Dating the Prince(38)

"Liberty!" Alex said again.

She couldn't resist-Libby paused at the street corner and glanced back  at Alex. He stood where she'd left him, his shoulders slumped and hands  resting limply at his side. A few paces behind him, Finn and a few other  security guards held back the ravenous reporters.

She had to get away. Not just from Alex, but from Durham.

Libby turned the corner and kept walking.

She barely remembered the journey back to Connie's. Libby unlocked the  door with shaking hands and pushed her way inside. The flat was dark  other than a lamp in the living room. The floor was free of toys and  still held the vacuum lines from Libby's cleaning frenzy earlier that  day.

Connie sat on the couch, holding a sleeping Kenzie. "Hey. How'd it go?"

"I broke up with him," Libby choked out. She brushed past the living room and headed down the hallway.

"Whoa." Connie was right behind her. "Libby, slow down."

"I can't." If she stopped moving, she'd shatter into a million pieces  that would never again be made whole. Libby grabbed her suitcase from  the closet and set it open on the bed, then began emptying drawers into  it.

Home. If she could just make it back to Oregon, maybe everything would  go back to how it used to be. She let out a hysterical laugh and grabbed  her hairbrush off the bedside table. Half a dozen pennies sat beside  it-the last of her American money-and she closed her eyes as dizziness  made her sway. Those wouldn't be coming home with her. The reminder was  too painful.

Connie rested her hand on Libby's arm and Kenzie sighed in her sleep. "What's wrong?"

Kenzie. Tears rose to the surface again and Libby away from her small charge.

"He kissed Isla," Libby said. She yanked dresses off hangers, tossing them into the suitcase in a heap.

"Are you serious?"

"I wish I wasn't. I'm sorry." Libby's words were jerky and unsteady.  "But I have to get away. The reporters …  And he was kissing Isla …  I can't  stay in Durham, Connie. I need to go home to Oregon."

Connie stared at her for a moment, then her own eyes grew liquid with  tears and she nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'll help you pack."

Fresh tears fell down Libby's cheeks and she wrapped her arms around  Connie and pulled her close. "I'm so sorry. I was supposed to help make  life easier for you, but all I've done is date a prince and get my heart  broken."

"I'm so sorry, Libby."

"Me too."

Connie left the room, then returned moments later without Kenzie. She  took the messy pile of dresses out of Libby's suitcase and started  folding them without a word.

"What are you going to do when I'm gone?" Libby choked out.

"Oh, Libby." Connie gave her a quick side hug. "Don't worry about us. I'll figure something out."

It would be like she was never here. Another stab to the heart. "I'm so  sorry." Libby felt like a broken record, but she didn't know what else  to say.

"Stop apologizing. Right now you need to take care of yourself."

"You told me he'd break my heart," Libby said softly.

"I know," Connie said. "Now go home and try to repair it."

Twenty-six hours later, Libby was back in Ocean Meadow.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE



She was really gone. Alex slumped against the cool leather of the sedan,  grateful for the tinted windows that hid him from prying eyes. Finn sat  silently beside him. Alex tugged at his tie, fighting for breath.

What had just happened?

The car pulled to a stop at the family's private entrance. A light  drizzle had started to fall during the drive. Alex stumbled inside, not  caring.         

     



 

Maggie jumped forward as the door banged closed behind Alex.

"Your Highness," she said. "The video of the breakup is already the top  trending story in Castlebridge. It'll hit number one in all of Durham  within the hour, and in the rest of Europe and the United States by  morning. What happened?"

For the first time in his life, Alex didn't care what anyone else had to  say about the situation. He ignored Maggie and headed toward his suite.

"Your Highness!" Maggie called. But Alex kept walking.

Dennis caught up with him, a tablet in hand. "Your Highness, shouldn't  you be on your way to you meeting with the Markendom ambassador?"

"Cancel all my appointments until further notice," Alex said, then slammed his door shut and turned the lock.

He wrenched off his tie and threw it on the floor, then kicked off his  shoes and stumbled to the bed. Alex collapsed onto the duvet, his eyes  burning with tears that refused to break free.

