kristinamae093 - Tumblr blog

kristinamae093 · 13 days

Text

Madeleine would be the definition of bridezilla. If we got more of her character in-depth in canon during the tour, I'm convinced this is probably exactly what she would've sounded like! (As it is, she showed her ass pretty bad lol) But leave it to Olivia to shut her down like the bad bitch she is! 😍😎

And I'm so not surprised she just kidnapped the photographer instead of talking 🤣🤣🤣🤣. She's like... Nah, we're getting answers MY way and I love her for it! ❤️ Poor Harper is just along for the ride.

Okay, but who is this she's run into at the end????!! I have a few guesses but I'm not 100% sure! But I'm excited to find out!

(Less Than) Noble Intentions: Chapter 19 - Field Day

Fandom: TRR

Pairing: Drake Walker x F!OC (Harper Gale)

Series Summary: The social season may be over, but Harper Gale’s problems are just beginning. With everyone at court a potential suspect, can she and Drake survive the engagement tour and get to the bottom of the plot against her and clear her name? An AU take of TRR2 featuring my OTP - Harper & Drake.

Masterlist: (Less Than) Noble Intentions

Chapter Summary: It's off to the bridal boutique, but Harper and Olivia have a secondary agenda...

Word Count: 6,200

Rating/Warnings: M (royal bitchiness, possible emotional abuse, kidnapping, threats of murder)

Chapter theme song:

A/N: So, I have tried to keep everything as realistic and accurate as possible in terms of the locations that are touched on in this chapter. The only thing that is made up is the antique store. As usual, translations for the French and Italian are at the end.

Chapter 19 - Field Day

The five-minute drive to the bridal boutique is every bit as excruciatingly awkward as can be expected.

"What part of we are already running late is so difficult to comprehend?" derides Madeleine before the limo door even shuts. "When I tell you to hurry, I expect you to do exactly that!"

"I'm sorry, Lady Madeleine," stammers Penelope tearfully. "The heel of my shoe became caught on—"

"Save it!" the Countess of Fydelia snaps. "If you cannot do something as simple as totter down a corridor without breaking your neck, then frankly, I do not see how you are supposed to be of use to me."

Penelope's face turns whiter than a sheet. "I—"

"As lest you forget, I took you on as a lady-in-waiting as a favour to your family, given the historically close personal relationship between our fathers," Madeleine reminds her with a steely edge to her voice. "But that does not mean that I cannot send you packing just as easily. And if you do not get your act together, then that is exactly what will happen. Am I clear!"

"Yes," Penelope whimpers, lowering her gaze.

"What was that?" demands Madeleine imperiously.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And the same goes for the rest of you," adds Madeleine, casting the haughty gleam of her gaze over the limo. "One misstep — proverbial or otherwise — and you are gone. Not just from my employ, but from court as well."

Shifting my gaze over to Hana, I see that she is just as perturbed as I am about this borderline psychotic power-trip.

Talk about being a queen bitch...

Olivia scoffs from her seat in the corner. "How about you try making a threat you can actually carry out..."

Madeleine bristles. "As Queen I will have the authority to—"

"Do exactly what Christian permits you to do," Olivia interjects flatly, examining her nails. "As lest you forget, you will only ever be a queen consort — not queen regnant."

The Countess of Fydelia's eyes narrow. "That is but a technicality."

"I still wouldn't overplay my hand," Olivia cautions with a smile. "Wouldn't want to get caught out on a technicality now, would you?"

Madeleine glares down the length of the limo like a viscous viper.

"Didn't think so," smirks the Duchess of Lythikos as the driver pulls the vehicle to a stop...

...and the paps immediately descend on us like a swarm of black flies.

"What the—?" I blurt, catching the flash of the cameras through the blacked-out windows. "When did they get here?"

"Five minutes ago," replies Madeleine tartly, slotting a pair of shades on.

My jaw drops. "You... told them where we were going?"

"Of course," she affirms as the Royal Guard who had been riding shotgun manages to squeeze his way through the human press to open the door. "Royal patronage elevates the esteem and profile of any institution. It is only right that the press should be invited to cover the visit."

"Like that's the only reason..." I mutter as Madeleine steps out of the limo and the roar of the crowd becomes deafening.

"Contessa!" several people shout. "Contessa Maddalena! Quaggiù, per favore!"

"It's horse shite, by the way," Olivia advises as she slides past me. "The only thing she is looking to promote is herself."

"Well, she definitely seems to be succeeding..." I admit, watching the Guards struggle to hold the photographers back as Madeleine sashays her way towards the doors of the boutique.

Olivia scoffs. "It's an act of desperation. Nothing more. She knows she is on thin footing with Christian... and the public."

"Great..." I groan, pulling Drake's blue aviators from my clutch as I, too, exit the limo.

Rather than being an unfortunate one-off, it seems like yesterday's altercation at the Apple Harvest Festival was actually the opening salvo in a concerted campaign of media brinksmanship that Madeleine is determined to win.... at my expense.

Yet, I'm just not sure I have it in me to play her contrived publicity game. The paps have already up-ended my life more completely than I would've ever thought possible, so the last thing I want to do is pander to their voracious appetite for scandal.

"Duchessa Harper! Duchessa Harper!" the photographers shout as I step out onto the sidewalk. "You made it to Italy! What do you think of the city so far?"

"You did not travel with the King and future Queen! Were you forced to make alternative arrangements because of your argument?"

"Will you attend the opera tonight?"

"When was the last time you spoke to your family? Is it true you cut all ties with them?"

Gritting my teeth, I force myself to keep my head down and my feet moving forward as the invasive questions zing over my head like bullets. Camera bulbs flash in my face as the photographers press in, trying to get that front page close-up...

...and that's when I spot him.

My heart skips an uncomfortable beat as recognition hits me like a punch in the chest.

Oh, my God, the photographer from Applewood!

He's standing in the second row, regarding me almost casually, like a tourist at a zoo, faded red baseball cap slung backwards over his head, just as in the picture Ana de Luca had saved on the flash drive.

Our eyes meet and I stumble to a stop, unable to tear my gaze away, my morbid curiosity overpowering my senses even as the paps close in around me...

...but then I feel the warmth of a hand on my back and the sound of a familiar voice brings me back to earth.

"Nous vous tienons, Demoiselle," Allard assures me, appearing at my side to shield me from the press invasion.

Glancing up, I see that Schweitzer has taken up position in front of me, using his body like a blocker to force a path through the crush.

Curling into the safety offered by my Guard's no-nonsense attitude, I let them whisk me into the boutique.

"Thank you..." I say sincerely as we pass through the doorway into the foyer.

Allard relinquishes his hold on me with a nod. "Certainement. Vous allez bien?"

"Yeah..." I reply, heart pounding as I try to recollect my bearings. "I just—"

"Oh, my gosh!" gasps Hana, stumbling into the boutique behind us. "That was horrible!"

"C'est le bordel!" agrees Kiara as she and Penelope manage to squeeze themselves through the press before the Guards shut the door. "Qu'est-ce qu'elle croyait?"

"She wasn't," Olivia replies flatly, shooting an accusatory glance over her shoulder at Madeleine, who is already being given a queen's welcome by the boutique's owner.

A tense silence descends as we all process this assessment.

"I... I suppose we should go through," Hana suggests eventually.

"Oui," Kiara affirms with a huff, smoothing the front of her dress. "Sa Majesté expects our assistance."

Penelope glances uncertainly towards the fuss being made over Madeleine. "I don't think she's expecting mine..."

"Don't be silly!" Kiara admonishes, looping her arm through her friend's to tug her forward. "She just had a petite éclat. Every bride gets nervous and she is under a lot of pressure to maintain constant perfection. But that is why we need to help her, non?"

Penelope looks like she's about to disagree, before finally acquiescing with a sigh. "I just miss Merlin and Morgana..."

"J'sais..." consoles Kiara, patting her reassuringly on the back of the hand. "Hopefully once the tour is finished, Madeleine will allow you to send for them."

"I doubt it..." Penelope mutters meekly as they join Madeleine in the store proper. "She said she hates yappy little dogs. You don't suppose they have anything here with poodles on them, do you?"

"I don't think this boutique specialises in that type of lingerie..."

"Oh..."

"I'm sure they have some pretty floral designs, though!" Hana offers encouragingly. "Italian lace is known around the world for its intricate rebrodè detailing."

"Yes, because that's what men care about on the wedding night..." Olivia mutters dryly, turning towards me. "You coming, or what?"

"Huh?" I ask, snapping my head up. "Umm... Yeah. Sorry."

"You better be," she snips disdainfully as she starts down the foyer as well. "I refuse to be the only sane participant in this clown show..."

I glance warily back towards the front of the boutique, where the paps were still battling each other, trying to snap a shot of us through the tastefully curated window displays.

"What?" Olivia objects after a beat. "No snide comment? No wry clap-back? You're not conveniently coming down with a sudden fever, are you?"

"I... I saw him," I admit, tearing my gaze away from the feeding frenzy outside.

Olivia grabs my wrist to yank me to a stop. "Saw who?"

"The photographer," I say tightly, pulling my arms around myself in a bid to stop myself from shivering, despite the record-breaking temperatures outside. "From Applewood."

"Dion Guillard..." clarifies Olivia, staring at me intently. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I nod.

Olivia purses her lips. "He could be here on his own volition, or because someone invited him. Either way, we should make use of this opportunity."

"How?"

"By making him an offer he can't refuse," she replies slyly, pulling her phone out.

My eyes widen. "You mean right now? But Madeleine—"

"Has enough sycophants coddling her already," she counters flippantly as she quickly types up a text. "We only have one chance to do this. Do you want the truth, or not?"

I swallow down the lump in my throat. "I do."

"Good," she nods, slotting her phone away again. "You don't mind if I borrow your hunks, do you?"

"Umm..."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she responds, clicking her fingers authoritatively at Allard and Schweitzer. "Meet me in the back in fifteen minutes."

Before I have a chance to respond, Olivia has already spun on her heel and is striding towards the rear of the store, my two Guards in tow.

"'Kay..." I mutter under my breath.

I have no idea what Olivia's plan is... much less how she thinks to arrange a clandestine meeting with the photographer under Madeleine's nose while there's an entire army of paps parked outside watching our every move.

But I've learned during the course of the social season that the Scarlet Duchess is as enterprising as she is resourceful, having pulled a number of successful ploys in a bid to advance herself in the competition. And Drake seems to trust her implicitly, otherwise, he wouldn't have asked her to keep an eye on me while he's off in Dubai.

So, it looks like I'm just going to have to trust her, too.

Taking a deep breath, I move towards the other end of the shop floor, pretending to peruse the various items on offer while I wait for the allotted time to tick down.

Luckily, Madeleine is busy loudly shooting down each and every lingerie option that is presented to her by both the boutique staff and her increasingly frazzled ladies-in-waiting, so nobody really notices when I announce a pretend visit to the restroom.

Slipping back out into the foyer, I move as casually as possible towards the back of the store, knowing that the paps are still watching me like hawks through the windows.

Rounding the corner, I allow myself to speed up a bit, casting my gaze left and right, looking for Olivia...

...when I'm suddenly yanked into a dimly-lit storeroom stacked with cardboard boxes and plastic-wrapped veils and dresses.

"Hey! What the—?" I protest as the door is shut promptly behind me.

"You're late," Olivia informs me dryly, clicking the lone light bulb on above us.

"Sorry, I had t—"

I reel back in horror as my eyes land on the bound and gagged form of Dion Guillard perched on top of a box of lingerie.

"Oh, my God!" I gasp. "When the heck did this turn into a kidnapping?"

"Ten minutes ago," she replies breezily.

I drop my head in my hands. "I am going to jail... I am literally going to jail..."

"Oh, ye of little faith..." Olivia admonishes, stepping over to the photographer.

He shrinks instantly back from her.

My brows shoot skywards. "Jesus Christ... What did you do to him?"

"Nothing," she shrugs. "Yet..."

A chill runs down my spine. Apparently, Olivia's reputation is more than well deserved...

"I presume you know who we are?" she asks Dion levelly, coming to a stop in front of him.

The man nods tightly, brows bunched together beneath the line of his baseball cap.

"And your current circumstances leave you under no illusions as to the lengths we're willing to go to obtain — by force, or otherwise — the clear and unvarnished truth?"

His gaze slips to meet mine for a second before sliding back to Olivia's to give her the barest of nods.

"Good," she smiles, reaching towards him. "Then this will go that much faster."

In one quick motion, she yanks the scrunched-up handkerchief from the photographer's mouth, making him wheeze.

"Sa mère la pute de—"

"Who are you working for?" Olivia demands, folding her arms.

Dion spits on the floor next to her feet. "I'm a freelancer. I work for—"

"We know who you are," Olivia interjects with a wave of her hand. "You're a lowlife slug who's willing to do anything to make a name for himself. You demonstrated as much when you sold compromising photos of my friend here to the press. The question is, who hired you?"

Dion scoffs. "Nobody hired me. I work for myself! That is what I've been trying to—!"

"Liar," Olivia accuses. "We know you didn't just stumble upon this by yourself. Who's your client?"

"Nom de dieu..." he disparages under his breath. "I told you already, I—"

Olivia is suddenly up in his face, knife pressed to his throat. "And I didn't like your answer."

Dion jerks back instinctively. "Your petite friend is correct... You are going to jail..."

"They'll have to find your body first," she tells him silkily. "What little will be left of it, anyway... Because no one here is going to the police. And I'm sure that your so-called friends out the front will secretly be glad for your unexplained loss. The freelance photography business is oh-so cutthroat, after all..."

"Tu es une salle grace..." he snarls through clenched teeth.

Olivia presses the knife tighter. "Then you should know that it's not in your interest to test what's left of my patience..."

Dion laughs bitterly. "À quoi ça rime? You say already that you will just—"

"What if we paid you?" I interject, stepping forward.

Olivia's head snaps angrily around. "Harper, stay out of—!"

"Paid me?" the photographer cuts in, eyes swirling to meet mine with interest.

"To give us the information we're after... voluntarily," I clarify, in a bid to avoid the impending bloodshed. "And to sell us the photos from Applewood."

Dion frowns. "I already sold the pictures to the papers..."

"Not all of them," I correct, hoping against hope that my gut instinct is correct and I haven't just torpedoed Olivia's interrogation for nothing. "You only sold the ones you were told to sell — the ones that fit your client's narrative."

Dion seems to assess me in a new light. "You come prepared... Fine. I'll do as you ask... for five million."

"Ducats?" asks Olivia.

"Euros."

I very narrowly catch my jaw from falling to the floor at the sound of the obscene price tag.

"You've been paid once already," counters Olivia. "The highest we can go is one million."

"Four," insists Dion, somehow managing to find the balls to negotiate even with a knife pressed to his throat. "There are a lot of pictures."

"Which no one else is willing to buy, so two is our best and final offer."

"Three," declares Dion. "And I'll forget this conversation ever happened."

Olivia purses her lips for a moment, before whipping the knife away with a flourish. "Fine. Start talking."

Dion lets out a low exhale. "I received a call some days before the Jamboree. The person had a tip on one of the Prince's suitors, and said it would make big news if it got out. Naturally, I was interested."

"Who was this person?" I ask.

"I don't have a name," he replies. "The tip was anonymous, and the call came from a hidden number."

"Was it a man or a woman?" Olivia queries.

"A man."

Olivia and I exchange a glance. Tariq or Godfrey.

"How did you get into Applewood?" I ask, turning back to Dion.

"A security pass was delivered to my apartment. No return address," he adds before either of us can ask.

"And that didn't seem suspicious?" I press.

"Demoiselle," he scoffs. "I am a paparazzo. I am not going to... How you Américans say? Count the teeth of a dog?"

"Look a gift horse in the mouth..." I correct dryly.

"Once on the estate, I took some pictures of the Jamboree — in the event, you know... nothing came of the tip — but then I received a message on my phone that the suitor in question was on her way back to her room with her paramour, andI should make myself ready."

"How did you know which room to go to?" I cut in.

"There was a blueprint of the manor included in the same envelope that provided me my security pass," Dion explains. "It was your room that was marked."

His words hit me like a kick to the guts.

It's been clear for a while that my run-in with Tariq has been anything but chance. But to learn the malicious extent of the planning that had gone into setting it up makes me want to actually puke.

Who was sick enough to even think up something so twisted?

"What then?" asks Olivia, diverting Dion's attention from my momentary muteness.

He shrugs. "I took the photos, and left."

"How?" I croak in disbelief. "How could you just stand there while—?"

"I am a journalist," he shrugs apathetically. "My business is to be impartial..."

"You watched me get assaulted," I hiss through trembling lips. "There is nothing impartial about that!"

He shrugs again. "Affairs are messy. Maybe you should choose your lovers more carefully."

I feel my fists clench at my sides as I take a step forward. "He is not—"

Olivia's hand pulls me back. "How did you deliver the photos?"

"There was no delivery," Dion counters with the same level of nonchalance that he's exhibited since he started talking. "I selected the best pictures and put them out to offer to the newspapers. The Sun offered the most for them, so I sold to them the exclusive rights to publish."

"That's it?" queries Olivia. "No one else was given copies?"

Dion scoffs. "Absolutement pas! Selling copies to anyone else would violate the license agreement with the most influential tabloid newspaper in the country! Why would I put myself out of business? I am not an idiot..."

"You didn't send any samples to the person who tipped you off?" I press, having finally managed to regain my composure somewhat.

"Non," he insists. "I said before — he was not a client. I have no obligation for him. And even if I did, I have no way to contact him because—"

"—the conversations were anonymous," I finish wearily.

Apart from lending credence to our suspicions that Godfrey may have had a hand in the set-up, this conversation has confirmed literally nothing.

The people involved in the plot have been too careful in covering up their tracks.

Which means that all our hopes now rest with Tariq... and Drake's ability to find him.

Dion nods. "C'est correct. And I told you everything you asked. We still have a deal, yes?"

"On the condition that you hand over all the remaining photographs — including any digital and backup copies — and disappear off to a godforsaken island somewhere," Olivia clarifies.

Dion nods eagerly. "Naturellement. I always desired early retirement."

"Good," she approves, cutting the bonds from his wrists with a cold smile. "Otherwise I will personally ensure that you don't live to spend a single Euro of your newly acquired millions."

The flash of the wicked-looking blade so close to his groin causes the photographer to blanch involuntarily. "Je le jure."

Olivia flashes him a cold smile. "We'll be in touch..."

"You're just letting him go?" I hiss into Olivia's ear as Dion pushes himself up.

"Unless you would prefer to dump him in the Tiber?"

I reel back. "What! No! I just—"

"Your instinct was right," she advises softly, as Dion gathers his bag and Allard escorts him back out. "He is an opportunistic shark. He just had to be made to believe that he was fleecing us."

My eyes widen. "So, you played bad cop deliberately."

"As you said, this is my area of expertise," she smirks. "And I knew you would not be able to keep your sentimentality at the door."

"Umm, thanks... I think..." I mutter. "But where are we supposed to get three million Euros from? We may both be aristos, but neither of us is Jeff Bezos..."

"The Palace has a designated slush fund set aside for these sorts of expenditures," Olivia assures me breezily, slotting her knife away. "Since you are now a member of the royal family, we'll just send the bill to Jonathan."

I slant her a wry look. "I'm pretty sure that's not what either he or Christian had in mind when they decided to clean up my image..."

"Oh, please!" she admonishes, stepping back out into the corridor as well. "As recently as last year, Constantine was authorising expenditures of five to ten million Euros to stop pictures of Leo shagging B-list actresses on top of various vehicles making it onto the front pages. Three million Euros is trump change for the Rys."

"If you say so," I concede, my mind still reeling from astronomical sums of money that had been so casually bandied about. "Let's just hope Dion doesn't screw us over..."

"He won't," she assures me. "Nobody is stupid enough to cross a Nevrakis."

"The people who blackmailed you did..." I remind her cautiously.

Olivia's mouth tightens as we reach the end of the corridor. "Which was their first mistake. And one that they will pay for dearly."

"You never actually told me what they threatened you with on the night of the Coronation Ball..."

Olivia glances at me sharply. "The less you know the better."

"But—"

"It is for your own protection," she insists. "You haven't played this game long enough to know how to handle something so... explosive."

My eyes widen. "What? More explosive than—?"

Olivia clamps her hand over my mouth. "What did I tell you on the plane?"

"Sorry..." I mumble through her fingers.

She withdraws her hand. "If — on the very slim chance — I require assistance, I'll ask for it. In the meantime, you should rejoin the bridal parade."

"Why? Where are you going?" I ask as Olivia moves towards the back loading doors.

"None of your business," she ripostes, disappearing outside.

"Bye to you, too..." I snip as the door slams closed in her wake.

Olivia may now be on my side, but she is still as caustic as ever.

Turning back towards the main part of the boutique. I barely make it four steps before Madeleine's shrieks of outrage — and the sound of breaking glass — echo down the hallway.

"How many times do I have to tell you, no thongs! They are ribald and tasteless!"

"Yeah, no..." I mutter under my breath as I promptly spin on my heel to head back towards the rear of the store.

I don't care what Kiara may have said earlier; I have no interest in spending the rest of the morning being trapped in a bridal boutique, being screamed at by Madeleine. I have much better things to do with my time... and sanity, especially given that I'm still trying to mentally and emotionally process what the photographer had said. And after everything else that's happened in the past twenty-four hours, a small break would definitely go a long way in diffusing my pent-up stress.

Admittedly, a part of me feels bad for leaving Hana behind to suffer the full brunt of Madeleine's tirade, but trying to pull her away as well would only jeopardise my chances of making a successful getaway. I'll just have to think of some other way to make it up to her.

Not wanting her to get into any unwarranted trouble on my account, I decide to pull out my phone to send her a quick text letting her know that I'm not feeling well, and that I'll hopefully see her at the opera in the evening.

Slotting my phone back into my clutch, I push the back doors of the boutique open with a decisive shove, and step out into the sunshine.

Letting my eyes adjust to the brightness outside, I find myself in a small courtyard. On a whim, I turn back towards my Guards.

"Which way to the Trevi Fountain?" I ask, pulling my sunglasses back down over my face.

Allard and Schweitzer trade glances, clearly uneasy with this request.

"Demoiselle, that is not a prudent—"

"—way to get lost in the crowd?" I counter. "I can't think of a better one. If I don't advertise myself, no one will know I'm even there. Especially while the paps are tied up on the other side of the building."

My Guards don't seem convinced. "Commandant Walker left specific instructions to—"

"I'm not planning on disappearing on you," I assure them. "I just want to make a quick detour to grab some pastries, and check out the fountain. So, which way is it?"

Perhaps seeing that I'm not going to be swayed by any cautionary counter-argument, Schweitzer gives Allard a one-shouldered shrug of acquiescence.

Allard pulls a face before finally resigning himself as well. "Par ici," he says, indicating the far side of the courtyard.

"Thanks," I chirp with a smile, setting out across the cobblestones...

...and promptly get the heel of my stiletto pumps stuck in a crack between the stones.

"Eugh," I grumble, as I manage to wrench myself free after a brief battle. "I really didn't think this through..."

"Would Demoiselle require a taxi?" asks Schweitzer as he helps steady me from behind.

"I was hoping to walk..." I admit sheepishly.

"Via Borgognona is nearby," Allard suggests. "It is a well-known shopping street, though quieter than the more famous Via Condotti. Demoiselle might find more... comfortable footwear there."

"Not to mention some more appropriate clothes in general," I gripe, already feeling the tight fabric of my pencil dress start to stick to me. "How far away is it?"

"Just around the corner."

I flash him a bright smile. "Perfect!"

With Allard leading the way, and Schweitzer holding my hand, we manage to cross the courtyard without further incident, and sneak past the paps still thronging the front of the bridal boutique without getting spotted.

Crossing the pedestrianised thoroughfare, my Guards usher me down a narrower street that is lined on either side by cream-coloured buildings casting some welcome shade in the midday heat.

We pass a smattering of tourists and locals, but luckily everyone seems to be too absorbed in their phones or personal conversations to pay any specific attention to me.

And — more importantly — as Allard promised, the street is composed entirely of fashionable-looking independent boutiques.

"Let's try this one," I suggest, indicating the arched entryway of a store with an Italian name that I do not recognise, but which nevertheless seems to have several options for sandals on offer. And — given the scalding nature of the weather — an open-toe option is definitely appealing right now!

Stepping into the air-conditioned entranceway, I am immediately greeted by an immaculately made up woman with a severe ponytail, who starts questioning me in rapid-fire Italian.

"Umm..."

Luckily, I am saved from the embarrassment of trying to cobble together some kind of inappropriate response with the very limited — and wholly unhelpful — Italian that Bertrand had managed to teach me on the plane by Allard, who steps deftly up to my side.

"Lei è alla ricerca di alcune nuove scarpe."

"Che tipo de scarpe?"

"Sandals," I say, having understood the gist of the question. "No heel."

"Prego," the assistant says, flicking her hand towards some minimalist shelving.

"Gracia," I acknowledge with a smile.

Moving over to the indicated section, I quickly assess the options...

...and nearly die when I lay eyes on the price tags.

"Almost a thousand Euros...?" I gripe under my breath "For a few scraps of leather...?"

But then my eyes land on a pair bejewelled, gladiator-style sandals.

Given my limited window of opportunity to sneak in some sight-seeing before people start to question my absence, I don't have the luxury of being able to hunt for a bargain. And if I'm going to end up forking out this much money on a pair of shoes, I'm at least going to spend it on something that I like the look of.

And these sandals definitely fit the bill.

Decision made, I pull out my phone to quickly find out how my normal US shoe size converts to the vastly different European sizing, and turn back to the patiently waiting assistant.

"Size 36, please."

With a nod, she disappears 'round the back.

While she's gone, I take the opportunity to look up the location of the little pastry shop that the President had mentioned.

Since I'm heading towards the Trevi Fountain anyway, and Madeleine had pulled us out of this morning's meeting before the refreshments could be served, I had been serious when I told my Guards of my intent to tackle two birds with one stone. Especially since it's nearly lunchtime, and chances are I won't otherwise see food until the opera this evening.

The assistant reappears with my selection, and after a quick try-on, I give her a nod to ring up the extortionate purchase, being excessively grateful that I still have cash left in my US account, given that I don't actually have access to my new Cordonian accounts yet.

Stepping back out onto the street, I change out my shoes, slotting my pumps away into the high-end bag that I've been given, and dumping the shoebox in a nearby trash can.

My toes flex gratefully in their newfound freedom as I cross the street to the clothing boutique, wondering how much a top and pair of jean shorts is going to set me back...

In the end, however, I am pleasantly surprised to emerge back onto the street in a simple, white wrap-dress, a straw Panama hat, and a matching straw bucket bag in which I've stowed my old dress and shoes, all for under two hundred Euros, which means I was able to make recourse to the money Drake had given me, and still have plenty of cash left over for other potential emergencies.

"Thanks for the suggestion," I tell Allard sincerely. "It has definitely saved me from melting into the pavement!"

