well, that’s just a mouthful,” Croía giggled.

“Ok … parents?” Liam smiled.

Croía’s smile slightly fell. “You first.”

“Amazing,” Liam answered without hesitation. “I’m close with both. My mom always made sure we were having fun, no matter what it was we were doing, sometimes against my father’s wishes,” he chuckled. “They still act like kids themselves behind closed doors, but in public, they’re the epitome of grace and duty. And they’re loved and respected by our people.”

Liam looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. “What are they like?”

“Strict.”

“In like an overprotective manner?”

“If that’s what you want to call it.”

What began as a lighthearted conversation had taken a quick turn, and despite how curious he was to hear more, Liam wasn’t going to push on a seemingly touchy subject. “Well … everyone’s different. Maybe my parents are the ones who are doing it all wrong,” he joked.

Croía offered a halfhearted smile, knowing he was only saying that in an attempt to lighten the suddenly drab mood. She took in a breath and sat straight. “Well … I should probably head back to my suite. I’ve got a few other assignments I need to work on tonight.”

“Yeah, me too,” Liam nodded. Croía began to clean up the mess of books on the floor before gathering her things and heading out of his room. “I, uh … I think we’re all planning on going to the beach Friday,” he said, making small talk as he walked her to the door.

“Yeah, Alia mentioned it to me last night,” Croía replied.

Liam smiled as he opened the door for her. “Well, I guess I’ll see you Friday.”

“See ya,” Croía smiled before stepping into the hall.

****

Croía stepped off the elevator and exited Liam’s building, starting back toward her own; she walked slowly, losing herself to her thoughts with an inexplicable smile. “Maybe I just want to get to know you a little better.”

That wasn’t something she was used to hearing.

Growing up the youngest of nine, Croía became accustomed to being ignored. She was always overlooked and often reminded that she was “a mistake” as she heard her mother refer to her on more occasions than she cared to remember. If it hadn’t been for Trystan and Marguerite, she would have felt all but nonexistent, but when they both left Drakovia when she was 13, that feeling had become her norm. She wasn’t close with her other siblings; the only one she spoke to was Lydea, and that only happened when her eldest sister was barking orders. And her parents … they were strict with high expectations that she could never seem to meet; nothing she did was good enough and they had no qualms about telling her so. For everything she did, they only pointed out what she hadn’t done right.

Due to her parent’s overbearingness, Croía had no friends. She was only allowed to associate with a select few Drakovian nobles her mother approved of and they were nothing more than acquaintanceships, if even that.

Because of that, Croía thought she would have a hard time making friends when she came to Vancross because she wasn’t used to interacting with others this way. She was a wallflower; quiet, shy, and unsure of herself. Alia, ever the social butterfly, seemed to pick up on that immediately, and in their downtime since the first day she arrived, she had given Croía the 4 1 1 about her group of friends so she could know more about them, and hopefully find common ground and befriend them herself. In those conversations, Liam was brought up; she had mentioned him being one of the kindest and most down-to-earth in their group. And from what she could tell in her time there thus far, Alia wasn’t wrong.

Liam seemed to be the quintessential golden boy of Vancross. He appeared to be friends with almost everyone, even those outside his main circle. In passing on campus or in the few classes they shared, Croía always saw him talking and laughing with others. So it caught her a little off guard when the boy wonder said he wanted to get to know her better.

It made her feel … noticed.

*******

That Friday evening, Blaine and Liam sat on the roof of their building, passing a blunt between them as they killed time before heading down to the beach to meet their friends. Liam handed Blaine the blunt before leaning back in his chair and looking up at the auburn-colored sky as he exhaled the smoke he was holding in.

“Alia said she’s going to meet us down there,” Blaine said before taking a hit. He looked at Liam when he heard him sigh, knitting his brows. When he exhaled, he leaned forward, passing the blunt. “Why are you sighing like that?”

“I don’t know,” Liam shrugged. “I feel like you and Alia have been doing things like this since we got back … arriving separately to the party at Henri and Alexei’s, then the club last weekend, and now this. And I really hope it’s not for my sake.”

“It’s not,” Blaine waved him off.

Liam inhaled and held his breath, staring at Blaine for a moment before passing the blunt back to him and exhaling. “Well, I just don’t want you or Alia to feel like you have to accommodate me for whatever reason. I’m a big boy and can go places by myself if you two want to do something beforehand by yourselves or show up somewhere together.”

“This is why we need to get you a lady friend because you’re starting to become paranoid,” Blaine chuckled.

“I’m not paranoid. And I do not need a ‘lady friend,’” Liam scoffed.

“I think ya do,” Blaine smirked. “Any prospects?”

“No,” Liam answered.

“What about one of the Doublemint twins?” Liam shot him a look. “You weren’t making that face last weekend,” he snorted.

“Shut up.”

Blaine chuckled as he handed the blunt back to him. “Ok … oh!” he snapped his fingers. “What about that Countess from Ismari that’s in our social media class?”

“No.”

“The Auvernal ambassador’s daughter?”

“No.”

“Lady Sophie, the Princess of Monaco’s cousin?”

“No.”

“Evelyn is fun,” Blaine chuckled.

“No,” Liam shook his head.

“You and Olivia are already besties.”

“Not happening.”

“No …”

“You hesitated!”

Liam gave him a look. “I did not!”

Blaine ignored him. “And you two have been spending a lot of time together lately …”

“Because we’ve been working on our project!” Liam chided before taking his hit.

“Uh-huh,” Blaine smirked as he settled back in his seat, watching Liam finish off what was left of the blunt. “Croía seems fun. And it’s a bonus that she and Alia are suitemates and seem to be pretty close already.”

“Will you stop?”

“I’m just saying!”

“We should head out,” Liam said as he stood from his chair and discarded the roach.

“Why are you changing the subject?” Blaine laughed as he stood.

“I’m not. We need to go.”

A broad grin spread across Blaine’s face as he followed Liam to the ladder. “If you say so.”

****

Alia and Croía sat in the back of the SUV with both of their guards in the front as they made their way to the beach of the lake that bordered the University grounds. Alia had explained it was nothing more than a mellow outing with their group of friends; there would be coolers of drinks, a bonfire, and conversation.

The SUV pulled into the private lot reserved for the Vancross students; it was a way to try and keep the press at bay. Croía looked out the window as they parked, seeing a group of other vehicles already there and guards gathered outside around them.

“Ready?” Alia asked.

Croía nodded with a smile. She didn’t know exactly why but she was looking forward to tonight. When they stepped out of their vehicle, they began making their way towards the pathway that led to the beach, Croía’s phone rang; she dipped her hand inside her bag, pulling it out. She felt her heart momentarily still when she saw the name flashing across the screen, instantly feeling on edge.

“I, uh, I have to take this. I’ll be down in a few.”

“Are you sure?” Alia asked. “I can wait for you.”

“No, it’s ok. Go ahead.”

Alia nodded, and as she disappeared into the pathway, Croia moved to a quiet corner along the edge of the trees and closed her eyes, letting out a breath before answering. “Hello, mother.”

“Croía,” her mother replied curtly. “It took you long enough to answer.”

“I-I’m sorry. I was—”

“I’m calling to … check-in.”

The interruption caught Croía off guard. Her mother never did any kind of “checking in” with her, albeit she never had much of a reason before; back home, she was under the watchful eye of her parents or guards at all times. The gesture seemed forced, however; she choked out the words as if it were the last thing she wanted to be doing, leaving Croía wondering why she even bothered to call in the first place. “Oh, um … well, I’m—”

“What are your classes like?” her mother interrupted.

“Uh, they’re … they’re fine. I’ve got a few papers that I—”

“And your classmates?”

Croía felt like her mother was ticking off a list of predetermined questions, asking without actually listening to her answers nor caring about them. She wondered if it was some PR stunt; the Drakovian press had been asking questions about the Princess — the only other child of the royal family save for their eldest son — being sent away to school prior to her leaving, and they were never answered. “They’re ok. I’ve had some of the stares and whispers, but—”

“Well, you can blame that on your disgraceful excuse of a brother,” her mother spat.

Croía’s jaw tensed at the way she spoke about Trystan, but she said nothing; she couldn’t. “Most everyone has been fine.”

“Are you … making friends?”

Croía’s brows furrowed; her mother had never been concerned about whether she had friends or not. In fact, she’s the one who kept her from having any to begin with, so this question caught her entirely by surprise. “Um … y-yes, I mean … I guess—”

“For god’s sake, stop stammering,” she admonished.

Croía closed her eyes. “Sorry.”

“And what do you mean you guess?” she spat. “It’s a simple question, Croía.”

“I mean, yes … I’m just … I’m still getting to know them. But my suitemate, Alia, is a bit of a social butterfly, so everyone I’ve been getting to know has been through her.”

“Alia … from Monterisso.”

“Yes.”

“And who is she introducing you to?”

“Uh, well, there’s a few … Dionne from Pavadena and her suitemate, Kennedy. The Julivert twins. Alia’s boyfriend, Blaine, and his suitemate, Liam. Simon, he’s from—”

“Liam,” her mother interrupted. “The Rys boy …”

“Yes,” Croía replied. “He and I actually got paired together on a project for one of our classes.”

A long moment of silence passed before her mother broke it. “Hm.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Ok.” Croia let out a quiet breath. “So … how are you and—”

“I have to go. I’ll be in touch.”

“Oh, um, ok. I miss—” The call was abruptly cut off by a click before going silent. “… you …”

Croía could feel herself deflate as she lowered the phone from her ear and slipped it back into her purse. She was now convinced the call from her mother had to be PR related. Not once during the short-lived conversation did her mother ask about her and how she was doing. There was no I miss you, no terms of endearment, not even a goodbye. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised; she should have known better than to think she would actually want to speak to her. But a part of her thought with her being away from home for the first time ever that perhaps her mother would show the slightest bit of interest in her, a little curiosity as to how her child was faring outside of the only place she’d ever known.

All Croía knew for certain at that moment was that distance did not always make the heart grow fonder.

Taking a breath to try and compose herself, Croía started down the pathway, trying to blink away the sting in her eyes as she slowly exhaled. It wasn’t working. She could feel that tightening in her chest and that lump growing in her throat, causing her to pause just in front of the clearing to the beach. She didn’t know why it even affected her this way; it wasn’t as if this were anything new. It’s why she hadn’t bothered to call home since arriving; she didn’t see the point, knowing she would only end up disappointed. But when her mother was the one to reach out, she was given a sliver of hope that for once things would be different. Instead, she got a few generic questions, reprimanded, and hung up on.

****

Near the bonfire, Liam glanced away from Rashad and Simon to see Blaine walking toward them with Alia at his side. “Hey,” he greeted her.

“Hi,” Alia grinned, looping one arm around Blaine’s waist.

Liam looked around their small group. “Croía didn’t come with you?” Blaine tucked his lips between his teeth to hide his smile at Liam’s question.

“Yeah, she’s here. She got a phone call as we were walking down that she said she needed to take.” Alia happened to glance over; on the other side of the bonfire, she spotted Croía dipping her hand into one of the coolers and grabbing a beer. “There she is,” she smiled.

Before they could call out to her, Croía turned and walked down toward the edge of the water.

“Is she ok?” Blaine asked.

“She was perfectly fine when we got here,” Alia replied, looking at her curiously. “I should—”

“I’ll go talk to her,” Liam interrupted. “You two go have a couple of drinks,” he smiled before turning and making his way down the sand.

As he approached Croía where she sat in the sand near the water’s edge, Liam watched her tip her head back, taking a pull from the bottle of beer she had. “Hey,” he said softly.

Croía looked over her shoulder before looking back at the water. “Uh, hey …”

Liam heard her clear her throat and watched her take in a breath. “Want some company?”

“Sure.”

Lowering himself into the sand next to her, Liam glanced over; he could see the corner of her eye glistening in the moonlight. “Are you alright?”

Croía quietly scoffed to herself as she kept her gaze down at the bottle in her hand. “Yeah, sorry. I just … needed a minute.”

Liam continued to stare at her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Just my mom …” Croía shrugged.

“Is that who called you?” Croía finally looked at him, meeting his gaze. “Alia said you got a call.”

Croía nodded. “Yeah …” She stayed silent for a moment, taking another sip of her beer. Liam didn’t try to pry by asking questions, staying silent, and waiting for her to continue on her own. “Just being her usual charming self. Leave it to her to be able to ruin an otherwise good day in one fell swoop.” She glanced over at him, wearing a sheepish expression. “I’m sorry … you don’t need to be hearing this.”

“Don’t apologize,” Liam shook his head. “And I want to hear it.” Croía gave him a questioning look. “I mean, if you need someone to vent to, I happen to be an excellent listener,” he smiled.

Croía lightly chuckled as she glanced back at the water. “She just … she’s really good at making you feel unimportant and … less than.”

“You’re not close?”

“We never have been,” Croía shook her head. “But I thought … I thought that me being away from home and by myself for the first time that maybe she would be a little different. Tonight was the first time I’ve talked to her since coming here and … let’s just say that me being away hasn’t seemed to change a thing.”

