Chapter 31

THIRTY-ONE

Cooper

I eat more in two days at Natalia’s parents’ house than I’ve probably eaten in the last six months. Meals are hearty and plentiful, snacks are constant, and her mother is a phenomenal cook. Food at the palace is delicious; this is next level. I’ve never eaten better meals in my life. Or so many of them.

Life here never stops, though.

Natalia’s mother is always cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, taking care of Greta while Lucianna is in the hospital, tending to her small but robust garden, and more. Natalia’s father works six days a week. And they’re long days, from six in the morning until six in the evening, and then he putters in the yard with his relics. Even Femke works hard as hell for someone who just graduated high school. Because her job is too far to walk, she leaves with her father at six, even though her shift doesn’t start until eight. She works until four and then waits for her father again, though she takes care of errands in town for her mother in that time.

Their lives are hard, but they don’t seem bitter, merely focused on what they have to do.

The only day off is Sunday and they go to church, so Natalia and I sleep in at the inn. We have breakfast in town and are meeting her parents back at the house for lunch before we start heading back to Hiskale.

“I’m worried about Lucianna going home,” Natalia says as we drive to the farm. “Pieter hasn’t even been to the hospital to see the baby.”

“We can bring her back to Hiskale with us,” I suggest.

“That’s what I’m thinking too. But what will we do about Greta? Someone has to watch her, and my mother won’t be there to help.”

“I don’t know. We have to balance convenience with her safety. And Greta’s.”

“I wish Femke could come too. She could help out with Greta until Luci’s back on her feet…but I’m afraid that would freak my parents out completely, to lose all their kids and the new grandbabies in one fell swoop.”

“Femke’s enlisted in the military, right?”

“Yes. She goes to basic training in September.”

“Do they know?”

“Not yet.”

“I don’t know the answer, babe. It’s complicated.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to draw you into family drama.”

“Your drama is my drama.”

I smile. “You’re a special man, Ryan Cooper.”

“And you’re my very special woman.”

I lean over, covering her mouth with mine. I’ve spent a lot of time inside her this trip, but it never feels like enough. Our lips lock and linger, caressing and sealing the bond between us. It gets stronger every minute we’re together, and I wonder if these are the feelings a few of my buddies talk about—how the love waiting for them at home is what gets them through deployments.

And I don’t want that.

I don’t want to be apart for months or years at a time.

I love our current situation.

We pull apart breathlessly, as if I didn’t just fuck her in the shower less than an hour ago, and the look we exchange speaks volumes.

“Come on. Your dad’s probably waiting with a shotgun.”

“Probably.” We get out of the SUV, and she’s just gotten to the steps when I hear my name.

“Ryan! Come.” Her father’s in the yard summoning me.

I don’t see a shotgun anywhere, so that’s good.

“Go on,” I tell Natalia. “I’ll be in soon.”

“Let me know if he has a gun!” she yells, reading my mind.

I walk around to the back and find her father pulling the cover off a car that’s up on blocks.

It’s probably—oh. My. Fucking. God.

A 1978 Corvette Silver Anniversary Edition.

It’s seen better days, there are no tires, and the seats look like they’ve been eaten away by bugs and weather.

But it’s still beautiful.

My dream car.

How did it come to be here on a farm in northern Limaj?

I let out a low whistle.

“Beautiful,” I breathe, running my hand over the hood.

“Natalia’s dowry,” he says, meeting my eyes.

“I…what?”

Shit.

I’d forgotten about that dowry stuff.

What do I do now?

Ask for another car?

I’m supposed to up the ante a little , but a classic car hadn’t been on my radar. I was thinking goats and bedding and maybe some cash. Gold coins if that’s on the table.

Not a Corvette.

“The car,” I say slowly. “For me. As Natalia’s dowry?”

It sounds so surreal coming out of my mouth, I can barely focus on what I’m saying. How is this possible?

I’m too confused to be excited.

According to Sandor, I have to play it cool.

I don’t know what I’m doing professionally, whether or not I’m even staying Limaj, and now I have to decide on something completely out of my wheelhouse.

But not having this conversation would embarrass her, so I have to go with it.

“Natalia’s worth more than an old car that doesn’t run,” I say in the grimmest tone I can muster up.

He squints a little.

His English is basic, so he probably doesn’t understand.

I pull out my phone and open the translation app I’ve been using the last few days.

He reads over my shoulder and frowns.

“What you want?” he grumbles, his eyes darkening.

Crap .

“I…” I have no fucking idea. How do you ask for a little more than a classic car? “What about a goat?” I blurt.

“Goat?” He stares at me.

He points to my phone.

Oh my god.

I just asked him for a goat .

For his daughter.

In addition to a 1978 classic Corvette.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Now I have no choice but to type in the word.

He reads it and I can practically see the wheels turning.

“Okay.” He turns and walks back into the house.

What the hell did I just do?

And where am I going to keep a goat at the palace?