"De rien, Demoiselle," he acknowledges with a smile. "Are you ready to continue?"

"Lead the way, Monsieur!" I tell him with a grin.

Taking up poll position with a scoff — with Schweitzer bringing up the rear — Allard takes us left at the next intersection to zig-zag us down various side streets, presumably in a bid to avoid both the ferocity of the midday sun, and the chances of me being recognised on the busier avenues.

But, the back route pays off, and within ten minutes, I find myself standing on the edge of the crowded plaza that serves as the gateway to the romantic monument.

"Wow..." I breathe, taking it all in. "It sure is busy!"

Allard and Schweitzer exchange a tense look, no doubt worried about the prospect of being able to keep tabs on me in the press.

"I'll be fine," I assure them. "Just a quick peek and then we can get moving."

Neither of them look convinced, but they don't try to dissuade me as I plunge into the crowd.

Skirting around wedding parties, tour groups, and other miscellaneous sightseers, I manage to work my way to the front of the throng, and my mouth parts with a gasp at the sight spread out before me.

The four-storey monument rises up from the base of the fountain, framing the dynamically positioned statues from under whose feet the water gushes into the aquamarine pool.

It's like a Renaissance painting brought to life.

But, while I'm glad to have made the trip out here to see it in person, I can't help but feel my chest tighten morosely as I gaze up at the beauty of the world-famous landmark.

I didn't necessarily realise it at the time, but part of the reason why I enjoyed my outing in the Cordonian capital so much was because I had Drake to share the adventure with. And it was the same in Avignon — his wry quips and local knowledge had definitely brought the whole experience to life, making me see the city through different eyes than I probably would have had I been by myself... like I am now.

Eugh... I miss him...

Reaching for the ties of my bag on impulse, I pull the fastenings apart just enough to plunge my hand inside. Finding my purse, I snap it open and extract a Euro from the coin pouch.

Squeezing my fingers 'round the warmth of the metal, I clench my eyes shut with a heartfelt wish as I turn back towards the fountain...

...before sending the coin flipping through the air to land in the water before me with a soft plop.

Blinking my eyes open, I am somewhat disappointed to find myself still standing solo by the railing, and Drake has not magically appeared before me like the hot Italian guy did in The Lizzy McGuire Movie.

"Worth a shot..." I console myself somewhat dejectedly as I reach back into my bag to extract my phone so I could snap a couple of pictures to send to my mom.

Mission accomplished, I turn away from the fountain to make my way back to the edge of the square, Allard and Schweitzer falling into step behind me as I scan the various store-fronts clustered around the fountain, searching for the bakery with the pistachio croissants.

My eyes suddenly land on something in one of the window displays...

...and without really thinking about it, I let my feet carry me inside.

The little brass bell above the door jingles as I step into the cramped confines of what appears to be a shop selling a motley collection of antiques and touristy knick-knacks. A wizened old man sporting glasses and a thick head of white hair looks up at the sound of my arrival.

"Buon pomeriggio, signorina," he greets. "Posso aiutarla a cercare?"

"Umm... sì," I say hesitantly. "Hai avo... in the window?" I point at the item that had caught my eye with an embarrassed flush.

The man's face cracks into a grin. "Ah, certamente!"

Stepping out from behind the counter, he ambles his way over to the window display, to pull back the protective glass. Reaching in, he lifts up the silver chain and holds it out to me.

I run the tip of my finger across the edge of the pendant with a smile. "It's perfect."

"For you?" he asks, lifting the chain up to my neck indicatively.

"No," I laugh. "It's a present... Por mi amore?"

His eyes light up. "Ah, bellissimo! Lo avvolgerò in su per voi!"

"Gracia," I say as he scuttles excitedly back behind the counter in search of a box.

Pulling one out with a conspiratorial flourish, he sets about packaging up the piece as if he were swaddling a precious child for a hazardous journey, even managing to dig out a slightly dusty ribbon to tie on top.

"Cento euro," he declares, presenting the completed ensemble to me.

Pulling my wallet out, I extract my card. "Visa?"

"Sì! Ovviamente!" he proclaims, slapping a brand new Square card machine onto the counter, that was starkly at odds with the otherwise Ollivander-esque décor of the place.

Slotting my card into the reader, I complete the purchase, and am just about to reach for the box to stow it away in my bag when I feel a sudden presence behind me.

"This is becoming a bad habit with you..."

I freeze at the sound of the familiar voice.

No way...

The story continues in Chapter 20 (Coming Soon!)

A/N: As per usual, translations below:

At the bridal boutique: Contessa! Contessa Maddalena! Quaggiù, per favore! - Countess! Countess! Over here, please!

Nous vous tienons, Demoiselle - We got you, m'lady

Certainement. Vous allez bien? - Certainly. Are you alright?

C'est le bordel! Qu'est-ce qu'elle croyait?" - What mess! What was she thinking?

Sa mère la pute de— - Your mother is a whore of a—

Nom de dieu - Oh, my God!

Tu es une salle grace - You're a real bitch

Absolutement pas! - Absolutely not!

Je le jure - I swear

Out and About Par ici - This way

Lei è alla ricerca di alcune nuove scarpe - She is looking for some new shoes.

Che tipo de scarpe? - What kind of shoes?

Prego - Please

Gracia - Thanks

De rien, Demoiselle - No problem, m'lady

Buon pomeriggio, signorina. Posso aiutarla a cercare? - Good afternoon, miss. Can I help you find anything?

Por mi amore?* - For my love? *This is a completely butchered attempt at Italian. The grammatically correct way to say it would be 'È per il mio amore'. However, Harper is improvising, so she's not going to get things completely correct 😇

Ah, bellissimo! Lo avvolgerò in su per voi! - Ah, lovely! I will wrap it up for you!

Cento euro - One hundred Euros

Sì! Ovviamente! - Yes! Of course!

Permatags

@twinkleallnight @lovingchoices14 @kingliam2019 @petiteboheme @angelasscribbles @aussiegurl1234 @nestledonthaveone @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @tessa-liam @alyshak92 @secretaryunpaid @princessleac1 @walkerdrakewalker @tinkie1973 @twinkle-320 @knaussal @nikkis1983 @lunaseasblog @ficloverevie @indiana-jr @differenttyphoonwerewolf @kristinamae093 @eversoaringqueen12 @3pawandme @alexabeta @veebug8 @fanfiction-she-wrote @queenmiarys @lancelotsimp @coco-lina-s @lolablackwrites @ivyflowers13 @persephone13 @hollygirl1269 @adri-ja-96 @harleybeaumont @katedrakeohd @uneravine @alj4890 @mywildheartremains

(Less Than) Noble Intentions only (let me know if you want to be added!)

@thetruthisthatiloveyou @anakjaybon-blog

39 notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 13 days

Text

Everyone is making a Picrew tag and I couldn't help but do one myself! Y'all should know by now that I love playing these things and a few people do too!

Here's mine btw

Tagging: @lady-kato @rosesandchoices @pixieferry @queen-among-writers @hellospunkiebrewster and @nazariortega

130 notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 13 days

Text

Hoooooooooooooooly fucking shit AKSJDJSKDJDJWOSJFOAKAJFHSKS

I LOVE how you've built this anticipation with the past flashbacks. I had a steady and consistent stream of goosebumps while reading because I could feel the tension. The interview was perfect and they're the picture-perfect royals (much better than the previous tyrants).

The way Aiden's death brought Leo and Riley together is incredible. The situation should have scarred both of them for life but it just goes to show that love is strong enough to carry us through any battle.

Her burning sage made me cackle but I definitely do not blame her, especially since she can still sense his aura. It's so strange to me that she's fine throughout the rest of the year but when that week rolls around, she feels him even more. Like the anniversary brings his spirit closer or something.

And the fact that Drake is having these little moments too puts me on edge. Coincidence only goes so far until it just can't be classified that way anymore.

SOMETHING IS FISHY

Can I just say how much I LOVE getting a little continuance of their stories? Because I love Riley/Leo and Drake/Alyssa and I often wonder what these beloved characters would be up to. And (so far) it seems like everyone has done well for themselves!

Olivia - I know she's not like evil or anything, but it's so strange how nice she's being to Drake. Maybe it's just me, but it's throwing me off LOL. She wasn't even really all that snarky to him! It unsettled me but I can't figure out if I'm just overthinking or not LOL.

THE ENDING GJJKSJDJDKQOEIDJQOWKFJ

HOLY FUCK

HOOOOOOOOOOOLY FUCK

IS IT HIM?

CAN IT BE?!

No.

NO!

THERE'S NO WAY! THEY KILLED HIM AND DUMPED HIM INTO THE OCEAN - IT CAN'T BE!!!

But that leads to the question WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON AND WHO IS THIS AIDEN TYPE PERSON?!?!?!?!

I'm so excited for more! You did an incredible job building the suspense and I am 110% INVESTED in this!!!!!! Sksjsjsjdjsjajajqkkskdkske

You Belong To Me Part One: I Wonder What’s Mine

Book: The Royal Romance

AU: We Belong Together

Series Masterlist

Pairings: Leo x Riley (MC), Olivia x Boone (OC), Drake x Alyssa (OC)

Alyssa Devereaux belongs to @burnsoslow and is borrowed with permission for this AU.

Series Premise: Five years after the epilogue of We Belong Together, everything they thought they knew is challenged.

Series warnings: Very dark series. Character death, violence, ns*w, cursing, stalking, psychological manipulation, discussions of infertility

Chapter warnings: Language, infertility, past character death

Music Inspo: Only You-Selena Gomez

Thank you to everyone who reads, likes, comments, and/or reblogs this. I appreciate it so much. ❤️

Riley blinked as the bright lights were switched on. She turned slightly, remembering that the beams softened her features if it wasn’t straight on.

“Nervous?” Leo slung his arm around the back of the settee protectively.

“No,” Riley leaned back against the stiff upholstery, taking in her husband’s handsome profile. The last five years had been kind to him; the only wrinkles on his face were laugh lines. Time had moved fast and, at the same time, seemed much longer; Riley could hardly remember a time when she didn’t know Leo.

“Liar,” Leo teased. “It’ll be over fast. We only do one in-depth interview a year-”

“And we trust Donnie,” Riley finished, nervously smoothing down the cerulean silk of her skirt. “This year’s timing isn’t great; we had to keep rescheduling.”

Leo took her hand and brought her knuckles to his lips.

It was the anniversary of that fateful night Aiden had kidnapped Riley and Olivia. While Riley felt no more guilt over her actions, the memory refused to leave her.

Even now, she swore there was a hint of copper in the air, burning her nostrils.

“We can have lunch after,” Leo’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Enz has lessons until three.”

“That sounds nice,” a genuine smile lit Riley’s face. “I’m sorry I’m being difficult; today feels worse than usual. I’m nervous about, you know.”

“Don’t you dare apologize,” Leo slipped his fingers under her chin, tilting her face up. He brushed a blonde curl behind her ear. “You’re the strongest, most badass woman I know. You are allowed to feel however you need to about today. I love you.”

“I love you,” Riley pressed her lips to Leo’s, a thrill going through her as his tongue curled with hers.

Donnie cleared his throat as he softly closed the door behind him. Leo smiled against Riley’s lips before reluctantly ending the kiss.

Donnie settled into the chair across from the couple, a few sheets of paper in his hands. “Good morning, your Maj-”

“Donnie,” Riley began.

“Leo and Riley,” Donnie corrected. “Let me make sure I have the off-limits subjects right.”

The couple nodded in unison, giving Donnie a moment. One particular issue had made it to the short list this year.

“The subject of more heirs?” Donnie looked up, his brow furrowed. “I’ve never asked.”

“We know,” Riley said quickly. “Just in case. It’s not something we feel is the public’s business.”

Leo’s hand found hers, and she clutched his fingers.

Riley couldn’t address why there weren’t more heirs when she didn’t know herself. Leo and Riley had gone through all the tests and exams, and they were both healthy. She should have been able to get pregnant several times over.

Riley hadn’t. In the last year, she’d given up hope. They’d seen specialist after specialist, and no one could explain why.

Leo gripped her hand. Riley squeezed back gratefully. Their little family was all she and Leo needed. It would just be the three of them.

“Understood,” Donnie folded the pages and set them in his lap. “Are you sure about the topic? Aiden has been off limits the past four years.”

Riley and Leo nodded, each pushing their shoulders back. It was time.

“3, 2, 1,” a producer whispered beyond the camera. Donnie crossed one leg over the other and smiled warmly at the couple.

“As a country, we have all moved on from the reign of Aiden,” Donnie began, his voice encouraging. “On the fifth anniversary of his death, you both mentioned that you found it important to cover again. May I ask why?”

Leo spoke first, massaging Riley’s knuckles with the pad of his thumb. “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. As much as we would like to, we can’t forget that Aiden rose to power in part because of my father and in part because he bred a fear that most people refused to or were unable to fight against.”

Riley nodded in agreement. “There were many close to him that could have stopped him and simply did not. That’s why we’ve been so transparent with every decision made, why we’ve taken certain powers away from duchies and put it in the hands of the council and the people.”

“Cordonia is thriving,” Donnie checked his notes. “Poverty rates are at an all-time low, due to the assistance programs you’ve instituted. As are violence rates, no doubt because of the focus on rehabilitation and harsh sentencing for repeat offenders you’ve put in place. We are also second to France in wine exports, no doubt from the investment in small wineries all over the country.”

“But,” Leo joked. “I feel it coming, Donnie.”

“But,” Donnie offered a half smile. “I would like to ask how you and Queen Riley have dealt with the events of five years ago. On a personal level.”

Leo glanced at Riley, who nodded subtly. They’d agreed to this, but Leo wanted her to have the option of backing out if she needed to.

“Well,” Riley’s lips shook slightly as she spoke. “Therapy has been useful.”

“There was a rumor you burned sage,” Donnie raised an eyebrow.

“My stance is,” Leo slid closer to Riley. “Whatever someone needs to do to help them cope is valid.”

“Did it help?” Donnie asked.

———

Six months after Aiden’s death

Riley walked through the gardens at the palace. Riley read that sage helped cleanse evil spirits, and she was dutifully waving a bundle of the herb, lit at one end, careful not to set any plants on fire.

She felt stronger every day, and this, as silly as it seemed, helped.

Riley lowered carefully to sit on the bench. She remembered Aiden there, a tear falling down his cheek as he talked about his mother. Had he really been so evil? He could have missed his mother and still been the horrible man she’d killed.

Riley shook her head. It didn’t matter. A breeze floated across her face, and she closed her eyes and breathed in the sweet smell of roses.

As she opened her eyes, another smell hit her nostrils. A familiar smell.

Tobacco, ginger, and vanilla. The expensive cologne Aiden wore. Riley rubbed her nose. No. She shouldn’t be out here.

She stood and made her way to the entrance, the smell seeming to follow her.

Riley was so intent on leaving the hedge maze, that she didn’t see Leo approaching from the side entrance.

Riley walked right into his solid chest, panicking for a minute until she looked up into the handsome face of her boyfriend.

“Hey,” Leo said softly, gently holding her by the shoulders to steady her before enclosing her in a hug. “You look spooked.”

Riley sniffed again, but it was all cedar and lemons. Leo. “I swore I could smell Aiden’s cologne.”

“Are you sure?” Leo glanced around worriedly. “Is someone out there?”

“No, I was remembering being in there with him just before.” Riley felt better already, just from Leo’s presence. “It’s probably my brain.”

“Okay.” Leo inhaled deeply, only smelling the roses. “That’s why I started the other rose garden. Eleanor deserves this one, but you can have your own.”

“I won’t come out here for a while,” Riley promised. “Let’s go inside.”

Riley melted into the tender kiss Leo pressed to her lips and followed him in. She trailed the sage behind her, the smoke hopefully doing its job.

———

“I felt better,” Riley laughed softly.

“What about you, King Leo?” Donnie turned slightly in his chair. “It could be argued that you suffered the most at Aiden’s hands.”

“It’s not a contest,” Leo replied. “Certainly not one I want to win, either way. The answer is Riley. She’s gotten me through every rough patch the past five years. I’ve done my best to be her safe place, her partner.”

“You’ve more than done your best,” Riley grinned for the first time that day. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Lucky for you,” Leo swiveled slightly, brushing his nose against hers. “You’ll never have to find out.”

———

Two Years after Aiden’s death

Riley sat up in bed, feeling eyes on her. She quickly flicked the bedside light on. No one was there.

Leo squinted as he reached for her. “Riley?”

“I must have had a bad dream.” Riley exhaled and lay back down, Leo’s arms around her. “I felt like someone was watching me.”

Leo opened his eyes fully and glanced around the room. “No one is here. We’re the only ones with keys to our quarters. The keypad will be up next week; only we’ll have the code. The panic buttons are going in every room. You’re safe, honey.”

Leo reached over her to switch off the light. Riley snuggled into his arms, feeling a little better.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Leo left tender kisses on her forehead and cheeks. “You’ve been edgy lately.”

“I feel scared here sometimes, around the anniversary of…you know,” Riley pressed her lips to Leo’s. “It's not rational, but it takes a few days to shake.”

“Enzo’s coronation today made you all emo,” Leo said as their lips met again. “Heavy emotional stuff makes you scared sometimes.”

“I was all emo because I watched you and Enzo, and I realized you’d probably thought it would never happen..after all that.” Riley sniffed, tears forming. “You were so happy and proud.”

“Riley, honey.” Leo soothed. “Every day with you and E, it’s more than I ever thought I’d have. I’m so fucking grateful for you, and our son, our life.”

Tears ran down Riley’s cheeks as she hugged Leo fiercely. Leo stroked her hair. “Us together, no matter what. That’s all I ever want.”

“Me too,” Riley said into Leo’s chest. “You’re right, though. We have it so good. Everything keeps getting better. What if I wake up in the dungeon and all this is a dream?”

Leo pinched her arm gently.

“Ow.” Riley lifted her head. “What the fuck, man?”

“You’re still here.” Leo smiled. “There’s no dungeon. You helped take it down.”

Riley pinched his arm. Leo shook his head in amusement.

“You’re still here.” Riley nuzzled Leo’s nose. “I feel better. Thank you.”

“You’ll feel even better after the bonfire tomorrow night.” Leo joked. “Hot dogs and friends.”

“Lyss will hold Enzo a bunch; give my arms a break.” Riley grinned. “Can she be pregnant already?”

“I’m sure Drake is working on that.” Leo kissed her nose. “I love you, Riley.”

“I love you.” Riley rolled on top of Leo. “No more pinching.”

Leo slipped his hands under Riley’s nightgown, his fingers leaving teasing trails as he traveled down her body, settling on her hips. “Your wish is my command.”

“My wish is for those gorgeous hands to move a little lower,” Riley murmured into her husband's ear.

Leo grinned and obeyed.

———

“We had friends and family nearby for the first few years as well,” Riley forced herself to face Donnie. “That meant more than I can ever express.”

“I, for one, was surprised when Mr. Walker and his family moved to the States,” Donnie frowned slightly. “His business was thriving, his wife was beloved.”

“Drake got the chance to add to the New York skyline,” Leo smiled proudly. “Alyssa found a position in the governor's office to make a difference in public schools in the city. I’m honored to know them.”

“We miss them terribly, of course,” Riley added. “Along with Patrick and Audrey. But they’re doing well in New York, and I’m so proud of them.”

Donnie nodded sympathetically. “Are they returning in the near future?”

———

Three years after Aiden’s death

Riley walked down the aisle of the bait shop. She wrinkled her nose at the wormy smell, but she’d jumped at the chance to go fishing. Drake and Alyssa were due to leave in a few days for New York.

They promised to return in a few years. Riley was thrilled for them, but the sting at her found family leaving remained.

A man bumped into Riley. “Sorry, alluring lotus.”

Riley froze, then grabbed the man’s arm. “What did you say?”

“Sorry, I lost my balance.” The man looked at her apologetically. “Queen Riley! I’m so sorry.”

“No title, please,” Riley released his arm. “I’m sorry too, you startled me.”

“Everything okay?” Drake's voice made her jump. When she turned back around, the man was gone.

“Riley? You look like you saw a ghost.” Drake took her hand and covered it with his.

“I thought that man said something weird.” Riley looked up into Drake’s concerned expression. “Do you ever see Aiden? Or think you hear him?”

“I think I see him sometimes,” Drake admitted, patting her hand. “I think it’d be impossible to forget him completely. Especially for you.”

“It’s only around the anniversary.” Riley smiled gratefully at Drake. “I get jumpy.”

“Maybe you need to talk to the therapist again.” Drake soothed. “Do you talk to Leo?”

“Maybe.” Riley nodded. “I do, Leo calms me down. I saw Aiden die. You’d think I wouldn't get so freaked.”

“What did you think he said?”

“Alluring lotus.”

Drake did not suppress the shudder that ran through him at the mention of one of Aiden’s special terms for Riley. “I told you reading that nickname book the cops found was a bad idea.”

“He’d called me almost every name,” Riley admitted. “It was weird seeing them all in one place.”

“Tell me he never called you his own Regina.” Drake had the names almost memorized. “Or fountain pen.”

“The Regina one, no.” Riley stuck her tongue out. “The other one was the last thing he called me.”

“Fuck.” Drake pulled Riley into a hug. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” Riley squeezed Drake back. “But hey, it got me to all of you. Right?”

“Right.” Drake agreed, releasing her. “Let’s go catch some fish.”

———

“We hope so,” Leo smiled, exchanging a look with Riley. Drake and Alyssa were moving back in a year’s time, after some opportunity the couple hadn’t given all the details of to Leo or Riley.

“They are missed,” Donnie agreed before changing the subject. “Forgive me, I don’t know how to phrase this delicately.”

“Go ahead,” Riley encouraged.

“You live in the palace where you faced the worst times of your life,” Donnie tried to sound as sympathetic as he could. “You’re raising a family there. I don’t know if I would have the strength to do that.”

“It was hard for a while,” Riley admitted. “You mentioned the sage earlier. I was on edge a lot.”

“What changed?” Donnie frowned.

———

Four years after Aiden’s death

Riley rolled over and stared at the clock. 3 am. She slipped out of bed, Leo’s soft snores filling the room. She’d been staring at the ceiling for the past several hours, unable to sleep.

There were always creaks and moans all over the palace. Riley knew this was normal, especially with old buildings. They cooled at night, making sounds and scaring people. It was always like this; most nights, she was able to let them fade into the background.

Tonight, no such luck. Riley growled in frustration. She knew she’d done the right thing. All year, she was fine. She was so happy; she had so much in her life.

The week Aiden died rolled around, and everything made her jump. She’d made sure he was dead. The day they rented a boat and dumped him at sea, she was there. Aiden wasn’t coming back. Everyone was safe.

Riley felt a little better but was still too alert to sleep.

Riley tiptoed to Enzo’s room, smiling at her son. He was starfished across his bed. The blue light of his twilight turtle lamp cast a soothing blue glow.

Riley padded downstairs to the kitchen.

Riley stared at the roast duck in the refrigerator. Of all the things she expected to see, that wasn’t it.

Riley was looking over the other items when a hand on her shoulder made her whirl around, a bottle of ketchup in hand.

Leo put his hands up. “Whoa.”

Riley exhaled and put the bottle down. “Don’t sneak up on me! I could have killed you!”

“With ketchup?” Leo fought not to grin.

“Yes.” Riley set it down. “Why’s there a fucking duck in the fridge?”

“Say that five times fast.” Leo looked around her. “Shit. I don’t know. Lisette definitely didn’t make it.”

“Unless Enzo wanted it,” Riley tapped her lips with one finger. “We’re weird about duck, maybe he got curious?”

“That would make a lot of sense,” Leo chuckled. “We can ask in the morning.”

Riley slumped against the counter, relieved for the moment.

“Can’t sleep again?” Leo studied his wife. Her eyes were tired.

“No,” Riley yawned, hoping sleep wasn’t as far away as it seemed earlier. “Too many creaks.”

“We can move, baby.” Leo enclosed her palm in his. “We can turn this place into something else. Live in another place. There’s plenty of properties.”

“You grew up here,” Riley argued. “It’s all Enzo has known. I don’t want… dude’s name who rhymes with Crayden to win.”

Leo chuckled. “That isn’t a word. But he’s dead. He can’t win.”

“Do you get scared here ever?” Riley traced Leo’s knuckles with her finger.

“No,” Leo said. “But him dying meant something different to me than you. He’d been a constant evil presence; then he was gone. I felt relief.”

“I don’t know if I did,” Riley frowned. “I felt glad that he couldn’t hurt anyone else; that’s close, right?”

“Right,” Leo smiled softly. “When the day I abdicated rolls around, I get angry. I wish I’d fought harder; maybe I could have stopped more of what he did.”

“You and I both know that’s not true,” Riley pressed her lips to his gently. “You did the best you could. If you’d done too much, Aiden would have done something worse.”

“It’s a process,” Leo grimaced. “But I understand, feeling like he might pop out. But he won’t. He can’t.”

“I know,” Riley sighed. “I was telling myself that, but then I was too awake.”

Leo laughed. “What about moving? We can do whatever seems like a good plan.”

“I don’t know.” Riley bit her lip. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“Living here or leaving?”

“Yes.”

Leo laughed. “Riley.”

“Let’s talk about it more.” Riley decided. “Look at other places. Figure it out.”

“Sounds good.” Leo smiled. “Why are you in here?”

“Lisette made me cupcakes.” Riley beamed. “I wanted them.”

“What flavor?”

“Lemon strawberry.”

“Our wedding cake.” Leo dropped a kiss on her lips. “Grab ‘em. We can eat them in bed.”

———

“I think it’s important to remember that Aiden dying freed me,” Leo interjected. “Riley’s actions were to save her own life and that of Duchess Nevrakis.”

Riley smiled gratefully. “I finally got to a place where I refused to let Aiden take anything else from me. That’s another reason we thought it was vital to speak about him today, to show that you can overcome trauma and be happy.”

“That’s good to hear,” Donnie uncrossed and recrossed his ankles. “I understand that you found another woman, one the public wasn’t aware of, just months ago?”

Riley nodded somberly. “It turns out Aiden had an online dating profile-”

“Cut!” Donnie yelled before she could finish. He doubled over with laughter, his notes falling to the floor. “You’re…kidding.”

Riley couldn’t help but giggle. “That was my first reaction, too. Leo was more disgusted.”

“It came out of left field,” Leo chuckled. “I wonder what got into him. That seemed beneath him or something.”

“I think he was desperate,” Riley offered. “The thing about Aiden is that deep down, he wanted to be loved. For the monster he was.”

The room went silent. Donnie wiped his eyes and nodded. “That makes sense. Can we leave the dating profile out? I don’t want to humanize him.”

“I completely understand,” Leo agreed.

Riley smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No, no,” Donnie waved her off. “One of the things I admire about you is how caring you are. You always try to find common ground with everyone, no matter what. We could all stand to be that way a bit more.”