“I’m sorry,” Liam said quietly. It was all he could say.

They both grew up with the privilege of being royalty, but it was clear to Liam that he and Croía’s upbringings were significantly different. He couldn’t say that he understood because he didn’t; he had a close relationship with both his parents. From what she had told him in the short time he knew her, Croía didn’t seem to be close to any of her family other than the two people who were across an ocean, one whom she hadn’t seen in years.

“Thanks,” Croía sighed before she took another long sip of her beer.

“But I don’t think you should let it ruin your night.” Liam smiled when she looked at him. “What’s the point of that? You not having a good time isn’t going to change anything, is it?”

“No,” Croía subtly smiled.

“See? So you might as well enjoy yourself.”

Croía smiled. Truthfully, just that little bit of venting did have her feeling better. And Liam was right: it wasn’t going to change anything. “When you’re right, you’re right.” She tipped her head back, taking another sip. “Thanks … for listening.”

“I told you I was good at it,” Liam chuckled.

“This is nice here,” Croía said, looking out over the moonlit lake.

Liam nodded in agreement. “There’s a lot to do here, like boating, water blobbing, and cliff jumping—”

“Water blobbing and cliff jumping?”

Liam chuckled at the sound of surprise in her voice. “Yeah. Just off the top of that peak over there,” he said as he pointed across the lake to the silhouetted mountaintop. “Never been?”

Croía shook her head. “No.”

“Oh, you gotta try it,” Liam grinned. “I’m sure we’ll make our way over there sometime soon. We come down here a lot. It’s a nice escape that’s not too far from campus.” He glanced over at her. “Speaking of campus … we’ll have to make plans to meet up again so we can work on the end of that project since we only have two weeks.”

Croía nodded. “Yeah.”

Croía looked at him with a laugh. “I guess you have a point.”

They both pulled out their phones at the same time; Liam gave Croía his number first, watching as she added it to her list of contacts. Then, she gave him hers. She kept glancing at him, watching him type; he was taking longer than she thought it would for him to input her number.

“My number isn’t that hard,” Croía jested.

“What?” Croía giggled.

Croía laughed as she took his hand and he helped her to stand; she brushed herself off before they began walking back toward the bonfire. She subtly glanced up at him only to find him looking at her before they both looked away. She bit her lip, trying to conceal her smile as Liam chewed the inside of his cheek to hide his own.

*******

A couple of days later, Blaine walked from his room toward Liam’s. He poked his head inside, seeing him sitting on the edge of his bed. “Hey,” he said, and Liam glanced up. “Alia and I are heading out to get some lunch and then to walk around town. You wanna come?”

“Croía is coming over soon to work on our project.”

“Oh,” Blaine’s brows furrowed. “Alia didn’t mention it.”

“I just sent Croía a message last night about it.”

A grin spread across Blaine’s lips. “You got her number?”

“Yeah.” Liam gave Blaine a look when he noticed his expression. “As I told her, it would be easier to have each other’s numbers to make plans to meet up to work on the project.”

“Man,” Blaine laughed. “That was smoother than the cream cheese I put on my bagel this morning.”

Liam dropped his head, shaking it, but he couldn’t help but laugh at his comment. Truth be told, however, he was looking forward to hanging out with Croía that day, even if it was just to work on their assignment. On their night out at the beach, Liam watched her come out of her shell even more. She seemed to have taken his advice not to let her conversation with her mother ruin her night; she laughed and talked with the others, but spent a good portion of the night sitting and talking with him.

“Alright. Well, you two kids have fun,” he grinned mischievously. Before Liam could retort, Blaine turned and walked out of his room. He went to his room and finished getting ready before stepping out and heading for the door. When he opened it, Croía was standing on the other side, about to knock. “Hey,” Blaine chuckled.

“Hi,” Croía smiled sheepishly, dropping her arm. “I was, uh, supposed to meet up with Liam.”

Blaine stepped aside to let her in. “He’s in his room,” he smiled. “I’ll see you guys later.” And with that, Blaine stepped out, shutting the door behind him.

Sensing her presence, Liam glanced up, palming the strings to quiet them with a coy smile. “Hey. You can come in.”

Croía stepped inside. “I saw the guitars the first time I came here with Alia, but I thought they were just for aesthetic purposes,” she smiled.

“No, I actually play,” Liam chuckled. “My mom taught me.”

Croía grinned. “The Queen of Cordonia plays the guitar?”

“She does. And rather well,” Liam smiled. He saw her looking at the instrument curiously. “What?”

“I don’t know,” Croía shrugged. “Guitar isn’t a typical instrument you see royals learning to play,” she chuckled.

Liam grinned and playfully patted the spot next to him. “Here, I’ll show you a couple of chords.”

Croía smiled and walked over and sat beside him, and Liam slipped the guitar from his lap to hers before handing her the pick he was holding. Then, he slightly shifted so his body was at an angle just behind her shoulder; his one arm encircled her, helping her to position the instrument properly, and she felt the heat rise to her cheeks. His right hand positioned hers on the strings over the sound hole with the pick between her thumb and forefinger, then his left hand gently covered hers, guiding her fingers at the neck.

Liam slightly leaned forward to see what he was doing. “Take your pointer finger, and place it on the second fret of the A string … right here.”

Croía nodded, trying to ignore his warm breath on her shoulder and his hand on hers. “O-Ok.”

“Then take your middle finger and place it on the string below on the same fret.” Liam watched her do as he instructed before helping to adjust her fingers. “You want to use the tips of your fingers, not the pads. And make sure your hand isn’t touching the other strings or it won’t sound right.” Croía nodded. “Ok, now keeping your arm nice and fluid, just brush the pick against the strings, almost as if you’re painting and making a brush stroke.” Croía strummed the guitar, eliciting the perfect chord. “Good,” Liam grinned. “That was E minor; it’s the easiest. You can also remove these fingers,” he said as he gently moved her fingers from the strings on the neck. “That will play an open string. Now, pick each note individually, then all of them together again at the end.”

Croía looked down to watch what she was doing. She picked each string before strumming them all at once. “Like that?”

“Perfect,” Liam smiled.

Croía glanced over at him at the same moment Liam looked at her. Her heart was racing as they stared at one another for a long moment before she dropped his gaze, feeling her cheeks blush as she fought back a smile. Liam subtly grinned, looking back down at the guitar to show her a little more.

****

Constantine looked up from his desk and smiled warmly at his wife. “Hello.”

Eleanor walked over to him, leaning down to kiss his cheek before setting a small stack of papers on his desk in front of him. “The updated budget for Valtoria you asked for.”

“Thank you, dear.” Constantine gestured to the seat across from him. “I was just thinking, why don’t I call and have them bring lunch to the terrace for us.”

“That sounds perfect. I’m starving.” Running her hands down the back of her dress to tuck it, Eleanor lowered herself into the chair. Constantine nodded before placing a call to have lunch prepared. When he hung up the phone, Eleanor looked at him warily. “Have you heard anything …”

Constantine met his wife’s gaze, knowing what she was referring to. “No,” he shook his head. “No one has heard so much as a peep about Drakovia. But we know that’s not unusual.”

“What do you make of it?” Eleanor asked.

“I’m not sure.” Constantine halfheartedly smiled, noticing the worry in his wife’s features. “Let’s not get ourselves all worked up. It could be absolutely nothing for all we know.”

“I just worry …” Eleanor sighed. “Especially with Liam spending time with the one. He doesn’t know what we know.”

“We’re not even certain of what we know; we’ve only had mere suspicions over the years,” Constantine replied. “And as far as Liam spending time with her, they’re simply working on an assignment together, dear. He has no choice,” he said confidently. “I assure you, it’s nothing more than that.”

142 notes · View notes

21-wishes · 3 years ago

Text

This fic does not exist. 😌♥️

On a serious note, I listened to one of the songs -couldn’t even finish it- and started weeping 💔💔💔 and my heart can’t handle reading this, even though I know what happens 😅, but combine that pain with your writing magic and it will feel like the first time and I can’t 💔. And that’s a testament of your talent as a writer. ♥️♥️♥️

And after thinking about this fic for a while, I still think and believe it’s emotional carnage, but I think I also agree with those who called it a beautiful tragedy because that’s exactly what it is. Sometimes life suck and the fairytale turn into a nightmare. But it’s nice to know that amongst the sadness, sometimes there’s still Hope. ♥️

Maximum Damage (A Bad Romance AU)

Series: What If

Original Series: Bad Romance

Bad Romance One-Shots

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Liam, Liam x Max, Riley x Max, Riley x Drake (Past)

Rating: MA and NSFW. There are🍋’s but that’s not the main issue, please read the trigger warnings before deciding if you want to read this.

Warnings for this chapter: Major character deaths, graphic description, traumatic birth, premature birth, car accident, suicide, emotional trauma.

Song Inspiration: There are two for this chapter, both are by Imagine Dragons. Drake’s song is Dull Knives and Liam’s song is Waves.

Word Count: 12,612

A/N: I have never posted a chapter or a one-shot this long. I generally break chapters in two if they get close to 5k words. One-shots turn into two or three-shots or whole ass miniseries, but it just felt wrong to split this one. I didn’t want anyone waiting for the next installment, I feel like the emotional impact is stronger if it’s read all at once. And I apologize for what @21wishes has referred to as the emotional carnage I have unleashed here. This isn’t where I expected this story to go when I started it, but stories sometimes take on a life of their own and trust me, I broke my own heart along the way. There are no happy endings here, so please proceed with caution.

Special shoutout to @karahalloway @dcbbw @harleybeaumont @21wishes for doing one or more of the following: prereading snippets, bouncing ideas with me, listening to me rant about this, giving general emotional support for my self inflicted trauma and mostly for not blocking and deleting me for this fic.

My other stuff: Master List.

Cordonia……

“What is it?” Max rounded the corner, out of breath, “I got here as fast as I could!”

Max was brought up short by the sight in the front of him and the sounds issuing from the bedroom. Liam was sitting on the couch in the living room of his private quarters, head clutched in his hands, fingers tearing at his hair. When he lifted his eyes, they were red rimmed, his usually perfectly pressed shirt was rumpled, his tie was hanging loosely around his neck, his hair, generally perfectly coiffed, was in disarray. He looked like he’d been on a three day bender, but he’d been perfectly fine that morning.

As bad as the sight of distressed Liam was, the sounds issuing from the bedroom were worse. Shrill wailing, a sound like a wounded, and dying, animal pierced the air. Max’s heart leapt in panic, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Liam reached onto the coffee table in front of him and lifted a rectangular piece of paper, thrusting it into the other man’s hands. Max glanced down at the gold foil embossed cream colored cardstock. His eyes scanned down it an attempt to decipher how it was connected to the heart rending sounds Riley was making from the other room.

It was a save the date card. For a wedding. As he read the curling, gold script, his heart sank to the bottom of his feet, “Oh no.”

“Please save the date.” The card read, “For the wedding celebration of Kiara Theron and Drake Walker.” There was a date and a location with the promise of a formal invitation to follow.

“I don’t know what to do, Max.” Liam’s voice cracked, “Nothing I do helps. She won’t let me near her! I’ve never seen her like this!”

“It’s ok, Liam, I’ll go calm her down.” Max hoped he sounded more confidant in that declaration than he felt.

Liam’s shoulders sagged with relief as he grabbed Max and pulled him into a hug so tight, it forced the air from his body, “Thank you.” He sobbed into Max’s shoulder.

Max returned Liam’s embrace, “Hey, it’s going to be ok.”

Liam sobbed into Max’s shoulder, “I should have done more to keep him from leaving in the first place! I should have gone after him-“

“You tried.” Max comforted him, “You went after him at the cabin, and he said no.”

“I should have gone to Texas, I was going to, but things kept coming up and I kept putting it off.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference; his mind was made up.”

“You don’t know that. What if everything would have been different?”

“You can’t think like that, Li.”

The door slammed as Riley emerged from the bedroom.

“Riley, do you want to talk about it?” Max asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” She told him, “He’s not going to marry her! He doesn’t love her, he loves me!”

Max and Liam exchanged a look. Riley had been insisting that Drake was coming back ever since he’d left six months ago. “Riley, love, it might time to accept that-“

She whirled on him, “Shut up, Liam, just shut up! I don’t want to hear your opinion right now!” She stormed out of their room.

“Where is she going?” Liam looked at Max.

“I’ll find out!” Max leapt out the door and followed her down the hall.

Riley stormed through the palace toward the guard offices. Drake wasn’t answering her calls or returning her texts. She had been so certain he was coming back. She had waited too long, that’s what happened. She should have reached out to him before now. There was no way he was marrying Kiara. Right? She felt uncertainty twist in her gut. Why wouldn’t he answer his phone? He had always answered for her. But she hadn’t called, hadn’t texted him in six months. She’d written him letters, at first, but they’d all gone unanswered, so she’d stopped. She’d been trying to give him time, space, but he must have interpreted that as neglect, indifference, that’s what had happened. He thought she didn’t love him anymore, she just had to reassure him that she did, that’s all.