Sandor is going to kill me.

Natalia probably won’t be thrilled either.

I close my eyes and mentally count to ten.

It might just be better if go ahead and run, even if the guys attacking us have nothing to do with me.

* * *

We don’t leave until much later than anticipated.

Not only was there the whole goat disaster, Natalia’s father took this as a sign of our engagement, so when we sat down for lunch there was a celebration. Including doing shots of some kind of Limaji moonshine that probably added some hair to my already hairy chest.

Natalia seems more amused than annoyed, luckily, but she doesn’t know about the goat yet.

And then apparently she gets the green light to bring Lucianna, Greta, and baby Ryann back to Hiskale with us. Greta will go to preschool during the day and Casey graciously offered to let Levi’s nanny help with the baby so Lucianna can sleep while Greta and Levi are at school.

We have to pack up Lucianna and Greta’s things, which sends Pieter into a rage, and I have to physically restrain him while Natalia, Femke, and their mother finish up. Pieter also shows up at the hospital, screaming bloody murder about kidnapping and how I can’t take his family from him. Greta is hysterical, Lucianna looks terrified, and the hospital staff is very confused.

It takes a phone call from Sandor for us to get out of there, and then I have to figure out how to install a car seat.

By the time we hit the road, we’re all exhausted.

I’m driving, and Natalia is entertaining Greta while Lucianna and the baby sleep.

It’s nearly seven when we get to the palace and there’s a flurry of activity as Natalia gets Lucianna settled in her new room. I help with luggage and such, but then I sneak off in search of Sandor and Joe. Sandor is usually off on Sundays, but Marcus got the weekend off to recover, and Natalia and I were both gone, so he’s on duty. Joe’s in the surveillance office, and I find the two of them there talking about tomorrow’s duty schedule.

“Hey.” Sandor looks up with a grin. “Sounds like you had a busy day.”

“I also got engaged—with no ring or proposal, mind you—and had to do like four shots of something called rekkina .”

Sandor and Joe burst out laughing.

“I’m also getting a classic Corvette and a goat as her dowry.”

“Please tell me you didn’t ask for the goat,” Sandor murmurs.

My face gets hot, and I’m not a guy who blushes.

But yeah, I fucked that up royally.

“I wasn’t expecting a fucking Vette!” I protest. “And how do you ask for a little more than a car? It was all I could think of.”

Joe’s laughing so hard he’s holding his stomach, and Sandor’s staring up at the ceiling with the same look my mom used to get when I did something stupid as a teenager.

“You didn’t tell me there might be a car.”

“Cars are not the norm,” he admits. “But you know now we’re getting a goat, right?”

“Fuck.”

“Well, as amusing as all of this is, we have something more serious to discuss.”

My gut twists.

“What?” I ask.

“It’s beginning to look like you were right.”

Fuck me.

“About the attacks.”

He nods grimly.

“Two nights in Braksa Prison was all if took for Dickhead number two to cave. He’s a mercenary. None of this is personal for him. He wouldn’t tell us who’s after you, but he said it was about you and has nothing to do with the royal family. He did let it slip that Natalia is on their radar.”

I let out a litany of curses in multiple languages since I now know how to curse in Limaji.

“I have to go,” I say abruptly.

“Wait.” Sandor puts a hand on my arm. “I agree that you need to keep some distance, but you don’t have to do anything drastic. Go home to close up your apartment. I can send?—”

“You can’t spare anyone,” I interrupt. “And I can take care of myself. I just need to make sure this doesn’t impact anyone here at the palace. Especially Natalia.”

No one says anything, which amps up my frustration.

“Right now I’m a temporary Royal Protector, and my job is to protect this family,” I grind out when they just sit there. “That’s the oath I’m supposed to take if I decide to do this, right?”

“Yes but going rogue isn’t how we do things here.”

“I have to protect Natalia because they might go after her to get to me. Or draw me out.”

“Which is why you don’t run—we face this head on. Together .”

I shake my head. “I have to protect my family in the States too. They don’t have a royal family or personal bodyguards. If these guys know who I am, and they can’t get to Natalia, my mom is probably next.”

“So you’re just going to leave?”

“I’m going back to the military. It started with them, so I have to finish it with them. One way or the other.”

“Will you be back?”

“I don’t know.”

None of us say anything, and I realize I’m letting them down.

They’ve come to count on me, to pick up the slack while they’re still so short-handed, to be one of them.

And I’m walking away.

I made no promises and didn’t sign any contracts, but I can tell they’re disappointed.

I feel like shit even though I’m doing the right thing.

“Wait for me,” Sandor calls out as I head for the door. “I have an idea.”

I don’t know what he can say that will make a difference but I’m willing to listen. He’s become my friend and he’s still my boss, at least for the next five minutes. More than that, I trust him.

I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect the people I care about but I’m open to suggestions on ways of handling it that don’t include dying. I’d kind of like to avoid that if I can.