Leo brushed a lock of hair behind Riley’s ear. “I’ve never known anyone as compassionate as Riley.”

“You’re going to feed my ego way too much,” Riley’s cheeks darkened. “Okay, no dating profile. Focus on Abbi Lawson.”

Donnie gestured to the cameraman. “Count it down, please.”

———

Drake gazed out the window at the sparkling blue sea and the idyllic buildings along the coastline. His attention snapped to the large tower above everything else on the hill.

It had been several years since he had been to his birthplace, but he found himself smiling. Despite the circumstances surrounding the impromptu trip, it was good to be back.

“Have you been to Cordonia before?” the raspy voice of an older woman somewhere behind him interrupted his thoughts.

“Not for many years,” her seatmate all but whispered.

The hairs stood up on Drake’s neck. He subtly tried to turn to see the speaker, but from his vantage point, he could only see the couple just behind him.

Drake leaned back, forcing himself to inhale and exhale deeply. His wife would reassure him if she were with him, reminding him that the man was dead. He’d seen the body. They were safe.

Drake unlocked his phone and tapped on his photo album, smiling at the most recent photo. Audrey had snapped the picture as Drake and Alyssa kissed this past New Year’s Eve.

Alyssa was in Thailand, in a remote village, teaching children to read. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Audrey and Patrick had already joined their mother. Drake was going straight from Cordonia to be with them for the year-long trip.

Cell service wasn’t great, but they spoke twice daily. Drake told his wife it reminded him of their courtship. Alyssa had gotten choked up and told him to hurry up and get there.

———

Drake stepped into the large room, sighing in relief at the air conditioning cooling him. He began to walk toward the exit, stopping in his tracks when a familiar figure stepped into his path.

Olivia lifted her chin, smirking at Drake’s surprise. She looked the same as the last time he’d seen her last year in New York. A pair of red slacks topped by a matching leather jacket hugged her frame, her red hair pulled into a sleek bun atop her head. Even with her low-heeled boots, she was only a few inches shorter than Drake.

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Drake blurted, more shocked than he probably should be at Olivia’s presence. “I was going to fix the step at our place for the renters and hire a new property manager. And shock you all.”

Olivia’s smirk grew. “Did you really think you could get anything past me?”

Drake shook his head and wrapped Olivia in a bear hug. She patted his back, stepping away after precisely five seconds. “That’s enough. Your truck is in the lot.”

“Wow,” Drake's eyes widened. “That’s so thoughtful. What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” Olivia aimed a punch at Drake's shoulder. “I’m a good friend.”

———

Enzo pushed off the wall with his foot, gaining speed as the skateboard raced toward a ramp.

Riley held her breath, twisting her fingers so tightly her nails pressed into her skin. Leo untangled her hands and interlaced his fingers with hers. Riley squeezed his hand, her eyes never leaving Enzo as he flew over the ramp, landing on the concrete as if he had been doing this for years, not just a few weeks.

Riley exhaled as Leo whooped beside her. “That was awesome, Enz!”

Enzo picked up his board and rushed to his parents. “Did you see, Mom?”

“I did,” Riley tousled her son's hair. “I’m so proud of you. I could never do that.”

“I bet you could,” Enzo beamed up at his mother. “It’s fun!”

“It definitely looks it,” Riley leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead.

Leo fistbumped Enzo. “You’re a natural.”

“Thanks!” Enzo set the skateboard down on the concrete. He began leisurely skating toward the side entrance. “I’m going to get a snack.”

“Brin has those pizza croissants you love,” Riley called after him. Enzo waved and disappeared inside.

Riley collapsed onto the bench, her hand on her heart. “How can you go to all his lessons with him? I’d have a heart attack!”

Leo chuckled as he sat beside Riley, smoothing a curly blonde strand behind her ear. “I remember that at his age, I was scaling the palace walls and trying to sneak off to fly helicopters.”

Riley shook her head with a laugh. “Suddenly, skateboarding seems completely safe.”

Leo pulled Riley into his lap, trailing kisses down her jaw. He wrapped her tightly in his arms, weighing the words before he said them aloud. “How are you? You seem better than earlier.”

Riley rested her head against Leo’s neck, nestling into his warmth. “Talking about him helped. I was worried; I thought maybe it would weigh on me after. It felt good.”

Leo exhaled, relieved. He’d had the same worry, but followed Riley’s lead. It didn’t bother him to speak about Aiden; he and Boone went over his brother’s tactics often in order to prepare the guards, but Riley struggled.

“I’m glad,” Leo pressed a kiss to her temple. “You did awesome as usual.”

“So did you,” Riley lifted her head and rose, pulling Leo with her. “Liv and Boone should be here for dinner soon, and you have a call with Hakim.”

“No Wyatt yet?”

“Still in Paris with my mom for another few days,” Riley scrunched her nose. “I know that’s her home and all, but I wish she’d move back.”

Christine had recently returned to Paris, having lived with her daughter and son-in-law for nearly four years. She needed her own space again, and while Riley and Leo understood, the palace wasn’t the same without her.

“I miss her too,” Leo led Riley to the side entrance. “She’s the only one who could beat me at poker.”

“She said she’s going to visit in a few months,” Riley fell into step with Leo as they walked down the hallway, fingers entwined.

Leo spun Riley, backing her into the wall beside his office. “I love you so much.”

Riley sank into Leo as his lips met hers in a heated kiss. “I love you, too.”

Leo unlocked the door and pulled Riley inside, slamming it behind them.

———

Drake pulled the knob, ensuring the door was locked before taking the stairs two at a time. “That definitely wasn’t as bad as the property manager made it sound.”

“I knew he was overreacting,” Olivia studied the exterior of the large home. “You should have fired him sooner. The roof may need some work soon.”

“I noticed,” Drake swung open the door of his old pickup, and Olivia climbed into the passenger seat. “I’ll fix the step in the morning. I came all the way out here, might as well.”

Olivia huffed. “I can’t imagine Alyssa was thrilled about you making such a long trip for a broken step.”

“She didn’t mind,” Drake insisted. “I have to hire a new property manager anyway; best to do everything in person.”

Olivia harrumphed in agreement.

Drake slowed as he approached a curve, the memory of driving to Lythikos with Leo during the season flitting through his head. It was strange what being here brought up. In the years he and Alyssa made a home and started a family here, Drake had the occasional memory, generally a happy one.

“Drake?” Olivia’s sharp voice brought Drake back to the present. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, Liv,” Drake exhaled sharply. “I had a weird deja vu memory thing about the season. It threw me off for a second.”

“No use dwelling,” Olivia replied. “We got through it. We eat hot dogs near the ocean every year on the anniversary.”

“I know,” Drake slowed to a stop at the palace gates. “Enough about that. Do Leo and Riley know I’m here?”

“Of course not,” Olivia smirked. “What’s the fun in that?”

———

Boone shoved his hands in his pockets, eyeing the portraits on the massive gallery wall. While Constantine and Aiden’s had been removed, the portraits of Leo and Riley gave him the creeps. They were well done, but Boone couldn’t help but feel their eyes following him.

“You’re here before Olivia?” His older sister’s incredulous voice echoed down the hallway as she approached.

“She’s on her way,” Boone took one last look at the paintings and whirled to face Riley. “She had an errand. Where’s Leo? Enzo?”

“In a meeting and having dinner with Max and company,” Riley rubbed her hands together. “No one to protect you now, Boonie. Time for me to get my revenge for the time you put my Barbie in the garbage disposal.”

Boone rolled his eyes. He and Riley had a good relationship; they fought like all siblings at times. But Riley got in moods where all she did was try to prank him or challenge him to some kind of duel. Leo and Olivia usually stepped in and kept the peace.

“I was 8,” Boone sighed. “Give it a-”

Before he could finish, Riley jumped on his back, twisting when he tried to pull her off. “Nope!”

———

Drake slammed the car door. “Place looks the same.”

Olivia shook her head as she strode toward the entrance. “Of course it does. It hasn’t been that long.”

As they walked into the large foyer, Leo was taking the stairs two at a time. “Hey, Liv, who’s-”

As Leo realized it was Drake, he nearly tripped. He got his bearings and jumped off the last few steps, crushing Drake in a hug. “When did you get here?”

“Few hours ago,” Drake returned the embrace, clapping Leo on the back. “I have a stair to fix and a property owner to hire. I’m back out the day after tomorrow.”

“Where’s Lyssa?” Leo glanced behind Olivia.

“She’s in Thailand getting settled,” Drake smiled a little sadly. “She’d have loved to be here.”

“Thailand?” Leo’s eyebrows shot up.

“No snow there,” Olivia shrugged. “A few remote areas need teachers. Seemed right up Alyssa’s alley.”

“Of course you knew,” Drake held his palms up in surrender. “We didn’t want to say anything until everything was finalized.”

“We’ll have to come out and see you all,” Leo playfully punched Drake’s arm. “Riley will be all over that.��

“I’m starving,” Olivia announced. “Can we do the gooey catchup over food?”

Leo chuckled and draped an arm around Olivia’s shoulders as they walked down the hall. “You can just say you miss Boone. I’m sure Riley is keeping-“

“Dammit!” The loud cry drowned out Leo’s words. “Riley!”

“Is that Boone?” Drake whispered. “What’s going on?”

“Oh,” Olivia sighed. “Riley’s making him pay for something, I assume. Again.”

Drake's eyes widened as Riley came into view. She had her younger brother in a headlock. As she heard footsteps, she quickly released him, smoothing her blouse. “Oh, you two are early.”

Riley let out a screech as she noticed Drake between Leo and Olivia. “Drake!” Riley ran to him, throwing her arms around his torso. “What are you doing here? How long are you staying? Where’s Alyssa?”

Drake began to fill Riley in, and Olivia patted Boone’s head. “How’d she get the drop on you?”

Boone stretched his neck from one side to the other. “Surprise, as usual.”

“That’s my wife,” Leo grinned. “Maybe you should train more, Boone.”

“Maybe Riley should go back to therapy and discover why she’s still torturing her brother, Leo.” Boone dropped a kiss on Olivia’s forehead.

“I already know,” Riley piped up. “Lost time. I never got closure.”

“People ask how we didn’t speak for a few years,” Boone couldn’t hide his smile. “I just don’t know what to tell them.”

Riley scratched her nose, pointing her middle finger in Boone’s direction. Boone smoothed his hair back, aiming the same finger back at Riley.

“Drake,” Lisette called down the hallway as she came into view. “We’re having short ribs for dinner; it’s as if I knew you’d be here.”

“My favorite,” Drake grinned and wrapped Lysette in a quick hug. “I thought you moved to the non-profit full-time?”

“I did,” Lisette smiled and grabbed Riley’s hand. “I pop by whenever, make my replacement nervous.”

“Brin loves you,” Riley squeezed Lisette’s hand, dropping her voice to a whisper. “But you’re still better.”

Leo chuckled and slipped an arm around Riley’s waist. “Full house tonight, I love it.”

———

Riley glanced around the long cedar plank table. They’d burned the mahogany monstrosity that previously occupied the dining room, opting for a smaller setting. It felt like home, finally. Riley felt safe and cozy here, with all her family and friends.

Leo winked at her from across the table, and she returned the gesture.

The only thing that troubled the queen was one day telling Enzo about his father’s half-brother. He was young still, but needed to be told before he found out on his own.

“Riley?” Drake’s voice quieted her thoughts. “You okay?”

“I’m great,” Riley grinned.

———

Leo stoked the fire, settling into an iron chair beside his wife. “I miss this, all of us around the fire.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Nostalgia is a sickness, Leo.”

“So is pretending to be a hard ass,” Leo challenged with a grin.

Riley stared at the hedge maze, lit by the full moon. They'd used to play tag with Enzo when he was smaller, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d wandered around the paths.

Drake followed Riley’s gaze. She seemed different than the last time he’d seen her almost a year ago. She was her same soft yet confident self, but she seemed stronger.

“Where did Boone disappear to?” Drake glanced around. “I thought he came out when we did.”

“Nope,” Riley shook her head, her face clearing. “He drove Lisette home and is getting Enzo from Maxwell’s. It’s hard to believe he has three children now.”

“It is,” Drake agreed. They’d attended Maxwell and Hana’s wedding, and the two hadn’t wasted any time starting a family. Their oldest son, Sebastian, was a little less than a year younger than Enzo, and the two were good friends.

Riley rose, balling the blanket in her lap and tossing it in her chair. “I’m going to take a walk.”

“Want company?” Leo got to his feet and enclosed her in his arms.

“Maybe in a few minutes,” Riley wrapped her arms around her husband. “I need to walk around a bit by myself. You know.”

“I do,” Leo nodded and brushed his lips against her forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Riley smiled into the kiss Leo pressed to her lips.

Riley waved at Drake and Olivia as she made her way to the maze, disappearing behind a tall hedge.

“Is she all right?” Olivia asked quietly, concern lacing her words.

“She’s more than all right,” Leo grinned. “She really turned a corner today.”

“The interview?” Olivia gently touched Leo’s arm before withdrawing her hand. “I saw. Good for her.”

Leo nodded, taking a long sip of his scotch.

———

Riley meandered down the stone path, stepping off into the grass.

Riley breathed in deeply as she walked deeper into the maze, the scent of roses filling her nostrils. Little by little, this had become one of her favorite places at the palace. Leo and Enzo replaced her old memories with happier ones. If she needed to think or be on her own for a minute, she came here.

Riley lowered to the ground, stretching her legs and leaning back on her forearms to stare at the sky. The stars shone brightly, and she couldn’t help but smile.

A twig snapped, and Riley froze. She listened for footsteps or any indication another person was around. The sound had been from far away; she’d barely heard it.

Riley reminded herself she was safe. The palace was well protected. Guards were everywhere. But as she sat in the silence, she couldn’t help but feel as though she was being watched.

Riley got to her feet and began walking in the direction of the entrance. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart.

A familiar scent, not the roses or the salt from the sea, set off more alarm bells in her head. Spicy, with notes of vanilla, tobacco, and ginger.

“No,” Riley whispered. She willed her legs to go faster, for the smell to dissipate, but the cologne lingered.

Another twig snapped, this one much closer. “Come on,” Riley scolded herself, but not slowing her gait. “Stop making something out of nothing. Okay, brain?”

As Riley rounded the corner, the entrance in sight, a shadow fell across her path. She froze, the person’s stance so familiar.

“I’m so sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten you,” the man’s perfect grin shone in the moonlight. “I’m surprised that the secret passage hasn't been patched.”

Riley’s head slowly tilted up, her wide, shocked eyes meeting the man’s. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

He had a short beard; his hair curled around his ears. He was tan, and a little grimy. Riley blinked rapidly, but he didn’t disappear.

“I’m sorry,” the man repeated, shifting the khaki rucksack slung over one shoulder. “Where are my manners? We haven’t met before, have we? I’ve been gone several years, not my choice if I’m being honest, but I’m sure I’d remember you.”

Riley felt strangely calm. She wasn’t sure if it was shock or the rare thought that whispered through her head that he wasn’t really gone had prepared her for precisely this moment. “How … how did you get here?”

“Boat, train, then plane. I’m Aiden,” Aiden said slowly. “Prince Aiden.”

Riley’s knees began to buckle. She felt the edges of the small panic button she always carried in her pocket, grateful Leo had insisted on them when they wired the palace for alarms. She managed to press it; her vision began to darken as she tried to force herself to remain upright. The last thing she saw was Aiden’s confused expression, his piercing blue eyes reflecting the bright moonlight.

Perma: @ao719 @appleone @burnsoslow @charlotteg234 @choiceskatie @differenttyphoonwerewolf @emkay512 @foreverethereal123 @gabesmommie1130 @gardeningourmet @iaminlovewithtrr @imashybish @kingliam2019 @kristinamae093 @lovingchoices14 @lunaseasblog @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mom2000aggie @nestledonthaveone @originaljudgepiepaper @pixelatedpassion @platapirexy @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @queenmiarys @queenwalton @royalpest @ryleighrys @tessa-liam @trrfanaddict @3pawandme @21-wishes

Leo x Riley: @mywildheartremains

TRR/TRH: @jared2612 @malblk21

#is it aiden #it cant be #but what if it is #hes lookin a little rough tho #scraggely ass bearded boy #lmao #the royal romance #king liam #roe fanfic #leo rys #leo x oc

117 notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 13 days

Text

I'm super duper late, but ready AF for this!

I absolutely LOVE daddy Liam! He's just a natural, even in canon, and it shows! I adore the relationship he's built with little Li Li, and I can't wait to watch the get closer as he grows up ❤️.

Olivia is the friend we ALL need! Always there to make sure those she cares about are taken care of 🥹. She saw Rileys struggle and did something about it because she is a damn good friend, even if she would never admit it LOL.

And I love Liam's interjection at the end of the session and the reaction it gathered from Riley. He wants her to feel safe and comfortable and that comment certainly helped! He's all around the best - father, king, and partner.

I understand why Riley is so skeptical. She's essentially suffering from PTSD and now with a child involved, it's only heightening her senses and creating more anxiety. She's a good mother and is only trying to look out for her son 🥹 and keep her heart intact. She did this dance once and it nearly broke her, so I totally get why she would be hesitant to throw herself into him again.

I'm excited to see how their story progresses from here! Especially since regardless of what Olivia says, I still kinda think Madeleine could be an issue. Not 100% sure, but I can't shake the feeling that she's not going to just disappear into the background without a fight...

Excellent chapter!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Turning the Page

A Step Back in Time, chapter 11

Choices, The Royal Romance, AU

Series Premise: As Riley Brooks journeys through life as a single parent in New York City, an epiphany strikes as she contemplates the future for herself and her two-year-old son.

Turning the Page Series Masterlist

Main Pairing: Liam Rys x F!OC Riley Brooks

All characters belong to Pixelberry Studios, except William Brooks (Rys) and Matteo Magro, who belongs to this series.

Category: On-going series, contains angst/fluff/depression. Cross-over fic with Choices, Perfect Match.

Rating: M🔞 - Warnings - Series will contain crude language, weapons, NSFW material – not Beta’d - please excuse all errors.

Words: 3268

A Step Back in Time, Chapter 11

Chapter Summary: Liam, Riley and William arrive for a weeklong retreat in Lythikos. Olivia takes Riley ‘under her wing’ to mentor and to offer advice for her return to court. Olivia was determined to get her friend into the right frame of mind and to ultimately get the sparkle back in her eyes.

Music Inspiration: What Was I Made for? Billie Eilish ; Lose Control, Teddy Swims

A/N1: In this alternate universe, after King Constantine orchestrates two individual scandals to humiliate and entrap Riley Brooks and Olivia Nevrakis in shame, Madeleine Amaranth secures her position as the Queen of Cordonia. Riley, as the King’s mistress and Olivia, in self-imposed exile. Tariq is never found.

A/N2: Damien Nazario has been assigned as William’s personal bodyguard. (Series cross-over with ‘Perfect Match’)

‘Cause I, ‘cause I

I don’t know how to feel

But I wanna try

I don’t know how to feel

But someday I might

Someday I might

Think I forgot how to be happy

Something I’m not, but something I can be

Something I wait for

Something I’m made for

Something I’m made for’

Cordonian Royal Palace, Capital

If you told Riley Brooks that she would be living in Cordonia, in the Royal palace, with the King of Cordonia just last summer ... she would not believe you. She would tell you that ‘once upon a time’, she fell in love with that King and competed for his hand in marriage in his social season. By reason of the cruelty of fate, and the callousness of the Royal court, that dream would be ripped away from her by a world that was foreign to her. Where outsiders, or commoners, were frowned upon and/or deemed lesser than the noble class. She would be relegated to be the other woman, the mistress to that immensely powerful man whose duty to his country dictated that he must marry a ‘chosen’ woman, even though he did not love her.

...and she had to watch that man she loved, marry another.

...because she loved him, she remained. Confiding to him, ‘I’ve made my decision ... I want to be with you. I don’t care what it looks like.’

...and it broke her.

In the Royal east wing, inside William’s bedroom, Riley meticulously packed his clothing into a large suitcase. Carefully selecting each item with love and care for their winter vacation in the Alps of Lythikos, she folded his small woolen sweaters with matching pants and jeans. Soft mittens and a woolen cap were nestled next to his favorite plushie, Scooby; ready to go with him on his snowy adventures.

"Li Li, sweetheart, come here please," Riley called out, her voice echoing through the spacious room. William bounded towards her; his eyes wide as he watched his mother pack his belongings.

"We go away, Mama?" William asked, his voice filled with wonder.

"Yes, my sweet boy," Riley replied with a smile, scooping him up into her arms and placing him down on his bed. "We're going to the mountains with your father to visit a good friend of ours. It's going to be so much fun."

William's eyes sparkled with delight at the mention of his father. In the five short months since he met his father for the first time, the bond between father and son had grown stronger exponentially. William adored Liam, who always had time for his son's playful antics in New York and now, here in Cordonia, as well. Despite his Royal duties, Liam made the point to spend as much time with William as possible. Riley was not surprised. Liam often spoke about what kind of father he wanted himself to be. The exact opposite of his own father. She could tell that Liam was trying his best to make up for all the time they had lost. And she could not be happier.

Riley continued to pack, tucking away William's favorite books and toys to keep him entertained during their trip in Lythikos. She had already arranged for snacks with the kitchens, ensuring they would have everything they needed for the long drive to the northern chateau.

Riley looked up, catching Liam's gaze.

Liam stood and silently watched, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded. A gentle smile played on his lips as he watched Riley packing their son's belongings for their trip, while William happily tried to help his mother.

"Come, my King," Riley softly spoke and smiled with a playful glint in her eyes. "Help me double-check if we have everything for our little adventurer."

Liam pushed himself away from the doorframe and strolled over to Riley; he crouched down beside William, who was wide-eyed with anticipation.

“Daddy, look.” William pointed to the large suitcase, smiling happily at his father.

"Hello, my little prince," Liam greeted, ruffling William's hair. "Are you ready for an adventure?"

William giggled and nodded his head vigorously, his eyes reflecting the admiration and adoration he held for his father. Liam chuckled, “I see you have lots of toys packed.”

William climbed over to the suitcase and plucked his favorite plush to show his father.

“Ah, I see you packed your little dog. Is he your special friend?”

“Yes, Daddy. I love puppies.” William grinned, squeezing his toy.

“You do? That is good to know,” Liam winked at Riley as William returned his toy to be packed.

“I will meet you two in an hour. All right, love?” Liam asked Riley.

“Okay, Daddy,” William answered as Liam and Riley chuckled together at his response.

As Liam left to go to his study, Damien entered, bowing to Liam, “Your Majesty”.

Liam smiled and nodded 'hello' in response as he walked towards his assistant waiting in the hall followed by his security detail.

Nevrakis Chateau, Lythikos, Cordonia

Driving through the majestic mountains, Riley stared at the vista overlooking the Nevrakis chateau. Memories flooded her mind as they passed the frozen lake below. The lake where she, along with the other suitors skated on, with Liam during his social season years ago.

Riley shivered. Was it from seeing the beautiful winter landscape or from those memories of past competitions for the man she loved? Riley’s thoughts were interrupted by the happy sound of her son’s voice.

William giggled; totally enthralled by Liam’s storytelling of his past adventures in the snow. The sight of father and son was precious to Riley, as she softly smiled at the two of them. William was sitting on Liam’s lap as he pointed to the large chateau coming into view ahead.

The escalade stopped at the grand entrance of the Nevrakis chateau as members of the royal guard went into formation and opened the vehicle doors.

As they made their way toward the entrance, a flurry of snowflakes fell from the sky, adding a layer of white powder to the ground.

"Wow, this is beautiful.” Riley raised her arms to the sky. “I remember my first visit here during your social season.”

"It is. If I remember correctly, it was just as cold." Liam quipped adjusting William’s scarf.

Members of Olivia’s waitstaff greeted the party as they entered the lavish and grand estate. Standing at the base of the grand staircase, Olivia grinned as William squealed at the pair of Alaskan malamutes sitting inside the foyer.

“King Liam, Lady Riley and Prince William ... welcome to my quaint northern lodge. I am delighted to host the three of you.”

Liam approached Olivia and kissed her cheek, then gestured to Riley and William to join them.

"Olivia, it's been far too long since I last visited. The grounds are magnificent.”

"Indeed, thank you, Liam.” Olivia beamed with pride.

"Thank you for hosting us. Your hospitality is greatly appreciated.” Riley added.

"Anything for my dear friends."

Olivia's attention was drawn to William, who was petting the dogs and giggling.

"Well, hello again, prince William." Olivia walked over and knelt beside and offered treats to her two canine companions.

William looked up at her and smiled.

"Hewwo."

"He's even cuter than I remember," Olivia grinned. “This one,” she motioned to the brown tipped dog, is ‘Mischa’. And this big guy is ‘Zeus’, "she cooed.

"Now, Riley." Olivia stood and walked forward slowly, looping her arm through Riley's arm and leading her inside. "We have lots to catch up on. Liam, make yourself at home. Your Royal suite is ready for you. Gustav will be your personal attendant for your stay."

"Thank you, Liv. That is much appreciated."

"You are quite welcome. Now, Riley, let us get started on our girl time.” Liam winked at Riley, his shoulders shaking as he chuckled at Riley’s faux scared expression.

"Okay, sounds good." Riley shook her head grinning as she walked by Liam.

Olivia and Riley climbed the grand staircase and disappeared around a corner while William sat on the floor playing with the dogs.

"William, let's get you changed and settled." Liam extended his hand down for his son to take.

"Okay, Daddy."

“Bye bye puppies.” William exuberantly spoke to the large dogs.

***

Riley and Olivia sat on a plush sofa in front of a large window overlooking the mountains. The sun was beginning to set, casting a golden glow over the snowy landscape.

"It's so beautiful here." Riley marveled at the picturesque view.

"I'm glad you like it.” Olivia proudly acknowledged as she handed a large glass filled with chardonnay to Riley.

Olivia sat back and watched Riley; her expression turning serious.

"Riley, I know that things have been difficult for you since you've come back, but you have to remember, you're a force of nature. You are stronger than you think.” Olivia was continuing the conversation of their last visit at the palace.

Riley looked down at her hands, which held onto the wine glass with a death grip. She knew the invitation to spend the week in Olivia's duchy was not just a holiday for her, Liam and William. Her once adversarial friend, and now, her good friend, wanted to assist her with reuniting with Liam.

"I can see the pain and sadness in your eyes." Olivia continued.

"Oh... "

"How is it really going? Riley, how is everything between you and Liam?"

Riley sighed and set her wine glass on the table.

"I'm...I'm not sure."

"Do you still love him?"

"Yes, of course. I have never stopped loving him.”

"Do you think he loves you?"

"Yes.” There was a small smile followed by biting her top lip.

"Then what's the problem?"

"I'm not sure."

Olivia shook her head and sighed.

"You have to trust him, Riley. He loves you. And I can see how happy William makes him.”

"I know that.”

"But there's something else, isn't there?" Olivia eyed her friend for clues.

