She felt her anger starting to simmer. "Everything has changed, Dane. You know it. You can't be so naïve as to think that anything is the same. You were in the hotel room when the press arrived. The island was just a little vacation, a dream. It's time to wake up now."
His face opened up, pure surprise hitting him. "What are you talking about?"
Dane wouldn't understand. She knew exactly how this would go down if she tried to explain herself. He would never admit that this relationship wouldn't work. He would force the issue, and they would all be torn up and miserable. "I don't want to have a relationship with you in the real world."
"What the fuck are you talking about? The real world? Because the island felt pretty fucking real to me."
"It wasn't. We had all been through something frightening, and we bonded over our shared survival. That was all it really meant," she lied. "Dane, you couldn't expect me to marry my guards."
Alea held in her tears. It had been everything to her. It had been the best time of her life. She would hold those memories to her heart forever.
Dane stepped up, not respecting anything so civilized as personal space. "Shared survival? We're just your guards? Yeah, that doesn't fly with me, baby. There's nothing on the books that states you have to marry another royal."
She steeled herself. God, she hated this. "I don't want to marry anyone, but if I do, I will marry someone who's lived in my world and understands it better."
"Like Piper understood this world when your cousins married her? She was a research assistant from Texas. She wasn't royal and she definitely wasn't rich. What the fuck is this really about, Alea?"
How could she make him understand? "Did you see what happened with Lan? He's going to get hurt. Do you know what's going on back in America? They're going after your families, Dane. We need to be realistic. We had a wonderful time. I will never forget it, but it can't be more than a fling."
"Are you talking about all that sex, Alea? Is that the fling you mean? Should I remind you just how many ways we had you? And I don't have that family anymore, Lea. I have you, Lan, and Coop, and we will get through this together." He took a long breath. "Baby, calm down. I know being back here and being hounded by reporters is a shock."
It was more than a shock. Tears clouded her vision. She turned to Talib because talking to Dane would get her nowhere. "Would you please listen to me, cousin? I would like to make a formal request to have my security duty turned over to other guards. I will submit to any security detail you deem fit. I will cooperate with the investigators and I will live a quiet life that will bring no further scrutiny to our family."
The press's accusations could hurt her cousins. They had kept everything so quiet, and now all the ugliness was out in the open. What would her people think? There would be some who would view her as sullied. Some parts of the country were still quite backwards.
She turned back to Dane, her head held regally. "Dane, you have to understand that my cousin's throne and our entire family is judged based on our actions. Any scandal hurts us. Our traditions might seem odd to the outside world, but in many ways our people are very conservative. The very fact that I was abused will make some people view me differently."
Tal ran a hand across his scalp, ruining his perfect hair. "Lea, you can't think about them. They're the mountain people. The citizens in our cities won't see you differently. It's one region of the country. Everyone knows they're out of touch with modern ideals."
"But they're not completely out of touch with the media. They will hear the story and they can cause trouble. It will be worse when they find out about my affair. If I cut it off now and go into seclusion, I can mitigate the damage to all of us."
"There won't be damage if you make it legal," Tal drawled. "I rather assumed there would be another wedding. Did you plan to live with my cousin, in my palace, without offering her your name, Dane?"
"Of course not," Dane shot back. "None of us would do that, and you know it. It has always been our plan to properly marry her with full Bezakistani rites. We talked about marriage on the island, in fact. We respect this family and would never do a damn thing to dishonor it."
"I can't marry them." She knew what Tal wanted, but couldn't he see how wrong it was to bring the men she loved into their world, especially now when the press seemed intent on ripping her apart? "Tal, please try to understand. You would try to protect Piper."
A small smile crossed Tal's face. "Piper is strong, Alea. And so are your men."
Dane tried to reach for her. "Lea, we don't need protection."