7. Xander

CHAPTER 7

XANDER

“You’ve lost your damn mind.” Daphne sits down on the couch in my study, propping her feet up on the coffee table. “I always knew you were wild, but I didn’t think you were going to take it this far.”

I sigh and look up from the bill about school meals. When I hid away in my office this morning, I didn’t think my cousins would make a point of hunting me down.

I should’ve seen it coming, though. The two of them always have something to say when it comes to the decisions in my life.

“I know that you think this is a bad idea,” I say, “but the media is going to get the news tomorrow morning. Everything has been set in motion. It’s too late to stop it now.”

Atticus paces over to the window, looking out at the grounds. “I still think an American is the wrong choice.”

“That’s not your decision to make, now, is it?” I sign off on reducing end-of-the-year bonuses in order to feed children at school, knowing Jorge is going to have something to say about it later. “I think that being with an American is a good thing.”

Daphne nods, sipping from her coffee. “Amy is a lovely woman. I found her in the kitchen this morning learning how to make those delicious lemon custard muffins the cook makes.”

“And yet she doesn’t understand Katastinia or its people. Did she even know that we were a country before she agreed to help you?” Atticus’s upper lip curls as he turns to look at me.

If an asteroid could hit the country and blow me up right now, I would be grateful.

I don’t want to keep having this conversation with him, but I’m sure it’s going to happen multiple times through the course of the fake marriage.

Atticus sits down in one of the chairs, draping his arm over the back. “I think this is a mistake.”

“You didn’t think that when you were pushing me to get married!” Shoving back from the desk, I head to the decanter of whiskey off to the side. I pour myself a healthy shot and throw it back.

Daphne grabs a pillow and lobs it at her brother. “You can’t have things both ways, Atti. You need to accept that this woman is here to help Xander. She seems nice, and you’re not going to bully her. Jorge has that covered.”

My eyes widen as I look at her. “Please tell me that he isn’t bothering her already.”

“He’s not.” Atticus smirks and picks at some lint on his trousers. “I may have convinced him that spiking his morning coffee would be a good way to deal with his jitters about the announcement tomorrow.”

I groan and run my hands down my face. “I don’t know why you insist on making him more unbearable.”

“You’re the one that still has him on the council,” Daphne says, her words anything but helpful.

“I can hardly get rid of the man who spent decades advising Dad. The country would revolt if the only people on the council were me and my cousins.”

“There are other people too.” Daphne gives me a knowing look, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she stands. “None of them are as awful as Jorge though.”

I grab the papers off my desk and hand them to her. “This would say differently. You, Atticus, and two others were the only ones who voted in favor of free school lunches.”

“Well, that’s because we have more than enough money.” Atticus holds his hands up when I shoot him a glare. “I’m kidding. If you can’t take care of the people in your country, you shouldn’t be king. Jorge doesn’t need an extra hundred thousand dollars in his pocket.”

“Bonuses are only fifty thousand at most.” Daphne skims through the papers before putting them back on the desk. “You know, we really should be preparing for what’s going to happen when you make the announcement tomorrow.”

I sit back down behind my desk, shoving the bill into the approvals folder. “We should, but that feels like the last thing I want to think about right now. Nothing about tomorrow is going to be easy, and Atticus won’t be the last person to question the fact that I’m marrying an American.”

Daphne’s gaze softens. “I know. They’re going to see it as a betrayal. They’ll wonder what’s wrong with you and why you couldn’t find someone from their own country. At least, that’s what the ones with the small minds are going to do. I’m sure everyone else is going to love her.”

“I hope so.” I glance at the news articles on the computer screen. “I think we need to put some thought into her branding, though.”

“Branding?” Daphne scoffs and crosses her arms, arching her eyebrow like I’m a naughty child heading toward a full scolding. “She’s not a cow.”

“No, but she’s not going to know how to behave like a royal.” I drum my fingers on the desk, sorting through the rumors the PR team has already pushed. “She’s very outspoken and impulsive.”

“You’re the one who asked her to marry you!” Daphne throws her hands up in the air while Atticus starts laughing.

“I know I did. She’s also beautiful and intelligent, and spending time with her is easy. Which is why I asked her to do this with me. She feels like someone it would be natural to spend a couple years with.”

Daphne points a painted fingernail at me. “That right there is what you shouldn’t say to her. No woman wants to be told that they’re on a time limit, even if both of you know it’s coming.”

I turn and look out the window, wishing I was on the beach and surfing instead of dealing with this.

Doing something positive to honor Yorgos’s memory is important, but this marriage isn’t going to fix the rest of the problems the monarchy is facing right now.

We’re slapping a coat of paint on a bigger problem and hoping it’s enough for the time being, even though I’m sure it won’t be. There are issues that a distraction isn’t going to hide.

Daphne leans against the windowsill. “With a little training, Amy is going to make a good queen.”

“You can take the American out of the States,” Atticus says, his tone mocking as he gets up and heads for the door. “But she’s still going to be an American at the end of the day.”

He shuts the door behind him, leaving Daphne alone with me.

She reaches out and nudges my knee with her foot. “Don’t let him get to you. He just wanted to win the bet.”

“The bet?”

“Yeah. Some of the advisors were betting when you were going to get married, and to whom. He bet that you would never go through with the plan.”

I grind my teeth together. “And what was your bet?”

She gives me a sly smile and reaches into her pocket, pulling out a wad of money and holding half out to me. “When I heard that you snuck out the other night, I bet that you were going to meet a stranger on a beach and bring her home.”

I take what looks like nearly a thousand dollars and stuff it into my pocket. “The lot of you are terrible. I should fire you all.”

“You’re not going to do that.”

“No.” I glance at the time, humming for a moment before getting up. “But I do have to go meet Amy now. Maybe I’ll even spend some of this money on taking her out.”

With that, I hurry out of my office and head for a hidden set of stairs, before she can ask any more questions.