"It's just that... we've spent so much time apart. And now that we are back together, things feel different.”

"I think I understand. That is quite normal, all things considered."

"And I'm worried that he'll eventually resent me for leaving him while I was pregnant with William."

"He could never resent you, Riley. You are the mother of his child. It'# not in his DNA.”

“I keep thinking that that there will be another scandal around the corner. That something or someone will tear us apart.”

"What happened to that confident and free spirited American girl? The one who turned the court on its' head. Where did she go?"

"I know what you are asking. I feel scared; waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

"Scared of what? And why?"

"That he won't forgive me."

"Riley, listen to me. That is your guilt talking.”

Olivia reached over and grabbed Riley's hands, looking her in the eye.

"Liam loves you. He will always love you. You and William are his world. And I know that he wants nothing more than to make you happy.”

"But..."

"But, nothing. There is no 'but'.”

"Okay." Riley was not convinced. "But, Madeleine ..."

"Is out of the picture; where Liam is concerned. You have the power of position now, make Madeleine feel it."

Riley looked at her friend and took a staggered breath.

"Most importantly, you hold the King’s heart...show the world, show Cordonia, show Madeleine what that means...you will bring her to her knees." Olivia sneered.

"This is why I wanted you to come for a visit. To remind you of who you are and what you are capable of.”

“Olivia ...” Riley sighed, shaking her head, ‘no’.

"Now. Come with me."

Olivia stood and motioned for Riley to follow.

Olivia took her down to an armory in the bowels of the chateau.

"Here we are." Olivia turned and motioned to a wall of weapons.

"What are we doing down here?" Riley asked, eyeing the collection of weapons displayed on the wall.

"We're going to do some training.”

"Training? For what?" Riley questioned, perplexed.

"For the press."

"Why do I need training for the press? With weapons?"

"Because they're vultures. They will try to get a rise out of you. They will ask rude and invasive questions. They will try to trip you up.”

"But why do you think I need training? I know you haven’t forgotten that I was subjected to them during Liam’s social season."

"Because they're relentless idiots.” Olivia sneered.

"Okay, but ...”

“Now that you are back in Cordonia, the mother of the crown prince, no less ...they want to find out your intentions with their king.”

Riley took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm going to teach you how to handle them.” Olivia confidently proclaimed with a smirk.

"Thank you, Olivia.” Riley sighed as she eyed the collection of pointy weaponry again.

"Of course. Now, let us get started.”

Riley was grateful for Olivia's help and advice. She knew that she was right about the press, having dealt with them through the engagement tour, after the scandal was brought to light.

Riley didn't have to know that. At least, not yet.

And she knew that she needed to be prepared. Riley understood the extent to which the press would dig and manipulate information to get a juicy soundbite. But she was not aware that Madeleine would have her own agenda to discredit and sabotage her at every chance she got, all the way from Morocco. However, Olivia was well aware of Madeleine’s spite and her bitterness over losing the crown.

"First off. I want you to choose a weapon." Olivia pointed to her collection of weaponry mounted on the wall.

"A weapon?" Riley’s eyes were wide looking at the selection before her.

"Yes. You cannot fight the press with words alone.”

"Um...okay." Riley answered sceptically.

Riley looked at each weapon closely. There were swords, halberds, axes and daggers, among others.

She picked up a sword.

"Hmm...a sword? Interesting choice."

"It's light and I can move fast.”

"Good. Particularly good.” Olivia nodded approvingly. “That would be a weapon that Liam would choose.”

“Really?” Riley admonished.

"Now, we'll practice some moves.”

"Moves?"

"Yes. Maneuvers. Stances. Blocking and parrying.”

"Wow. This is serious.”

"Indeed. I'll start slow, but don't let your guard down.”

"I won't.” Riley responded warily.

"Good. Now, attack me."

"What?" Riley looked aghast.

"Attack me."

"Oh, um ... okay."

Riley raised the sword and ran at Olivia, who easily dodged the blow.

"Is that the best you've got?"

"No.”

Riley lunged at her again, and again, Olivia sidestepped each attack.

"You're leaving yourself open.” Olivia challenged.

"I am?"

"Yes. If this was a real fight, I would have cut you down by now." Olivia chirped.

"Oh.” Riley let out a large breath, wondering to herself how this lesson was going to end.

"Here. Let me show you."

Olivia demonstrated a series of moves, her sword flashing and swooshing in the air.

"Now, you try.”

Riley imitated the movements, her sword swishing through the air.

"Better.” Olivia critiqued.

"Thanks." Riley answered questionably.

"Again.” Olivia commanded with Riley going on the defensive.

They continued to spar, their swords clashing together. Riley was impressed with Olivia's skills and ability to read her opponent and react accordingly.

As they continued to fight, Riley became more comfortable with the sword, her moves becoming more fluid and graceful. Liam slipped into the back of the room, quietly watching the sparring.

"Excellent.” Olivia praised.

"Thanks.” Riley smiled at the compliment, picking up a bottle of water.

"Now we need a target." Olivia led her to a stuffed, practice dummy.

Riley chuckled as she watched her friend attach a large face photo of Madeleine onto the head with a dagger.

"Here, let me help you." Olivia handed her an assortment of knives, before she expertly threw her dagger.

Riley's first few throws landed wide, but she quickly found her mark, sinking several blades into the center of the picture.

"Nicely done.”

"Thanks."

"Feel better?" Olivia snickered as Riley laughed.

“Yes! Yes, actually I do. But I don't understand. How is this going to help me?”

"When the press asks you questions, you need to stay calm and confident. If they try to rattle you, throw them off balance. Focus on your target.” Olivia pointed to the picture.

"Let's practice."

"All right."

"Imagine I'm a member of the press. And I ask you, 'Lady Riley, where have you been all these years?'"

Riley cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

"I've been raising my son in New York. It's where he was born and raised.”

"Why did you leave Cordonia?"

"I left to protect my child. And because I knew that King Liam had an obligation to the Queen.”

"What are your intentions now that you've returned?”

"I'm here to support my son and to be a part of his life.”

"Do you still love the King?”

"Yes, of course."

“No! STOP!!!”

Olivia moved assertively towards Riley. "This is where you say, 'that's all the questions for today’ and then you walk away from the microphones. Show confidence. Show determination. Show stoicism. Control the narrative.”

Riley raised her eyebrow. "How did you get so good at this, Olivia?"

Olivia shrugged, her shoulders rising slightly. "I'm the duchess of Lythikos. People talk. And sometimes they don't realize I'm listening."

Riley nodded, a new respect for Olivia blossoming in her heart with a renewed sense of determination in her step.

Feeling his arms, Riley giggled and leaned back against him with a content smile.

Liam sauntered up to Riley from behind, wrapping his arms around Riley’s waist.

Riley turned around to look at Liam, her eyes filled with love.

“The Royal guard will then lead you away from the gathering,” Liam interjected. “You will never be left without protection.”

"Thank you, Liam.” Riley tearfully smiled.

"I want you to know that while I am alive, you will always have a home in Cordonia. And I will never let anyone threaten that ... or you ... ever again.”

Riley felt a warm feeling in her chest and a sense of calm.

Maybe everything was going to be all right, after all. As long as she had Liam and William, she knew she could face anything.

"Liam, I love you."

"I love you, too, Riley."

Liam pressed his lips to hers, and Riley melted into his embrace. They kissed for a long moment, savoring the feel of each other's bodies.

"Come, let's go get some sleep. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."

"I'm ready.*

"Pleasant dreams you two. Good night."

"Olivia, thank you for your expertise. It is much appreciated.

"Your welcome, Liam. It's my pleasure."

Good night." Riley called out.

Riley followed Liam out of the room, her hand firmly grasped in his.

And for the first time since she had come back to Cordonia, she truly felt like she was home.

"Thank you, Olivia," she whispered as she lay in Liam's arms, his steady heartbeat lulling her to sleep.

Thanks for reading; please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from this series.

My current tag list:

Perma tags: @ao719 @queenmiarys @sfb123 @twinkleallnight @alj4890 @differenttyphoonwerewolf @harleybeaumont @busywoman @karahalloway @kingliam2019 @imjusthereforliam @lovingchoices14 @kyra75 @tinkie1973 @emkay512 @malblk21 @kristinamae093 @charlotteg234

TRR Liam & Riley TTP: @emersyn-in-cordonia @mainstreetreader @belencha77 @walkerdrakewalker @iluaaa @mysticalfangirl @queenwalton @bascmve01 @umccall71 @choicesfrog @amandablink @ownworldresident

Submissions:@choicesficwriterscreations

#the royal romance #trr fanfic #king liam rys #choices liam x oc #trr fanfiction #trr au

58 notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 13 days

Text

This was so good! I can almost taste the angst!!!! I can not wait for more!!!

Second chance love

Part 1

Series summary- Liam stopped entertaining the idea of love and marriage after the death of his first love but everything began changing after a certain New York trip.

Book- TRR AU

Pairing - Liam x F!MC (Riley) ; Liam x F!OC(Nicole)

A/n- Using Prompt 2 — “It wasn’t supposed to end like this/that.” from Week #76 Prompts from @choicesflashfics

Rated M for mature audience

This series will contain NSFW .Not suitable for people below 18 years of age.

Warning- Gunshot;Death of character mentioned

No. of words - 1400+

No matter how much Liam wanted, he couldn't stop the constant ringing in his ears, everything around him was falling apart, people were running around trying to save themselves, as he kicked the last assassin in front of him, the adrenaline left his body and he fell down with a thud looking at his trembling hands which was covered in blood. He then looked around and when he didn't see Nicole or any of his friends he sighed in relief.

He was glad that they all managed to escape, he knew he should go but it was as if all his strength was gone and he couldn't get up. He then heard someone calling his name, he lifted his head to see Bastien in front of him.

Bastien sat on his knees in front of him, he put his hand on Liam's shoulder, his gaze filled with sympathy "Liam we have to go to the hospital."

"Hospital?" Liam asked confused.

"Yes, if we don't go now, we would be very late." Saying this, Bastien practically dragged him out of the ballroom.

"Bastien, what happened, who is hurt?"

"You'll know when we reach there, please we don't have much time left."

On the way to the hospital Liam kept asking him who was hurt but he refused to answer.

They reached the hospital around 20 minutes later, Liam was escorted to the VIP section, where he found Drake, Maxwell, Olivia and his father who was supposed to be staying somewhere safe after the assassin attempt.

They looked at him, Constantine pulled him in a hug and patted his back "You have to be strong Liam, everything will be fine"

Liam was not sure how to react, he couldn't remember when was the last time his father hugged him, looking around him he saw Maxwell trying to supress his sobs, Drake was completely expressionless, last time he was like this was years ago when Jackson died, even Olivia who would have berated Maxwell for behaving like a child was consoling him, her own eyes were red and filled with tears.

"You guys are scaring me. Please tell me what is wrong, who is hurt."

"I-I am sorry Liam it was my fault." Maxwell said as he hiccuped a bit. "I should have been careful, I should have stopped her."

"Stopped who Max? What are you saying?" When no one answered him Liam lost his patience "WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IS HAPPENING. Drake? Olivia? Please, you guys are scaring me."

"It's Nicole. She's shot" Drake whispered

"W-what?" Liam was stunned unable to comprehend what he heard"It's not funny Drake. Please tell me you're joking.

"I'm not. She is in the OT, she had lost too much blood Li, doctors asked us to be prepared for the worst."

Before Liam could react, the doctor came out of the OT, Liam left Drake's side and ran to the doctor.

"She's okay right? Please tell me they are joking?"

"I'm sorry your highness, we tried our best but it was already too late." Doctor told him with a downcast expression.

"Can we see her?" Maxwell asked the doctor as he wiped his tears.

After doctor's permission all went to see Nicole but Liam stayed behind in the corridor, he slumped down on the chair in the corridor , he had lost all hope at that moment, thinking of a future without her in it made him so miserable that he couldn't breathe, his leg felt heavy, he didn't even have the courage to go and see her.

As he sat there, Liam felt someone tapping his shoulder. He turned to see his father standing there along with everyone. "You should go see her my boy"

"I can't father." Liam said looking at engagement ring in his hand . "I was going to propose today, I wanted to get married to her, have children, to grow old together."

When Liam looked back up his eyes were red filled with unshed tears. Constantine knew how his son felt, he was in the same place almost 20 years ago he knew what he sat there beside him giving his silent support

Later Liam took a deep breath and moved towards the OT. Nicole was laying on the small hospital bed, her black ballgown was exchanged with the loose fitted hospital gown, her hair which immaculately set by the stylist had fell open and was sticking to her forehead. Even then Liam thought she was most beautiful woman ever. He went to her held her palms in his own.

Nicole felt her life slipping away, tears streaked her cheeks, her breathing was turning shallow and even when Liam held her hands in his firm grip she couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel, all she saw was darkness, darkness that was slowly but surely consuming her.

"It wasn’t supposed to end like this. " Nicole sobbed lightly. "I... I don't want to die. Please...." Before she could finish her sentence, the electrocardiogram flatlined. Liam's head snapped to the machine, he frantically pressed the call button. He was pushed away from Nicole, after a while the doctor spoke up"Time of death 00:37"

For few days Liam worked on autopilot, he spent most of his days in either his room or roaming around the wishing well. A week later, during Nicole's funeral, everyone was dressed up in black, her mother was sobbing sitting there, while her father held his wife. They had lost their only child and the feeling was killing them from inside.

Liam arrived later than everyone else, somewhere in his heart he was wishing for everything to be a horrific dream, one that he'll suddenly wake up from and laugh his heart out for having such a ridiculous dream.

He knew nothing like that would happen, Nicole was dead and he had to accept it but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't accept the fact that the love of his life was gone.

At end of the funeral he went to Milton and Genesis Nicole's parents and gave them his condolences, not showing any emotion.

That night when he was wide awake in his room, he felt tears streaming down his cheeks, drenching his pillow, he let out a sob which he muffled through the pillows on his bed, he cried his heart out, slowly his cries turned into sniffle, crying with so much anguish left him exhausted, his eyelids got heavy and sleep consumed him for first time in days.

*******************

3 years later

Liam was standing near Nicole's grave with a bouquet of white lilies in his hand, he put the bouquet on her grave and sat down there. Her death took away a part of him. He was not happy, not after what happened three years ago but tried his best to live the life to the fullest, even with all the responsibilities, he might be dead inside but he wanted to live for her.

"Hey love l am sorry I wasn't here since past few days, being a king is not easy. You were my anchor and I feel that without you everything is falling apart. I don't want this life but Leo's abdication few years ago compelled me to take the role which was never meant for me. Anyways not to delve into boring stuff, I came bearing good news, Maxwell is getting married next month. Can you believe it, I couldn't." He chuckled lightly "Hana is a lovely woman and you would have loved her. Maxwell wants to have his bachelor party in New York and I'll be gone for 4-5 days. See you soon darling." Liam got up and pressed a light kiss to his fingertip before pressing it on her grave.

Late night after packing everything he needed for the trip to New York, Liam took out his sleeping pills, as soon as the medicine took effect dreamless sleep consumed him as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Thank you

*******************

Tags: @kingliam2019 @kristinamae0093 @kristinamae093 @busywoman @tessa-liam @twinkleallnight @malblk21 @ao719 @jerzwriter @choicesficwriterscreations @choicesflashfics @emersyn-in-cordonia @angelasscribbles @liamrysandme @busywoman @belencha77 @marietrinmimi @bebepac

#choices trr #king liam #trr fanfic #trr au

24 notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 13 days

Text

This won't be a very good reblog 😬 but I still love you long time ❤️.

Liam's excuses with the houses fucking KILLED ME. HE SAID THE HEDGES AREN'T LIT AND GAVE HIS CHILD YUCKY JUICE WHEN HE COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG SKDJDJSKSKDJSKAKDJFJS 🤣☠️ THEN JUST LEFT LIKE IT WASN'T SHIT 🤣 (I love him sm 🥹) I am fucking DED and on my death certifiable it'll say, "died of excessive cackling."

And I love that Drake's all like, I'm ThE mAn AnD i'Ll LoOk At ThE fUnDiMEnTaLs because I can absolutely picture him being "that guy".

Leo tearing up when he met Sophia almost made me tear up. Such a sweet moment and it's so fluffy I CAN'T STOP SMILING. He got her to warm up within SECONDS and I just know he'll be the best freaking Uncle.

And I love that Leo is the one who calls him out on his bullshit 🤣🤣 He's like... Bro... The fuck??? It reminded me of this gif

I imagine that was his face when he heard these excuses LMAO.

TOO MANY STAIRS 🤣🤣 SIR YOU LIVE IN A GODDAMN PALACE WITH PROBABLY HUNDREDS OF STAIRS LMAO

I'm so glad he finally asked her to stay KSJDJSKSKDJSKSKDJD 🥹🥹🥹. It was a long time coming! Now they can finally be together and a family and I'm just so goddamn happy that I physically CAN NOT stop smiling.

Kids always cockblock, don't they? LOL. SO CLOSE, but you can't even be mad at her, haha 🤣. That little Dada just melts my heart every time 🥹. I assume Liam is calling in a favor (babysitter?) there at the end and I'm SO FREAKING EXCITED for them to finally get some peace and privacy!!!!!!! It seems like their resolve is in the negatives (finally) so...

LESGETTTTTIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTT 👏 👏

Give me ALL the lemons! 🥹😊🥵🫠😋🤣

I love this story so freaking much!!!!! Daddy Liam > any other Liam, haha. Like I don't even want kids but he wouldn't even have to say a word and I'd be nekkid. 🤣😋

Best Kept Secrets

Best Kept Secrets - Built to Last (Chapter 19)

Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Summary: An unforeseen encounter with the past proves that even the best-kept secrets eventually make their way into the light.

Title inspiration: Changing Tides - The Fray

Book/Pairing: TRR; Liam x F!OC

A/N: Not beta’d. Please excuse any errors.

Rating: M • Warning: This series will contain NSFW material. If you read, you acknowledge you are 18+

Catch up here

Slipping out of the SUV, Liam strode through the front doors of the palace after returning from a lunch meeting in the capitol. His assistant met him in the foyer and matched his steps up the stairs as he handed him a small stack of papers he needed for his next meeting.

“Thank you,” Liam said as he quickly looked them over. “You can head to my study. I’m just going to stop and see Amara and Sophia real quick.”

“Of course, sir,” the man nodded.

Once they reached the landing, they turned in opposite directions as Liam headed for the north wing.

It had been a month since they returned from their trip to New York, and things had been going well.

Amara seemed more relaxed. The guilt she’d been feeling prior to the trip didn’t seem to weigh as heavily on her after their talk at the hotel that night. He was watching her fall back into the old Amara … the one he’d fallen in love with two years ago.

The one with no guilt.

The one with no secrets.

The press had ceased their verbal attacks on Amara’s intentions since learning she was staying in Cordonia. Now, they turned their focus on the status of her and Liam’s relationship, questioning if they would rekindle the romance they once had.

Liam didn’t give them the satisfaction of a response. Partly because he didn’t feel it was any of their business, at least not yet. And partly because he had nothing to give them at the moment.

In the month since they returned to Cordonia after deciding to see where things could go between them, they’d certainly gotten closer. They’d spent every evening together, but only behind the confines of the palace walls and as a family. They would meet once Liam finished work for the day in either the north wing or his quarters, they’d have dinner, and they’d play with Sophia before putting her to bed. Then they would have their time, which consisted of talking or watching a movie. And when they weren’t chatting or paying attention to a TV screen, they would get caught up in one another, but they had yet to cross any lines beyond kissing.

While Liam was the one who said he wanted to “slow down”, he found himself struggling to rein in his desires for Amara as they grew closer; the tension between them continued to thicken and each kiss they shared grew more passionate. He was determined to get things right this time around, however, so he was content with taking things slow.

Once at the north wing, Liam stepped inside and rounded the corner to see them in the living area; Amara was sitting on the sofa with her laptop in front of her while Sophia played with blocks on the floor.

“Dada!” Sophia squealed when she spotted him; she pushed herself to stand and toddled toward him.

Liam grinned as he leaned down and scooped her into his arms. “Hi, princess.” His gaze then met Amara’s as he approached her; he leaned down, kissing her cheek. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Amara smiled. “How was your meeting?”

“It was fine. I thought I’d stop by before the next one. What have you two been up to?”

“Not much,” Amara shrugged. “We just got back from having lunch with Regina. She was wondering if you’d spoken to Leo.”

“Yes,” Liam nodded. “He told me he was coming home next weekend to finally meet his niece,” he smiled as Sophia looked at him. “You’re going to have your Uncle Leo wrapped right around your little finger, I can already tell.” He then looked at Amara. “He’s looking forward to meeting you, too.”

“Me?”

“You are the mother of his niece,” Liam playfully scoffed. “And we’re … well, ya know …” He winked.

Amara smiled sheepishly with a quiet laugh as she dropped his gaze. “Right.”

An imperceptible smirk tugged at the corner of Liam’s lips at the light pink tint that he saw bloom on her cheeks. While she’d become much more relaxed since their talk, she was still being careful and seemed to get easily flustered at any comment he made in a teasing, flirtatious manner. The old Amara from two years ago was bold in her flirtations, and while he was hoping to see that bold side come back, there was something about her getting flustered that he found endearing.

It had become a secret little game of his to see it happen.

Just then, Amara’s phone rang; she glanced at the screen before rising from the sofa. “Can you watch her for a quick sec? I need to take this.”

“Sure,” Liam nodded.

As she disappeared down the hall, Liam walked to the sofa and sat down with Sophia. “Are you having fun with Mommy?” he asked Sophia before smothering her cheek with playful kisses. She giggled and pulled back, then leaned across him, stretching her arms out. His gaze shifted in the direction she was reaching and fell on Amara’s open laptop. “No, you can’t have that, silly,” he chuckled. He was about to close it, but his brows furrowed and he leaned forward to get a better look. He felt a pang of surprise mixed with trepidation when he saw what was on the screen.

It was a realtor’s website … with listings of houses for sale.

When Liam and Amara first talked after the statement was made and she told him she planned to stay in Cordonia, she mentioned eventually finding a place of her own. At the time, he didn’t think much of it, and in the nearly three months since that conversation, any notion of it had slipped his mind entirely. Even though she had only brought it up that one time, it clearly hadn’t slipped her mind.

A dozen questions and thoughts flooded his mind, but before he could process them, Amara reappeared. “Sorry about that.”

Snapping from his daze, Liam looked at her and cleared his throat. “It’s alright. Everything ok?”

“Yeah,” Amara nodded. As she stared at him, she could see the moment he sensed that she wanted to say more. “I’ll talk to you about it later.”

Liam nodded even as more questions filled his head. Talk about what? He thought it might have something to do with what he just glimpsed on her laptop, and despite wanting to ask her about it, he thought that perhaps that was better left for later.

Glancing at his watch, Liam sighed. “I have that meeting soon.” He stood from the sofa, kissed Sophia’s cheek, and set her back down in front of her blocks before turning to Amara. “We’re meeting at my place tonight?” he asked as they walked toward the door.

“Yeah,” Amara confirmed.

“I should be finished at my usual time, but if something comes up …” Liam turned to see her leaning against the wall, looking up at him. “…I’ll let you know.” She nodded as he took a step toward her, and in the next moment, he leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. His hand came up, settling on her neck as his thumb brushed along the curve of her jaw. A moment later, he drew back just enough to break the kiss and whispered against her lips, “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye …”

When Liam slipped out, Amara dropped her head against the door with a soft thud and closed her eyes as she let out a breath. For the past month, she’d been struggling with her longing for him. She swore each day she had to fight twice as hard as the one before to tamp down her growing desire.

It wasn’t just the longing, though. It was the giddiness over the way he was making her feel … the same way he did two years ago. Hell, he couldn’t even be playful or flirtatious without making her lose her composure. He’d make one small comment and the butterflies would erupt in the masses and she’d start blushing.

Amara lifted her head and took in a determined breath. She would continue to follow his lead because she didn’t want to do anything to ruin the progress they’d made.

****

That night, after their usual round of dinner, playing, and putting Sophia to bed, Liam and Amara sat in the living area inside his quarters as a movie played on the TV screen.

Liam had a few meetings that day, but he’d been distracted during each of them as thoughts of what he glimpsed on Amara’s laptop consumed his mind. He wasn’t sure why her looking for a place of her own bothered him so much … but it did.

Despite them currently living under the same roof, they were in separate wings, so Amara having her own place wouldn’t really change anything between them. But Liam wouldn’t be able to just walk a few corridors to her door. He wouldn’t be able to drop by unannounced and on the fly anytime he wanted like he could now. And spending every evening with them would probably dwindle to once or twice a week. He’d be missing out on time and moments he didn’t want to miss out on … like the one he found himself in now.

Liam drew back from Amara’s lips, trying to will his desire for her back inside its cage. “So,” he whispered as his thumb brushed against her cheek, “what was that phone call about earlier?”

“Oh, um …” Amara leaned back. “It was my realtor …”

“A realtor?” Liam asked, feigning ignorance.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’ve been looking since I made the decision to stay and with price drops happening left and right lately, I thought it would be a good time to really look.”

Liam shifted on the sofa, draping one arm across the back as he rested his hand on her thigh. “Really look as in …?”

“I have appointments to view some listings.”

“I see,” Liam nodded as he held her gaze. “Is this something you want to do right now? I told you there was no rush for you to find a place.”

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” Amara quipped, and he gave her a look. “It’s a process, not something that happens overnight, so I just think it might be time to start looking.”

Liam nodded again as he watched his finger trace a shape on her denim-clad thigh. “What kind of place are you looking for?”

“Something secure. Obviously, with Sophia …”

Liam’s jaw tensed at even the mere thought of anyone having easy access to not just Sophia but Amara as well, but he tried to remain casual. “Right …”

“Something with a yard for her to play in.”

A nod was all Liam offered, unable to say what he was thinking. She has acres and acres of yard to play in here at the palace.

“Three bedrooms.”

“Three?” Liam questioned.

“I thought having one for a guest room would be a good idea, just in case.”

“In case what?”

“I don’t know … in case Daniel or Riley or someone else needs to crash one night.”

Again, Liam offered nothing but a nod. There are guest rooms galore here.

Suddenly, the reason why it bothered him so much hit Liam like a ton of bricks. He didn’t want her to leave. And not just because he wanted her to remain at the palace so she’d be within walking distance but because he wanted her with him … in his wing … with their daughter … as a family. Together.

Yes, Liam was the one who said he wanted to take things slow, and they were — as slow as two people with a history and connection like them could. But he was struck with the sudden awareness that everything they had done up to that point had been ass-backward. Nothing about them or their situation was conventional and it never had been. So, was the impulse of wanting her to stay with him instead of buying her own house really that far-fetched of an idea? No.

But if she was so adamant about starting to look for her own place, perhaps she didn’t want the same thing he did or didn’t feel ready, at least, not yet.

“So when are you planning to start looking?” Liam asked.