“Jason!” Riley slammed through the door of the cyber security office.

The blond lieutenant almost jumped out of his chair, his feet clattering to the floor as he sat upright and pulled them off the top the desk where they’d been propped, “Yes, your majesty? What’s wrong?”

“I need Captain Walkers location right now! Do whatever you have to do! Trace his phone, hack his social media or the GPS on his car! I need to know where he’s at yesterday!”

“Um…ok….but-“

“But? But? Are you refusing a direct order from your queen?”

“No, of course not!”

“Then what’s the but for?”

“I was just going to say there’s no need for all of that. I already know where he’s at.”

Riley blinked, “You do? How?”

“Yes. We keep in touch. I spoke to him two days ago. He’s in New York.”

New York……

Drake sat on the edge of the bed staring at his phone screen. His heart was in his throat. Riley!

His fingers hovered over the keyboard as he tried to formulate a response. Why was she texting him? How did she know about the wedding?

All his questions were answered a minute later when a text from Max popped up on his phone.

He stared down on his screen in disbelief then typed one last message before jumping up from the bed and storming into the living room.

Drake waved his phone in front of Kiara’s face, “You sent her a save the date card, Ki? What the hell?”

“Excuse me?”

He sat the phone on the counter and shoved it toward her with Max’s message open. “You sent Riley a save the date card? Why would you do that?”

“Don’t you want her to be happy for us? For you? Besides, Liam is your best friend, of course I sent-“

“Oh, bullshit! You just wanted to rub it in Riley’s face! And why the fuck do we have save the date cards, Ki? Huh? We haven’t even picked a venue yet!”

“The Château d'Esclimont just outside of Paris-“

“Paris? Wait, the The Château d'Esclimont…” He searched his memory, “Is that a fucking castle?!”

“Yes, but-“

“We are not getting married in a fucking castle!”

“I already sent the deposit! It’s nonrefundable!”

“Without talking to me first?” He was irate, “I wanted a simple ceremony by the side of a damn pond or something! Maybe even at the ranch in Texas without fanfare or a lot of guests and you know that! I don’t want a fancy wedding but here you are sending out all these cards I didn’t even know about, and you already booked the venue without consulting me!”

“Oh, but I know you’ll love it, once you see it! Besides, there wasn’t time, if we wanted the date, we had to move fast!”

“We? If we wanted the date? You mean you, right, because I wasn’t involved in this decision at all!”

“Drake, it’s my wedding too and I don’t want to get married by a goddamn pond or on a fucking farm!”

“First of all, it’s a ranch-“

“If you’ll just give it a chance, it'll grow on you, you haven’t even seen it yet!”

“We said we were going to talk about these things, compromise a little, meet in the middle-“

“I would discuss these things with you if you were ever reasonable about any of them!”

“You know what? Do whatever the fuck you want, I don’t care!”

A message notification dinged, and Kiara glanced down at Drake’s phone screen. It was text message from Riley.

“Why the hell is there a heart next to her name, Drake?”

“What?”

“You heard me, why the fuck is there a heart next to Riley’s name in your phone?”

“Of for the love of….” He grabbed the phone off the counter and shoved it in his pocket, “I just never changed it ok? You know I was in a relationship with her before you and I-“

“Yeah, before you and I. We’re fucking engaged, Drake, engaged and you still have a heart next to your ex-girlfriend’s name!”

“That doesn’t mean anything, I forgot it was there, I haven’t looked at that contact in months!” That was a lie. He’d lost count of how many nights he’d swiped her contact open then sat and stared at his phone, fingers hovering over the screen, sometimes even typing out, then deleting messages. How many messages had he typed and never sent? I love you, I miss you, I want to come home. Then he’d remind himself that she chose another man, married another man, delete the text and pour a glass of whiskey instead.

Kiara had definitely known about his feelings for Riley when they had reconnected over social media. She hadn’t used his depression and vulnerability to manipulate the situation, had she?

She had been stationed in New York at the Cordonian Embassy, and she’d gone to San Antonio on a girl’s weekend. Since they’d been talking on social media, she had known San Antonio was close to the ranch and invited him out for a drink. One thing had led to another and the next thing he knew, he was moving to New York to be with her. He hadn’t wanted a relationship; it had been the last thing he’d wanted actually. But he’d been lonely, hurting and homesick.

Now somehow, here he was, engaged. The closer it got to the wedding the more agitated he became. He had never wanted to get married, not even to Riley. What the fuck was he doing?

She had proposed to him. After sex when he had his guard down and he’d still been raw from the breakup with Riley. He wasn’t sure why he’d agreed. Maybe it was because he was never going to have the woman he really wanted, the only one that had ever held his heart in her hands, so why not? And if marrying the woman Riley hated most in the world stuck it to her a little bit, then that was a fringe benefit.

Riley had held his beating heart in her bare hands, and she’d crushed it. She’d destroyed it and destroyed him. So why the hell not marry the girl who actually wanted him? Wanted him just for himself, not what she could get out of him, not for whatever part he could play in her power scheme. To Riley, he’d been just a cog in her machine. She’d wanted him for his ability as a soldier, for his professional qualifications, to shore up her power base. That’s what he kept telling himself.

Kiara wanted him just for him. Or at least that’s what he’d thought at the time. But she’d almost immediately started trying to turn him into someone he wasn’t.

“I bought you some new clothes.”

“Why? What's wrong with my old ones?”

“Nothing, just thought you could use some new ones.”

“These don’t look like something I’d wear.”

“Oh, but you’ll look so sexy in this! This color really compliments your eyes!”

“My eyes don’t need complimenting.”

“Why are you acting like this? It's just a suit, what's the big deal?”

“There’s no big deal, I just don’t like it.”

“Come on, baby, wear it just this once, for me? Please? We're going to a fancy restaurant. It’s for my job, this is important to me.“ She wheedled as she ran her fingers up his chest.

“Fine. I’ll wear the button up, maybe the jacket, but not the tie. That tie is hideous.”

“But you need to fit in, Drake. My boss will be there, along with a bunch of diplomats. Just do it for me, please? Don't embarrass me. It’s just a fucking tie. Why do you have to be so difficult?”

“Am I not good enough for you the way I am, Ki?” Riley had never given a shit what he wore.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Of course you are, but this is a work function! I'm just asking you to fit in for one fucking night! I do shit I don’t like for you all the goddamn time!”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know! Like going to a rodeo, Drake, an actual fucking rodeo, with cows and dirt! Eating BBQ, I mean…what the fuck is it actually? Does anyone know? I’ve gone hiking, I’ve gone to trivia night, fucking trivia night!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize spending time with me was such a fucking chore!”

“Stop being dramatic. I did it for you. You can do this for me. Wear the fucking tie!”

He understood that she wanted him physically, but she didn’t seem to have the first clue who he really was. She was too busy trying to make him more like the noblemen she was used to dating. And he hated it. There was no way he could marry her, right?

New York, two days later….

A knocking on the door pulled him from a sound sleep. He blinked at the clock. It was five o’clock in the goddamn morning. What the hell?

“I’m coming!” He shouted as he stumbled to the door and pulled it open.

“Riley!” He stood frozen to the spot in shock, suddenly wide awake.

“Why do you look so surprised? I told you that if you didn’t answer the goddamn phone, I was coming to you!” She shoved her way into the room.

“I… didn’t think you meant it.” He pushed the door closed as his heart threatened to beat out of his chest. She was here, in his apartment and all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms. But he wouldn’t….he couldn’t.

“I have never said anything to you that I didn’t fucking mean, Drake!”

“Well, we both know that’s not true.” What the hell was he doing? He drug a hand through his hair as panic sliced through him. She was standing right there, after six long months of missing her, wanting her, loving her, and instead of pulling her into his arms, he was being pissy.

“Really? That’s how it’s going to be?” Fire snapped in her eyes.

“I don’t know what you want! It’s five o’clock in the fucking morning! Why are you even here? Where’s your husband?” He asked bitterly.

“How the fuck could you get engaged to her, Drake? To her, of all people!”

Had she flown across an ocean just to pick a fight with him? It didn’t matter that he’d been asking himself that same question before she showed up at his door, she had no right to ask it. “She was there for me after you married my best friend! She picked up the pieces of me that you destroyed, Riley!”

He’d been ready to call off the engagement with Kiara, but seeing Riley again just drove home all the reasons he needed something, anything to focus on that wasn’t her.

“You don’t love her.”

“Yes, I do.”

“You don’t! I know you don’t!”

“You don’t know anything about me. Not anymore.”

“Yes, I do. I know you, Drake, I know you!”

He shook his head resolutely, “Not. Anymore.”

“We could run away together, like you wanted to!”

“Little late for that,” He scoffed, “Did you forget you’re married now?”

“I’ll leave him.”

“What?” His head snapped up, and he fought to tamp down the little flare of hope that flashed through him. Hope was only a set up for disappointment and pain.

“You heard me….I’ll leave Liam.”

His jaw clenched tightly as he gritted out, “I’ve heard that lie before.”

“It’s not a lie, I love you!”

That was exactly what she’d said before she amended the goddamn marriage contract that she could have terminated. “If you truly love me, then just go and let me be happy.”

“But you’re not happy, Drake, you’re not!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Drake, please, just…” She stepped forward, reaching for him. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

He pulled them down and pushed her gently away as he took a step back. “Don’t.”

He watched as confusion swept across her face. Right. Because she’d always been able to sway him with sex before. But he was stronger now. He wasn’t going to give in to that manipulation.

“You don’t want me to touch you?” She sounded hurt, confused.

“You’re just mad because you can’t manipulate me anymore, can’t bend me to your will and use me for your own ends!” He shouted at her.

Her reaction shattered everything he though he knew. She didn’t get mad. He’d expected her to rage, break things, scream at him, call him stupid.

She looked like she’d been slapped. Her body physically jerked back when he said it. Her eyes widened, bigger than he’d ever seen them. Tears welled up in them. Shocked disbelief and something else flitted across her face. Heartbreak. It looked like heartbreak. Her voice shook and he could barely hear her as she whispered, “Is that what you think?”

Well, it had been. That had been his assumption from the moment she’d told him she had amended the marriage contract with Liam instead of breaking it. What else was he supposed to think? But that response stuck in his throat as he took in the devastation he clearly saw in her eyes, “Riley…”

“Oh my god. It is!” Her hands flew up to cover her mouth as the tears started to spill down her cheeks. Her body twisted like she was turning to leave at the same time that her knees buckled, and she slowly dropped to the floor, collapsing in a heap as her head dropped down and her hands came up to cover her eyes. Great, heaving sobs shook her body, she made a noise like a scream but with almost no sound, a whisper scream, but it ripped at his heart.

He'd only seen her cry like that once. After Tariq. He forgot all the reasons he was supposed to keep his distance from her as he dropped to ground next to her and tried to take her in his arms.

She jerked away from him, “Don’t touch me! Don’t fucking touch me unless you mean it!”

“I don’t understand what you want from me!” He cried in pain and confusion.

She looked up at him, her face tear streaked, “You hate me, don’t you? You actually hate me! You never believed in me, and you really were never coming back! Liam and Max were right, you weren’t coming back, and I’m the one that’s stupid! God, I love you so much, even now and you love her! Did you ever love me at all, Drake?”

“Riley-“ His voice broke as the tidal wave of emotions he’d been keeping at bay for months pushed against the crumbling wall of his resistance.

“I hate her, Drake, I hate her, and I hate you! I’ll never fucking forgive you for this, never!”

The agony in her voice was breaking him, the deep, gulping sobs, the heart-rending tone in her tears, were the sounds of grief, raw and fresh. He recognized it. He understood grief only too well.

What he didn’t understand was why. She’d married Liam, she’d chosen Liam. And she had Max to boot. She didn’t actually love him, if she did, she would have terminated that contract and left Cordonia with him.

He didn’t understand her at all, but her pain was breaking him. He reached for her again, “Riley, please-“

“Get off me, Drake!” She screamed at him as she shoved him away, “All you’ve ever done is push me away and hurt me! Marry that fucking bitch then, I hope you’re both fucking miserable!”

She jumped up off the ground and ran out the door. And he let her.

Riley cried as she stumbled out the door and ran into her bodyguard.

“Are you ok Your Majesty?” Marco caught her in his arms, his glance going to Drake’s door then back to his charge.

“Just get me out of here, Marco, please.” She sobbed into her hands.

“Of course!” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided her down the hall as he motioned for the rest of the team to go ahead and clear the way.

She gave the driver instructions to take her straight back to the airport. What was the point of staying? He didn’t love her anymore; he’d make that abundantly clear. He’d rejected her, again. Even after she’d offered to leave her husband.

Maybe she could leave Liam, but could she leave Max? Max had never hurt her. All Drake did was hurt her. Liam hurt her; Drake hurt her. Max picked up the pieces. Max glued her back together time and time again.

She needed Max. She needed to get back home to the one man who would glue all her broken pieces back together. The man who never shied away from her brokenness, no matter how raw or how deep her pain got. She pushed the intercom button and told the driver to hurry then she collapsed into the seat and cried.

