Prince Albert(87)
For a minute, I feel terrible. For all of his flaws, my father has always been a good man. Now he’s found happiness with someone, something that's eluded him since my mother’s death, and Alex and I are in here driving him into an early grave.
“Do you love her?” my father asks, without turning around.
“Leo!” Sofia says. "You can't be seriously entertaining this idea."
“Do you love her?” he repeats.
Do I love her?
“Obviously, he does,” Alex interrupts.
“Alex,” my father warns. “Stay out of this.”
“I love her,” I say. It’s the first time I’ve said the words out loud.
It's the first time I've been certain of it.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Belle
“You could go back, you know,” Raine says, sipping her coffee. We’re sitting at a café in downtown Budapest, people-watching. Raine's boyfriend is sightseeing with a group of people from the hostel, probably shooed away by Raine so that she could interrogate me about Albie.
“Seriously, I’m totally fine,” I say. It’s an obvious lie, yet I feel the need to say it. I feel the need to convince myself of that fact. “I’m having fun.”
“You’re having a terrible time,” she says. “You should go back to him.”
“After I flipped out and went running away?” I ask. “I can't. Besides, it’s Albie. He’s the playboy prince. There are plenty of women who will be throwing themselves at him. I’m sure he’s moved on already.”
“You’re so full of shit, Belle,” she says.
“I’m not! You’re the one who knows all about his exploits in the tabloids.”
“Those are the tabloids,” she says. “We both know that stuff is only partly true.”
I cock my head to the side and raise my eyebrows. “Please,” I say. “The stuff I read about Albie was mostly true.”
“But that was before you met.”
“And it’ll be true again, after me.”
“You don’t believe that,” she says.
“I don't know what to believe," I say. "I'm sure he hates me now."
“Go to him,” she says. “Tell him that you were stupid and foolish and impulsive and you ran because that’s what you do.”
“What?” I squeal. “Because that’s what I do? I don’t do that.”
“Belle.” Raine sips her coffee and gives me a knowing look. “I love you. But you know I’m right.”
I roll my eyes at her and exhale heavily. “Okay, I run. I ran. I fucked up.”
As I speak the words, my heart sinks, because I know they’re true. I fucked up. I was falling for Albie and I got scared and ran. And now it’s messed up.
“Do you love him?”
“My mother is marrying his father, Raine,” I say, shaking my head. “The whole world is watching us."
"That's not what I asked."
I still avoid answering her question. "I was sneaking around with him, and playing with fire, and it’s my own damn fault I got burned. It would have happened, whether he told his father we got married or not.”
“He told his father?” Raine asks.
“Yes!” I say, my voice a little bit too loud. I look around at the other café patrons, before leaning in closer to her. “He told his father that we were married in Vegas.”
“So he loves you, too, Belle,” she says.
“What are you talking about?” I ask. “He outed us.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Why do you think he told his father he married you?”
“Because he –“ I’m about to say, because he was standing up to his father. Except I know that’s not all of it.
Because he loves me.
Shit.
“Exactly,” Raine says, even though I haven’t said the words out loud. “And I know you love him. It’s written all over you. It’s been in every word you’ve said about him on the phone since you got there, Belle.”
“Oh God,” I say, my heart sinking. “I’ve been a total idiot.”
“A little bit,” Raine says, smiling.
“Crap,” I blurt out. “What the hell do I do now? Call him? ‘Hey, I know that I ran away from Protrovia and that our parents are going to basically disown us for this, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you?’”
“I probably wouldn’t put it exactly like that.”
“Shit. I love him. I’m in love with him.”
Raine nods. “So what are you going to do about it?”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Albie
“This is fucking ridiculous,” Alex yells from the backseat of the SUV. "Dad is going to kill us when he finds out we all took off – and that you guys are with us."