“Tomorrow,” Amara answered. His gaze snapped up to hers, not having expected it to be that soon, but he managed to keep his expression neutral. “I’m not expecting to find the one on the first day, but I think it’ll give me an idea of what I want to look for going forward.”

As Liam nodded again, Amara held his gaze; she swore she could see a flash of something in his eyes, but he was quick to make it vanish. Before she could ask, commotion from the movie they’d been watching pulled their attention to the TV screen.

A moment later, Liam looked back at her as he stroked his thumb across her knuckles; the movement pulled her gaze back to him, and a heartbeat later, he captured her lips in his.

With that, the conversation ended.

*******

The following morning, an SUV carrying Amara and Sophia — because Liam wouldn’t let them go anywhere without at least one guard — followed the realtor through the gates of a residential development situated on the outskirts of the capitol. A few moments later, they pulled into the driveway of a two-story home that had recently been listed.

When they exited the vehicle, Amara smiled as Riley and Drake approached her. “Hey. Thanks for coming along.”

“I had nothing going on, and when I told this one—” Riley threw her thumb over her shoulder at Drake “— he insisted on coming to check the ‘fundamentals’,” she gestured with air quotes.

“You’ll look at the aesthetic, but there’s more to a house than just looking pretty,” Drake said. “That’s where I come in since Liam is stuck in meetings this morning. Although, I don’t know if he’d know what to look for either,” he snorted.

Amara chuckled. “Well, I appreciate you coming along. You’re right, I don’t really know what to check for other than the basics. So I’ll take any help I can get.”

“Are we ready?” the realtor smiled from the walkway to the front porch.

“Yes,” Amara nodded but only managed to take a few steps before her attention turned to another vehicle pulling into the driveway. She turned, recognizing who it was before he even stepped out.

When the door opened and Liam appeared, she gave him a curious smile. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought maybe you’d like another set of eyes,” Liam grinned as he approached them. “And I want to see the places this little one is potentially going to be living in,” he said as he took Sophia from her and tickled her belly. “So I rescheduled my meetings and cleared the rest of my day.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” Liam smiled as he slipped his hand into hers and looked at the realtor.

“Your Majesty,” the man bowed nervously.

“Just pretend I’m not here,” Liam said.

The man offered a tense smile and nodded before gesturing for them to follow him inside.

While Amara walked around with the realtor and Riley, Drake went off on his own to check what he deemed to be important while Liam gave himself and Sophia a tour.

The house was nice. The first floor was an open-concept floor plan with the kitchen, living room, and dining room all flowing into each other. It appeared to have new wood floors throughout, fresh paint, and he was pretty sure he heard the realtor mention a new roof.

The three bedrooms were located upstairs. Two were sizable with a Jack and Jill bathroom between them, and the master was massive with an impressive en-suite and walk-in closet.

It was a pretty perfect house … but Liam didn’t want her to live there.

Liam had cleared his schedule to tag along on her hunt that day. His goal? To point out everything he could find wrong with each viewing in hopes she’d realize that the palace already had everything she would need or want. Walking through this first home, he knew it was going to be a difficult task if the other viewings were anything like it.

“Maybe Uncle Drake will find cracks in the foundation,” Liam mumbled to Sophia as they stepped out of the master bedroom and headed back downstairs. When he reached the first floor, he spotted Drake in the living room. “Well?” he questioned as he approached him.

Drake nodded positively and Liam had to swallow down his disapproval. “It’s really nice. There were a couple of minor things that I noticed, but nothing that isn’t a quick and easy fix.”

“Well, that sucks,” Liam mumbled under his breath.

“What was that?”

“I said that’s great.”

“What did you think?”

“It’s … ok.”

Drake gave him a look. “I know it’s not a palace …”

“It’s not that,” Liam scoffed. “I just have some … concerns.”

“What concerns?”

Liam whirled around at the sound of Amara’s voice, meeting her gaze with a small smile as she entered the living room with the realtor and Riley. “The house is … nice. Really nice. I’d be worried about the security, however.”

“It’s a gated community,” Drake said.

Shut up, Drake. “Yes, it is,” Liam nodded. “But the gate is accessed by a keycard, correct?” he looked at the realtor, who nodded in answer. “So there’s no one at the gate, which means anyone who wanted to try hard enough could get in undetected if they climbed over. With who Sophia is, and who you are to me … we know how relentless the press can be at times, and they’re just the tip of the iceberg of people we need to worry about. I just think somewhere where there is a security guard stationed at the gate would be better … safer.”

It was a legitimate concern, even if he pointed it out for the wrong reason. Had he been on board with this whole idea, he’d have pointed it out regardless.

“He does have a point,” Amara said as she looked at the realtor; Liam’s shoulders imperceptibly slumped in relief. “I’m sure he’s going to have a guard with us at all times, but having someone at the gate would make me more comfortable with Sophia.”

“Noted,” the realtor nodded with a smile before looking at the tablet he’d been carrying around. “That knocks off three places from our list of viewings today, but there are two we’re scheduled to see that do have guarded gates.”

Liam fought back a sigh.

That was two more places he had to hope she found something wrong with or simply didn’t like.

And it was only day one of looking.

*******

The following Friday, Amara headed toward Liam’s quarters, walking behind Sophia, who was toddling along the corridor but stopping to wave at every staff member who walked by. They were going to meet him for dinner, along with Drake, Riley, and Leo, who’d arrived a couple of hours ago.

Amara was thankful for Leo’s arrival because it gave her a day’s reprieve from house hunting, which she’d spent the entire week doing. She’d viewed 13 listings over the past week but hadn’t found one that was suitable.

Suitable not to her standards … but to Liam’s.

No matter what time Amara was scheduled to view a house, Liam made sure he was available to go with her. At first, she was thankful for it; she wanted his opinion and appreciated his willingness to help despite his busy schedule. But his opinions turned into what she could only describe as nitpicking, proving that his standards were much higher than hers.

The suggestion Liam made at the first house about a guarded gate made perfect sense. Everything that came after that suggestion, however …

The yards weren’t good enough for Sophia to play in, or there wasn’t enough space between the houses, or they were too close to the street for his liking.

At one, the floorboards were “too creaky” which obviously meant that there was something structurally wrong.

Amara had a few listings lined up to look at tomorrow, and Liam said he would go with her, but she wasn’t getting her hopes up. She knew he only wanted what was best for Sophia, but at that point, she didn’t think it was going to be possible to find a home that he deemed worthy enough for his precious little princess.

Once at Liam’s door, Amara opened it, allowing Sophia in before following her; they could hear laughter from the other room and Sophia walked curiously toward the sound. When they rounded the corner, Liam looked over from where he sat on the balcony and grinned as he playfully slapped the shoulder of the man sitting next to him before they both rose from their seats.

“Dada!” Sophia gave a toothy grin as she reached for him.

“Hi, princess,” Liam chuckled as he scooped her into his arms before looking at Amara. He leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her lips, and she softly sighed before he slowly drew back. “Hi,” he whispered, brushing his nose against hers.

“Hi …” Amara let out a breath. “Sorry if we kept you waiting.”

“You didn’t,” Liam shook his head. “Leo was with Regina earlier. He just showed up here maybe 10 minutes ago.”

“Am I interrupting?” a voice drawled.

Liam turned and stepped out of Amara’s line of vision, bringing Leo into view. When he met her gaze, she smiled politely yet warily; she was unsure of how exactly he viewed her after what she’d kept from his brother.

“Leo, this is Amara,” Liam said. “Amara, my brother Leo.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

When he grinned, Amara’s shoulders loosened. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“And this is Sophia.” Liam tickled her belly, eliciting a giggle from her. “Can you say hi to Uncle Leo?” She looked at Leo, staring for a moment before sinking deeper into Liam’s embrace and laying her head on his shoulder, hiding her eyes with his neck.

Leo’s lip jutted. “Aw, don’t be scared of me.”

“I’d be terrified,” Drake snorted as he and Riley stepped inside to greet Amara.

Liam turned his head toward Sophia with a smile as he rubbed her back. “It’s ok.”

Sophia shifted her head just enough for her eyes to peer at Leo, and he grinned as he began playing a game of peekaboo. After a few moments, a giggle erupted from her as she lifted her head, offering him her signature toothy grin.

“There’s a smile,” Leo chuckled. “You want to come hang with Uncle Leo for a minute?” He raised his hands towards her.

Sophia studied him carefully, and after another moment of hesitation, she went to him. They locked eyes and she scrunched her nose with another smile. “Hi,” she said shyly.

Liam watched his brother’s brow furrow, and his eyes widened when he saw his eyes shine with tears. “Leo …”

“Well, shit,” Leo choked out. “I can’t believe you have one of these.” A laugh simultaneously barreled out of Drake and Liam as Leo turned his head and quickly wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

“Got you wanting one now?” Drake chuckled.

“Way down the road, maybe,” Leo replied. “Now? Absolutely not. Fuck that.” His eyes widened as he looked at Sophia. “I mean … heck that.”

“Fuck.”

Amara’s and Riley’s mouths dropped open at the word Sophia repeated as Liam leveled his brother with a glare. “I’m sorry!” Leo grimaced guiltily. “I’m not used to filtering!”

Drake shook his head with a laugh. “Uncle Leo is here.”

****

That night after dinner, Liam walked Amara and Sophia back to the north wing. Once he put Sophia to sleep, he stepped out of her room and headed for the main area; he spotted Amara in the kitchen, standing with her back to him as she put dishes away in a cabinet.

A moment later, Amara’s breath quietly hitched when she felt his hands curl around her waist. “D-Did she go down?”

“Yeah,” Liam replied as he rested his chin on her shoulder. “She’s out like a light. Uncle Leo wore her out.”

Amara smiled. “They seemed to form a quick bond.”

Liam turned his head so his lips brushed her ear. “I don’t think you’re understanding how much trouble that means for us.”

Amara tried to suppress a shudder from his warm breath against her skin, but she knew she failed when Liam let out a soft chuckle at having caught it. She turned to face him, and he leaned against the counter, placing one hand on either side of her and caging her in.

Liam slowly leaned in, his eyes dropping from hers and zeroing in on her lips before he captured them in his. His tongue swept against the seam of her lips, and she parted them in response, allowing him in. When he deepened the kiss, her hands curled around his neck as an imperceptible whimper escaped her, so soft he almost didn’t hear it, but when he did, something inside him roared to life.

Gripping her waist, Liam lifted her onto the counter as he stepped between her legs and pulled her body flush against his. He slid a hand up her back and into her hair and he tugged, causing the kiss to break; his lips moved to her jaw then down the column of her neck as her hips instinctively arched against him with a gasp, the movement pulling a rumbled groan from his throat as he found her lips again.

The kiss stretched on, pulling them both deeper into the moment until it broke at the sudden ping emitting from Liam’s pocket, alerting him to a message. He reluctantly drew back and his jaw tensed as he dipped his hand into his pocket to pull out his phone.

“It’s Leo,” Liam sighed. “He wants to have a nightcap.”

Liam’s eyes flickered back to her face and more desire unfurled and clawed at his insides at the sight of her: kiss-swollen lips, tousled hair from his hand being buried in it, and her blue-eyed gaze brimming with lust.

“Ok.” Amara’s one-word response came out in a breathless whisper.

Liam swallowed thickly as he stepped back and she slipped off the counter. He cleared his throat as he ran his fingers through his hair. “So, uh … 10 tomorrow morning, right?”

“Huh?” Amara looked up at him.

“The first house viewing?”

“Oh, uh …” Amara let out a breath. “Yeah. 10.”

Liam nodded before leaning down; he stopped a hairsbreadth from her lips, reminding himself not to get too caught up before he pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. He drew back a moment later and his hand squeezed hers. “Goodnight.”

“G’night.”

*******

The following morning, Amara was standing in front of a two-story home in a gated — and guarded — community. It sat at the end of a long driveway surrounded by trees and had a large backyard with a wooden playset complete with swings and a slide. After touring the house with Liam, Drake, Riley, and Leo, who opted to tag along, it was determined not to have any creaky floorboards.

“I just think that the stairs in the foyer … there’s too many.”

Amara stiffened beside Liam.

Drake dropped his head with a silent laugh as Riley fought back her own. They’d been with them at every house and they knew Liam had been coming up with excuses for each one, but they’d kept quiet about it. It was none of their business.

Leo snapped his gaze over to his brother. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“For Sophia,” Liam clarified as he continued to stare at the house to avoid making eye contact with him. “And they’re narrow … and wooden, so there’s no cushion if she falls.”

Steven, the realtor, stood by his car and closed his eyes as he took in a calming breath. “On to the next then?”

****

“The hedges aren’t trimmed or lit up.”

“Are you—” Leo cut himself off as he looked at his brother, wide-eyed. “You can’t be serious …”

“I am,” Liam said matter-of-factly. “The housing development, which she would have to pay a monthly fee to, is in charge of lawn maintenance and it looks like shit.”

Amara turned and walked toward the car without a word as a chuckling Drake and Riley trailed behind her.

“I think you’ve gone a little crazy in the head,” Leo scoffed.

Steven slid back into his car and shut the door.

****

“This is niiiice,” Leo said as he glanced around the kitchen of the next home; it was the last one for the day.

“State-of-the-art appliances,” Drake said, smoothing his hand across the marble countertop.

“Big rooms,” Riley grinned.

Liam looked around as he held Sophia. He’d walked around the outside and had been through every room and couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Nothing. He glanced down, scuffing his foot against the floor and his eyes landed on the bottle of grapefruit juice he’d carried in with him before they slowly slid to Sophia. He turned his back toward the others as he quietly unscrewed the cap. “Want a sip?” he whispered.

Sophia eagerly leaned forward, not knowing what it was … or how bitter it was; honestly, Liam questioned why he drank it half the time. He tipped the bottle back, helping her to sip before pulling it away and screwing the lid back on. He turned back around just as her nose scrunched and her lips puckered.

“Yuck.”

Liam glanced at Sophia as everyone else turned toward the sound of her voice.

“Well, she hates it,” Liam shrugged before turning and striding out of the house without a glance back. “Way to come through in the clutch, princess,” he whispered through a laugh.

****

That evening after having dinner, Amara went back to the north wing with Sophia alone, giving Liam time with Leo, who was leaving in the morning.

Liam carried two glasses of scotch out onto the balcony and set one down in front of Leo before taking a seat next to him. “I’m really glad you got a chance to come visit,” he said before taking a sip of his drink.

“Me too,” Leo nodded. “I’ll definitely plan to come back soon and more often. Gotta corrupt my niece and all.” He chuckled at the look Liam shot him. “So …” He paused, taking a sip of his drink. “When do you plan on asking Amara to move in with you?”

“What?” Liam asked, furrowing his brow.

“Don’t play dumb with me, little brother.”

“I’m not playing—”

“You said the house had too many fucking stairs.”

“It did!”

“And what do you call the stairs in this place?” Leo tossed back. “The grand staircase alone has three times as many stairs, but those are ok … because they’re here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Liam said casually.

“You complained about hedges not being lit up.”

“Aesthetics matter.”

Leo snorted, shaking his head. “You’re not fooling anyone, except maybe Amara, who probably just thinks you have your child’s best interest in mind. She also probably thinks that you’re nitpicky as fuck with ridiculous standards.”

Leo arched his brow in a challenge to tell him that he was wrong. He knew he couldn’t. “Fine,” Liam sighed. “I don’t want her to buy a house.”

“Because …?” Leo smirked.

Liam rolled his eyes as he took another sip of his drink. “Because I want them with me, here, in my quarters”

“See?” Leo chuckled. “Now was that so fucking hard?”

“Yes, because I can’t say that to her. She’s looking for a house. If she wanted to stay, she’d say something.”

“Would she?” Leo questioned. “After everything you told me about what happened after you learned the truth about Sophia, what Amara wants doesn’t really matter to her. And making assumptions about what you want doesn’t seem like something she’s going to do after what happened. You told me yourself that she’s been following your lead on everything. So if you haven’t come out and specifically told her that you don’t want her to leave, why would she believe otherwise? Not to mention the fact that you’ve made it a point to go look at all of the fucking houses with her, further making her believe that you’re on board with it.”

Liam dropped his head back as he let out a breath. Yes, he knew that while Amara had been better since their talk in New York, she was still following his lead with everything, but he didn’t think about it possibly having an impact on her decision to want to house hunt. Thinking about it now, he hadn’t told her he didn’t want her to go and he hadn’t shown her either.

There was still that possibility that Amara didn’t want to stay, however. Perhaps she wanted to find her own place, that she wasn’t ready for the same thing he was.

*******

The following morning after seeing Leo off at the airport, Liam stared out the window of the SUV as it pulled into a long, winding driveway. Amara had messaged him and asked if he could meet her to look at another house.

When the SUV came to a stop, Liam’s brows furrowed when he saw Amara standing in a dirt-covered clearing. He instructed Bastien to stay in the vehicle before slipping out and making his way towards her.

“Hey,” Amara smiled as he approached.

“Hello.” Liam leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Where’s Soph?”

“Regina is watching her.”

Liam nodded before glancing around. “I thought you asked me to meet you to look at another house?”

“I did … sort of.”

Glancing back at her, Liam offered an amused smile. “Is the house invisible?”

Amara chuckled. “No … this is just the location of where the house could be,” she gestured to the open clearing.

Liam’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I talked with the realtor about the possibility of building. This is an empty plot of land for sale … and I could have a house built to ensure it would have everything I want and everything you would be comfortable with.”

“Oh …” Fuck. Liam cleared his throat as he looked around again. “I don’t … I don’t know if that’s the best path to take.”

Amara let out an exasperated sigh. “Why not?”

Liam blew out a breath. “I mean, it’s just that … I don’t think—”

“Liam … you’ve found something wrong with every house I’ve looked at. If I build, it can be to your standards … standards that I didn’t realize were so very high and specific until this process.”

“My standards are not high nor specific,” Liam scoffed.

“I beg to differ,” Amara quipped.

“My standards are not high! I just don’t want you to leave!” The words tumbled from Liam’s mouth before he could stop them.

Amara’s brows raised in surprise. “What?”

“I don’t want you to leave!” Liam repeated as he threw his arms up. “I don’t want you to buy a house. I want you to stay at the palace with me. If you’re going to move, I want you to move in with me. I want us to be together … as a family.”

Letting out a breath, Amara stared at him. She didn’t think that was an option — at least, not at the moment — because he’d never brought it up. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“Because I didn’t know if you wanted the same. If getting a house is something you want, I didn’t want to stand in your way … which, it probably doesn’t seem like that now considering the ridiculous excuses I came up with …” He scuffed his foot against the dirt. “If it’s what you want, then I’m not going to stop you and I’ll have to deal with it. But if you’re looking because you think I want you to go or because you think you have to … that’s not the case.” He held her gaze, seeing her eyes glisten with tears in the sunlight peeking through the canopy of trees overhead. He took a step toward her and brushed his hand across her cheek. “This is my official offer. Stay with me, Amara. Move in with me.”

Another breath escaped Amara before she leaned up and closed the small distance between them, pressing her lips to his. Liam’s arms wrapped tightly around her as he deepened the kiss.

They drew back a moment later and Liam rested his forehead against hers with a hopeful smile. “Is that a yes?”

Amara tearfully chuckled. “Yes.”

*******

Sitting on the sofa, Liam watched Amara move around the living area, picking up Sophia’s toys and placing them in their respective baskets after she’d gone to bed.

“You can do that later.”

“I’ll just get it done now.”

Liam chuckled with a shake of his head as he removed his tie. Amara and Sophia had moved in a month ago, and he’d learned very quickly how much of a neat freak she was. He’d always known she’d kept things tidy, but this was on a different level.

As she walked by him with her hands full of stuffed animals, Liam reached up, and she yelped when he pulled her down; her one knee landed beside his leg on the cushion, and he pulled her other leg over so she was straddling his lap.

Liam held her gaze as he took the stuffed animals from her arms and tossed them back on the floor. “Later,” he grumbled before pulling her down and capturing her lips in his.

Despite having lived together and sleeping in the same bed for the last month, they had yet to cross any lines. Something would come up or interrupt every time. They played it off as best they could but were both beginning to feel more than a little frustrated.

But tonight …

Liam’s hands slid beneath the hem of Amara’s shirt and settled on the bare skin of her waist, and he smiled into the kiss when he felt her shudder under his touch. He urged her forward, causing her body to arch into him, and when he felt her hips press down against his, he groaned and deepened the kiss.

A soft moan escaped Amara when he pressed her down against him again; she could feel just how much his desire matched her own. “Liam,” she gasped against his lips.

“I love when you say my name like that.” His voice came out like gravel. “Like the slightest touch from me will make you come undone.”

Amara let out another whimper of longing as her fingers began fumbling against the buttons of his shirt until it draped open, baring his muscled torso. Her hands slid against the taut skin of his chest to his abs—

“Mama.”

Liam and Amara froze at the sound of Sophia’s voice coming through the monitor speaker.

“Dada,” she whined again a moment later.

Amara leaned back, staring at Liam; they were both flushed and breathing heavily.

“Mama,” she cried.

Amara offered a rueful grin before she slid off his lap and headed toward Sophia’s room.

Liam dropped his head back against the sofa and rubbed his hands over his face in exasperation. It’d been so long since they were last together before everything happened. And while he didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to last, it wasn’t something he wanted to have to rush out of worry of interruption either. His hands fell away from his face as an idea struck, and a moment later he had his phone in hand and pressed to his ear.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Liam replied. “I need a really big favor …”

***************************************

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 @the-soot-sprite @esmckenzie @dcbbw @burnsoslow @deb-1106 @bbrandy2002 @charlotteg234 @neotericthemis @foreverethereal123 @choiceskatie @sirbeepsalot @gnatbrain @openheart12 @sincerelyella @superharriet @queenrileyrose @aestheticartsx @kingliam2019 @indiana-jr @bascmve01 @rainbowsinthestorm @emkay512 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @forallthatitsworth @walker7519 @iaminlovewithtrr @amandablink @mainstreetreader @mom2000aggie @princessleac1 @21-wishes @appleone @tessa-liam @pixelatedpassion @malblk21 @lovingchoices14 @nestledonthaveone @forthebrokenheartedthings @nomadics-stuff @differenttyphoonwerewolf

#daddy liam #he's the best #make my ovaries explode #got a tundra down unda #the royal romance #choices the royal romance #liam x oc #trr fanfic #trr au

117 notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 2 months

Text

Ghosted

Ghosted - Altering Visions (Chapter Eleven)

Series Summary - Prince Liam fell for Riley Brooks hard and fast. A marriage filled with love and devotion was within his reach. But everything changed when she vanished just before the end of the social season. As everyone voices their concerns regarding her scandalous departure, a confession from an unlikely source turns Liam's world upside down and makes him question everything around him.

Book/Pairing - TRR - Liam x f!MC (Riley Brooks)

A/N 1 - This AU starts right before the beginning of the engagement tour. There is a two-month lapse between the coronation and where we pick up, but we will stray from canon. Please excuse any errors found.

A/N 2 - It's been a while 🥲. Here's hoping it doesn't take me another six months to post the next chapter 😬🫡.

PSA it's a long one. Whoops, lol.

Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Liam fluttered his eyes open a short time later and squinted them against the harsh, blinding light blocking his view. When he took a deep breath, a distinct, stale aroma invaded his senses; it sparked some kind of recognition even before he could fully view his surroundings. He slowly sat up with a groan and blinked until his vision centered. He glanced around and noticed the outdated wood panels, along with the oval shape of the sconces. There was only one estate in all of Cordonia with those outdated features, and he noted that fact immediately.

Panic flourished through his body as Liam realized he awoke in Applewood.

He frantically stood with labored breaths and patted his abdomen, almost to ensure he was real. He pinched his thigh and winced, afterward placing a trembling hand on the wall to steady himself. His mind raced as he tried to comprehend what transpired and how he’d gotten there to begin with.

The events of the night suddenly invaded his thoughts. The image of a lifeless Penelope in Landon’s arms engraved and forever etched itself into his memory; he felt guilty, enraged, defeated, and a slew of other emotions.

Penelope was the big break they’d hunted high and low for. She held vital information Liam desperately needed, but seemingly would take her secrets to the grave with her. He couldn’t understand any of it — nothing made sense. The list of unanswered questions swirling around was enough to make him nauseous. A carousel of sorrow and confusion he couldn’t seem to slow down — no matter how hard he tried.

Amid his tilt-a-whirl moment, an angelic voice rang out not far away, drawing him back to the present. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Liam’s thundering heart suddenly stopped as recognition swept over him. He’d been so entrapped in his thoughts, he hadn't even noticed what portion of the estate he was in.

Only a few inches away was a door he remembered all too well — Riley’s. His eyes welled with tears as his vision centered on the structure, but as much as Liam wanted to rush to her, he physically couldn’t. The receptors in his brain went crazy — a jolt of electricity shot to his legs, demanding he move, but his feet weighed hundreds of pounds. Dazed and confused, he could only gawk at the blockade separating them.

“Lady Riley, we have much to discuss — have a seat,” another individual answered. Liam knew it was a male but couldn’t place his identity; although it sounded familiar, as if he could remember it from a vague, distant memory.

“Tell me who you are and what the hell you’re doing here!” Liam’s blood ran cold at Riley’s tone; the fear and adrenaline were prominent in her shaky voice. His breaths quickened and his instincts screamed to rush to her, but again, his feet refused to cooperate.

“That wasn’t a request — I told you to have a seat.” Again, Liam swore he could recall that voice, but couldn’t fully register it. He thought about it for a split second until the sounds of a loud screech and a shatter echoed behind the door.

“Don’t touch me!” Riley hollered, instantly breaking Liam’s trance. He lunged for the doorknob, but when he twisted his wrist, it snapped and turned to dust in his palm. The disintegrated fragments floated to the floor in slow motion, his heart following suit.

“You’re so beautiful when you squirm.” Liam gasped as he fully recognized that person — it was Tariq. “But if you don’t fucking stand still–”

“Riley! RILEY!” Liam forcefully pounded on the structure. “Open this door! Open it, goddamnit!” He bellowed, but the commotion inside continued, escalating by the second. The next instant, he sprinted down the hall, frantically hunting for somebody — anybody — to get him inside that room. “I need some help!” He hauled over to the other side and yelled once more, but faced only cold, deserted silence.

His vision darted all around the area before he spotted a window at the end of the seemingly never-ending hallway. Liam sprinted to it and gazed at the scene below. Outside, he could see the country jamboree still in full swing. He scoured the crowd and spotted everyone except Riley; Drake, Hana, Madeleine, and upon further inspection, he saw himself at the head table beside his father. He stumbled backward with a strangled breath, truly dumbfounded by what was going on.

As Liam recovered, he re-approached the window and banged on it. “Hey! Hey!” He wailed, but nobody below batted an eye. His hits came harder and harder, but the glass never even cracked; his hand took the damage, although he felt no pain.

