“I’m not interested,” Liam said, lying through his teeth. He’d wanted to check the newspapers too, but he hadn’t allowed himself—it would be the start of a slippery slope that could easily end with him abandoning all his values and following Jenna to her homeland.
Dylan took Bonnie from Adam and spoke while he played with her fingers, as if this wasn’t big news. “And it turns out that she has a baby, Princess Margarethe. The Larsland people have embraced them.” He frowned. “I had to put it through a translation program, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it said. Of course it could be they’ve got two new otters at the zoo called Jenna and Margarethe and the Larsland people have fed them. In some places it was hard to decipher.”
Liam’s chest expanded. Jenna had been worried about how it would all go down when she returned, but it seemed she’d been able to make peace with her family—at least enough that they’d presented her to the people again. She would be able to live the life she’d been brought up to live.
The life that was far away from his.
“That’s good to hear,” he said, ensuring his voice was even.
“Come off it, Liam,” Adam said, throwing his hands up. “Don’t try to deny you love her. We all saw it at the launch of the Midnight Lily.”
Every muscle in his body clenched tight at being confronted with the truth in such a cavalier way. “Of course I love her. What’s that got to do with it?”
“Are you intimidated because she’s a princess?” Adam asked, rocking back on his heels.
Dylan nodded. “I can see why he would be. She was too good for him before we found out she was a princess. Now she’s totally out of his league.”
“The door’s that way,” Liam said, planting his hands low on his hips and nodding to the front door. “Don’t let me keep you from whatever it is you usually do on a Sunday morning.”
“Yep,” Dylan said, turning to Adam, “definitely grouchy. Seems we arrived just in time.”
“She lied to me,” Liam said before he could stop himself. “You can’t build a future where there’s no foundation of trust.”
Adam sent him a mocking glance. “She had to. When she started here, she didn’t know you from a bar of soap. Did you expect her to divulge a secret like that to a virtual stranger?”
“I saw you two together,” Dylan added. “I don’t care that she was lying about her name or her family. You two had something real going on.”
“You know, I might have lied to you, but at least I saw you. What we had was more honest than anything I’ve had with anyone else, despite the lie.”
Everything inside him seemed to tangle into knots. He used to think the relationships he’d had in the past were shallow yet honest. Both parties knew going in the game they were playing and the rules. But he’d been wrong. Very wrong.
He’d exposed his soul to Jenna, and he’d seen the essence of hers. Their time together had been nothing like the meaningless trysts he’d had in the past. Names didn’t matter when the connection had been that deep.
But, he reminded himself, their connection wasn’t the issue here. He straightened his spine and met his brothers’ gazes squarely, one after the other. “Bonnie is my number-one priority.”
Dylan looked down to the baby in his arms, then back to Liam. “Are you kidding? Bonnie adores Jenna and Meg. Letting her have them in her life would be prioritizing her.”
“This situation is bigger than individual people. Anyone involved with Jenna would live their life in the public eye.” He held back a shudder; he could think of nothing worse. “Remember the life Jenna has resumed is the one she ran from in the first place and ended up being your housekeeper. I categorically refuse to put Bonnie in that situation.”
Dylan looked at Adam. “And you were right too. He is an idiot.”
“Hey!” Liam said again.
“No family is perfect,” Adam said on a sigh. “The best you can hope for is a family full of love. You love Jenna, and you love Meg. Bonnie loves Jenna, and Bonnie loves Meg. And Jenna and Meg love you both right back.”
Had his figures-and-spreadsheets brother just used the phrase family full of love? At any other time, Liam would have laughed out loud.
Dylan nodded his agreement. “And you and Jenna are ridiculously well suited to each other. Any fool can see that.”
“What more could you possibly be holding out for?” Adam said, exasperated.
Liam looked from one brother to the other, partly infuriated and partly touched that they cared enough to stage something of an intervention, and suddenly a thought hit him. The bonds with his brothers had been one of the most important things in his life, no question.