France, six months later….

“You came.”

“Of course I came, Drake. You’re my best friend.” Liam gave him an awkward smile. They hadn’t really talked since the day in the cabin when Liam had tried to make Drake see reason. But he was still his best friend, and he was getting married.

Drake pulled at his collar, looked away then back at Liam, “Uh…did….Riley come?”

Liam had been rocking back and forth on his feet. He stilled as he gave Drake a searching look, “No.”

She was there, in Paris, back at the hotel. But she hadn’t been able to bring herself to attend the ceremony. She’d insisted that he go without her. But he wasn’t telling Drake that.

“Oh, ah….Is everything okay?”

“No, Drake, nothing has been ok since you left.”

“What do you mean?” He asked in surprise.

“What do you mean, what do I mean? Why don’t you tell me? What the hell happened in New York?”

Drake looked away. “Nothing happened in New York! I mean, we talked, she wasn’t there for very long….”

“Yeah, well, she came back destroyed, Drake. Fucking destroyed!”

His gaze shot back to Liam, startled, “Why?”

“Why? Are you really that dense?”

“I got out of your way, Liam. That should make you happy.”

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

“So, what are you trying to say? That you have marital problems because I didn’t stay and commit adultery?”

“Yes, Drake! That’s what I’m saying! Is that what you want to hear? That my marriage is in shambles because my wife is in love with you!?”

“No. She’s in love with you! Besides, when you came to the cabin and tried to talk me into coming back, you said you understood that she could love more than one person, because you loved her and Max!”

“Yes, but that’s when I thought she loved me too! After all of the hell we went through to be together, I never thought I’d question if it was worth it. I always believe that no matter what, she loved me, and I don’t anymore! She blames me, she fucking blames me for the marriage contract, for purposely coming between the two of you, which I did! All of it. She blames me for losing you and she’ll never forgive me for it!”

“She loves you, Li-“ Drake whispered hoarsely.

“If she loves me, why can’t she be happy with me, huh? The only reason I haven’t offered her the divorce that she clearly wants is because I’m afraid Max will go with her. Then I’ll have nothing and nobody.”

“That’s not going to happen. She loves you. They both do.”

A frustrated laugh escaped Liam’s lips.

“What?” Drake asked, perplexed.

“The fucking irony that you can understand Riley and Max loving each other and me and you can grasp me loving both of them, but you can’t see that she loves you too.”

“I…” Drake stared at his best friend for a long moment, then shook his head, “I can’t do this right now. I’m getting married in five minutes!”

“You sure about that?” Liam asked him.

“Yes, I’m sure about that.” He had never been less sure about anything in his life.

He stood at the altar, palms sweaty, nervously shifting from foot to foot. He pulled at his collar, his skin was itchy, everywhere. He wanted to scratch at it, he could feel it crawling, like there was a million stinging ants covering his body. He twitched, fighting the urge to rip off the tuxedo and claw himself bloody. How in the name of fucking hell had he gotten here?

He kept waiting for the moment everyone told him would come. That moment when the wedding day jitters calmed down and he realized the rightness of his decision. When his love for this woman overcame the nerves and the doubts.

He kept waiting, but it never happened and as he watched her appear at the top of the aisle, he realized with startling clarity that it was never going to happen. It was never going to happen because he didn’t love this woman. He loved Riley! He barely even liked Kiara. They were too different, too wrong for each other, too far apart in their beliefs, ideas and values about everything. There was no way it was ever going to work.

He felt claustrophobic, like the walls of the castle were closing in on him. His heart started to race, and he struggled to breath. Was this what a panic attack felt like?

He couldn’t marry her. He couldn’t. But she was halfway down the aisle, smiling at him like he was her whole world and her entire family, and his, had traveled to fucking Paris for this atrocity of a wedding. This completely over the top, ridiculous, monstrosity of a wedding. In a fucking castle no less. He hated every single detail about this wedding, from the destination to the floral arrangements to the fucking gold embroidered linen napkins.

This wedding was a nightmare. His life with Kiara would be a nightmare. He couldn’t breathe, he was burning up, every inch of his skin itched. He bent forward as he started to hyperventilate.

“Are you ok, son?” The priest asked in concern, “Is there a doctor in the house?”

The wedding was paused while the groom was escorted back to his dressing room to be checked out by a medical professional. But by the time the paramedics got there, he was gone.

France, later that night…

He somehow knew who was on the other side of the door before he opened it. She hadn’t been at the wedding. They hadn’t spoken since New York. But he knew it was her. He wouldn’t have answered the door for anyone else. He hadn’t answered the door for anyone else and there had been a steady stream of people knocking on it since he’d bolted from the wedding.

Drake held his breath as he pulled the door open. He stood in the doorway, one hand on the knob, the other still holding an open bottle of Johnnie Walker. He looked like holy hell. His eyes were red rimmed, he was shoeless, shirtless, his hair disheveled.

“Can I come it?” She asked, unsure of his reception.

He nodded and stepped back, sweeping his arm out.

She walked into the room. He shut the door. She turned around to face him. He turned around to face her. They stood, wordless, motionless. The bottle dropped from his hand and hit the floor, the whiskey pooling onto the carpet, forgotten as he moved across the room and pulled her roughly to him, his lips crashing down onto hers.

Her arms went around his neck, her body arched up onto the tips of her toes as she returned the kiss. Her hands pulled him forward eagerly, greedily.

“Riley…” He murmured against her mouth as a tidal wave of emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He buried his nose in the crook of her neck and inhaled, deeply, pulling her scent into his lungs, into his soul. His arms tightened their grip around her smell, and her touch, sparked turmoil within him.

Every ounce of pain from the months apart was yanked to the surface, all the loneliness, all the rejection. But it was interspersed with everything else as well. Every touch between them, every moment they’d ever shared, every laugh, every smile, every heated argument and every scorching embrace. The joy and love she provoked in his heart, the confusion and heartache she inspired. A kaleidoscope of feelings exploded inside him all at once. It was too much. It was too much.

He pressed his face deeper into the side of her neck, as his body started to heave, his cheeks slick with tears. He collapsed against her and cried without shame. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the stress, maybe it was the fact that his fractured heart just couldn’t hold it in any longer, but the rest of the world ceased to exist. Here was everything he’d ever wanted, or needed.

Her fingers sank into his back as she held him as close and as tight as she could, her sobs mingling with his own. They clung to each other with a desperate need, an immense yearning and a profound longing, staggering in its intensity. Nothing would ever be enough; they would never be over.

“I’m sorry….I’m sorry!” He wiped at his face as he pulled away.

“Don’t let go of me, please, I need you.” She implored.

That was all the encouragement he needed. His lips found hers again as his hands moved down her body, tracing over every curve, across every valley. His mouth trailed down her neck as he pulled at her clothes. He walked her backwards to the bed, both of them tugging the other’s clothing off as they went.

A finger dipped between her legs, pushing inside her then trailing upwards to tease at her clit. She leaned into him, both hands on his shoulders as her head rested on his chest. He lifted her naked body and sat her on the edge of the bed before kneeling on the floor in front of her. He pushed her legs apart and leaned in, stopping to inhale the scent of her arousal. He wanted to commit every detail to memory, as if this were the last time he would ever touch her.

He lapped gently up and down her center before lavishing attention on her clit as his tongue moved from soft to hard, from slow to fast, stroking, licking and sucking, working her until she cried out in pleasure while bucking herself up into his mouth.

The moment the orgasm had crested, he was on her, pushing her body further onto the bed and climbing on top of her. His lips made the trek from her lower body to her upper body, stopping to give ample attention to first one breast, then the other. He bit at the side of her neck, nipped along her jawline, and tugged at her bottom lip with his teeth.

He hovered over her, his gaze burning into her, drinking in her beauty, her surrender, her palpable need for him. She breathed out his name as he entered her.

It felt so right, she felt so right, in his arms, in his bed. Her head pushed back into the pillow as their bodies moved together like a perfectly orchestrated symphony.

His teeth bit down into his own lip hard enough to draw blood in an effort to hold his release at bay as he pushed her over the edge one, two, three more times.

Her hand sank into his hair as she whispered in his ear, “I love you. I love you so fucking much!”

He thrust into her one last time as ecstasy washed over him and he exploded inside her. His sweat slicked body collapsed onto the mattress next to her. She immediately rolled over and wrapped her body around him. His arms went around her automatically and he pulled her close to his side as he caught his breath. Her head pressed into his chest. His mouth kissed the top of her head. He held her there until her breathing evened out and he knew she was asleep.

“I love you; I have always loved you; I will always love you. You’re everything.” He whispered into her hair as she slept.

His lip was swollen and bloody where he’d bitten it, there was a bruise blooming on his chest in the shape of her teeth, and bloody lines of nail marks adorned his back, every throb of pain was laced with a jolt of pleasure. Delicious reminders of the night they’d just shared. But as delicious as it was, it was over. She wasn’t his, and she never would be.

When she woke up, he was already gone.

Six months later, Monaco….

Drake sat at the bar nursing a club soda.

“Waiting for someone?” The bartender asked.

“Sort of.” He replied.

“Can I get you something stronger?” He motioned to the club soda in Drake’s hand.

“No, I….you know what? Yeah, bring me a whiskey, whatever you got, make it a double.”

When the drink was deposited in front of him, the bartender gave him a searching look, “Are you ok, man?”

“Not really, but I’ll be fine.” Drake’s hand wrapped around the drink and slid it closer. He spun it a few times and watched the liquid slosh around. His thoughts were on his nonexistent love life. On his definitions of what love was. He was beginning to think he’d been wrong about everything.

Kiara had been physically loyal to him; their relationship had been monogamous and yet he’d been deeply unhappy in it. There was complete lack of understanding, of respect. They hadn’t even enjoyed each other’s company outside of the bedroom.

Riley understood him better than anyone else he’d ever known, including Liam. She’d understood him better than he understood himself most days. Sure, they’d had some epic fights, but the good moments far outweighed the bad and when it had been good, it had been amazing, beyond anything he’d ever experienced with another person.

He still wanted her, he still loved her, and he needed her, he needed her like fish needed water, like plants needed sunlight, he needed her like he needed the air in his lungs. Was it too late? It was probably too late, but he had to try. He was tired of running away, from his feelings, from her, all of it.

He’d run away after the wedding fiasco because he’d been confused, scared, ashamed of what he’d done to Kiara and still conflicted about his feelings for Riley. He’d spent three months getting drunk, then three months getting sober. Part of that was admitting the truth to himself. The simple truth was he loved her, and his life was crap without her in it.

He made a decision. He pushed the still full drink away, threw some bills down on the counter and went back to his room to pack.

Cordonia….

“What do you mean she’s not here?”

“I mean…she’s not here, Drake. Have you forgotten how to speak English?” Liam pushed a tumbler of bourbon into the other man’s hands then took a sip of his own. He didn’t give a damn that it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

“When is she coming back?”

“She’s not coming back.” He said resignedly, “She left me. She’s with Max, at Ramsford.”

Drake startled. “When did that happen?”

Liam sighed as he resumed his seat and stared down into this glass, “Two months ago, give or take.”

“I’m so sorry Liam.”

“It’s a little late for that. Maybe if you had stayed, or come back sooner, it would have made a difference. Everything is broken now.”

“Everything? What about you and Max?”

Liam tilted his head to one side, “Max and I are still together, sort of. He comes by now and then, but he spends most of his time with her. Says she’s going through some stuff but he’s confident she’ll come back to me. I’m not. And I’m going through my own stuff, but whatever.”

Drake watched Liam drain his drink. Had he been completely wrong about everything? “Do you really think me staying would have changed the outcome of your relationship with her?”

Liam shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe.”

Drake deposited the bourbon Liam had given him, untouched, onto the desk and stood abruptly.

“Where are you going?” Liam asked as Drake headed for the door.

“To Ramsford! I’m getting her back for both of us!”

“Yeah, well, good luck with that.” Liam held his glass up in salute.

Ramsford….

“Max, wake up.” Riley poked him.

His eyes fluttered open to find her smiling down at him and happiness washed over him, “Good morning, my everything. What can I do for you this morning? Are you hungry? Can I get you something?”

She giggled, “No. I mean yes, I could eat, and I’d love a bagel with cream cheese but there’s something else I want and you’re going to like it.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said the other day, about Liam and Drake and I think…well, I know you’re right.”

“I am?” He sat up quickly as hope surged through him, “I mean, I know I am but what changed your mind?”

She drew her knees up and leaned her chin on them, “It was the thing you said about everyone being responsible for their own choices and for how they deal with the circumstances dealt to them. I’ve been blaming Liam for Drake leaving but it’s not fair. Drake made that choice on his own and I probably pushed him to it. It was just easier to blame Liam than to deal with my own pain and guilt.”

“So…does that mean….” He sucked in a breath and held it as he watched her face.

She grinned again as she nodded and dropped her hands to cradle her newly expanded midsection, “I want to go home, I want us to be a family, all of us.”