The only thing he heard was Riley’s pleas for help, the sounds making his desperation grow by the second. He rushed back to the door and ran full force at it, using his shoulder as a battering ram; it wouldn’t budge. He repeated the process — again and again — but never even split the wood. Liam let out a primal wail and fisted his hair, taking deep breaths to preserve any semblance of sanity. His pulse thundered in his ears and tears stung the corners of his eyes, while he frantically determined what to do.

He took a step back and realized there was a shadow cast over the doorway. It appeared to be a man, standing with his arms crossed. He wasn’t sure if it was there before, but Liam waved his hand and nothing changed the stony silhouette. The fixture remained cemented in place, not flinching or moving a muscle, regardless of the commotion developing beyond.

“LIAM!” Riley suddenly screamed, ripping him from his trance. He was up against the structure in an instant, using every ounce of strength he had to force his way through, but his attempts were futile. Riley repeatedly called for him and every time, a dagger went straight through Liam’s already hollowed-out chest.

He couldn’t control his overflowing tears at hearing her cry out for him. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get inside; they wouldn’t acknowledge him, nobody came to help, and there was nothing he could do except sit and listen. With a loud sob, he slid down the door and sat in front of it, hoping at some point it would open and he could get to her.

Riley’s whimpers continued throughout the vicinity, but Liam’s skin turned ice cold as he heard laughter inside; not Riley’s, and certainly not cheerful. The vile sound caused all the color to drain from his face. He leaned his head against the door and completely broke down, letting the devastation and defeat wash over him.

“I — I’m sorry Riley…” He swallowed thickly, but soon let out an anguished cry. “I’m so sorry…”

The room went eerily quiet for a long while; Liam couldn’t hear much except the sound of his heart shattering, but eventually, the voices began once more. With a shuddered breath, he held his ear up to listen.

“When will I receive payment?” Tariq questioned.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Where you’re going, you won’t need it.”

“W–what do you mean?! I did what I was called to do!” Tariq’s panic was clear to Liam, even without seeing his face. His pulse somehow thundered faster, carefully processing every word.

“There is too much at stake — more than your simple mind could ever understand. For this to work, you need to disappear. You’re a weak, pathetic excuse of a man — we can not risk this entire operation being ousted because of a lousy nuisance.”

“I swear to it — you have my allegiance and my silence.” Tariq pleaded. “I will disappear, and—”

“You’re going to, alright — the both of you.”

What little color remaining in Liam’s complexion drained, and the shakiness in his hands amplified. After a split-second of complete and utter stillness, the phrase resonated and ignited a deadly determination within.

Liam sprung up and kicked the door with all his might. “LET ME IN!” He repeated the process, but again, the barrier showed no signs of weakening. He threw his fists at the structure in a mad frenzy — anything to get inside and get to Riley, then deal with this — man.

“Liam! Liam! LIAM!” Leo yelled. He repetitively jabbed the button next to Liam's head to summon the nurse, as his brother flailed in his hospital bed.

Liam was being monitored for dehydration, severe exhaustion, and a touch of malnutrition. Doctors said he had a panic attack, which combined with everything else, made him lose consciousness. All his labs came back normal, thankfully; Leo was worried someone could have slipped Liam something, but the hospital was quick to put that suspicion to rest.

Since Liam arrived, he had been resting comfortably, but that changed about twenty minutes ago; it started with small groans and subtle movements, but soon turned into blood-curdling cries and forceful thrashes. Leo hoped he would wake himself, but Liam was getting drastically worse with every passing second.

Liam suddenly flew forward with a loud gasp. His tearful eyes darted all around the room while he grabbed at his gown-covered body. As the world centered, a tidal wave of frustration and confusion washed over him.

When Liam stopped and stared down at his clasped hands, Leo cautiously re-approached the bed. “Liam?” When he didn’t answer, Leo spoke a little louder. “... Li?”

“I was there.” Liam weakly croaked, his vision locked on his lap.

Leo’s brows furrowed. “Where?”

“I heard it.”

“Heard what?”

“Riley…” Liam whispered, followed by a shuddered breath.

“What about her?”

“I was there… th–that night… just n–now—” Liam stammered, struggling to make sense of the situation. “I couldn’t get in…”

Leo’s heart instantly shattered at seeing the devastation in Liam’s features. “They gave you some medication, Li.” He reasoned. “It’s possible that—”

“I KNOW WHAT I HEARD!” Liam bellowed. The nurse appeared next to him and attempted to speak, but he shouted, “GET OUT!”

Leo lifted his hands in surrender. “I believe you, Liam… Tell me what happened.”

“She yelled for me…” Liam faintly answered, refusing to make eye contact. “She yelled and screamed and — I couldn’t get inside, Leo... I tried, but — I — I… I couldn’t save her…”

Leo took a deep breath to gather his thoughts and responded in a calm, reassuring voice. “Liam, it’s been a long couple of days and I know this has been incredibly rough on you–”

“STOP PATRONIZING ME! I KNOW WHAT I HEARD!”

Leo remained reluctant to entertain this idea. He knew Liam was dreaming, but at that moment, he was completely irrational. Leo had never seen him in such a way, even when his mother died. Given the past couple of weeks, the events of that night, and the medication, there was no rationalizing with him — Liam was spiraling, and bad. But perhaps if he entertained the notion — for now — Liam would eventually calm down.

Leo carefully spoke. “What did you hear?”

Liam stayed silent for a long moment before he turned his head to meet eyes with Leo. The look on Liam’s face slightly took him aback; the determination in his features was deadly — his sunken, puffy eyes were nearly black.

Liam let out a long, sharp huff of air and sternly explained, “There were two male voices. I can say with confidence one was Tariq, but as far as the other, I — I don’t know…” He shook his head with furrowed brows as he racked every recollection in his brain. He could almost visualize the man in question, but his face appeared blurred and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t clear the fog.

“Alright, well, let’s just take a minute to—”

“They were fucking laughing, Leo. They assaulted her and laughed about it.” Liam growled, his chest rising and falling with every sullen breath. “I want Tariq found, now. He’s going to pay for ever laying a fucking finger on her. I swear to God, Leo — I will put an end to his sorry existence with my bare hands.” He clenched his palms, squeezing hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

Leo once again held his hands up in surrender and replied in a soft voice. “I believe you. Just — take a couple of deep breaths and try to relax—”

“What if she didn’t leave Cordonia?” Liam suddenly blurted out. “What if she’s…” He trailed off, swallowing thickly. No part of him wanted to finish that statement in any fashion; the unending possibilities gave him instant nausea. “That man… he said, ‘where you’re going you won’t need it’, and then h–he said both of you... BOTH OF YOU, Leo!” He ran his palms over his head from front to back, repeating the process with a crazed look in his eye.

Leo opened his mouth to speak, but Liam swiftly continued. “It would make sense… Tariq has been untraceable… But–but Riley…. She — Bastien told me she went back to New York. But that person… I know I heard him say it… Where you’re going you won’t need it, where you’re going you won’t need it—” He repeated to himself, his voice diminishing with every anguished syllable. He clutched his hands into fists and forcefully yanked at his hair, rocking himself back and forth.

“Li,” Leo cautiously started. When Liam whipped his head to look at him, Leo was once more temporarily shocked by the fury and turmoil staring back at him; he realized Liam was hastily elevating himself to a dangerous level. “We can’t jump to conclusions… Okay? Let’s just take a deep breath and try to calm down—”

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Leo! I KNOW WHAT I HEARD!” Liam shouted as he ripped the IV from his arm, the pain not even phasing him. He ditched the rest of his connections shortly after and dashed out of bed. “Where are my CLOTHES?”

“I’m not saying you didn’t,” Leo reasoned as he followed his brother’s movements. “All I’m suggesting is that we take a step back and really think about this—”

“I’m tired of taking a step back! Look where that’s gotten us!” Liam seethed. “There is so much goddamn blood on my hands! I let her get hurt! I am responsible for all of this madness—”

“Stop that — right now,” Leo sternly returned. “You know that is not true even in the slightest.”

“Say it to MY FACE then, Leo!” Liam barked as he invaded his brother’s personal space. “LIE to my fucking face!”

“It’s not a lie, Liam,” Leo stood a little taller. “You are not responsible–” He stopped as Liam rolled his eyes and looked away. This time, it was Leo who stepped up to Liam. “No — look at me,” He bore his eyes into his brother, forcing him to see the truth in his gaze. “You are not responsible for any of this, Liam. We’re going to figure this out, I promise.”

Liam studied the conviction staring back at him and his frustration soared. He spun away and grabbed the bedside table, sending it flying with a primal roar.

Leo flinched as the wood shattered against the wall, but knew he had to calm Liam down. However, the person he was trying to reason with was not the version of Liam he was used to; this was a side Leo didn’t know lay dormant in his normally calm and stoic baby brother.

“Liam,” Leo softly started. “This is an incredibly shitty situation, and I’m so sorry that you’re being put through this. I love you, and I’m always here for you no matter what.” He confidently stated, but after a moment of silence, hesitantly added, “But I just don’t think a dream is—”

“I don’t give a damn what you say, Leo! Someone is going to pay for this!” Liam growled, his face reddening with every deep, labored breath. He directed his attention back to his earlier quest for his clothes; he didn’t know where he was going or who he was looking for, but someone was going to feel the wrath of the King of Cordonia — tonight.

Olivia didn’t even bother to knock before she and Ray joined the room. The pair opted to stay behind and investigate in Portavira a little further — that is until a random guard threw them out. Without Liam or Leo there to ensure their access, they were told to vacate the premises shortly after Liam left for the hospital. Regardless, they had enough time to prove at least one pivotal thing about that ordeal, and possibly solve quite a few others — if Liam believed them.

They walked in and stopped short at Liam’s crazed expression. “What’s going on?” Olivia sought.

“I’m leaving,” Liam bit out through clenched teeth.

“Hold on, we need to talk about something—”

“Move out of my way!”

Olivia arched her brow. “We need transparency, Liam. Tell me what is going on — calmly.”

“I was there, Olivia! I heard it! They fucking attacked her!” Liam bellowed as he found his garments and rifled through the bag.

Olivia placed a gentle hand on his shoulder to stop his mad dash. “Liam, please — I need a full explanation. I’m not stopping you or downplaying anything, but we need to know what the hell you’re talking about.”

Liam met her eyesight and saw the genuine interest in her gaze. He could tell Leo thought he was baffling, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t fathom the experience, but knew that was no dream; with every fiber of his being, Liam believed what he heard was reality. The universe mercilessly gifted him a blocked front-row seat — it was a curse, yet oddly a blessing. They spent all this time wondering what happened that night, but now he had a soundtrack to re-play. He wasn’t willing to rest until he deciphered this code, to ensure justice would be swift to all who deserved it.

He explained in great detail his occurrence and exactly what happened. When he finished, he stared blankly at the floor, cradling his head in his trembling hands; he knew how wild it sounded but didn’t particularly care. It felt so real — so raw. Just thinking about the vile chortles raised goosebumps on his arms, and Riley’s screams now played on an insistent loop in his mind — torment that would never stop. Even if good trumped evil and Riley was located safely in the end, those sounds would be a continuous source of torture until he took his final breath.

Olivia listened intently to everything he recalled. At the surface, she knew how preposterous it sounded — it was a dream, regardless of how strongly Liam felt otherwise. Her heart ached for her friend at that moment; clearly, everything that happened was taking a major toll on her childhood friend.

But — given the bombshell she and Ray sat upon, Olivia couldn’t help but wonder if there could be some truth to Liam’s encounter.

Olivia sat forward and patted Liam’s leg with the gentlest of touches. When she spoke, it was calm and reassuring. “I’m not sure what to say, Liam. I realize you want to believe it to be true, but you and I both know it’s nothing concrete…” Liam opened his mouth to respond, but Olivia held her hand up to stop him, as she saw the fire burning behind his narrowed eyes. “Let me finish… I know tonight has been hard on you for a lot of reasons, but I believe Ray and I have found a very promising lead…”

Liam’s ears visibly rose as his interest grew. “What do you mean?”

“Sir, I know it’s not what you initially hired me for, but there are a lot of things that do not add up in this current situation...” Ray started. “Between some of Lady Penelope’s behaviors, her father’s statements, and this—” He produced his phone from his pocket and handed it to Liam. “I find it very hard to believe she took her own life.”

Liam glanced at the device in his hands and realized he was looking at a photo of Penelope’s last statements. He read through it and found nothing of relevance; no mention of Riley, her involvement in the scandal, the maid, nothing. It was incredibly vague, considering it was her concluding words to the world.

“Why are you showing me this?” Liam demanded as confusion and annoyance rushed through him.

Olivia produced a document from her pocket. After questioning the legitimacy of the note left in Riley’s room, she wanted to have it near in case the situation arose. “You remember my blackmail letter — the one I got the night of your coronation?” She handed him the paper.

Liam held both items and scanned back and forth; he gasped when he realized they were nearly identical. “But, this — this means—”

“Someone took her out, Liam.” Olivia finished.

“I’m not positive if someone would have done it for her, or if she felt pressured into doing it. Either way, since she was saying goodbyes to her family, that leads me to believe Penelope knew she was in danger and foresaw her demise.” Ray added.

“This is impossible!” Liam shook his head, his rage returning full force. “How does this keep happening?!”

Olivia and Ray shared a look; the two calculated a theory, and it seemed the more that unfolded, the greater that assumption solidified itself. There wasn’t a lot of evidence to point fingers, but Olivia realized they couldn’t wait any longer; if they were correct, this situation just escalated tenfold. Liam already teetered an incredibly dangerous ledge, but perhaps that’s what the circumstances called for. Plus, after his — experience, she knew he would believe them.

Olivia softly started. “I need you to stay as calm as possible — at least until I’m finished and we know for certain who we’re directing this hostility at.” Liam nodded with furrowed brows, but Leo shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t know what to say about your — encounter, but — there is reason for us to believe Riley could be in Cordonia.”

“WHAT?!” Liam practically choked as all the color drained from his face. Even though he was there and truly believed what he heard, someone else saying it out loud momentarily knocked the wind out of him.

“I checked all outgoing flights from the night of the jamboree and she wasn’t on any of them,” Ray explained. “Every log received a thorough examination, even those with different destinations — she has yet to board a plane to exit the country, to this day. I’ve looked at other modes of transportation and she is the same as Tariq — there is nothing.”

“But…” Leo hesitantly started after a moment of tense silence. “If that’s the case, then where is she?”

Olivia sighed and her eyes softened. “We’re — not entirely sure at this point… Somewhere in Cordonia, but…”

“Believe me when I say I am checking everywhere.” Ray confidently inserted. “Every crack, every crevice — any place I can think of. If she truly is in the country, I will locate her.”

“Okay, but — why haven’t we found her?” Leo returned. The uneasiness in his stomach suddenly bolted to the back of his throat, securing itself and taking root. As he took in Ray’s uncertainty, the lump multiplied in size.

“I — I don’t have an answer for that right now,” Ray calmly returned. “But I’m working around the clock and using every resource I have to uncover her location. I know those sound like empty promises, but I assure you — I will not rest until Lady Riley is located safely.” He emphasized.

Liam’s heart pounded so fast, he was sure it would give out at any moment. “I — She — B–but —” He stammered, trying his hardest to comprehend the conversation. “Bastien told me—”

“I think Bastien is involved.” Olivia abruptly cut him off. “When we found Riley’s stuff, I swear to you, Liam, I saw the fucking guilt in his eyes. Plus, he’s got his hands in everything at court. I’m not saying he’s as powerful as you, but he can twist and manipulate things like no other because of his position.”

Olivia continued. “To be honest with you, I don’t think any of us really believe Penelope killed that maid. During the social season, I saw her cry over a fucking crab bite — you can’t tell me she murdered someone in cold blood. Also, I’m thinking, based on his actions tonight, Bastien knew Penelope was already dead — I’m nearly certain of it.”

“Not to mention, he kept this information to himself until we were ready to question her,” Ray added. “I know for certain those reports take only a few days — most likely less if it’s a priority case. I haven’t seen the photos from your first crime scene, but I can tell it was a setup from Olivia’s descriptions. As the head guard, it would’ve been easy for him to manipulate the situation.”

“Are you sure, though?” Leo interjected. “I mean, I’ve dealt with Bastien a lot over the years, and I can say he is not a genius. Maybe the opposite — butter knives are sharper than he is.”

“He’s capable, though — that’s what troubles me. I think most of the time he gives off the impression he’s useless, but he’s highly trained in a sum of areas.” Olivia explained. “I sincerely doubt he’s the mastermind behind everything, but I’m confident he’s the reason we keep being set back. Who’s always around? Who’s the one directing these ‘investigations’? It’s him.“

“I — damn…” Leo ran a hand through his hair with wide eyes. “You’re not wrong, and it does kind of make sense…”

Everyone suddenly recognized Liam remained mute as they spoke. His face showed no emotions; he only stared at Olivia as if she wasn’t even there with an unreadable expression. Liam was a world away as various open ends snapped themselves into place. The murky waters of uncertainty clarified, and the bottom of the cesspool became sharper with every jumbled thought dashing through his mind.

All security decisions went through Bastien, including unauthorized entry into an estate. Bastien was the one investigating the maid’s death, and he was accountable for the search for Riley and Tariq — until Ray came along. Bastien didn’t want to let Ray into Penelope’s room because he knew what was in there, and realized Ray would see right through it; past the stuff even Olivia would have missed. He could outsmart her, but knew he couldn’t Ray, which ultimately meant Bastien knew of Ray’s true purpose. He continuously told Liam he was working to provide answers, but suddenly, he believed Bastien’s intentions to be the exact opposite.

This whole time, a mole sat right under his nose, continuously feeding them the vaguest of answers. Every time they took a step forward, it was never because of Bastien, but someone always ensured they took two back. He didn’t understand how whoever held the cards seemed to be a move ahead, but now — it made sense.

Liam thought back to all these instances and realized he didn’t remember seeing Bastien. The night of the country jamboree, a different person escorted him to his room at the end of the night. He never questioned it because it wasn’t unheard of for guards to switch out positions, but now he wondered where Bastien truly was.

The night of the Apple Banquet, he recalled seeing him at the start of it, but not again until Bastien barged in to inform him of the discovery. Now, he couldn’t help but speculate Bastien took the maid’s life himself, or at least staged the scene to frame Penelope.

Tonight, before Bastien came to Liam and gave him the news of their suspect, he was nowhere to be found; until Olivia, Ray, and Leo left to interrogate Penelope.

When Bastien told Liam their person of interest was Penelope, he was in a state of disbelief. Liam questioned him, but Bastien stood his ground. However, now he believed with everything in him, Bastien knew she was already dead and intended to manipulate the circumstances further.

Since he opened his eyes to the truth, he often felt as if he mindlessly ran in a circle, desperately trying to piece small portions of a scattered puzzle together. Now he realized he was — and Bastien directed the never-ending laps, all while dangling tiny slivers of hope in front of Liam’s face — taunting him.

Ultimately, Liam concluded without a shadow of uncertainty — Bastien knew what happened to Riley, and likely held knowledge regarding her location.

Liam suddenly shot up from the edge of his hospital bed. “BASTIEN!” He bellowed at an ear-piercing volume, loud enough to rattle the windows.

Leo winced. “H–he’s not here, Li.”

“What the fuck do you mean, he’s not here?!”

“There’s some other guy outside!”

“He was still lingering around Penelope’s room when Ray and I left.” Olivia chimed in.

“That’s it — I’m going to find him,” Liam growled through clenched jaws.

“Liam, wait—”

“NO MORE WAITING, OLIVIA! Do you see what is happening?! All the blood that’s being shed?! This has to stop!”

“I know and I agree. But we need some kind of strategy–”

“No — this ends now.” Liam bit out. He hastily made his way to the bathroom with his bag of clothes, slamming the door shut behind him.

Olivia had half a mind to stop Liam until they had some kind of plan, but also felt time was of the essence. If they couldn’t prove Riley left the country, their urgency had to intensify. Her location remained unknown, but they believed she was at least in New York. When Ray first mentioned the possibility that she never left the country, Olivia didn’t want to believe it; after Penelope’s untimely demise, she realized this was a vicious, bloody pattern, and the suspicion needed to be taken seriously.

As the body count rose, Olivia’s concerns steadily increased. If history repeated itself, everyone involved would meet a deadly fate, but they didn’t have a detailed log of all entangled in this web. They had no clue where Riley’s name lay on the list of potential victims, and now they held very little information regarding her whereabouts. An involuntary shudder traveled down Olivia’s spine as the air in the room shifted, filling with an amplified haze of grim uncertainty felt heavily by everyone.

Olivia wholeheartedly believed Riley was alive, but for how much longer she couldn’t determine. The lingering feelings of uneasiness in her gut told her they were correct — she never left Cordonia — and if that was the case, her safety was more in question now than ever before.

Within the hour, Liam left the hospital and was on his way back to the main estate in Portavira. Although doctors wished to keep him longer, he left AMA — he didn’t need fluids; he didn’t need rest; he needed Riley. If Bastien knew something, he was going to tell them, even if he had to use brute force.

A part of him didn’t want to believe it, but the more he pondered, the more sense it made. A small portion of his heart wanted to give Bastien the benefit of the doubt, but that was no longer an option. The betrayal Liam felt was like no other and quickly created a raging storm inside of him, simply waiting to be unleashed.

Hearing Riley could still be in Cordonia, combined with his out-of-body experience, the need to locate her was higher than ever. Of course, he wondered where she ended up when he believed she went back to the States, but now even that was up in the air. The one thing holding Liam above water was knowing she was far away from the carnage, but that was no longer a valid crutch. The waves of despair rose dangerously high, threatening to overtake and drag him under in one fell swoop.

Liam tried his hardest to push the instantaneous bad thoughts away, but could feel it in his bones — Riley was in danger. From the beginning, he’d always thought something felt off, but he let his pride stand in the way of seeing the truth. Now it was impossible to ignore, as it tore away at his conscience. Guilty wasn’t even a suitable word to describe how he felt, knowing his negligence let this monstrosity escalate as it had. He turned his back on Riley when she needed him most; she screamed for him, yet he tried his damnedest to leave her in the past for so long.

However, he used all his willpower to remain in the moment and stay afloat; the only thing he cared about was Riley. Even if they found her and she wanted nothing to do with him, he simply needed to see with his own two eyes that she was safe. He didn’t want to think about why she could still be in Cordonia, but the growing ache in his chest told him it wasn’t a good reason.

The SUV pulled up to the front entrance of the estate, and Liam didn’t even wait for it to come to a complete stop. He rushed out and barged in through the front doors with fire under his feet. The halls remained eerily quiet as the nobility slept, but he was sure word traveled about not only his hospital stay but Penelope’s tragic passing. Leo, Olivia, and Ray all trailed behind as he ran at top speed.

Liam dashed up the stairs and rounded the corner, but abruptly stopped once Penelope’s room came into view. The door had yellow caution tape covering the opening, and Liam heard Bastien’s voice inside; the sound reigniting the rage burning deep within. He went to make a bee-line for the door, but a timid hand on his forearm ceased his movements.

“Y–Your Majesty,” Emmaline got out through hiccups. She retracted her hand with wide eyes and shakily bowed as he faced her. Liam’s features momentarily softened as he took in her running mascara and puffy eyes. “P–Please, Sir… I beg you to reconsider… Please — s–she wouldn’t d–do this…”

Liam’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“We were told they’ve ruled Penelope’s d–death… They w–were picking everything up but n–nobody would listen to us! That wasn’t her handwriting. She–she wouldn’t do this… None of it… She was happy — she wouldn’t—” Emmaline shook her head as more tears fell.

Liam placed a gentle hand on Emmaline’s shoulder and firmly responded, “I apologize for what you were told, but that is not the case — it will become a homicide investigation as soon as I can get someone else assigned. I promise you — I am going to figure out what happened and ensure she receives the justice she deserves.”

Emmaline swallowed a sob. “W–where did they take her body? They wouldn’t tell us. T–they came in and ripped my baby out of my arms and I don’t know where she is and—”

“Wait, who took her?”

“Your head guard said h–he had the authority to — remove her.” Emmaline squeezed her eyes closed as her tears fell harder, trying her hardest to wake herself from this nightmare.

Liam used every ounce of resolve he had not to march straight up to Bastien and securely wrap a hand around his throat. “Emmaline, I assure you — I will find her and bring her home. You have my word — I am going to figure this out.” He reiterated, but the fury coursing through his veins was at an all-time high. The amount Bastien thought he could get away with made Liam sick to his stomach, but he was determined to put a stop to it.

His answers were suffusive for Emmaline, so she bowed and made her leave. After taking a microscopic moment to gain some clarity, Liam addressed Ray. “Since I am removing Bastien, I need you to take over. And I want you to backtrack and look into Rhonda’s homicide as well. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to find anything, but I want you to double-check. I’ll ensure you have access to everything you need, and I’ll inform everyone you are now in charge here. The crown will compensate you generously for your additional time and effort.”

“Yes, sir,” Ray returned with a confident smile.

“Leo, I need you to figure out where he’s sending Penelope. I’m going to ask him, but in case he won’t tell me, I need her found before anyone messes with or blatantly destroys her body — there is no doubt in my mind that’s where she’s headed. Grab Maxwell and have him help you — I want her returned at once.”

“You got it.” Leo nodded before he swiftly vacated the area.

“I’m going to need some guards with me to do this,” Liam spoke, more so to himself than anyone else.

“Guards?” Olivia repeated.

“Yes. I won’t risk something happening to him — we will immediately detain Bastien. If he did nothing wrong, I’ll release and reinstate him, but until then, I am officially removing him from his position as head guard.” Liam answered, but regardless of what he said out loud, both of them knew Bastien was guilty; they just weren’t sure of the extent.

Olivia smirked. “Welcome to the game, King Liam. Would you like for me to assist with questioning?”

“I have a different job for you first. I need you to sneak into the security office and search through everything. If he’s working to cover up crimes or anything of that nature, he’s got to have something on him — I’m sure of it.”

“Knowing that cockeyed baboon, I’d say that’s a safe assumption.” Olivia snickered. “But I don’t know if I like the idea of you interrogating him by yourself...” She cast him an unsure glance.

“I don’t plan on it, Liv. I just need to find Drake.”

Almost as if on cue, Drake emerged from Penelope’s doorway, carefully dodging the caution tape. He glanced around and as his eyesight landed on Liam, he furrowed his brows and approached. “What’re you doing here, Li? Are you alright?”

“We have something to take care of.” Liam quickly and quietly laid out the current plan, as well as a vague description of their accusations.

“Fuck, man… I gotta admit — I had no clue why Liv and that guy had to leave, but I got to stick around.” Drake shook his head, trying to comprehend this blindsiding revelation.

“If I had to take a guess, I’d say he wanted someone Liam trusted around but needed to ensure the person was completely and utterly clueless,” Olivia inserted with a crooked grin.

Drake scoffed. ��First of all, fuck you. Second, you might actually be right, but — you’re still a flaming bitch.”

“Stop trying to flatter me, Walker,” Olivia retorted, afterward focusing on Liam. “Are we doing this?”