It was good that Libby had left. She was better off without him. This  life would only destroy her free spirit and staying would've turned her  into a hollow shell of the woman he loved. But he'd had no idea losing  her would hurt this much.

He closed his eyes shut and inhaled painfully. Until today, he hadn't  been sure that he did love Libby. Now he knew for sure how deep his  feelings ran. A small part of him wondered if he'd said that  all-important four-letter word if she would've stayed.

It was better this way. He wouldn't be able to break her like she'd broken him.

Alex stayed in his room and refused to come out for the rest of the  week. First Stefan stopped by and offered to talk. Alex turned him away.  Henry tried next, showing up with a bottle of forty-year-old bourbon  and a promise of a good time. Alex wasn't even tempted. Charlotte tried  next. She was much more demanding than his brothers had been. At first,  she coaxed and cajoled before finally losing her temper and yelling at  him to stop being such a baby. But Alex ignored her, too. Oliver and  Emma were gentler in their approaches. Oliver tried to get Alex to watch  the polo match against Aragonia in the media theater and Emma brought  Alex freshly baked cookies. But nothing his family did could soothe  Alex's aching heart.

At least Isla finally seemed satisfied. She was once again a top  trending news story and her box office numbers for the latest hit had  exploded as a result. Meanwhile, Emma had let it slip that Libby had  returned to Oregon. Another knife in Alex's heart. Any lingering hope  had been dashed with that news.

She'd really left. Decided Alex wasn't worth the trouble and headed back  to the United States, leaving a bigger PR disaster in her wake than the  one she'd been hired to solve. But none of that mattered to him now.

Eight days after Libby left, a knock sounded at Alex's bedroom door. He  grunted and rolled over, covering his head with a pillow. The knock came  again, more persistent than before.

"Go away," he growled. It was probably Charlotte, back to yell at him some more.

"I will not go away," said a clipped voice with a distinct Galian accent. "Open this door at once, Alexander."

Alex groaned. He hadn't showered yet today and still wore pajama pants  and a loose T-shirt. But not even the crown prince said no to the queen.

He threw open the door. Nicolette pushed her way inside, a frown on her  pursed red lips and a flared skirt swishing around her calves. "Are you  finished sulking?"

Alex let the door swing closed behind her. "Hello to you, too."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were expecting niceties." She  wrinkled her nose and glanced around the room. "Good heavens, Alex. You  could at least let the maids in to tidy up. It smells like a pigsty in  here."

"I've been a little preoccupied, Mother."

"Me too, trying to minimize the damage. That whole plan ended  spectacularly." Nicolette folded her arms and glared. "The press claims  you were cheating on Libby with Isla and that's why Libby called off the  wedding. It's rather hard to argue with the evidence since she handed  back the ring mere moments after you were photographed kissing a tramp."

Alex massaged his temples, weariness overpowering him. "Another misunderstanding."

"Any more and the crown will be in shambles."

Her words snapped like a rubber band. Alex felt himself break. "I'm  sorry!" he roared. "I'm sorry that I'm such a disappointment, Mother.  But the only thing I'm guilty of is being naive. It's not like I planned  for Isla to cheat on me, or that I planned to breakup with her, or that  I planned to be kissed by her at the children's hospital and be dumped  publicly-again. But I truly am sorry that my stupidity has affected the  family so. If you and Father think it's for the best, I'll abdicate.  Stefan would be a brilliant king." It wasn't like Henry was next in  line. Stefan would do fine.         

     



 

Nicolette blinked, her mouth open in a small o. "Well," she said, her  chest heaving. "That was quite the outburst. I hope you feel better  now."

His shoulders slumped and he sank onto the couch. Add yelling at his mother to his list of failures. "Not really."

Nicolette sat down beside him. Something lightly tapped his back once,  twice, three times. Alex looked up in surprise. Was she patting his  back? The movement was a little too abrupt, as though she wasn't quite  sure how to comfort someone. "I am sorry you've experienced so much  stress lately, Alexander. Your father and I never wanted any of this to  happen. Of course we're worried about how the drama is impacting the  crown, but we're also concerned about you."