Trip wanted to marry me. More than that, he wanted to get me pregnant. I pictured him pressing his hard, muscular body against mine, his lips grazing my neck as he pressed my hands behind my back. Trip would take me however he wanted, because that was the kind of man Trip was.
I shook my head, dispelling that thought. It wasn’t the time to fantasize about the king. I was angry, not excited, although my wet underwear begged to differ.
I clenched my jaw and got changed out of my dress. The only thing I wanted was to get out of Starkland as fast as possible. I wanted to get on the first flight home and never, ever think about Trip, the king who wanted to knock me up and lock me away in some tower.
Once I was changed, I flopped down on my bed and resumed my internet research. I went through page after page about Trip, most of it in Starklandian and a lot of it poorly translated. I cobbled together as much information about him as I could, but none of it gave me a clearer picture.
He was a player and a bad boy. He had also served time in the military and apparently had seen real fighting. According to one article, he had been awarded one of Starkland’s most prestigious medals for bravery when he saved his entire platoon. I tried to figure out if that was real or just some crap made up by the royal publicist, but there was no more information out there about it.
I fell deep down the Trip rabbit hole. Page after page of his boyish, smiling eyes, his shadowy stubble, his perfect jaw, his dark hair. Page after page of him shirtless by the pool, dark tattoos covering his body.
Until finally someone knocked on my door.
I sat up, quickly shutting the laptop’s lid. “Who’s there?” I called out.
“It’s me.”
Lucy. I got out of bed and opened the door. She was still wearing her evening clothes, and I guessed they were just getting back.
“Where did you go?” she asked me. “People were wondering. King Christophe covered for you, but I wasn’t buying it.”
I clenched my jaw. “I had to get out of there.”
“Why?” She stepped into my room and shut the door. “It was extremely rude of you. First you slap the man, and then you leave his party out of nowhere.” She shook her head with disappointment.
“Do you know why we’re here?” I asked her.
The pause and the look on her face told me everything. “What do you mean?” she asked, trying to cover herself.
“Don’t lie to me,” I said to her slowly. “I can tell you know something. Trip told me. That’s why I left.”
She sighed. “They told us earlier, after we left you in your room.”
“Dad knows too?”
“Yes, he does.”
I was absolutely furious. “And you two let me go to that dinner?”
“We didn’t see the harm. If you didn’t know, what did it matter?”
“They were all staring at me like I was a piece of meat,” I said, angry beyond words. “Hell, to them I probably was.”
“It’s not like that,” Lucy said. “Yes, they want you to marry him; and yes, they want you to bear his children. But they’re not monsters here, Bryce. They’ll treat you very, very well. You’ll have influence, power.”
“I’ll be some foreign queen brought in to make the king look better.”
“You’ll have a comfortable life. Your children will be royalty.”
“And what will I be?” I asked her, turning away. “I’ll be nothing.”
“Don’t talk that way,” Lucy said. “Do you know how many people would give anything for this opportunity?”
“They can have it,” I said. “I’m not interested.”
“Stay and hear them out. Get to know the king. Who knows, maybe you’ll like him.”
“I won’t. He’s an arrogant ass. I want to get out of here.”
“Too bad,” she said.
I turned back to her and gaped. “What?”
“I said, too bad. Your father and I already decided that we’re staying and seeing this through.”
I didn’t bother saying a word to her. I simply walked past her, out the door, and down to their room. I knocked until my father opened up and let me inside.
Their place was as lavish as mine was, but I didn’t take the time to really pay much attention to the details.
“Tell me it isn’t true,” I said to him.
He frowned. “I take it Lucy told you about the marriage thing.”
“Dad, how could you?”
“Hold on now. I’m not actually marrying you off or anything like that. All I said was we’d see what you thought.”
“Lucy tells me we’re staying.”
He sighed. “Well, part of the deal is we have to stay for these two weeks before you can decide. If we leave now, you lose your chance forever.”