14. Amy

CHAPTER 14

AMY

G abby’s face fills my screen, her margarita untouched in front of her. “I can’t believe you’ve been engaged for three weeks and didn’t tell me. I had to find out while scrolling on my feed.”

I wince and shrink back in my chair, kicking my feet up on the coffee table. “I know I should’ve told you sooner, but honestly it still seems insane. Getting engaged to a man I just met on the beach is something wild. It’s not me.”

She scoffs, taking a big sip of her drink. “Yeah, sure, let’s keep pretending this is some random man and not the king of Katastinia. That’s a great idea.”

“I feel like we’ve entered a very sarcastic place right now.” I bite back a smile as she rolls her eyes, but the guilt still eats at me. “I know I should’ve told you about him, but there’s never been a good time. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind.”

“Do you love him?” Gabby asks, her tone stern as she leans closer to the camera. “Because if you love him, I’m all for this, but if not, then I don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I think I will, in time.”

I bite my lip. I haven’t told Gabby that this whole arrangement is fake. And even though there’s this part of me that wants to tell her the truth, I can’t.

This is the first time it’s felt like I’m catching up to my friends in years, and I’m not going to ruin it.

Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Is a divorce or a massive lie better?

“All right, so that’s what I don’t understand, then. Why are you marrying this man?”

“I just… I want an adventure. We like each other, and when I’m with him, it just feels right.”

There.

That part is the truth, at least.

Gabby takes a loud slurp of her drink. “You don’t have to sound so sad about it.”

“I’m not sad.” I put my feet on the edge of the chair, looking at the tablet. “I just… I don’t know. I thought that a whirlwind romance was going to be more fun than this, but it feels like he’s spent the last week avoiding me. I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Hold on, you’re marrying a man who isn’t obsessed with you? I’m going to book my plane ticket right now, and then I’m going to come kick his butt.”

“The guards would probably throw you in prison for trying.” The corner of my mouth twitches. “But thank you. I’m sure it’s just that he’s busy with work.”

“I have no idea, but if you ever want to pull a runner and come home, let me know. I’ll come get you if I have to.”

“I appreciate that, but I don’t think I’m going to be pulling a runner.” I get up from the chair and grab the tablet, heading out to the balcony that overlooks the edge of a cliff and the waters below. “I think I would rather stay here and see this out. It feels like it could be the start of something really special.”

“Well, then, tell me about what’s been happening,” Gabby says. “Do they have you in some sort of queen lessons? I doubt that they would just make a woman from New Jersey into a queen without teaching her how to behave like one. No offense or anything.”

I laugh and set the tablet on one of the patio tables, leaning on the railing beside the table as Gabby looks out over the view through the tablet screen. “None taken. I know I’m not queen material.”

“You are, though.”

Rolling my eyes, I shift the screen so we’re looking at each other. “You’re my best friend and you have to think the world of me, but let’s face it. He had to have hit his head pretty hard to think that I was someone a country was going to want to follow.”

Gabby scoffs. “I would follow you to the ends of the earth, and if this man that I’ve never met wants to marry you, then clearly you must be up to the task. Now, I need to know how the two of you met.”

“We crossed paths a couple times before meeting again on the beach. I met him back home one day. He was in Newark for work, and he stayed at the hotel. We got to talking and exchanged numbers, but I had no clue who he was. All that he would tell me was that he was in human relations.”

“You can hardly blame him for that.”

“I don’t. It just might have been nice to know that the king of an entire country had taken an interest in me.”

I hate this.

Lying to Gabby is awful. There’s a bitter taste in my mouth. My stomach lurches from one side to the other like a boat trapped in the middle of a hurricane.

I should tell her the truth. It isn’t too late to tell her that this is all fake and in less than two and a half years, I’m going to be out of here and moving on with my life.

My best friend leans forward, cupping her chin in her hands. “I want to know everything about him. Did you like him when you first met?”

“Well enough. He was vague about a lot of things, but I was too busy with work to pay much mind to that.” I sigh and sit down on one of the loungers beside the table, turning to face her and crossing my legs beneath me. “Maybe I should’ve paid more attention.”

“I’m going to need you to take a moment to breathe. Your emotions are all over the place with this. Now give me gut instinct, yes or no answers only, got it?”

“Yes.”

Her eyebrows pull together, a small line forming between them. “Are you happy?”

“Yes,” I say without a moment of hesitation.

“Good. Now, do you think you could fall for Xander? Despite the fact that his work is always going to come first, and his loyalty is going to be to his people above all else?”

“Yes.”

At least, if falling for him weren’t a problem in the first place, I think I could.

However, if I fall for him, I’m going to find my heart irrevocably broken at the end of our relationship. I’ll go back to New Jersey with the knowledge that there’ll always be a piece of me in Katastinia.