“So, we can finally tell Liam about the baby?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my God, Riley! This is the best news ever! I’m going to call Liam!” Max bounded out of bed looking for his cell phone.

“Wait! Don’t call him, let’s surprise him. Besides, the baby isn’t something that should be done over the phone. He’s going to be so hurt I kept this from him, Max.”

Max doubled back to the bed and slid to his knees as he took her hand in his, “At first, but he’ll understand why you did it and he’ll get over it. He’ll just be thrilled to have you back, you’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right.”

On the road to the palace….

“Fuck!” Riley pitched forward and grabbed her stomach.

“What is it? Are you ok?”

“No, that really fucking hurt! Shit, was that a contraction?”

“What? No, it’s way too early!”

“I can’t breathe…shit…” She unbuckled her seat belt and drew in great, shuddering breaths.

“That’s not a good idea, put your seatbelt back on, Riley!”

“I don’t feel so good….this can’t be normal, I…I can’t see, Max, I’m scared! I feel so dizzy!” It was the last thing she said before her body slumped in the seat.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Hold on, Riley, hold on, I’ll find the nearest hospital, I’ll call 911!” He fumbled for his phone, but his hand knocked it off the holder on his dash and into the floorboard. He bent to retrieve it from the floor, his eyes darting back and forth from the road to the floor as his hand scrabbled around searching for it. He felt relief wash over him as he finally made contact with the cool plastic of his phone case.

His attention was jerked back up by the blaring of a horn. His car had crossed the center line, he jerked the steering wheel, but it was too late. The sound of metal on metal was the last thing he heard before darkness swam in front of him.

“Fuck.” Drake breathed out as he pulled the SUV over to the side of the road. Now what? He craned his neck to see around the cars that were stopped, blocking the road.

There was a wreck up ahead. He jumped out of his vehicle to see if he could be of any assistance. He had first aid training as part of his military background. He could hear sirens wail in the distance and the sound of a helicopter, but they weren’t there yet. Sometimes minutes could make the different between life and death for someone.

His steps faltered as he got closer to the carnage. Smoking, twisted metal heaps that used to be cars. One of them was red, and on the small side. Like a Ferrari. Like Max’s Ferrari. No, he pushed the thought away, Max didn’t have the only small, red car in Cordonia and it was impossible to tell the make and model from the wreckage.

There was a body on the side of the road, someone had been ejected from the car on impact, thrown clear. He hurried over, heart thudding faster with every step. It was a woman. With long, auburn brown hair. Her face was turned away, but he knew it was her as he broke into a run.

“Riley! Riley!” He yelled her name as he ran, sliding to the ground as he made it to her side. He swept the hair away from her face and wiped at the blood. It was her. She wasn’t moving.

“Riley!” He screamed her name as he checked for a pulse. There was one, but it was thready.

“Wake up, wake up!” He pulled her into his arms, heedless of the blood soaking through her clothes, “Oh God, no, please, not her! Wake up, baby, wake up, stay with me, please.”

Tears streaked down his face as he rocked her back and forth, “I love you! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I left! I’m back, I’m here, please don’t leave me! You can’t leave me, Riley, life isn’t worth living without you in it!”

He didn’t hear the helicopter land, he was heedless of the paramedics until one grabbed his shoulder, “Sir, you have to let go of her, let us do our jobs.”

He nodded as he released her body into their hands. He looked around in shock. They were prying Max out of the driver’s seat with the jaws of life. Shit! Liam, he should call Liam. Bertrand. Somebody.

He pulled his phone out, but his hands were shaking so hard, it slipped from his grasp and shattered on the pavement.

“Sir?....Sir?”

He lifted his head to paramedic, barely able to process the words he was hearing.

“I said do you want to ride in the chopper with us? We have to go, now!”

He nodded and followed the man to the life flight helicopter.

Cordonian National Hospital….

“Right this way, Your Majesty.” A woman in a tailored suit ushed him into a private waiting room, “The doctor will be right with you.”

Liam had been notified the moment the hospital realized their patient was the queen. He’d taken a helicopter to get there faster.

He rose as a man with a doctor’s coat on entered the room, “Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

The doctor pulled in a deep breath before reporting, “We tried everything; heroic measures were taken but we were unable to save her. I’m so sorry.”

“What?”

“Your wife, the queen, her injuries were too severe-“

“Stop….”

“Sir?”

“I said stop!” Liam’s head moved from side to side, slowly at first, then faster, “There has to be some mistake, it’s not possible. She can’t be….she can’t, ok?”

“I’m so sorry.” The doctor turned to Liam’s guard, Alec, “Is there someone that can be here with him? His brother? A friend?”

“Leo is on his way home from the states. Duchess Olivia will be here soon. Lady Hana as well.”

Liam sank back down onto the leather couch, dropping his head into his hands.

The doctor shifted nervously, “Uh…”

Liam lifted his head, “Was there something else?”

A look of confusion washed across the man’s face. “Did you want an update on the baby?”

Liam blinked slowly and his mouth fell open, “The baby?”

“Yes, the baby. She is obviously premature; she also sustained some injuries in the wreck. The trauma to the queen’s body would have probably started labor anyway, but we think she was already in labor before the accident occurred. The baby was expelled from her body, it’s something that happens when the mother is dying, the body pushes the baby out in an attempt to save it. She was born enroute to the hospital.”

Liam had no idea what to say. Riley had been pregnant? And she hadn’t told him. She hadn’t told him. Of course she hadn’t. She’d probably thought he would have forced her to stay if he knew.

But he had a daughter. “She…the baby….she’s alive?”

“Yes, but she’s very premature, her lungs weren’t developed, your wife had preeclampsia, her blood pressure spiked too high, she became hypertensive-“

“Stop! Please, I can’t…just…not right now. The baby, where is she?”

“In the NICU, I can take you but be prepared, she’s very small, she wasn’t ready to be born and she sustained some injuries in the wreck. She’s fighting for her life.”

“Yes, take me there now!”

“There’s one more thing…”

Jesus. What else could there be? “What?”

“The man that rode in the helicopter with her, we believe he’s one of her guards, maybe.”

Liam’s brows drew together. That wasn’t likely. If she’d been with her guards, they’d have been in one of the royal SUV’s, equipped with full roll cages.

“His identification says his name is Drake Walker.”

How? That wasn’t important at the moment, “Where is he?”

“He’s in one of the other waiting rooms. He’s asking for an update, but since he isn’t the next of kin, we’ve been unable to give him one.”

Shit.

“I’ll tell him. But take me to my daughter first.”

Liam stared down at the impossible tiny infant in the isolette. She was so small; she didn’t seem real. There were so many tubes and wires going in and out of her tiny, fragile body that he wept.

The hospital staff in the NICU were understanding and compassionate. They answered all his questions, and he had plenty of them.

He still had so many questions about all of it. Why hadn’t she told him about the baby? Why was she even on the road? Where had she been going? How had Drake gotten there? But most of all, with every fiber of his being he question what kind of a God could do this to him. First his mother, now his wife and maybe his daughter as well. What cruel irony to find her in the same moment he might lose her.

He strode toward the door, “Take me to Captain Walker, please.”

The door to the waiting area swung inward with a creak as a blast of cold air hit him in the face. Drake sat in a chair on the far side of the room, a blank stare on his face, hands clasped in his lap as he leaned forward, unmoving, unseeing.

Liam heard the doctor say, “He’s still in shock.”

Yeah, well, welcome to the club, he thought as he stood in the doorway, “Could you give us the room?”

“Yes, certainly!” Everyone else quickly vacated the area, leaving Liam alone with his childhood companion.

“Drake.”

Drake’s head moved slowly as he drug his eyes over to Liam. He knew. Liam could see it in his eyes, he already knew.

“She’s gone, Li.” He whispered.

“I know.” Liam’s eyes swept over Drake’s rumpled, blood stained clothes. “You were there?”

“Too late. I was too late. There was a wreck. I had to stop; traffic was stuck. I wanted to help, if I could. Then I got close and-“ Anguished sobs chocked off the rest of the sentence.

“So you don’t know where she was going? Why she was on the road? Who she was with?”

Drake’s eyes widened, “They didn’t tell you?”

Liam felt a tendril of dread frission down his spine. “Tell me what?”

It came out barely above a whisper, “Max. She was with Max.”

Cordonian National Hospital, two days later…

Liam sat in the waiting room, twisting a coffee cup in his hand. He was waiting to see Max. The doctors were checking his nerve function or something. They said he might never walk again. Max. Max who loved to move, Max who made him breathless with laughter with his impromptu dance moves, Max who turned backflips on the trampoline, Max who slide down the banister in the fucking palace. It was another cruel irony in a series of cruel ironies.

He'd been in a coma since the accident. A medically induced one, to allow the swelling on his brain to go down. He’d had two surgeries to patch his spial column back together. He’d broken three vertebrae, sustained not one, but two traumatic brain injuries and something called a diffuse axion injury.

They’d removed the vent this morning and weaned him off the propofol. Liam jumped to his feet and started pacing. Again. “Could they take any longer?”

“Liam.” Olivia laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her then glanced across the rest of the room. Drake was slumped in a chair in the corner, head tilted back, hand covering his eyes. Bertrand was sitting with his head in his hands. He’s been crying for two days. Savannah rubbed his back and looked mournfully around the room at her brother wishing she could do more for everyone.

Leo and Rashad sat on the other side of the room, quietly conversing about something. Hana sat next to Drake, staring at her lap.

“I’m fine, Liv! I’m sorry, I just-“

“It’s ok, Liam. This is hard. You’re allowed to have feelings about it.”

He just nodded.

The last two days had been a haze of grief and activity. The baby was struggling, a lot. He still hadn’t picked a name. He was leaning toward Eleanor, after his mother. There were constant medical decisions to be made for her and he spent as much time as he could holding her, kangaroo care they called it.

When he wasn’t in the NICU, he was at Max’s bedside, willing him to live. All the while, the immensity of his own grief threated to drown him. It was always there, no matter what other thoughts or concerns occupied his mind. It pushed at the periphery of his consciousness even in his sleep. He woke up in the middle of night with tendrils of dread and horror snaking through his insides and wrapping around his heart.

He couldn’t face making arrangements for her funeral, so he’d delegated that to Liv, not trusting to Regina to do it right. Regina didn’t know Riley, didn’t love her. Hadn’t. He couldn’t get used to thinking of her in the past tense. His love, his queen, the light of his life. She was everything to him. Had been. Every time he had to adjust his thoughts to the past tense, a knife twisted in his heart. He was never going to be ok.

Her funeral was tomorrow. Her funeral. Riley’s funeral. Those words were so discordant, the impossibility of it still shocked him.

“You can come in now.” A nurse told them, “He’s awake and talking.”

Normally visitors were limited, but no one was willing to tell that to the king, so they all crowded into the room.

Max’s eyes fell on Liam, “Li…”

“Max!” Liam leaned over the bed and embraced him carefully, “I’m so fucking glad to see you awake!”

Bertrand cried again as he greeted his brother, “Never scare me like that again!”

One by one, everyone said their hellos, then a nurse finally shooed most of them out, “Try to keep it to a couple of people at a time.”

Leo, Rashad, Olivia, Hana and Savannah made their way out of the room, leaving Bertrand, Liam and Drake with Max.

“Wreck?” Max asked his brother.

“Yes.” Bertrand verified, “Do you remember?”

Max shook his head, “Not much….Riley….the baby…”

Drake and Liam exchanged a look. Of course he didn’t know. He’d just woken up.

Max’s eyes went to Liam’s, pleading, “Riley?”

Bertrand took Max’s hand in his. Liam took the other as tears started to fall down his face. Again. He had cried so much in the last two days he wasn’t sure how he had any tears left. He was so sick of crying, of grieving, but he didn’t know how to stop doing either.

Drake turned away and leaned his head into the wall, quiet sobs shaking his body.

“I’m sorry, Max.” Liam said softly, “She didn’t make it.”

Max’s face crumpled as he added his own tears to Liam’s and Drake’s.

Bertrand moved away so Liam could hug Max in a full body embrace, the two men clung to each other as their grief poured out. The elder Beaumont excused himself from the room to give them a little privacy and to pour out some grief of his own in his wife’s arms.

Liam had thought the worst of his tears were over, but as he registered the fresh, raw waves of hopeless despair that washed over the man he loved, it hit him again and now he was crying not just for Riley, not just for himself, not just for their child, but for Max as well. Max, who had also just lost everything.

If he could have taken Max’s grief from him, he would have. But he couldn’t, he was too deep in his own, drowning in guilt and self recrimination. Losing himself in all the what ifs and could have beens.

“My fault…mine…” Max sobbed.

“No, no, it was a horrible, terrible, tragic accident, but it was just that, an accident!” Liam tried to comfort him.

“The baby?”

“She’s alive.” Liam told him. It was the most he could give him. He couldn’t say she was fine or that she was going to make it, because he had no idea if those things were true.

Liam wiped at his eyes as he asked, “What were you even doing on the road that day, Max?”

Drake wiped at his own face as he turned back toward Max to hear the answer.

