Taking a deep breath, Amy began counting, “One. Two. Three.”
At the same time, we said one word.
“Leo.”
A look of pure relief crossed Amy’s face, that she hadn’t spilled something I hadn’t already known, but then she realized how it impacted my current situation. “I’m sorry, Lucy.”
Raising my hand, I acknowledged my new role. “Yep. I’m the backup plan in case you two don’t procreate. Gotta love how my future rests in the hands of others.”
My life was reduced to one of those interactive storybooks, where you made choices at critical points within the narrative and the unique combination determined your ending. Except that I wasn’t the one making the choices that would ultimately determine my fate. I was at the mercy of my family.
I guess, in a way, I always had been.
Curious about one thing, I asked Amy, “How long have you known? I found out today, so I’m still playing catch up.”
Amy bit her lip. “I found out a few months ago. Liam, however, knew before he asked me to marry him.”
Sucking in a breath, I winced. “Yikes. The gravity of being the heir had barely sunk in, and he signed you up to be the face of the monarchy with him without telling you? I’m surprised he’s still standing.”
“Yeah, well, the Penelope scandal overshadowed it. Seemed mild by comparison.” Penelope was my brother’s ex-girlfriend, and the press sensationalized a couple of pictures of them during one of his visits home without Amy, alluding to an affair.
“You’re a better woman than me.”
“Addy is better than us both,” Amy countered with a sigh.
I knew my mom was this incredible, graceful creature, but the way Amy said it didn’t sit right with me. “What do you mean?”
Suddenly uncomfortable, Amy went to slide off my bed. “I better be going.”
“Oh, no. You’re not going to run off like that. What’s going on with my mom?”
Amy bit her lip, stalling, but eventually she asked, “Did you happen to get any of the details on why Leo is out as heir?”
Running the conversation with Grandfather through my mind, I landed on one key piece of information. “Leo’s not my father’s son,” I whispered, almost afraid the walls would tell on me for repeating what I was told in confidence.
So caught up in what that news meant for me, I didn’t take the time to analyze what that meant. How was it even possible? My parents loved each other. It didn’t make sense that my mother would have an affair, especially so soon after they were married.
“I don’t quite understand,” I uttered.
Amy grimaced, but explained, “From the very limited information I have on the subject from Liam, Addy was attacked, resulting in Leo’s conception. They kept it hidden for years to protect her from public scrutiny.”
I scoffed. Public scrutiny. More like, they would have taken a heinous act against my mom and twisted it into a sordid story about how she was meeting men in dark alleyways, cheating on my dad. I couldn’t imagine having to keep a secret like that all these years, dealing with the pain in private, while there was a living reminder of your trauma.
The pieces clicked into place why Leo was always so different from the rest of us. He wasn’t one of us. His coloring was different. His temperament was different.
He’d grown up in the same loving home as me and Liam, yet was calculating and cruel toward others. He didn’t know how to love—not like the rest of us.
It was no wonder they decided after all these years that he couldn’t be allowed to rule. They gave him every privilege this world had to offer, but he spit in their faces. Our country dodged a bullet with this decision.
If only it didn’t mean my life being sacrificed in an attempt to keep our family line intact.
Sighing, I appealed to Amy, “I learned a long time ago to accept that I can’t change the family I was born into. But this is an impossible choice. IhatePreston almost as much as I love my job.”
Amy took my hands in hers. “I can sympathize with your desperation to hold onto a career you love. You built your labels from the ground up. I was just an employee. You are Lucy Remington—badass boss bitch. Don’t let anyone stand in the way of getting what you want. You won’t regret being selfish if it makes you happy in the end.”
Maybe she was right, but too much information had been thrown at me today, and my brain struggled to process it all. “I think I just need time to figure out what I want to do. I appreciate the talk. It helped a little.”
Pulling me in for a tight hug, I clung to her like the lifeline that she was.