Bonnie had that with Meg. It was clear they had a bond—they already acted like sisters. And Bonnie responded to Jenna as a mother. She’d already lost one mother, so why was he letting her lose another one? Family was family.
Having Meg and Jenna in her life was more important than whether they might have to make a public appearance or deal with Jenna’s family. Besides, Bonnie would have him on her side, which was one advantage that Jenna didn’t have growing up. He’d protect her with a fierceness that anyone standing against her best interests would come to fear.
And if Bonnie would be happy because she’d have Jenna and Meg in her daily life, loving her, then the decision about their future rested solely on what he wanted.
He finally freed himself to admit it.
He loved Jenna.
Loved her and wanted her in his life, no matter that her royal lifestyle was the last thing he would have chosen. She was a package deal, and he was fine with that. More than fine. He’d put up with worse to have her in his life.
It was as if the world moved back onto its proper axis and clicked into place. This felt right. Felt good. Now that he knew what he wanted, he just needed to make it happen.
He lifted his daughter from Dylan’s arms. “You two need to leave,” he said.
Dylan was outraged. “I wasn’t finished cuddling my niece yet.”
“You want to stay,” Liam said, throwing them both pointed looks, “then you can help. Without making comments. One of you can book me a ticket to Larsland. The other can find Katherine. I have arrangements to make.”
His brothers slid each other a smug sideways glance, then jumped into action.
Liam watched them, trying to ignore that his heart was in his throat. Would Jenna still want him? Would her family approve of the match? Would he even get in to see her?
He took a steadying breath. He had more questions than answers, but he owed it to both Bonnie and himself to at least give it a try.
* * *
Holding his daughter against his chest and trying to keep his heart from beating through his ribs, Liam entered the palace’s Throne Room. He refused to glance around, keeping his attention focused on the woman and man seated on the oversized chairs twenty feet away in front of a giant red velvet curtain with gold trim.
It wasn’t hard to see the room had been built to impress and intimidate, with its two-story ceilings held up by huge columns, ornate moldings and decorations, and intricate murals.
The number Jenna had left in case he needed her had led to her friend Kristen, who, in turn, had started the ball rolling to get him here, meeting with the Queen of Larsland and the Prince Consort. After all the background checks and meetings he’d had with palace staff to get to this stage, Jenna’s parents would be thoroughly briefed about him. If he wanted a future with Jenna and Meg, he needed to handle this royal thing head on.
And he did want a future with her, if she’d have him.
“Mr. Hawke,” Jenna’s mother said coolly. “So very lovely to meet you.”
“Lovely to meet you as well, Your Highness,” Liam said.
Jenna’s father huffed out a breath. “We don’t have long. We’ve had to delay a meeting to give you these few minutes, so you might want to get to the point.”
Liam held back a smile. No small talk. That suited him just fine. He adjusted Bonnie and faced them. “I spent some time with Princess Jensine and her daughter while they were in L.A.”
The queen raised a regal eyebrow. “We know who you are, Mr. Hawke.”
Right. Of course she did. But how much did they know? Just the facts from the background checks or had Jenna told them about him?
Had they told Jenna he was here...? His stomach looped. No, he had to focus on the present moment to be able to make it past this first hurdle.
He swallowed, then laid his cards on the table. “I’m here to request permission to ask Jenna for her hand in marriage.”
Her majesty’s face didn’t move so much as an eyelash. “My husband and I are grateful for the assistance you and your brother gave to our daughter during her time in the United States. However we cannot give our consent.”
The world fell away beneath his feet. He wouldn’t let their refusal stop him from asking Jenna to be his wife, but he knew they’d just drastically reduced the chances that she’d accept him.
He straightened his spine. This wasn’t over until Jenna told him it was.
* * *
Jenna stood with Meg on her hip, hidden by the thick velvet curtain behind her parents’ chairs, trembling with the power of the emotions coursing through her.