Max answered haltingly. The doctor had warned them that his speech would be slow at first. His brain was still healing, and his throat was swollen and sore from the vent tube. “She wanted….wanted to come….home…to you.”

“What?” Hope sprang into his chest followed quickly by the crushing memory that she was gone, so it didn’t matter.

Max nodded. “I wanted….to call….but….she wanted….to surprise…..you.”

Liam smiled sadly. That sounded like her. But it didn’t answer the other question, “Why didn’t she tell me about the baby?”

“She was… afraid….”

“Afraid? Afraid of what? I don’t understand!”

“Baby….not….yours….”

“Ok, but so what? The baby is yours, why would she think I’d have a problem with that? We discussed the implications of that already, when we had that scare last year-“

Max shook his head, “Not…mine….”

Liam stared at him, thunderstruck, “But….then whose?”

Liam’s eyes followed Max’s to the only other person in the room.

Drake looked from Max to Liam, then back to Max trying to figure out why they were looking at him. Then his face paled, “What?”

“I knew it!” Liam yelled, as he leapt away from the bed and stalked toward Drake, “The night you left Kiara at the altar, you didn’t answer the door for me, but when I got back to my hotel room, Riley was gone! She stayed gone all night and came back the next day destroyed, again! You fucked her then discarded her, didn’t you? Again? Is that what you did?”

“I….”

“Is that what you did?”

“Liam, I didn’t know, I didn’t know…”

“And that makes it ok? Huh?” Liam shoved him, hard, “Does it?”

Drake didn’t try to defend himself; he held his arms out to the side and shook his head as tears ran down his face. “No.”

“You selfish fucking bastard! This is your fault, all of it! If you hadn’t gotten her pregnant then run away, none of this would have happened! She’d be alive, home, at the palace, and Max wouldn’t be laying in that bed paralyzed!”

Drake didn’t even try to defend himself. He stumbled backwards until his back hit the wall, then slid down to the ground, hands over his face and started crying again. Liam was right. It was all his fault. He’d failed her, he’d failed them all, he always failed everybody.

“Li…not…his fault.”

Liam whirled on the man in the bed. “You should have told me!”

“Wasn’t…my secret…to tell.”

“Fuck you, Max! If you would have told me, maybe I could have talked to her, told her that I’d still raise the baby! Maybe she would have come home sooner and then she’d still be alive! You told me you loved me, then you left me! You chose her, and you kept her secrets, secrets that I had every right to know, Max! I had every right!”

“Liam…”

“Fuck you, Max, I’ll never forgive you for this! Either one of you!” Liam slammed out of the room, guilt cutting through him at the harshness of his words. But he was too mad and too hurt to take them back.

Cordonian National Hospital, NICU….

It was early. Too early, but Drake hadn’t slept anyway. He stumbled down the hallway to the one place he hadn’t been yet. He’d been avoiding it, unsure that his fragile emotional state could take it, but after the revelations of the following day, he had to go.

He stood outside the NICU, gazing in at the impossibly small figure in the isolette. She weighed just under a pound and half. She was only eight inches long.

“Well, are you just going to stand there staring, or are you going to go in?”

Drake jumped; he hadn’t heard Liam walk up behind him. “Is that ok? If I go in? I wasn’t sure….”

“Of course it is, Drake.” Liam placed a hand on his shoulder, “She’s your daughter. Come on.”

They entered the nursery together and Liam gave the staff instructions to give Drake unfettered access to the tiny princess.

“Would you like to hold her?” A nurse asked.

“Are you sure that’s ok?” He asked. Her skin looked translucent; paper thin. “She looks like she’ll break if I hold her.”

“She won’t break, you just have to be careful. I’ll show you how.”

Liam lowered himself into a chair across from Drake, “About yesterday. What I said-“

“You don’t have to apologize, Li.”

“I think I do. I was out of line, what I said-“

“Was true. Can we not talk about it?”

“Okay.”

They sat in silence for a long time as Drake stared down into his daughter’s face. “She looks like Riley.” He whispered in awe.

“She needs a name.”

Drake looked up at Liam in surprise, “You want me to name her?”

“She’s your daughter, Drake. So, yes.”

“How is she so perfect and so fragile at the same time? Look at her, she’s so fucking beautiful, like her mother. Is she….is she going to make it?”

“I hope so. She’s a fighter, like her mother.”

“I hope so too.”

“Hope is all we have left now.”

Drake drew in a breath, “What about that?”

“What about what?”

“Hope. For her name?”

“I think it’s perfect.” Liam answered.

“Do you…do you think Riley would have liked it?” Drake asked with a quiver in his voice.

“I do. I think Riley would have loved it.”

“That’s it, then. That’s her name. Hope.”

“I’ll let the hospital staff know. They’ve been calling her Artemis.”

“Artemis?”

“They tell me that NICU nurses give all the babies a warrior name while they’re in here.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

“It is.” Liam said as he rose from his seat, “Are you coming? The funeral starts soon.”

Drake shook his head, “I can’t, Li. I can’t go to the big, public formal one. I’ll come by after, to the private one. Maybe.”

Liam hesitated in the doorway, unsure how to apologize for the hurtful words he’d said the night before. They were all still so raw and grieving. He’d do it later. “See you tonight then.” He said as he slipped out the door.

Fifteen minutes later…

Drake was still in the NICU when the monitors and alarms started to scream.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Captain, you’re going to have to step out of the room so we can work. We’ll update you as soon as we can.”

He stepped backwards into the hallway as the door shut in his face.

Cordonian National Cemetery….

Drake tossed the green duffle bag to the ground next to the grave then sat down beside it. The bag contained the only three items that mattered anymore.

“Hey Brooks. I’m here, too late, as usual. There are so many things I wanted to say to you and now I’ll never get the chance. You were the love of my life and I wasted what little time we could have had together, just fucking wasted it! I spent most of the last two years running from you, from my feelings, from myself….I was such a coward, and I’m so fucking sorry for it. I should have been there! I should have been there!” He pulled his knees up and dropped his head down onto them, muffled sobs wracking his body.

He used his sleeve to clean his face as he told her, “I can’t believe we have a daughter. She’s perfect, Riley but she’s so tiny and fragile and I don’t think she’s going to make it. I should have been there for her, for you.”

He sighed as he tugged the bag closer to him and pulled out the stack of letters she’d written him while he was in Texas. The letters he’d never read. He’d never read them, but he also hadn’t been able to bring himself to toss them out. He retrieved the bottle of whiskey from the bag next and opened it. He shifted so he was sitting on the grave itself, and leaned back against the cold marble of her headstone. He alternated between drinking and crying as he read, his eyes greedily taking in her words of love and devotion, his hands trembling as he turned the pages. He kept stopping to wipe away the tears that fell onto the pages and smeared the ink.

He knew Riley would want him to go on, she’d want him to be strong for their little girl. But he couldn’t, he just couldn’t. She needed someone better than him looking after her. Someone like Liam, someone like Max. Anyone but him. He would inevitably fail her, just like he’d failed everyone else in his life. His father, his mother, his sister, Liam, Max, hell even Kiara but most importantly, Riley, the only woman he’d ever really loved.

If only he’d come back sooner, if only he’d stayed after their night in Paris, or never left in the first place. She died thinking he didn’t love her and that was something he couldn’t live with, something he didn’t want to live with.

He reached into the bag for the third, and final, item. He pulled the 9mm baretta into his lap. “I will love you until the moment I stop breathing, and after. I’ll never stop.”

He clicked the safety off, put the barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

The Palace…..

There was a knock at the door. Liam lifted his head from the desk. He’d been at his desk drinking since returning from the funeral. There had been a lavish state affair followed by a small gathering of close friends and family. Both had been hell.

“Come in!” He barked at the door. Who the fuck was it and why the hell wouldn’t the world just leave him alone to grieve?

“Sir?” Bastien stepped into the room, his voice shaky, his eyes red rimmed, his demeanor halting, unsure.

“Bas? What is it?” Liam sat up in alarm, suddenly alert despite the late hour and amount of bourbon he’d consumed.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I….” Bastien stopped as tears chocked off his words.

Liam had only ever seen Bas cry one other time, when he had delivered the news of Jackson’s death. There were only so many people Bas cared about like that. His blood ran cold as he sprang up from his desk, “No! No! Bas….. no!”

“I’m so sorry Liam….it’s Drake….he…”

“No, Bas! No! Don’t say it!” He cried out in anguish.

“I’m sorry, he’s…he’s gone…he…” Bastien’s head fell down as a low keening sound issued from his throat.

Liam made his way around the desk and grabbed the older man by the shoulders, “How?” But he already knew how. And why.

“Self inflicted gun shot wound to the head.”

Liam’s knees buckled and he felt himself drop toward the floor, “Nooooooooo! No, no, no, no! Why? When is it enough, God, when?”

The two men’s arms wrapped around each other as they slid to the ground together, holding each other, crying into the other’s shoulders, hands gripping into backs as their hearts broke again.

Cordonian National Hospital…

Max opened his eyes to find Liam standing in his room. Not moving, not talking, just standing there, eyes focused on nothing, swaying slightly. “Liam, what are you doing here? What’s wrong? The baby…..”

“She’s the same. Still fighting. It’s Drake.” His voice broke. His fingers flew up to pinch at the sides of his eyes.

Max’s heart contracted, “What happened? What did he do?”

“He did what he always does.” Liam’s voice was low, bitter, infinitely sad, “he ran away from his problems. Permanently this time.”

“Oh, Liam….no…”

“I said such awful things to him….”

“He knew you didn’t mean it, Li, he knew! I promise you, he knew it was your grief speaking.”

“I said unforgivable things to him, Max! And to you too!” Liam ran to his bedside and slid down to his knees, “I’m sorry, Max, I’m so fucking sorry! It wasn’t your fault, I'm glad she had you for those last few months! She told me once that you were the only one who never hurt her, the one that was always there for her, and I'm glad you were with her, taking care of her when I couldn’t be.”

“Did it…for you too…” Max grunted as he tried to shift positions, but he couldn’t move his lower body, “for…all of us.”

“I know.” Liam crawled into the bed and wrapped himself carefully around Max. “If only I'd let her go, if I hadn't tried to control her. Maybe they were the ones that were meant to be together. I should have let her go after the coronation, she could have married him and they’d both still be here!”

“Liam don't-“

“It's okay Max, I don't need you to make me feel better about it. Telling me that it's not true doesn't help because we both know it is. I did hurt her, I did try to control her, I was jealous and possessive!”

“She loved you.”

“I know!” He pushed his face into Max’s neck as the storm overtook him again.

Two years later……

Liam helped Max out of his wheelchair. He wanted to walk from the paved trail to the gravesite. He had to lean on Liam and use a cane to do it, but he was walking. Just short distances, a few steps at a time, and his balance was still off but he was walking. After three separate stints at the best inpatient neurological rehab units in Europe and over a year of outpatient physical therapy, he was finally walking.

Liam had been with him every step of the way, sitting in on therapy sessions, cheering him on and talking him off the ledge when he’d wanted to give up. They had cried together, grieved their losses together and navigated paralysis together. They’d come out stronger, closer and more in love than ever.

Liam helped Max sit on the stone bench next to the graves, then he bent and placed flowers on each of them. He spoke as he placed the floral arrangements.

“Riley, love…” He stopped for a brief moment to let a few tears trickle down his face, “We both still miss you so much. I still love you, with my whole heart. It’s not the same without you, my queen. But I’d like to think that you’re smiling down on us, pleased with yourself for bringing us together in the first place.”

He knew he would never have gotten through any of it without Max. It astounded him that Max thought he was the lucky one because Liam had stood by him during his recovery. He was aware that not all relationships survived a partner becoming a paraplegic. They’d done the psychological counseling that came with the physical therapy. It was all important to Max’s recovery they’d told him, so he’d done it. But even if Max had never gotten up out of that wheelchair, Liam knew he was the lucky one. And he had Riley to thank for that.

“Drake. My best friend. My brother. My partner in crime. I don’t think you ever had any idea how loved you were. I don’t think your mom would have made it without the support from Bas. It brought them closer to each other. I think he’s always been in love with her, but she spent so many years grieving your father, she never saw it before. They got married a few months ago, they left an empty seat for you at their table, and one for Sierra. I miss you, more than you could possibly imagine. I wish you would have stayed here with us, healed with us. I won’t say it gets better, the pain is always there, but it does become….manageable. Most days anyway.” Liam had to stop to catch his breath before moving onto the third grave.

“Mom. I know you’re looking out for them. I love you and I miss you. I wish you could have met Riley and Hope. You would have loved them both. Riley wasn’t anything like the woman dad wanted for me, but she was the most amazing, fierce person I’ve ever known. And Hope, well, she’s the light of our lives now. She’s got Max and I both wrapped completely around her little finger!”

Liam turned and waved at the limo on the road. His personal guard, Alec opened the back door of the car and a second guard stepped out. Marco had been Riley’s personal guard. He’d served her loyally right up to the end, then seamlessly transitioned to his new position. He reached back in the limo and pulled his small charge out of the backseat.