Liam let out a deep huff of air. “Yeah, we are. Let’s do this.” He responded with the utmost resolution. He squared his shoulders, craned his neck from side to side, and strode into the room with Drake close behind. Olivia took off in the other direction to do her part in Liam’s plan, moving with brisk precision to reach her destination.

As he entered, Liam got the attention of a few guards and motioned for them to follow. Bastien examined underneath Penelope’s bed, completely oblivious to the added presence in the room. He cleared his throat to gather Bastien’s attention, and Liam noticed his shoulders tense as he identified who stood before him.

Bastien slowly rose with uncertainty painted on his features. “Your Majesty? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be receiving treatment?”

Liam chortled as he stalked toward Bastien. He kept a smile plastered in place and shook his head, muttering to himself. When he made it directly in front of him, Liam lowered his voice to a low, gravely rumble; the fake grin he wore instantly replaced by a menacing scowl. “... I bet you’d like that — wouldn’t you?”

Bastien visibly and audibly swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, sir, but I—”

“Of course not.” Liam dismissively agreed. He took a couple of steps back and shrugged. “Regardless, you’re coming with us.”

Panic flashed in Bastien’s eyes; it was brief, but Liam caught it. “With all due respect, I’m not quite finished investigating Lady Penelope’s suic—”

“That is not what this is, and you damn well know it!” Liam abruptly shouted. A tense silence hung for only a moment until he cleared his throat and flatly added, “This is a homicide, and you are no longer a part of it.” He met eyes with one guard who got the silent order loud and clear, the other following suit. They rushed Bastien and captured his arms behind his back, securely holding him in place.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Bastien hollered as he attempted to evade their grip.

“You’re being taken into custody.”

“Whatever for?!” Bastien demanded.

Drake stood in Bastien’s line of sight, mirroring Liam’s irate features. He held his gaze for a long, heated moment before snapping, “You’d better hope and pray we’re wrong, Bastien.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Drake?!” Bastien yelled, squirming against the grasp of those holding him.

Neither answered the question but merely glared at him; the sheer betrayal and outrage they felt radiated off of them, eliciting a shiver to run down Bastien’s spine. He calmly reasoned, “Sir, I don’t know what this is about, but we can have a rational conversation without all of this nonsense.” He motioned to the guards holding him.

“No, I don’t think we can, because you see —” Liam stalked toward Bastien, staring into his eyes so intently that he could almost see the wall behind him. As he made it into his comfort zone, Liam lowered his voice and rasped, “They’re only here to get rid of your body if I have to.” He smirked at Bastien’s wide eyes, as well as his complexion paling instantaneously.

Liam held Bastien’s gaze but addressed the guards. “Take him down to the cells. I’ll be right behind you.”

As they dragged Bastien away, he hollered and stirred up a fuss. Liam ignored his pleas, instead trying to prepare himself for what lay ahead. He wanted clarity, but a part of him dreaded Bastien’s confession; it would be another stark reminder of what his negligence caused. The guilt tearing away at his insides was at an unfathomable level, but he had to push that aside to focus on the task at hand.

He tried to keep his composure, but the gloves were off; there was no more control. Bastien knew something and regardless of what he had to do, Liam was hell bent on making him talk. Innocent lives taken and families destroyed, along with Riley’s heinous attack — all of which rested heavily on his conscience. He was determined to serve a steaming hot platter of justice to all he deemed deserving, regardless of what it took.

The next step in making that happen was getting a pig to squeal.

As he stood next to Drake, the facade of a composed monarch slipped onto the floor. He didn’t have enough strength left to keep it together. He embraced his emotions and vowed to follow their direction, but the only thing remaining was pure, unfiltered rage.

Gone was the timid, people-pleasing prince with his mother’s baby-blue eyes. Instead, a carnal lion with dark, dilated pupils awakened, centered on the dangling piece of meat in his face — Bastien.

#the royal romance #choices the royal romance #king liam #trr au #liam rys #trr #choices trr #choices #ghosted #cfwc fics of the week #choices fanfiction #choices fanfic #choices fic writers creations #prince liam #drake walker #olivia nevrakis #leo rys #mature

42 notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 2 months

Text

Me, as soon as I saw the ZESTY SPICY CALL SIGN 🍋

“Is that any way to greet your father?” Grant shook his head slightly, the disappointment in his features evident. “You haven’t answered my calls, Aurora.”

I already don't like him.

If Grant were surprised, his face didn’t reveal as much. “Forgive me for seeing my only daughter playing dress up and wanting more for her.”

Okay I REALLY don't like him.

Riley opened the door, relief washing across her features. Leo couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked, her hair falling around her shoulders. He brushed a lock behind her ear, his fingers lingering. “Hi.”

Ajsjdjakskdjskskdjdjsjs they're so fucking adorableeeeeeeeeee 🥹🥹😭😭🫶

“Stephen told me,” Leo stepped over the threshold. “Where do you want me?”

Me, reading this part.

I have a few places in mind 😜

Leo hid a smirk, but also hoped Grant and Constantine never crossed paths. They’d become best friends.

Dude FOR REAL. They'd become besties in NO TIME.

“I was up for reelection,” Grant argued. “I couldn’t stop living.”

But you stopped caring about your daughter? Da fuq?

“As you can see,” Leo interrupted. “I have protection for Riley handled. Our resources are far superior to yours.”

AKSJJSKAKSJDJDKDKSKDJDJS I'M FOAMING AT THE MOUTH LOL.

“He doesn’t work there anymore,” Leo shrugged. “I’m friendly with the owner and told him about that night.”

LEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 👏👏👏👏 He's so fucking pure!!!!! Kdjdkakdjsjakdjd The amount that he cares for her warms my heart 🥹🧡

I’m in love with you, is what Leo didn’t say. He thought she felt the same, but they hadn’t exactly gotten around to discussing anything yet. In this moment, he didn’t want to. He wanted to keep kissing her.

Kiss her THEN SAY IT 🤣

“Leo is fine,” Leo murmured against her lips, feeling the edges quirk up.

AKSJJDKAKDJDKSKDKFJD STOP IT I AM DECEASED 🤣🤣🤣

“Leo,” Leo pulled Riley’s bottom lip between his, sucking gently. “Remember?”

The smile on my face literally fucking hurts. God... I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 🤣🤣🤣 I CAN SEE THE SMIRK SO CLEARLY AKSJSJAKS

Leo knew Riley was the woman he’d been waiting for. He only hoped she felt the same way.

OMG SHE DOES BROTHER BUT TELL HER 👏

This chapter was

I loved every single part of it! I'm anxious to see if/when they have that much needed talk, and I also really want Riley to tell Grant to go fuck himself LOLOLOL.

Midnights Like This Part Fifteen: Hold Me Tight

Miniseries Premise: Riley Brooks leaves everything behind to move to Cordonia after accepting her dream job designing clothing for the upcoming royal wedding. Drowning her sorrows one night, she meets Leo. The pair form an unlikely friendship, having more in common than either expected. Their feelings evolve, but neither wants to ruin the friendship. Will they take a chance or be content to stay friends?

Catch Up Here

Chapter Summary: Riley deals with her father, Leo and Riley spend time together

Book: The Royal Romance/Rules of Engagement

Pairings: Leo x Riley (OC), Liam x Marena (MC)

Rating: M

TW: Language, 🍋

Word Count: 3155

Music Inspo: Would That I—Hozier

Thank you to everyone who reads, likes, comments, and/or reblogs this. I appreciate it so much. ❤️

“Is that any way to greet your father?” Grant shook his head slightly, the disappointment in his features evident. “You haven’t answered my calls, Aurora.”

“So you got on a plane?” Riley blinked, bewildered. “I thought you were busy with your book or the exploratory committee or something.”

“That is precisely why I tried to get in touch with you,” Grant crossed his arms over his chest. “The committee went as I hoped. I haven’t formally announced it, but there’s a date set. I’d like you beside me at the press conference.”

A hysterical laugh spilled from Riley’s lips. “You’re not serious.”

Grant glanced around as though the stoic guard wanted to hear their conversation. “If you let me inside, I can give you more details. We can speak more easily. ”

Numb, Riley stepped aside to let her father into the apartment. She knew he would judge the inside but found it hard to care.

“Hmph,” Grant pulled a chair from the small circular table in her kitchen and motioned for Riley to sit. She stood straighter, refusing. “I know why there’s a guard out there. I have contacts, of course. Another reason you should be on the campaign trail where I can protect you.”

“Protect me?” Riley willed her brain to unfreeze. Her father’s presence, here in her apartment, was throwing her more than she’d anticipated. She hadn’t expected him to show up. She’d planned on answering a call, two calls from now.

“Yes,” Grant flicked a piece of lint from the shoulder of his dark blue suit. “This country is obviously dangerous.”

“Is that the excuse now?” Riley crossed her arms across her chest. “That isn’t what you told Ana.”

If Grant were surprised, his face didn’t reveal as much. “Forgive me for seeing my only daughter playing dress up and wanting more for her.”

“You mean you wanted to dictate my career path,” Riley challenged.

“Evening, Stephen,” Leo nodded to the guard beside Riley’s door, about to knock when the man interrupted him.

“Her father is here,” Stephen whispered. “He arrived almost a half hour ago.”

“Her father?” Leo’s eyebrows shot toward his hairline. Without another word, he rapped on the door. “Shit.”

“Hi,” Riley’s face relaxed, a smile touching her lips. “My dad-”

“Stephen told me,” Leo stepped over the threshold. “Where do you want me?”

Riley blinked a few times, looking up at Leo in confusion. “Huh?”

“Backup or silent witness?”

“Both?” Riley clutched Leo’s hand. He expected nervousness, her fingers to be trembling. Riley’s grip was firm. She was holding it together just fine.

“I can do that,” Leo whispered, eyeing the back of Grant’s head. “How are you?”

Riley felt some of the tension in her shoulders melt away. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Leo drew Riley into a quick hug. “So am I.”

Grant glanced at Leo as he and Riley walked past, choosing to continue the conversation he’d been trying to have with his daughter.

“You are meant for greater things, Aurora,” Grant rose from the chair, standing to his full height. “The opportunity of joining me on the campaign trail will be too good to miss.”

Leo watched Riley from the corner of his eye, ready to jump in if needed.

Riley felt Leo’s hand brush hers and wrapped her finger around one of his before taking a deep breath.

“This is Leo,” Riley said. “He-”

“Abdicated the throne yet still works for the crown,” Grant interrupted, aiming a terse nod in Leo's direction. “I’m aware of who he is. Why won’t you return Donovan’s calls?”

“What?” Riley’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of her ex. “He hasn’t called me, and even if he did, we have nothing to discuss.”

Leo wondered if Grant knew how obvious he was being. Leo suspected it was intentional. It was something Constantine would do.

“Donovan is lost without you,” Grant deliberately caught Leo’s eye, recoiling when Leo shot him a wink. “He was confused; he didn’t want to uproot his life.”

“I never asked him to move,” Riley sighed. “He’s irrelevant.”

Last Riley had heard, Donovan had moved on with a woman from work. That was just before she left New York, and she didn’t keep track of him. Her father was trying to throw her off, and she wasn’t playing into his hand.

“Why?” Grant cocked his head to one side. “Because you’re with Leo now?”

Leo hid a smirk, but also hoped Grant and Constantine never crossed paths. They’d become best friends.

Riley narrowed her eyes. Grant was making a guess, or he was back to his old tricks.

Riley knew what she and Leo’s friendship looked like from the outside. Marena and Olivia’s shared knowing looks when they thought Riley wasn’t paying attention was obvious, in addition to Marena telling her how grateful she was Leo and Riley had so much in common and were able to lean on each other.

“Having Carl spy on me again, right?” Riley was annoyed she hadn’t considered this sooner. “Predictable.”

“You’re the one who decided to pick and choose when you spoke to me,” Grant challenged.

“You don’t get to decide what you know about my life,” Riley shot back. “I decide.”

A tense silence stretched, Grant waiting for her to apologize.

Riley stalked to the door, twisting the knob. “I don’t have anything left to say to you.”

Leo stood beside her, hoping his presence was helping. He was ready to jump in if she needed, but Riley was handling her father perfectly. Riley shifted on her feet, moving closer to Leo.

Grant didn’t move to follow. “We need to discuss security and schedules-”

“I don’t need security,” Riley interrupted. “A handful of people know who I am and no one cares. As previously discussed, I am not campaigning with you.”

“There was almost an attack!” Grant slammed his fist on the table, rattling the salt and pepper shakers. “You do need security-”

“As you can see,” Leo interrupted. “I have protection for Riley handled. Our resources are far superior to yours.”

Riley saw frustration and irritation in her father’s expression. Words she’d been longing to say for years bubbled up, and she decided to let them out.

“I wish you would consider me at all before you made these decisions,” Riley’s voice broke, and she cleared her throat. “For once, think about how it will affect me, rather than what it will do for you.”

Grant took a step back, as though Riley struck him. “All I do is consider you, Aurora. Everything I do is for you.”

Riley couldn’t help but shake her head. “Maybe that’s what you tell yourself so you don’t feel guilty about never being there when I needed you. Like when Mom died, and I cried myself to sleep for months.”

Leo enclosed Riley’s hand in his. While discussing their respective childhoods bonded them, he hated that they were so similar.

“I was up for reelection,” Grant argued. “I couldn’t stop living.”

Riley didn’t flinch; she expected the response. Leo glanced at Riley, wondering if she’d caught the slight wistfulness in Grant’s words. As if he’d wanted to stop, but threw himself into his work instead.

“No one asked you to give up,” Riley sighed. “I needed my father. You shipped me off to boarding schools instead. I’ve always done what you’ve asked of me. I won’t anymore. No campaign.”

“Aurora-“

“No,” Riley said harshly. “We’re done.”

Grant shook his head angrily. “I’ll be in the country the rest of the week. We can speak when you’ve calmed down.”

With that, he stalked out the open door before Riley could reply.

Silence seemed to echo, and Riley felt profoundly sad. Not that she missed her father, but she missed the potential relationship they could have had. She let the door close, dropping into the chair opposite where her father sat.

Leo knelt before her, taking her trembling hands in his. “You did amazing, you know that?” Leo said gently.

“It felt good,” Riley conceded. “I didn’t think I’d be telling him all that anytime soon. You know what I mean. He’s your dad, but he also sucks, and you have to figure out how to reconcile the two.”

“Preaching to the choir, lovely,” Leo’s eyes crinkled as he rose, pulling Riley up with him. Riley’s stomach fluttered at the term of endearment.

Riley’s chest constricted, and she couldn’t keep the tears back any longer. Leo folded her into his chest, rubbing soothing circles into her back as she cried.

“I caught a terrible movie the other night,” Leo murmured. “You’d probably love it.”

Riley laughed thickly, sniffing. She’d wanted tonight to be completely different. It was so like her father to show up at the exact moment she didn’t expect him.

“Are you still up for dinner?” Leo dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “We can reschedule.”

Riley contemplated this. She didn’t feel drained; that conversation had been a long time coming. She’d be damned if her father screwed up her night with Leo. “Order in or go out?”

“I thought we could go to the bar we first met,” Leo suggested. “With nobody holding anyone’s hair back this time.”

Riley snorted, stepping out of the embrace. “Even with the creepy bartender?”

“He doesn’t work there anymore,” Leo shrugged. “I’m friendly with the owner and told him about that night.”

Riley’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“If I hadn’t been there, I don’t want to think about what might have happened,” Leo brushed a stray tear off Riley’s cheek with his thumb. “I didn’t want anyone else to have a bad day, try to blow off steam, and have that asshole prey on them.”

Riley threw her arms around Leo’s neck, her lips crashing against his. His stubble scratched her chin deliciously; Riley was surprised at the change; Leo was always clean-shaven. Leo pulled her against him, his tongue sweeping past her lips. The kiss warmed her, the way Leo kissed her as if they had all the time in the world.

Leo thought back to the many nights spent in her living room, how she’d sit just close enough that he could smell her perfume. Now, he was surrounded by her scent; her body was pressed against his, and it was better than he could have imagined. It wasn’t their first kiss, but it somehow felt like it was.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Riley whispered.

“Anyone would have,” Leo rested his palm along the side of her neck, his thumb tracing her cheekbone before moving to her bottom lip. “It’s not a big deal.”

“You haven’t met most people,” Riley brushed her lips on the tip of his thumb. “Thank you.”

“Do you know how grateful I am to have met you that night?” Leo felt a flash of emotion. What would he have done without her?

“That feeling is very mutual,” Riley caught his eye, smiling up at him. Leo couldn’t help but return the smile.

Leo couldn’t help but kiss her again. Riley’s arms tightened around his torso, her heart beating in her ears. She lost herself in the feel of his arms, yelping in surprise as her waist bumped against the counter island.

Leo broke the kiss, “Are you all right?”

Riley nodded, gesturing behind her. “I guess we moved, and I didn’t notice.”

“Sorry,” Leo gave her a rueful smile.

Riley lifted on her toes, unable to reach Leo’s lips. He grinned, lifting her. Riley gasped, feeling the cool surface of the countertop beneath her. Leo cupped her cheek as he threaded his fingers through her hair.

“Riley?” Leo searched her face. “Shouldn’t we talk?”

“Later,” Riley surged forward to kiss him deeply. “Is that okay?”

“More than okay,” Leo moved to stand between her legs, groaning softly as she wound them around his waist. He moved his lips to just below her ear, biting softly before swiping the spot with his tongue.

“Jesus,” Riley moaned.

“Leo is fine,” Leo murmured against her lips, feeling the edges quirk up.

Leo slipped his hands under her top, his fingers skating along her rib cage. Riley’s breath quickened as he caressed her. She clutched Leo, her legs tightening around him. Heat rose in her chest, and she marveled at how close she was, simply from kisses and a few touches. He knew exactly what to do, like he’d been made for her.

“Leo,” Riley rasped. “I need you.”

The words washed over Leo, his heart rate ticking up. Leo carefully unbuttoned her skirt; Riley lifted her hips as he slid it down her legs with her tights. “I’d rip them off, but I know how you are about clothes.”

“Much appreciated,” Riley laughed softly, heat pooling in her belly.

Leo slipped her shirt over her head, his breath catching at her gorgeous, almost bare form. “I can’t decide where to start with you.”

“Here,” Riley brought Leo’s fingers to her mouth, kissing them gently. She moved his hand down her breasts, her stomach agonizingly slowly.

Leo slipped his hand from Riley’s grasp once he brushed her thigh. Their eyes locked as he pushed her thong to the side, her breath hot on his neck as he plunged one finger inside her. Riley dug her nails into Leo’s arm, grinding against him. “Here. That’s where I want to be most.”

Riley writhed beneath his touch, small gasps falling off her lips as he used his thumb to circle her bud.

Riley‘s breath hitched. “I’ve wanted this. You.”

“I’ve wanted you, too,” Leo whispered against her neck as he left little marks in his wake. He wanted to stay in this moment as long as he could, with Riley wrapped around him.

Riley moaned needily, her arms winding around Leo as he added another finger. “Fuck, I’m-”

Leo tilted Riley’s chin up with one hand, his mouth claiming hers as she fell apart. Before she could recover, Leo slipped the scrap of lace down her legs and tossed it aside.

Riley fumbled with his belt, her fingers slipping with nerves and anticipation. Leo leaned down and pressed his lips to hers as he finished the job she started. They broke apart long enough for Riley to rid Leo of his shirt.

Leo slid Riley to the edge of the counter, keeping one arm around her. Riley braced her palms against the surface, her eyes meeting Leo’s. Unlike the kiss last night, she knew there was no coming back from this. The same thought seemed to dawn on Leo; his brow furrowed for a brief moment before clearing.

Leo brushed Riley’s lips with his softly. She melted into him, deepening the kiss. His mouth swallowed Riley’s whimper as he buried himself inside her.

“Fuck.” Leo groaned low in his throat, “You’re everything.”

“So are you,” Riley’s knuckles turned white as one hand gripped the lip of the counter, Leo setting a rhythm that lit every one of her nerves on fire. “Jesus.”

“Leo,” Leo pulled Riley’s bottom lip between his, sucking gently. “Remember?”

Riley couldn’t help but shake her head at the joke, but the heat building in her core erased every thought from her brain. Her hips rolled to meet his thrusts, each movement bringing her closer to the edge.

Leo’s fingers dug into the soft skin of her waist, her name a whispered plea on his lips. Her chest rose and fell against his, her breath quickening. He covered her mouth with his, swirling his tongue with hers as he increased his thrusts. He felt her flutter around him, her moans muffled.

“Leo,” Riley whimpered against his lips. “I’m so close.”

“So am I,” Leo nipped at the sensitive skin of her neck. “Let go. I’ve got you, lovely.”

Riley’s back arched, her nails dug into Leo’s back as she rode out the waves of pleasure that crashed over her. Leo chased his own release, stilling and clutching Riley to him.

Leo brushed his lips against Riley’s forehead, tasting her in the sheen of sweat that covered her skin.

“Wow,” Riley breathed, resting her head against Leo’s shoulder. “Tonight’s been full of surprises.”

Leo’s chest vibrated against Riley’s cheek as he chuckled. “That’s one way of putting it.”

Leo hooked his arms around Riley’s legs, lifting her into an embrace. She draped her arms around his shoulders, brushing her lips along his jaw.

Riley felt perfectly at ease, even though they had crossed the line; she was naked in Leo’s arms right now, there was no awkwardness.

So why did she feel a pit in her stomach, a small one, that told her staying friends was the safer option? That she hadn’t thought this through. The realization that she could lose Leo slammed into her, and Riley swallowed over the lump in her throat.

She was getting ahead of herself. Wasn’t she?

“Riley?” Leo repeated. He’d said her name twice. The glazed look in her eye told him she was far away and she needed to come back.

“Sorry,” Riley mentally shook herself. “What were you saying?”

“Shower?” Leo began to walk down the short hallway before Riley could answer. “Then-”

“Food,” Riley finished, leaning against the vanity once Leo lowered her, getting her balance. “I have mac and cheese if you don’t want to go out, but I don’t think we want a repeat of last time.”

Leo and Riley shuddered. It turned out that there was a way to ruin boxed macaroni and cheese, especially if you didn’t completely follow the directions.

“We’ll figure it out,” Leo twisted the knob, running his hand under the water as he waited for it to warm. “After I wash your hair.”

“That’ll be a first,” Riley’s cheeks heated at Leo’s tender tone. “For us, I mean.”

“Lot of firsts tonight,” Leo pressed his lips against Riley’s.

Leo encircled Riley in his arms as she deepened the kiss, pulling her into him. He could tell she was having conflicting thoughts. The truth was, he wasn’t. He’d never been so sure about someone before. Not even Katie.

Leo knew Riley was the woman he’d been waiting for. He only hoped she felt the same way.

But, if Riley wanted to chalk up tonight as a one-time thing, the result of weeks of tension and curiosity, Leo wasn’t sure where that left them.

Leo led Riley into the shower, closing the glass door behind him. Later. They’d talk later.

Tags: Perma: @ao719 @appleone @burnsoslow @charlotteg234 @choiceskatie @differenttyphoonwerewolf @emkay512 @foreverethereal123 @gabesmommie1130 @gardeningourmet @iaminlovewithtrr @imashybish @kingliam2019 @kristinamae093 @lovingchoices14 @lunaseasblog @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mom2000aggie @nestledonthaveone @originaljudgepiepaper @pixelatedpassion @platapirexy @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @queenmiarys @queenwalton @royalpest @tessa-liam @trrfanaddict @3pawandme @21-wishes

Leo x Riley: @mywildheartremains

TRR/TRH: @jared2612 @malblk21

MLT: @alyshak92 @belencha77 @irisk12 @karahalloway @persephone13 @starrystarrytrouble @tinkie1973 @walkerdrakewalker

#trr fanfic #the royal romance #riley brooks #leo rys #Leo x oc #rules of engagement

103 notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 2 months

Text

You’ve heard of one shots, now get ready for none shots! It’s when you think of an idea for a fic and then don’t write it

241K notes · View notes

kristinamae093 · 2 months

Text

Me, right now with my pretzels, ready af for this akdjsjqkskdjkaa

They were leaving for Rivala tomorrow, and Liam found himself on edge with worry despite them having spent the last month planning every detail of this trip down to the wire.

A whole month???! 😭😭😭

“I’d rather miss the rest of it than be away from her,” Liam replied.

He's too pure 🥹🥹😭 he loves her so much

“What does that mean?” Marguerite snapped. “Trystan, what the hell is going on?”

She sees right through Trystan LOL. But I'd be worried too! I AM WORRIED AKDJDKSKDK

“You don’t have to thank me,” Leo smiled. “I’ve grown pretty fond of Cocoa Bean.”

They all love her and I love that for her 🥹🧡

“You just haven’t seemed like yourself lately. You seem … distracted.”

Eleanor knows her son. She and Connie probably will be a little pissed off but I think after they learn what happened, they'll understand.

Suddenly, Leo began to laugh as he glanced at Trystan. “That brought back some fucking memories, huh?”

I can only imagine 🤣 I'd read a series about Trystan and Leo in college together.

“You’re going to help, Liam,” Trystan said. “The minute she sees you, it will help.”

The smile this brought to my face🫠🫠🫠🫠😅😅😅😅🥹🥹🥹🥹 sksjskakdjdkskdkfjsksk he's not wrong, though!!!!

Looking back out at the water, Trystan blew out a breath. “I’m scared out of my damn mind, not because I don’t think we’ll get her out … but because I’m worried we’ll get her out too late …”

Hard same. It's been so long akshsjsksjdj 😭

“I may be sneaking in to break my sister out, but I’m still going to look good doing it,” Trystan smirked as he tugged the lapels of his jacket.

⬆️⬆️ Trystan, busting in that mfer so save coco bean 🥹🤣

They held their breath as the SUV pulled away, and they both threw up a silent prayer as they watched it disappear down the driveway.

They're not the only ones! Akdjdjakdjdjakdkdjsk I am too!!!!

Please get her outttttttttttttttttt! 🙏 🥹

I love this story so freaking much!!! 🧡

Vancross

Vancross - My Way Back To You (Chapter 22)

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: Find My Way Back - Eric Arjes

Main Pairing: Liam x F!OC

A/N: Multiple crossover series. There will be random sprinkles of canon throughout this story, but for the most part, it’s pretty much out the window. Not beta’d. Please excuse any errors.

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

Catch up here

Standing inside the living area of his campus suite, Liam leaned against the back of the sofa and drummed his fingers against the cushion as he glanced around the room at the others.

On one end of the sofa, Alia sat next to Blaine and Simon, watching the two of them go over the details of their aliases despite having memorized them in grave detail over the last week.

Amalas was nestled in the corner with a laptop resting on her lap and Olivia beside her, showing her the program she would be using to hack into the Drakovian palace’s security cameras.

Trystan and Leo were on the other end of the sectional, whispering as they looked over the palace blueprints for what had to be the hundredth time in the last month.

