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An American Cinderella:A Royal Love Story(43)

By:Krista Lakes


I sighed. She was beyond saving.

"Good bye, Audrey." I turned and left her house. Outside the sun had  painted the sky into a glorious shade of red. I stopped to let it warm  my face. I didn't need a jacket anymore, so I took it off and folded it  over my arm.

I walked to the bus station and found my bus. The bus then left without  me on it. Instead, I got into the backseat of a waiting black town-car  with tinted windows.

"It's done," I said, closing the door behind me.

Henry kissed me, wrapping his arm around me. I handed my coat to the man in the passenger seat.

"She thought I had a recording device. She never suspected it was  video," I told him. "She said she didn't take it, but it's very clear  that she did on the tape."

"Excellent." The man took the top button from my coat and pulled out the  tiny video camera inside it. I'd gotten everything on film. "That is  exactly what we need."

I nodded. The man was a detective working with me and the Paradisian government.

Henry hugged me. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly. "I'm still shaking."

Henry took my hands in his. His warmth radiated through me and I felt stronger.

I still couldn't believe I had pulled it off.

"What's going to happen next?" I asked the man in the front seat.

The detective carefully put the camera into a case before putting it  away. "Tomorrow, she'll go to sell that data. We'll follow her to her  buyers. There, we'll capture all of them and prosecute them for their  crimes."

I knew that the data she had was fake. Henry's "knights" had spent the  last ten hours creating hundreds of documents that had absolutely no  information but looked like they did. Everything she had was made up. It  wouldn't be worth a dime, but she would try and sell it tomorrow  anyway.

"You aren't guilty of anything," Henry said. "I made public the photo  she has that you took. It's public information now. She can't use it  against you. You don't have to worry." He gave me a gentle squeeze.

"I know, and I really appreciate it," I told him. I looked at the  direction of her house and sighed. "I just... I feel guilty about  setting her up."

"Whatever for?" the detective asked. "She did far worse to you."

"Yes, but..." I shrugged. "She's still my stepmother. As terrible as she  is, Audrey is still the closest thing I have to family."

Henry reached up and put his hand to my cheek, turning me to him. "And  that's why I love you," he said with a smile. "You never give up on  people. You always see the best in them. Even dragons."

I tried to smile at the compliment, but I still felt guilty. Not super  guilty, but the idea that the woman my father married would be spending  the rest of her life in jail because of what I did was a little bit of a  downer.

"I will ask them to be merciful," Henry told me. He smiled. "Would that make you happier?"

I looked up into his beautiful kind eyes. "You'd do that?"

"I'd do anything for you, my princess," he replied. "Even show mercy to the dragon."

I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

My prince. My hero. My love.





Chapter 30





I didn't watch the news for the next week. I was told that my stepmother  was on quite frequently. Well, the video of her being arrested was on  quite frequently. They didn't show much more than that as my name was to  be kept out of the press entirely. I was absolved of all wrong doing as  my stepmother obviously coerced me.

I didn't want to watch the news of my stepmother. Instead, I enjoyed my  time off of work and spent it with Henry. For two weeks, we either  stayed at my place or with his family. I ate meals with him and his  brothers and even managed to make the older one smile a time or two.         

     



 

His mother accepted me like a long lost daughter. For the first time  since my father died, I knew what it felt like to have a family around  me again.

For two weeks, Henry and I did nothing that required us to be regal. We  were just a normal couple that went out for dinner and stayed in a nice  hotel. There were some perks to him being royal, but we spent many of  our evenings holed up in my tiny apartment doing nothing but talking and  kissing.

Henry kept attempting to teach me how to cook and I managed not to burn  down the kitchen a single time. I did set a turkey on fire, but caught  it before it spread. We ate grilled cheese that night.

It was heaven.

But I knew it had to end. He was a prince of Paradisa. The trade  negotiations were over. It was time for him to go home and help rule his  country. I had to decide if I would go back to work for the senator.

Since meeting Henry, I was having a hard time finding the enthusiasm to  return to my former life. As much as I had once loved it, I loved my  time with Henry more. I loved who I was around him more than I liked  myself as a senator's aide.



The days flew by, and before I knew it, it was Henry's last evening in  America. We'd decided to eat grilled cheese and go for a walk, just like  we did for our first lunch date. The food sat heavy in my stomach as we  walked down the street toward the Reflecting Pool.

"I can't believe you're leaving," I said, taking his hand in mine. The  weather was warm and perfect. Spring was slowly giving way to the heat  of summer. The trees leafed out in full green to the blue sky full of  cotton clouds. The sky still held the light of day for a few minutes  longer every day, so the golds and purples hadn't started yet.

We walked past the tourists taking pictures and talking. Their voices  made a gentle hum of sound as we worked our way down the street. It felt  so different than the first time we'd done this. It was better, and so  much worse because he would be leaving in the morning.

"You will come and visit me soon?" Henry asked, his eyes looking far  ahead as we walked. He was acting nervous again. He looked comfortable  on the outside, but his eyes darted to me too many times and he kept  swallowing hard.

I nodded. "I have my plane tickets. I'm just waiting on my passport. It  seems to have gotten held up somewhere. Once I have it, I can come."

He nodded and tugged on my hand. "This way."

I frowned slightly as he pulled me away from the fountains of the World  War II memorial and across the grass toward the Washington Monument, but  I didn't fight him.

He brought me to the spot where we first met in front of the Washington  Monument. I thought for a moment of my father and how this had been a  special place for the two of us.

It was more special now. Now it was the place that I met Henry, the love  of my life. I remembered how he crashed into me, his legs tangling up  with mine. I still liked tangling my legs with his, though I appreciated  not being knocked to the ground.

"Did you bring a Frisbee?" I asked, turning from the monument to grin at him.

"Not quite."

He went down on one knee and pulled out a small box from his pocket. My heart trembled.

"Aria Ritter of America, I love you." His blue eyes came to mine, full  of hope and love. His red-gold hair caught the sunshine like beautiful  fire. "I love that you don't see me as a prince. You see a man. You see  me as no one ever has."

He swallowed hard, his nerves suddenly apparent as his fingers fumbled  with the lid of the box. He pushed the lid back to reveal a single  solitaire diamond in a simple white gold setting.

"This is the ring my father proposed to my mother with. They were  blessed with a wonderful and loving marriage." Henry's voice cracked as  he looked up at me. "I would be honored if you would wear it to marry me  and follow in their path."

The world slowed for a moment of crystal clarity once again. I could see  our lives together. We would be happy. We would grow old in a world of  our making. In a world where love reigned.

"Yes," I whispered. A slow smile spread across my face turning into an all-consuming grin. "Yes!"

Henry jumped to his feet, his face bright with joy. He kissed me,  tangling his fingers into my hair and crushing my mouth to his.

All around us the tourists turned into family. I recognized Henry's  brothers as they ran forward to congratulate us. Jaqui whooped her  approval as she ran forward with Gus. I could even see Senator Glenn  walking along the grass toward us.

I turned to look at Henry. "I thought you'd want them here," he said with a small blush.

I kissed his cheek. "You know me perfectly."

He grinned and dodged a punch in the arm from his younger brother.         

     



 

"He asked me for permission, you know," Gus said, coming up beside me. "Poor guy was a nervous wreck."

I looked over at the giant man standing beside me. "What'd you say?"

"He gave me a bottle of Paradisian scotch," Gus replied. "Of course I said yes."

I laughed. "I'm glad I'm worth a bottle of scotch to you," I teased him.