Gabby’s hands drop, her fingers drumming on the table in front of her. “Do you think this marriage is going to be a good thing?”

I hesitate for too long and she catches it, her eyes narrowing.

“You’re going to need to tell me the truth about what’s going on in your head right now.” Gabby leans closer, eyes narrowing and expression stern. “That is not the face of a woman who’s counting down the days until she walks down the aisle.”

“Am I supposed to be overjoyed when I feel this overwhelmed?” I run a hand through my hair, trying to combat the breeze that keeps tugging on it. “I think this marriage might be the best thing I’ve ever done, but there’s a part of me that worries it’s going to be over before it starts.”

“Why?”

“Xander’s been avoiding me. From what I can tell, there have been some tough meetings with his council. He’s not coming to bed at night. I think he’s spending most of his time in his study in the other wing of the castle since he certainly isn’t spending time in the one in our chambers.”

Before Gabby can say anything, the hinges of the doors behind me creak and my heart leaps.

I turn, hoping to see Xander there.

Daphne gives me a sympathetic smile and steps to the side.

With a sigh, I turn to the tablet. “I have to go. More queen lessons. I’ll talk to you later, okay? And you should come out here for the wedding. There’s no way I can do this without you.”

“I’ll be there.” Gabby ends the call, leaving me feeling empty inside.

Heels click against the stone as Daphne walks over, sitting on the lounger beside me. “You’re having a hard time here, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t say hard, but I thought a fake marriage was going to be a lot easier,” I say, keeping my tone low.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from endless hours of lessons, it’s that you never know who is going to be listening in on the other side of the wall.

Daphne loops her arm around my shoulders. “You have a friendship though. That’s more than some couples can say.”

“It feels like I should want more than that, though. And I just lied to my best friend. Gabby kept me going when I was at my lowest, and now I’m lying to her.”

“We do what we must.” Daphne gives me another squeeze before standing. “Come on. You’ve been working hard all week, and it’s time we had some fun.”

“Run!” Daphne takes off sprinting down the stone street, dipping between two buildings.

I follow her, chest burning as I laugh, not looking over my shoulder.

Eventually the security team will figure out we lost them two streets ago, but Daphne promised everything was going to be fine.

Now I’m wondering exactly how much trouble she’s going to get us in.

There is no way this is going to go well, especially once Xander finds out that we left, but Daphne is right. I do need a bit of fun.

I can’t remember the last time — other than moving to Katastinia — when I left all my responsibilities and let loose a little.

All I was capable of when my parents died was losing myself. Same thing when Grandma passed, too.

And now I’m running through the streets with Daphne, laughing as she skids around another corner.

She stops at a door nearly hidden in a stone wall, the light of the neon sign casting a pink glow down on her face.

“This is the place.” She knocks on the door as I lean over, hands on my knees while I try to get a deep breath in through the laughter.

The door swings open and a man the size of a wall steps into our path. He takes one look at the pretty smile Daphne flashes him before stepping to the side and letting us in.

Once we’re in the building, a pounding bass fills my head and strobe lights flash around the room.

Smoke pours out from machines onto the dance floor, weaving around the writhing bodies.

Daphne takes my hand and tugs me over to the bar. “We’re going to need four shots of tequila to get this party started.”

I pull down the hem of my short black dress. “Are you sure we’re not going to get caught?”

“Oh, we’re definitely going to get caught.” She leans against the glossy black bar top as the bartender slides four shots in front of us and two slices of lime. “Xander is probably going to kill me for this little stunt, but I think it’s worth it.”

Grinning, I grab one of the shots and throw it back before biting into the lime. “If we’re going to be given hell anyway, we may as well have a good time.”

“Here’s to that!” She takes her shot and throws it back.

We take the other shots together before going to dance.

I run my hands over my body to the music, letting the beat take me away. My hips sway in time with the rhythm, the bass rattling my bones.

The longer I dance, and the more drinks Daphne brings over, the less and less I feel like myself.

I’m no longer the woman who’s spent so long holding herself together that she forgot to have fun along the way.

I don’t have to worry about walking into a toxic kitchen environment and wishing that the day would be over just so I could go home and do it all again the next day.

No, I get to dance in a club, laughing with strangers as we jump to the beat.

Daphne grins as she gets on a table, holding out a hand to me.

My eyes go wide. “What are you doing?!”

“Time to cut loose a little!” she shouts to be heard over the music. “Get up here and have some fun.”

I take her hand and climb onto the table with her, laughing as she spins me around, my back pressed to her chest as we dance.

Our hips move in time, hands above our heads.

It’s only when a cold breeze fills the bar and I look at the door that time seems to stop.