“Do what?”
“You know what. Your designs are brilliant, and your vision for the inclusivity of women of all sizes deserves every bit of praise you’ve received.”
Liam looked up from his laptop. “She’s right, LuLu. Everything you’ve designed for Amy or Natalie has been incredible. Enjoy your success.”
I scowled at the use of his childhood nickname for me from when he was small and couldn’t say my name correctly. He knew I hated it now that I was a grown woman in my late twenties, but every now and again, he let it slip—old habits and all that. I decided not to dwell on it with more pressing matters at hand.
“I wish I could. There’s so much work to be done, and I won’t be able to get to Milan for at least a month.” Leaning my elbows forward on the table separating our seats, I asked, “How did you do it, Liam?”
“What did I do now?” He was close to rolling his blue eyes—the famous Remington Blue—that matched mine, but he refrained.
“Escape for all those years.”
Sighing, he shared a look with Amy. “It was a necessity.”
Getting Natalie and the kids away from Leo had been no small feat. Liam and my mother conspired to sneak them out in themiddle of the night while Leo was on a state visit to Spain. They’d told no one else of their plans so there wouldn’t be a leak. One day, Natalie and the kids were there, the next, they weren’t. No one knew where they went, at least for a while. The memory of Leo’s rage when he returned home to find his family gone forced an involuntary shudder to rack my body.
Needing to lighten the mood, I joked, “So, what you’re saying is . . . I should kidnap Amy in the middle of the night so I can work in peace for the next three years under the guise of protecting her?”
Amy’s hand went to her mouth to hide her smile, but I could see her body shaking, trying to hold back laughter. Liam was less than amused. Even though Amy had softened his normally stoic demeanor, it didn’t take much to bring back his patented perma-scowl.
“That’s not funny, Lucy,” he reprimanded.
“Well, do you have any better ideas? Any way I can sweet-talk the Big Wigs into letting me work remotely while things are crazy?” Big Wigs was our code name for our elder royals—Grandfather, Mom, and Dad. They were almost literal gatekeepers; everything went through them.
Liam’s expression softened. He never made it a secret that he preferred a quiet, private life. Granted a momentary reprieve due to his mission to protect Natalie, the responsibilities we’d been born to still came knocking at his door. I knew permanent escape was impossible. I just wanted a little time to focus on what made me happy. Our family and our duty weren’t going anywhere in my potential absence.
“I’ll see what I can do, Lucy. But with Leo gone . . .” His words trailed off.
There was no love lost between my two brothers. They’d never particularly gotten along—Leo preferred the spotlight and flaunting his status while Liam chose to serve our countrywithout the pomp and circumstance—but their relationship was fractured entirely when Liam learned of the tactics Leo used to control and emotionally abuse Natalie behind closed doors. Liam was a protector, so it was automatic that he jumped to Natalie’s aid. I was sure Liam didn’t particularly mind that Leo had disappeared.
“I know, I know. If I step back, it puts more on Mom and Dad.” Our parents were the face of the family right now. Grandfather stepping out of the spotlight had thrust them into it, and we all knew the clock was ticking—the day our father became King was barreling toward us at an unknown date. “I just . . . need more time.”
“Don’t we all?”
Shocked, I looked at my brother.
That was slightly cryptic. Perhaps, with no one knowing where Leo went, he was referencing the possibility that he might need to step in if he never returned. It seemed unlikely, but stranger things had happened.
Sighing, he added, “We can’t change who we are, who we were born to be. All we can do is make the best of the hand we’ve been dealt.”
Ugh. If only I could go back to being ten years old, when I thought being a princess was the coolest thing in the entire world. The novelty wore off during my teenage years, and now the weight of the life forced upon me was suffocating.
Closing my eyes, I let the exhaustion of the past week roll over my body and drag me into the abyss of unconsciousness.
Returning home and resuming my royal duties was like riding a bike; I automatically fell back into the routine. The faces of citizens I met blurred together, and it felt like I was living every day on repeat. I was a prisoner in my own life.
Running on autopilot, I came alive only in the late-night hours when I worked on my designs. I was drowning trying to balance two “careers.” There were only so many hours in the day.
Orders to carry Addy June designs were pouring in from boutiques worldwide, and we were looking into streamlining our production on a mass scale. It was exciting, but I was limited by being separated from the team in our Milan studio. I trusted Sophie, but it was difficult to hand over complete control when we were at such a critical point for the label.
My heart and mind were in Milan while my body was stuck in Belleston.
A week into my sentence, I received a summons for an audience with my grandfather. That was never a good sign. Grandfather only requested—more like a loose term for “demanded”—a private audience when he was displeased. With the success of Addy June and his previous objections to my aspirations as a fashion designer, I could only imagine that was the reason for this meeting.
My stomach twisted thinking about it. If he demanded I give up my passion, I wouldn’t survive. It would suck the soul from my body, and I’d be left a hollow shell.
I loved my family, but for the first time in my life, I considered walking away. Sure, it would put more pressure on my parents, Liam, and Amy, but didn’tImatter?