He took her little hand in his and walked from the road down the paved trail. When they got close, she pulled her hand from his and sprinted across the hardpacked dirt to Liam and Max. “Daddy! Poppa!”

“Careful!” Liam laughed as he caught her in his arms before she could throw herself into Max’s, possibly toppling him to the ground.

“Sorry!”

“It’s ok littlest blossom!” Max laughed, “You’re just excited, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Poppa.” She replied, nodding her little head as she waved her hand in the air. She was clutching three individual flowers. Liam directed her as she placed one on each grave. She knew who each person was thanks to photos and stories. Liam and Max made a point to make their memories live for her as much as possible.

As Liam walked Hope back to Marco, Max talked, “She’s perfect, Ri, she’s amazing. You would have been such a good mother. She misses you. I know some people think she couldn’t possibly remember you, but I know she does. Not consciously, but you carried her inside your body for six months. She knows you. She remembers you. She loves you. She misses you and so do I. Every fucking day.”

Quiet sobs shook his shoulders as he brushed his tears away, “You were everything I ever wanted in life. You always acted like I was doing you a favor or something by supporting you, but the truth is, it was the greatest honor of my life to be there for you. I’ll never stop being there for you. Now that means being there for your daughter. I only hope I can do half as good a job as I know you would have.”

He had to pause again. He let himself feel the ache, the hollowness that would never be filled. “And Drake….I see you too, every time I look at her. She’s got your hair, your eyes and your tenderness but without the rough exterior to cover it up. I don’t know anything about being a dad. Mine wasn’t really there for me, you’re the one that had the good dad and I know you would have been a great one; I hope I don’t let you down. Either one of you.”

He glanced up to find Liam standing there, hands shoved in his pockets. “Are you ready?”

“Almost.” Max told him, then turning back to the graves, “You’d both be so proud of Liam. He’s an amazing dad and he’s the only reason I kept living after we lost the two of you. I don’t think I’d be walking again if it weren’t for him. I don’t know if I’d be living if it weren’t for him.”

Liam squeezed his eyes shut, remembering his fear and anxiety during those early days, especially after he learned that the leading cause of death for paraplegics during the first five years following paralysis is suicide. He had already lost too much, and he’d fought mightily to keep Max in this world.

“I think they were looking out for you; I believe that.” Liam helped Max up from the bench, then wrapped an arm around him.

“For both of us, Li.”

“Yeah, and for Hope too.”

“I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Max apologized.

“It’s ok, it’s an emotional day, but we need to get back and get ready for Hope’s birthday party.”

“I’m ready.”

Liam helped Max back to the trail and into his wheelchair. He paused and glanced back at the graves. He swore he could feel them. He turned and walked alongside the wheelchair to the road.

If he could have seen through the veil between the worlds, he would have seen Riley and Drake standing there, watching them walk away, hands entwined with each other, smiling at them with love and approval.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tagging:

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@kachrisberry @fangirling12566 @belencha77 @lovingchoices14 @twinkle-320

@21-wishes @secretaryunpaid @lunaseasblog @princessleac1 @bebepac

@emersyn-in-cordonia @walkerdrakewalker @73geenalove @tornbetween2loves @sillydg

@pinklipsandmasonjars @savannahdix @jennieausten @kingliam2019 @3pawandme

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21-wishes · 3 years ago

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Bitches be like "he's the love of my life" but he's just another fictional man that sets their bar for love higher and higher and yet breaks their heart because they know that love may never exist.

It's me, I'm Bitches.

#I’m bitches too 🙂🙃

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21-wishes · 3 years ago

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SpreadJoy #634: spreading positivity with quotes and @playchoices characters.

Quote in edit by Queen Elizabeth II

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21-wishes · 3 years ago

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I got so happy seeing this notification!

I remember reading the story for the first time and thinking OMG how is she gonna find out and who will she choose now?!

But oh 🥺💔 the overwhelming shock of knowing who he is and hearing he’s not only been in an accident, but a target for assassination 🥺💔💔💔

I wonder if Ethan will back off or become persistence in trying to peruse her. 🤔

But Liam is alive! 😍♥️ I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here!

So Close Part 6 - Restless Nights

Book(s): The Royal Romance & Open Heart crossover (AU)

Pairings: Liam x Ella (MC); Ethan x MC

Characters belong to Pixelberry; Ella Brooks belongs to me.

Song inspiration: Lonely Days by Fiji & J Boog

Summary: Ella was stuck in between two men, Bryce and Ethan. When she had to make a choice, she ultimately chose Ethan … but he refused. Now what?

Catch up here - So Close masterlist

A/N: It’s been entirely too long since I’ve updated this story, I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA. I hope ya’ll forgive me.

Thank you @ao719 for encouraging me to finish writing all these stories, prereading and telling me to “quit hoarding all of them” LOL love youuuuu!

Warnings: angst (lots of it); mentioning of bodily injuries and blood; character death

Words: 1469

Keep reading

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21-wishes · 3 years ago

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Captain Hot Stuff and Detroit will forever be one of the best things in this story 🤣♥️

“Put a leash on that ego, Captain. I have an actual issue that I need your help with, and I need you to keep it between us. Can you do that?”

🤣🤣🤣🤣

He grew serious as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

I love how they both get serious about things when it’s needed

Not that I was looking at his chest. Ok, I was totally looking, but that’s not the point.

ITS EXACTLT THE POINT RILEY 😂🤣

It looked like they were expecting her back at any moment.

🥺🥺💔💔💔

He blinked at me for a few long moments before understanding dawned on him, “You think the baby wasn’t his.”

Oooh I was wondering thisss! If there is an heir are you going with the canon version or is it Jackson’s.

He held my gaze for a moment, a flush creeping up his neck, before looking away and saying, “Yeah, because we fall asleep after sex. But if I’m not mistaken, you just asked me back to your room just to sleep.”

It’s funny how Drake is like.. intimacy? 👀

Leo’s eyes cut to Liv’s, as he leaned back in his chair, tented his fingers and motioned for me to continue, “Explain.”

It’s so interesting seeing Leo in king/crown prince mode 😂😅

Ok omg! Holy shit! That scene with everything going down with Tariq and everyone bursting in and that asshole escaping just dndndnsnsksmn!!

And this 🤣🤣🤣🤣

“No!” All three men yelled at once.

Drake reluctantly agreeing to Riley spending the night in Liam’s room 😂😂😂 dude is so bitter about it being a good idea it’s hilarious. I can almost imagine the internal happy dance Liam is doing 🤣🤣

But this is also an interesting development in the story. If her cover is blown 👀👀

Savage Love Chapter 19: Revelations

Series: Savage Love

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Liam, Riley x Drake

Rating: R

Warnings: Mature themes

Word Count: 4,118

My other stuff: Master List.

I sent a quick text ahead from the car as we pulled back onto palace property.

Drake was already in my room when I got there. He gave me a teasing smile as he turned away from the desk where he had just dropped the file folder of information I’d asked Leo for. “Hey Brooks. You know you don’t have to make up reasons to get me to come your room, right?”

“Put a leash on that ego, Captain. I have an actual issue that I need your help with, and I need you to keep it between us. Can you do that?”

He grew serious as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. Not that I was looking at his chest. Ok, I was totally looking, but that’s not the point. With a slight frown, he replied, “Are you asking if you can trust me?”

“Can I?”

There was a slow blink before he responded, “I’m a little offended that you even have to ask, to be honest.”

“Listen,” I told him as I removed the necklace with the hidden necklace and held it out to him, “There’s footage on there that I don’t want Leo or Liam to see…not yet anyway.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Why?”

I sighed and motioned for him to sit. We both perched on the edge of my bed, even though there were plenty of chairs. I quickly filled him in on the secret heir conversation. When I finished, I drew in a deep breath and asked, “Well? What do you think? Is there any possibility this is real?”

“I….don’t know.” Drake ran a hand through his hair.

“If it’s even possible, where would we start looking?”

“I have an idea.”

Fifteen minutes of following Drake through the secret passageways later, I found myself in a small, tidy office. Eleanor’s. It looked like they were expecting her back at any moment. And it was pristinely clean. “Wow. It looks like she’s still using it!”

“I know.” Drake affirmed, “I guess Constantine didn’t have the heart to throw her things out, neither did Liam or Leo for that matter. There are so many rooms in this place, it’s not like it was needed for anything else.”

“The staff just keeps cleaning it?”

He looked up from the desk calendar he’d been gazing at in surprise, “Of course. They clean every room in this palace, at least weekly, used or not. Constantine can’t stand dust.”

“Ok, then.” I breathed out. The king was a neat freak.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to find. I’m positive that Constantine, Leo and Liam all went through her things after her death.”

“Yes. But then, they weren’t looking for hidden documents.” I answered.

“True. Ok, you start over here,” He tapped the top of the desk, “And I’ll start over there.” He gestured to the bookshelves lining the far wall.

Two hours later I was ready to call it a night when we hit pay dirt.

It was the third time I’d searched the desk. One of the drawers had a false bottom. In it was a thin, paper day minder. For the same year as the desk calendar and day minder left out on the desk. Inside were multiple days marked only as “Dr. Apt.”, flipping backwards I found other markings.

“What do you think those mean?” Drake asked, his breath ticking the side of my face as he leaned over my shoulder to point at them.

“Oh, I know exactly what those mean.” I told him, “See how these little stars have a fairly predictable pattern? Three to five days are starred, every four to five weeks?”

“Yeah…”

“She was tracking her period, then see here? No stars… then a few weeks later the doctor’s appointments start.” I told him excitedly, “This is proof that she was pregnant!”

“I mean, maybe, what if-“

“Drake.” I cut him off as I flipped forward through the pages again until I found what I was looking for. I jabbed my finger triumphantly at the page “There!”

He craned his head to read over my shoulder again, his eyes following my finger. He sucked in a sharp breath when he saw what I was pointing at. It was just one word. “Due.”

“When did she leave, and return, from that last trip?” I asked.

“She left four months before that due date, and returned about six weeks after.” He did some quick math in his head, “Could she have hidden a pregnancy for five months?”

“Absolutely!” I confirmed, “Especially during winter months when she would have been wearing heavier clothes anyway.”

“But…why would they have hidden it from the public? From their sons?” Drake asked, “It doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know.” I answered, “But didn’t you say that last trip was to Auvernall, to visit her family?”

“Yes.”

“So, is it possible she had the baby there and left it?”

“I mean….maybe…but why would she do that?” Drake asked.

“Again, I don’t know but…” I trailed off as a thought occurred to me.

“What?”

“What if…I mean…are we sure Constantine knew?”

“Why wouldn’t he have known?”

“Drake….”

He blinked at me for a few long moments before understanding dawned on him, “You think the baby wasn’t his.”

I shrugged, “If he didn’t know about the pregnancy, it would explain why he never told anyone, why he didn’t bring the child back after it was born…unless the baby didn’t survive?”

“That’s….this is a lot.”

“I know.” I agreed as I replaced the desk drawer, false bottom and all. I kept the day minder. “I’m exhausted. Can we just go back to my room and sleep? We can deal with this in the morning.”

His face registered surprise, as he asked, “You want me to sleep with you?”

I was confused by his reaction, “What’s so shocking about that? We’ve slept together more nights than we haven’t since we met.”

My sleep deprived brain could not deal with the differences he was trying to draw just then. I sighed as I rubbed my eyes, “If you don’t want to-“

His head snapped around to catch my gaze again as a Texas sized grin lit up his face, “Oh, I want to, Brooks, I want to.”

“Ok. Could you not make a big deal out of it? Please?”

He held his arms out wide, “Who’s making a big deal out of it? Maybe I’m just looking forward to the morning sex.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that tumbled out of my mouth at that. I shook my head and said, “You are incorrigible Captain. Now, let’s go get some sleep.”

The next morning……….

Olivia was seated at the table next to Leo when we entered the room.

“Hello, Olivia. I’m surprised to see you here.” I looked at Leo for an explanation.

“The Via Imperii reached out to her yesterday.”

“Yesterday while I was gone?”

“Before, but yes, you were gone by the time she got to me to tell me.”

I nodded. That might explain why Godfrey and Emmeline were late. Or Madeleine. One or two or all of them could have been corresponding with Olivia.

“How did they reach out?”

“Email, same as me.” Leo replied.

“And?”

“And?” Olivia gave me a withering look, “I told them to go to hell!”

“I know.” I nodded with a sigh, “I really wish you hadn’t. We could have used you to string them along-“

“Absolutely not!” Leo said with finality, “I will not put her in the line of fire. Not for any reason.”

“Ok, then. Doesn’t matter now anyway. Since she’s here, is it safe to assume you’ve brought her up to speed about who I really am and why I’m here?”

“Yes.”

“So, you trust her?”

“I trust her.”

“So do I but-

“But?”

I turned to address her directly, “I still have to ask this next question. I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t.”

“Okay…” Liv arched an eyebrow at me as she waited, her foot tapping impatiently against the metal leg of the chair.