The rest of the group had just left, but not before wishing them luck and demanding they keep them updated.

With nothing to do but stare, Liam turned and quietly slipped out onto the balcony. He climbed the ladder to the roof and walked toward their makeshift lounge; it now had one less chair after his meltdown last week. Instead of sitting in a chair, he moved to the parapet and dropped down on it as he looked out at the view of campus below.

They were leaving for Rivala tomorrow, and Liam found himself on edge with worry despite them having spent the last month planning every detail of this trip down to the wire.

An old friend of Leo’s was letting them use his SUV to take them to the private jet he was also letting them use so as to not draw suspicion from their parents until they had to. Having their guards’ schedules down, they planned to sneak out in the early morning hours while they were running perimeter checks. Liam had already played his Crown Prince card and ordered Anthony not to tell his parents that Leo and Trystan were there, but once they were “missing”, it would only be a matter of time before their parents would be alerted of their absence.

Trystan’s friend, who ran a security company in Rivala and was allowing them to use his cabin, offered to have a vehicle waiting for them once they landed.

Simon, Blaine, and Leo had packed their finest suits and acquired masks that concealed most of their faces to go with the masquerade theme. They had spent the last week being prepped by Amalas for any situations that may arise once they were inside while Trystan made sure the locations of the two exits they needed to know about were drilled into their memory.

Amalas planned to tap into the security cameras as soon as they were at the cabin, wanting to ensure everything was running as it should. Once they were inside, she’d be able to monitor everything going on and she and Olivia would feed Trystan and the others any information they would need.

Liam and Alia would be there simply as moral support to one another. They weren’t allowed to leave the cabin and Amalas made it explicitly clear that they were not to hover and watch the cameras on the off chance of seeing something that would upset either of them.

Hearing someone behind him, Liam glanced over his shoulder to see Trystan just as he stepped onto the roof. He walked over and sat on the parapet beside him. “You ok?”

“Yeah,” Liam nodded as he looked back out at the view of the campus below. “Just anxious.”

“It’s going to be fine.”

Liam glanced over at him to see the lukewarm smile he was wearing. For the most part, Trystan had remained composed over the last month of planning, but throughout the past week, his stoic facade seemed to falter now and then. It was little things most wouldn’t notice, like now and his halfhearted smile. He hadn’t said anything because he didn’t want to allow himself to believe that Trystan’s optimism was fading; it was the thing keeping not only his spirits up but everyone else’s.

Still looking at him, Liam thought about something that had been on his mind that he hadn’t recalled Trystan mentioning. “I meant to ask you … we’ve made these plans to get her out, but … what about after?”

“What do you mean?”

Liam swallowed thickly. “Are you going to take her back to New York with you?” It was the only place he could think of that they might go.

Trystan shook his head. “I can’t take her to New York.”

“Why?”

“The Homeland Accord,” Trystan answered, earning a questioning look from him. “It’s an extradition agreement Drakovia has with the U.S. It allows them to summon any Drakovian home at will, no questions asked, and the U.S. government has to comply. So I can’t risk taking her back to the States because they would have no choice but to send her back.”

“Then where will you go?”

“Honestly, I’ve been so focused on the task of getting her out, I haven’t planned that part out yet. We can stay in Rivala for a couple of days, but after that … I’m not sure yet.”

“You can bring her to Cordonia,” Liam offered without hesitation.

Trystan shook his head. “I don’t want to cause any unnecessary issues for Cordonia when my mother eventually figures out where she is, which she will. Plus, your parents are probably going to be livid with me for dragging you into this plan …”

Getting on the Cordonian monarch’s bad side wasn’t what Trystan wanted, but he had to risk it to save not only his sister but Liam as well; he was still convinced that had he not let him help, he would have gone rogue.

“Yeah, they’re going to be pissed, but more so at me than you,” Liam said. “At the end of the day, I’m an adult, and you didn’t force me to be a part of this … it was kind of the other way around. Regardless, they wouldn’t turn you or Croía away from refuge over it. And I know we don’t have any kind of agreement with Drakovia, extradition or otherwise, so that’s not something you’d have to worry about. And I … I’d be able to stay with her.”

Trystan furrowed his brows. “You do realize you still have school, right?”

“I did some research,” Liam explained. “I knew you’d have to take her somewhere and I … I didn’t want to have to be apart from her after only getting her back, so I looked into what my options were, and hers as well if she’s up to it. We can finish out the remainder of the year doing our classes online if the Dean receives a request with a legitimate reason as to why. She’s behind because she’s been gone, but she can catch up and still graduate at the end of the semester. And considering the circumstances, I’m sure the Dean would grant us the permission we need.”

Trystan stared at Liam, a little bit in awe at the lengths he was willing to go to be by Croía’s side, but he wasn’t sure why he was surprised by it at that point, either. “That’s a pretty big sacrifice to make, Liam. You’d be missing the rest of your senior year.”

“I’d rather miss the rest of it than be away from her,” Liam replied. “We could stay in Cordonia and do the classes that way … and she’d be safe there. Like I said, my parents wouldn’t turn either of you away regardless of how pissed they are. And again, most of that anger will be directed at me for lying and going behind their backs.”

Trystan looked away from him, thinking for a moment. “Well … let’s just focus on getting her out for now. After that, we’ll discuss our options. Because we have to see how she is first before we go making any decisions …”

Liam nodded and glanced away, and Trystan was thankful he either hadn’t caught what he’d said about seeing how Croía was or he just didn’t think much of it to ask him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to elaborate.

Just then, his phone rang, and Trystan pulled it from his pocket. Liam saw him sigh as he looked at the screen. “Who is it?”

“Mags. I think she’s becoming a little suspicious.” Trystan slid his thumb across the screen to answer it before putting it on speaker so Liam could hear. “Hello.”

“Hey, yourself. What are you doing?”

“Hanging out on some rooftop,” Trystan answered. It wasn’t a lie.

“Sounds delightful. Hey, listen … have you spoken to Croía?” Trystan winced before closing his eyes; he knew it was only a matter of time. “I haven’t spoken to her in a few weeks, and it’s not like her to not call me back … unless she’s pissed at me for some reason I can’t recall.”

“Don’t worry. She’s alright.” That was semi-true; Trystan had still been receiving updates from Everett, who had promised him that Croía had remained physically unharmed.

But that answer was the wrong one to give because it set off Marguerite’s alarm bells.

“What does that mean?” Marguerite snapped. “Trystan, what the hell is going on?”

Blowing out a breath, Trystan met Liam’s worried gaze. Marguerite had already been suspicious of his “trip” with Leo because of how long he’d been gone, and how he hadn’t been in touch with her — or Cameron, because of course they shared notes — as much as he typically would. His answer just now had inadvertently sent her suspicions into overdrive. And she now knew that whatever it was he was hiding somehow involved their baby sister.

Trystan hated lying to her, but he remained steadfast in his choice not to involve her. The less she knew, the better. “Listen … I know this is going to be difficult for you, but I need you to not ask me any more questions because I don’t want to lie to you, Mags. I promise that when I can tell you something, which will be very soon, I will.”

“But Trystan—”

“Mags, please,” Trystan interrupted in a plea.

Marguerite remained quiet for several long moments before speaking again. “Just … tell me you’re ok. That you and Croía are both ok …”

“We’re ok. Promise.”

****

Later, Liam stood in his room, changing into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt after he’d finished packing his bag. He wasn’t sure how he was going to attempt to get any sleep that night because as the time for them to leave drew nearer, he found himself more and more restless.

Hearing a knock on his door, Liam called for them to enter, and Leo stepped inside a moment later. “You good?” he asked as he shut the door behind him.

“Antsy,” Liam answered.

Leo nodded in understanding. “It won’t be long now. We’ll get in and get this thing done and it’ll be over before you know it.”

Liam could only hope it would be that easy. “I offered for Trystan to bring Croía to Cordonia to stay after we get her out. I know Mom and Dad are going to be pissed … but I told him they wouldn’t turn them away when they needed someplace safe to stay.”

“They won’t,” Leo agreed. “Yeah, they’re going to lay into both of us, but they’ll get over it. I’m sure once they hear why we did what we did, they’ll understand.”

“Leo …” Liam looked at his brother, searching for the right words. “Thank you … for helping with all of this.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Leo smiled. “I’ve grown pretty fond of Cocoa Bean.”

Liam cracked a small smile at the mention of the nickname his brother called her, a play on his Cocoa. It was the first genuine smile he had in weeks.

A chime on Liam’s laptop broke the moment, and they both glanced over. “Speaking of Mom and Dad …”

Without thinking, Leo dropped to the floor; Liam flung his arm toward the door, a silent question to ask why he didn’t just slip out, but didn’t have time to wait for a response before he turned to answer the incoming video call.

“Hey,” Liam smiled when his mother’s face came on the screen.

“Hello, sweetheart. How are you?”

“I’m …” Liam trailed off, seeing the door behind him on the screen start to open; he glanced over his shoulder to see his brother, still on the floor, army crawling out.

“Liam?”

“Yeah,” Liam snapped his gaze back to the laptop and picked it up, bringing it to his bed. “Sorry. I’m good. How are things back home?”

“They’re fine …” Eleanor eyed him curiously. “Are you alright?”

“Fine, why?” Liam answered a little too quickly.

“You just haven’t seemed like yourself lately. You seem … distracted.”

Liam chewed the inside of his cheek; he hated lying to anyone, especially his mother, but he couldn’t tell her what was going on. Not yet anyway. “Just busy with assignments.”

“Ok,” Eleanor nodded, but Liam could tell she wasn’t truly buying his answer. “And how’s Croía?”

“She — she’s fine.”

Again, Eleanor eyed him curiously because she caught the slight slip in his tone when he answered. “Where has she been? I haven’t seen or heard her with you when we’ve talked over the last few weeks.”

“She’s been busy … with assignments, too.”

“Hm,” Eleanor nodded. Liam knew that “hm” was her ‘I don’t believe a word you said, but I’m going to let it slide for now’ response. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah,” Liam nodded. “I’ve just got a lot going on.” That was the truth. He glanced up when Leo’s head poked through the door; he flapped his hand in a talking motion and then threw his thumb over his shoulder. Code for ‘We’re having a meeting in the living area, hurry up and get your ass out here.’ “Hey, Mom, I’m sorry to cut this so short, but I gotta get going. I’m in the middle of working on, uh … a big project …” Kind of true, just not the kind of project she was probably thinking of.

“Ok, sweetheart.” Eleanor offered a smile, but he could see the concern behind it. “We’ll talk soon. I love you.”

Liam felt a pang of guilt ripple through him. “Love you, too, Mom.”

When he ended the video chat, Liam tossed his laptop onto the bed before heading out to the living area where Trystan was waiting with Leo, Olivia, Amalas, Blaine, Alia, and Simon.

“Simon, Olivia, Alia, and Amalas are getting ready to head back to their suites, so I just want to be sure we all know where to meet later,” Trystan explained.

“Edge of campus on the north side,” the others all said in unison.

“Time?”

“The guards start their morning perimeter checks precisely at five,” Alia replied.

“And if one of you gets caught …?”

“We stay behind,” Simon answered.

Trystan nodded. “It should take you no more than five minutes to get there once you’re outside. We’ll wait another five minutes at the spot. If you’re not there, I’m going to assume you got caught and we’ll leave without you. Be sure you have everything you need with you because you won’t be able to go back if you forget something. And make sure to leave your phones behind so your locations can’t be pinged.”

They all nodded.

*******

Standing along the edge of campus, hidden in the shadows of the trees, Liam, Leo, Blaine, Alia, Amalas, and Trystan were waiting for Olivia and Simon. They had easily slipped out undetected by Anthony, Jacob, and Alia’s guard Rowan while they stepped away from their posts outside their suites to do their morning perimeter checks around their buildings.

Hearing the snap of a twig, all their heads snapped to the left just as Olivia stepped into view. “Had me worried for a minute there,” Liam quipped.

“Apparently my guard is a chatty-fucking-Cathy in the morning. He barely speaks during the day, but stood outside the damn front door gossiping with Evelyn’s guard,” she rolled her eyes before looking at the others. “Where’s Simon?”

“Still waiting for him,” Blaine answered.

The group fell quiet as the minutes ticked by. Trystan broke the silence when he cursed under his breath. “Where the fuck is he?” They’d have to rearrange their whole plan going into the ball if Simon didn’t show.

“He’ll be here,” Liam said.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of stamping feet and looked over to see Simon barreling towards them in a full-on run. “Go, go, go!” he shouted.

“He’s going to wake up the whole damn campus,” Trystan grumbled. “This way!”

They all turned and rushed into the pathway that led to the outside of the campus gates on the north side, where Leo’s friend had parked an SUV for them to take to the airport.

“What the fuck happened?” Olivia shouted over her shoulder at Simon who had caught up to her.

“My guard came around the corner as I slipped out the front door!” Simon huffed through breaths. “Apparently the old bloke starts his checks early! And he’s bloody fast when he wants to be!”

They raced through the path, swatting low-hanging branches out of their way as they went until they broke through the clearing on the other side. Leo pulled a set of keys from his pocket given to him earlier by his friend and hit a button; he snapped his gaze to the left when lights started to blink from being unlocked. “There!” he pointed.

“Lord Simon!” the guard bellowed from inside the pathway.

“Haul ass!” Blaine said as he raced toward the vehicle, gripping Alia’s hand and pulling her behind him.

Once at the vehicle, Amalas, Olivia, and Simon climbed in first to the third row; Liam, Alia, and Blaine followed, sliding into the second row while Leo and Trystan jumped into the front seats.

Leo started the SUV and threw it into drive just as Simon’s guard burst through the clearing; he peeled away from the curb before making a sharp right onto the main road.

As they made their way to the airport, the inside of the vehicle was silent save for the eight of them trying to catch their breath.

Suddenly, Leo began to laugh as he glanced at Trystan. “That brought back some fucking memories, huh?”

Trystan snorted as he dropped his head back against the seat. “Sure the hell did.”

“If that was a regular occurrence for you two, I’m going to need to hear some stories,” Blaine breathed.

Leo and Trystan both chuckled. “We’ll have some time on the flight,” Trystan said.

“We could tell them about that time we gave taking a pill in Ibiza a whole new meaning,” Leo snorted.

Blaine and Liam shared a wide-eyed look as Leo pressed his foot more firmly on the gas pedal.

******

Sitting in the back of the cabin by himself, Liam stared out the window of the jet, lost in thought as he watched the morning sun cast a golden glow across the tops of the clouds. He hadn’t even thought to ask how long the flight to Rivala would be; he guessed around two hours, maybe two and a half. A yawn escaped him as he rested his head back against the seat, but he couldn’t sleep; he hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before, either, too on edge and anxious to shut his mind off. And he was sure he wasn’t going to sleep much if at all that night with the ball taking place tomorrow evening.

While Liam was on edge with worry, he was also consumed by anticipation. He couldn’t stop thinking about the moment he’d be able to see Croía, about the moment he’d be able to wrap her in his arms for the first time in over a month. And that anticipation felt like the only thing keeping his head above water at the moment. If he focused on that, he wasn’t drowning in thoughts of all the ways in which this plan they’d spent the last month devising could go wrong.

The feel of someone plopping down into the seat beside him jerked Liam from his thoughts; he glanced over to see Blaine. “How are you holding up?” he asked as he nestled into the seat.

“I’m ok.”

“Liar.”

Liam let out a breath. “How about you? Are you nervous about going in there?”

“Surprisingly, no,” Blaine answered. “I blame the adrenaline, though. Either that or I’ve just fucking lost it.”

Liam laughed despite himself, thankful for the dose of levity his friend could give him at that moment. “I don’t know if I’ve said it, but … thank you.”

Blaine knit his brows and glanced over at him. “What the hell are you thanking me for?”

“For doing this … for being willing to do it.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Li,” Blaine shook his head. “You’d do the same thing if it was Alia. Not just because of who she is to me, but because she’s your friend, just like Croía is mine.” He stared at him for a moment. “Are you really ok?”

“I just want to see her,” Liam said quietly. “I need to see that she’s ok. And I … I’m trying not to think about it, but I keep wondering … what if something goes wrong? What if you guys can’t get her out? What if you guys get caught and you can’t get out? What will happen then? What do we do? Because we’ve planned everything else in grave detail, but nothing has been mentioned about those possibilities.”

“I think not planning for those what-ifs just shows how confident Trystan is that we’ll get this done,” Blaine said. “He’s very … ‘this is how it’s going to happen’, not ‘this is what I hope will happen’. And not in a cocky way. I think he’s just determined as fuck because this is his baby sister. Watching him plan all of this out … I don’t have any doubt that we’ll get in, do what we need, and get out. And maybe that’s why I’m not feeling as nervous as I probably should.”

“His confidence and optimism can be somewhat contagious,” Liam said. “It’s definitely helped me out the past month.”

“I’m not going to pretend to know what it’s been like for you, but just … keep your head up, brother,” Blaine smiled. “That’s really all any of us can do at this point.”

****

Once they landed in Rivala later that morning, the group filed into an SUV; Trystan plugged the address of the cabin into the GPS and they drove off.

The cabin was situated deep in the Rivalan mountains, not too far from the Drakovian border, and was about an hour’s drive to the palace. A few of them had brought up concerns of whether or not the cabin would be able to fit them all, but Trystan told them not to worry.

After a drive that felt entirely too long inside the cramped SUV, Trystan turned into a driveway that went up the mountain about a half mile. When the cabin came into view, everyone’s eyes widened save for Trystan’s. He put the vehicle in park and chuckled at their reflections in the rearview mirror. “I told you not to worry.”

“You said it was a cabin. Not a damn mountain mansion,” Blaine said as he flung the door open.

The “cabin” was massive, and sat on the edge of the mountain, offering a picturesque view from the front. “There’s five bedrooms,” Trystan said. “Someone will have to take the sofa, and there’s another sofa with a pull-out bed.”

“I’ll take the sofa, and you can take the pull-out,” Leo said to Trystan. “Everyone else can grab a room.”

Trystan nodded as they stopped at the front door; he unlocked it and pushed it open, stepping inside as the others followed. “If only we were here for another reason …” Simon trailed off as he looked around.

“It’s nice,” Olivia smiled.

“I’m not really a cabin in the woods kind of girl,” Amalas said, “but if I was, I’d have to agree.”

“Bedrooms are upstairs,” Trystan explained as he dropped his bag down behind one of the sofas. “He made sure the kitchen was stocked, so help yourselves to anything you want. We’re on our own for dinner, so work with whatever’s here.”

****

That night, after relaxing most of the day and having a thrown-together dinner, everyone headed to their respective rooms to try and get some rest.

Earlier, Amalas had set up her equipment and gotten into the Drakovian security system, pulling up the cameras on her laptop. And true to her word, she wouldn’t let Liam or Alia near her for even a glimpse of the screen. Olivia came to Liam a while later and told him that they hadn’t seen Croía on any of the footage, and promised him that she’d find a way to let him know if they did.

After lying in bed and staring at the ceiling for an hour straight, Liam got up and headed downstairs to get a glass of water. It wasn’t that late, but between their early morning and the flight and drive, the others were more tired than usual.

When Liam crept down the stairs, he spotted his brother asleep on one of the sofas; the pull-out bed that Trystan was sleeping on was empty. His brows furrowed as he looked around while making his way to the kitchen, and he stopped near the sliding door that led to the back deck. A wooden gangway was connected to the deck and led to another smaller dock, floating on a pond that sat nestled in the back of the property.

And on that smaller dock, silhouetted in the lights that surrounded it, stood Trystan.

Careful not to wake his brother, Liam slipped out through the sliding door and made his way across the gangway. He’d noticed since arriving at the cabin that Trystan had seemed quieter than usual. There was obviously something on his mind, and at first, he suspected that it was just anticipation now that they were there. Now, seeing him standing out there alone, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something else.

Not wanting to startle him, Liam didn’t mask his footsteps, and when Trystan heard them, he looked over his shoulder. “What are you doing out here?” Liam asked as he approached.

“Just thinking,” Trystan replied before looking back out at the water. “Are you doing ok?” he asked Liam as he stopped beside him.

“I’m … as best as can be expected, I guess. I just wish there was more that I could do to help tomorrow.”

Liam hated feeling useless, and that’s exactly how he felt. He knew he was only there with the others as a courtesy and that his presence made no difference in their plan for tomorrow evening.

“You’re going to help, Liam,” Trystan said. “The minute she sees you, it will help.”

Liam remained quiet for a few moments before looking at him. “Everyone keeps asking me how I’m doing … but how are you doing?”

Trystan let out a wry chuckle. “I’m ready to get it over with.”

At that moment, Liam saw that same falter in his facade that he’d noticed over the last week, and knowing something was bothering him, a pang of panic struck him. He’d mentioned it to Blaine on the jet but had avoided asking Trystan this question for the last month, but now … he had to know. “Are you … are you worried? That something will go wrong and you won’t get her out?”

Trystan glanced over and met his gaze in the dim lighting that surrounded the dock. He was worried, yes, but not for the reason Liam thought. He hadn’t wanted to say anything, not wanting to cause him more concern than he knew he was already feeling. But maybe in being honest and telling him about the growing worry that had been nagging at him, he could, in turn, prepare him.

“Too late?” Liam questioned as his brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Trystan sighed, looking at Liam with a vulnerability in his eyes he hadn’t seen from him before. “Croía’s been there for over a month. And I know the mind games my mother is playing with her and the kinds of things she’s been filling her head with — that no one cares, that no one’s reached out, that you and Alia and everyone else she thought she meant something to have just forgotten her. She’ll keep saying it to her over and over and over in an attempt to pull her further into her thrall. And if Croía loses hope … if everything goes dark and she doesn’t see a way out … she’s going to believe those things. I’ve seen her lose hope before … I’ve seen it go dark and watched her retreat into her shell … and I’m worried about how far inside that shell she’s going to be when we get to her.”

Liam swallowed thickly as he took in his words. He’d also seen her retreat into that shell, and that was after just a one-day visit from her mother. After five weeks … he didn’t want to think about it.

“We’ll get her out of Drakovia tomorrow, that I’m certain of because I will not leave there without her. It’s what comes after that I’m worried about.” Trystan turned to him. “I didn’t agree to let you come along simply to placate you. You being here will show her that everything my mother has filled her head with isn’t true. That you didn’t forget her … that you fought for her. That’s why you being here helps more than you realize, Liam. So please don’t feel like you’re not doing anything, because out of this entire plan … you being here is one of the most essential parts. You make her feel safe. You make her feel loved. And she’s going to need that … need you … more than anything else.”

Liam rubbed a hand over his mouth as he blinked away the sting in his eyes. He’d been so focused on getting her out and the what-ifs of the plan, he hadn’t really stopped to consider the aftermath.

About how shredded apart her self-worth could be.

About how broken she might be.

If Croía had lost hope and things were dark, Liam would do anything he could to pull her out of that darkness, to remind her of how loved and worthy she was. He could only hope that she’d believe it … believe him.

*******

The following afternoon, Amalas and Olivia were seated in the dining room with their equipment in front of them, making sure everything was still running as it should.

Blaine, Simon, Leo, and Trystan were upstairs changing.

In the living room, Liam sat next to Alia, both of them silent; his leg bounced anxiously while she drummed her fingers against her thighs.

Liam’s mind was a storm of thoughts and his emotions were no better. The guys would be leaving shortly for Drakovia and he’d be left there … waiting and hoping they returned with Croía in tow.

“Are you nervous?” Alia whispered beside him. “I’m nervous. I kind of want to throw up.”

Liam kept his gaze straight ahead as he reached over and patted her leg in a poor attempt for comfort. “It’ll be ok,” he said with a resigned nod. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.

“Well, one thing is for sure,” Blaine’s voice sounded from the stairs, “I can wear the fuck out of a tux.”

Liam and Alia both turned to see Blaine walking down the stairs, dressed in a sleek black tuxedo and carrying a mask. Alia stood and moved toward him with a grin. “Of course you can, baby,” she chuckled, reaching up and adjusting his black silk bow tie when he hit the bottom of the stairs.

“What about me?” Simon drawled.

Alia glanced up to see Simon and Leo, both in similar attire, both holding their masks. “Looking snazzy.”

A moment later, Trystan appeared; he was dressed in black dress pants, a black shirt, and a black suit jacket. “Then we have Bond here,” Leo quipped.

“I’m not going into the ball,” Trystan said as he buttoned his jacket. “I don’t need the penguin suit.”

“Why dress up at all?” Simon asked.

“I may be sneaking in to break my sister out, but I’m still going to look good doing it,” Trystan smirked as he tugged the lapels of his jacket.

“Here,” Amalas said, approaching them as they huddled in the living room. “Your earpieces. Put them in so I know they’re working.” She handed them a small device and they each placed them in one ear; they were clear and so small they were practically invisible. Amalas turned to where Olivia was standing outside on the back deck and gave a thumbs up.

“Hey, assholes,” her voice crackled in each of their ears. “You’re all looking very debonair.”

The guys chuckled with nods. “They’re working,” Trystan said.

“They’re equipped with a tracker,” Amalas explained as Olivia came back inside. “Leave them in and I’ll keep checking throughout your drive to make sure they’re still working.”

They all nodded again.

“And I’ve checked to verify your aliases are still on the guest list, which they are,” Amalas said. “I’ll check again when you arrive just to be sure we don’t have any surprises.”

“You guys have your masks?” Trystan asked. Blaine, Simon, and Leo held them up. “Alright …” He glanced at his watch: 4:30 p.m. The drive was an hour, give or take, and the ball started at six. “Let’s head out.”

Everyone blew out a collective breath.

Amalas and Olivia wished them luck and walked away.

Blaine and Alia stepped aside, and she threw her arms around him.

Liam walked up to Leo and shook his hand before they pulled one another into a brotherly embrace. “Stay safe,” he whispered.

“You know me,” Leo stepped back with a small grin. “See you soon.” He turned and walked out the door.

Simon clapped Liam’s shoulder before following Leo outside. Trystan approached him a moment later and held his hand out. “Try not to wear a path in the carpet with your pacing,” he joked as they shook hands.

Liam offered a halfhearted smile and nodded. “Be safe.”

Trystan turned and walked out the door as Blaine stepped up to Liam. “You good?”

“Not really,” Liam answered truthfully.

“We’ll be back with her before you know it,” Blaine said before he held a fist out to him. The two went through their playful handshake routine before clapping one another’s shoulders. “Remember what I said. Head up, brother.”

Liam and Alia followed Blaine outside, stopping on the front porch; he gave Alia one last kiss before moving to the vehicle. He slid into the backseat and tossed them one last wave before shutting the door.

They held their breath as the SUV pulled away, and they both threw up a silent prayer as they watched it disappear down the driveway.

***************************************

#vancross liam is the best #rare breed #too pure #I'd lay down my life for him #choices crossover series #the royal romance #trr #choices the royal romance #prince liam rys #liam x oc #trr au

96 notes · View notes