“Are you aware that your aunt’s estate is being used for Via Imperii meetings?”

She froze, shock clearly etched on her features. It took her only a fraction of a second to compose herself and tell me coolly, “No. I haven’t spoken to her in almost two years. We’re not close.”

I hesitated as I glanced around the room. In addition to Leo, Liv and Liam, Drake and myself, Jared, Maxwell and Jason were present. “So, are we talking freely in front of Duchess Olivia?”

Leo inclined his head, “Yes. She’s going to be queen; she needs to be apprised of these things.”

I wondered if he’d apprised her of her parents’ role in Operation Snow spear, a failed coup that was the real reason for their demise. Not a car accident as she, and the rest of the world, had been led to believe. But that wasn’t my business, not at the moment anyway.

I nodded, “I believe you’re in danger, or you will be once you choose Olivia as your queen.”

Leo’s eyes cut to Liv’s, as he leaned back in his chair, tented his fingers and motioned for me to continue, “Explain.”

I took a seat at the table and launched into the whole story of what I’d learned and who I’d seen at the meeting the night before, leaving out only the part about the potential lost heir. He needed to know; Liam needed to know but first things first.

I ended with, “And if none of that works, they plan to remove you from power.”

“How do they plan to do that?”

“By any means necessary.”

“Shit.” Leo breathed out softly, he glanced at Olivia, then at me and asked, “Then what?”

“Then they start the whole process over with Liam.”

Liam sat up straighter, “Fuck. What do we do?”

“We stay the course.” I told him, “Right now, they think Leo is equally likely to choose Madeleine or myself. As long as they believe that, they aren’t going to make a move.”

“We just have to bring them down before the coronation.” Jared said.

Leo’s jaw set as he reached for Olivia’s hand, “I’m assigning a security detail to you.”

“Just continue to play up the Madeleine and I being front runners angel, that should keep them backed off for now.” I reiterated.

“But the minute I choose her, she becomes a target?”

“You become a target.” I corrected him.

Olivia’s eyes filled with tears, she blinked them away quickly, but I saw them. “I can’t let you put yourself in danger, Leo. You’ll have to choose Madeleine.”

“The hell I will! I’m not giving those bastards what they want!”

“We still have time before the social season is over.” I reminded them, “We just need to find out who their leader is and take them down before then.”

“I might have an in.” Jared spoke up, “I’ve put out the word that I’m looking to moonlight, make a little extra money on the side. I have a lead on a couple of opportunities. Hopefully one of them is at Lucretia’s estate.”

“Perfect.” I responded.

Leo started pushing away from the table, “If that’s everything, I really need to-“

“Oh, there is one more thing.”

He lowered himself back into his chair with a sigh as he rubbed his temples, “Of course there is. What is it, double oh seven?”

I glanced up at Drake then over to Liam then back to Leo as I gathered my thoughts. Drake pulled out the chair next to me and dropped into it. He nodded encouragingly at me.

“Fuck, I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just say it. Liam, Leo, you might have another sibling out there somewhere.”

“What?” Both men said in unison.

I explained everything and showed them the day minder we’d found.

“I…I can’t believe this. It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Liam blinked at me, wide eyed in shock.

I reached across the table and took his hand, “I know it’s a lot to process and we can’t be sure I’m right but to me, this is very strong evidence, and my gut tells me there’s something to it.”

“We have to follow up.” Leo decided, “One way or the other, Li and I need to know the truth.”

An hour later we had a plan for how to proceed with the investigation. Not just for Leo and Liam’s piece of mind, but for the safety of the missing heir. If one did exist, we had to get to them before the Via Imperii did.

That night……

A hesitant knock sounded on my door. I wasn’t expecting anyone, and Drake would have used the secret passageways.

I pulled out my phone and swiped open the feed from the camera outside my door. Tariq Lambros stood in the hallway, fidgeting nervously. Why the hell did he have one hand behind his back? I fired off two texts in rapid succession, double checked my weapon then cracked the door open.

“Ah…uh…Lady Riley, good evening. Sorry to show up with no notice, but uh….” He glanced up and down the hallway, his body thrumming with agitation. He was clearly rattled by something, “May I come in?”

“Lord Lambros, it’s late. I was about to go to bed. Besides, how would it look if one of the prince’s suitors let another man into her private bedchamber late at night? It could cause a scandal, get me kicked out of the social season and sent home in disgrace. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“No…I….” He glanced up and down the hallway again, “Please, you don’t understand! This is important! I need to-“

“Come by in the morning.” I started to shut the door.

His foot shot out to stop the door from closing, then his body slammed into it, forcing it, and me, back as he barreled his way into my room. He kicked the door shut behind him as he glowered at me. “You’re making this more difficult than it has to be!”

“Making what more difficult?” I asked as I took several steps back, moving myself away from him while keeping my eyes glued on him.

“You’re coming with me!” He snarled as he brandished a dagger.

So that’s what he’d been hiding behind his back. I almost laughed.

“Yeah, no, I don’t think so. But just out of curiosity, where, exactly, do you think we’re going?”

“I have a car waiting out front. Your old friend Rico wants to see you.”

My eyes widened, “What?”

Tariq smirked, “You heard me.”

I did laugh then.

He faltered, looked confused, “This isn’t funny! Why are you laughing?”

“Because I’m not going anywhere with you.” I told him calmly as I reached for my firearm.

He lunged at me before I was able to draw. Alright. If it was hand to hand combat he wanted, it was hand to hand combat he’d get.

His arms went around me, and we both stumbled backwards. His grip wasn’t tight enough, I brought my arms up between his and used them to knock his away from my body, then I grabbed his wrist and twisted, sending the dagger skittering across the floor. I pulled hard on his arm, forcing it back and behind him, then used that leverage to force him into a bending position so I could deliver a forceful blow to his back with my elbow. I put my entire body weight into it.

He dropped the ground, groaning in pain just as Drake burst through the secret panel and Jared burst through the door.

“Brooks!”

“Riley!”

“Nice of you both to finally show up.” I greeted, “But I have it under control.”

Then Jared made a rookie mistake. He stepped closer to me to ask if I was ok, without keeping his eyes on the man on the floor. Getting closer to me meant getting closer to Tariq. Yes, I’d put him down, but he wasn’t out.

“Jared!” I yelled as I saw Tariq’s hand move.

There was a flash of silver and a yelp of pain then Tariq was up and sprinting for the door while Jared dropped to the ground, holding his ankle as blood spurted from it.

Drake darted across the room and out the door, leaping over Jared as he went.

I quickly applied pressure to Jared’s wound as I told him, “You might need a doctor.”

I got the bleeding staunched and tied a makeshift tourniquet around it. I helped him up off the floor and into a nearby chair. I opened my phone and tried calling Leo. It went to voicemail, so I called Liam. He answered right away.

“Riley?”

“Liam, is there a doctor in residence? Jared’s been wounded. We’re in my room.”

“We have a doctor in residence, I’ll send her down. I’m coming too. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, you don’t have to-“

“Nonsense! I’m on my way.” He clicked the phone off and I tossed mine down with a sigh.

“You really do collect men everywhere you go.” Jared grunted out a laugh then winched in pain.

“That’s what you want to focus right now?” I asked him with a sardonic grin.

Drake came back in the room, panting from exertion, “I chased him, but the motherfucker gave me the slip somehow!”

“It’s ok, Walker.”

“I’ll issue a bolo.”

“You can if you want.” I said, “But it’s probably too late.”

“What do you mean? He can’t have gotten very far, he’s not that bright or resourceful.”

“That’s not what I meant. He just failed the Mendez cartel, he’s as good as dead already.”

Jared’s head snapped up, “The Mendez cartel? What the fuck, Brooks? I thought we took them down.”

“So did I. Rico is supposed to be in federal custody, in a supermax.”

“If he was released, or escaped and he knows you were the one that took him down….”

My jaw set, “I know.”

“What’s going on?” Drake asked in alarm, his gaze shifting between Jared and I.

“Riley! Drake! What happened?” Liam burst through the door to my room with a middle aged woman in tow.

The woman was carrying a medical bag, “I’m Dr. Russo, what happened here?”

“Riley was attacked-“ Drake started.

I interrupted, “But Jared is the one that got hurt, he’s bleeding.”

“Attacked? By who?” Liam spluttered.

Drake’s face tightened, “Tariq Lambros.”

“What?” Liam squeaked, “That makes no sense! He wouldn’t hurt a fly! Not normally anyway. What the hell is going on?”

“I have no idea, but I’m going to find the fuck out.” I told him as I pulled my phone out and dialed Director Barton’s number. I stepped into the bathroom for privacy, I didn’t want to talk too freely in front of the doctor.

“Brooks? What’s going on?”

“Why don’t you tell me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that the Mendez cartel just sent a thug in here to try and kidnap me.”

“What?!”

I quickly filled her in, she was as clueless as I as and twice as irate. She did not like being kept out of the loop.

“I’ll look into this and get back to you, Brooks. I’m so sorry you were caught unaware. Tell Lewis I’ll call him later too.” She disconnected the call.

“Well, doc, how is he?” I asked when I returned to the bedroom.

“We need to get him down to the hospital. His Achilles tendon is cut pretty bad. He’s going to need surgery.”

“Shit.” I breathed. I felt bad for the guy, but he had violated about a half a dozen protocols by stepping that close to a downed perp that hadn’t been properly restrained or checked for consciousness.

When the doctor stepped out of the room to call ahead to the hospital, I turned to Jared, “Agent Lewis, you’ve been on the job long enough to know better than to move in like that before securing the scene.”

He shot me a wounded look, “Well, excuse me, Riley, I mean Agent Brooks, for being concerned about you!”

I softened a little. But only a little, I took his hand and squeezed it, “I appreciate that, Jared, I do. But you and I both know that if you get yourself taken out, you risk your entire team.”

It was true, if Tariq had gotten back up, with a gun, if Drake hadn’t been there, Jared would have been down for the count and unable to help anybody. “Just be more careful next time, ok?”

He glared at me for a moment then relented with a chagrined grimace, “Fuck. You’re right. I’m sorry, I fucked up.”

“It’s ok, happens to the best of us. I’m coming to the hospital with you.”

“No!” All three men yelled at once.

“What the hell?”

“The Mendez cartel is here, Riley, and they’re after you. Now who’s being stupid?” Jared asked.

“The hell you’re leaving the palace until we sweep it and make sure Lambros didn’t have any coconspirators!” Drake told me.

“He’s right, Riley,” Liam joined in, “Please, stay here for tonight, until we get this figured out.”

Everyone was staring at me. I sighed. I was annoyed. They were right and I knew it, but I’m stubborn and I don’t like being told what to do. Someone was gunning for me though and they’d found me, in the palace. Now I was worried about my covering being blown.

“What about you?” I asked Jared.

“I’m not in any danger.” He scoffed, “I wasn’t directly involved in the Mendez case and as far as anyone here knows, I’m just a lowly palace butler who happened to be walking past your room at the right time.”

I nodded, “Ok, fine. But can you send an undercover guard or two with him, just in case?”

“If that’s what it takes to get your stubborn ass to stay here, yes.” Drake agreed as he pulled out his phone.

Two guards showed up to help Jared out to a car with Dr. Russo, leaving me alone in my room with Drake and Liam.

“I’m staying here tonight.” Drake announced.

“What?”

“There’s no way in fucking hell I’m leaving you alone tonight.” He informed me.

Not that having him spend the night was a hardship. He probably would have anyway. That wasn’t the point. I was offended. “Excuse me, but you saw where he was when you got here. On the floor, where I put him. I can take care of myself, Walker.”

His arms folded across his chest and his jaw clenched as his steely gaze bored into me, “Riley….”

I crossed my own arms and returned his glare, “Drake….”

“Ahem.” Liam shifted awkwardly, “Sorry to interrupt whatever, this is….but I think Riley should spend the night in my room tonight.”

I forgot all about being annoyed with Drake as I turned in astonishment to Liam, “What?”

“The family wing is the most secure wing in the palace, you’ll be safter there.” He explained. “And no one would think to look for you in my room.”

“Liam, you’re sweet to worry about me, but I don’t need a babysitter. Tell him, Drake.”

“Drake?” I turned to look at him when he didn’t answer.

He looked like he was fighting an internal battle as a myriad of emotions flitted across his expression. He sighed as he scrubbed a hand down his face and responded, “As loathe as I am to admit it, that actually makes sense. It’s a good idea.”

“Oh, no, I-“

“Listen, Brooks.” Drake interrupted me, “You may be in charge of how we investigate the Via Imperii, but I’m in charge of this palace and everyone in it. Leo assigned me as your liaison with Cordonia and my team is in charge of room assignments for the suitors.”

“So?”

“So, your room assignment has changed. Grab whatever you need for tonight and let’s go. We’re leaving through the secret panel, so no one knows you’re not in here. I’ll send a couple of guards down to hang out in your room. If anyone shows up, they’ll be taken into custody immediately. Let’s go!”

I stared at him for a moment, but I couldn’t argue with his logic, so I packed a few things then followed them both out into the secret passageway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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