Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“Now, you will have the staff prepare for her. We will arrive later this morning. I wish for her to be in the room adjacent to mine.”
“That room is meant for your fiancée, sir. Is that what she is?”
“Yes.” I smiled.
There was a long pause on the line.
“Ambrose?”
“Sir, may I speak my mind?”
The smile on my face dropped. “Of course, Ambrose.”
“Prince Arthur had many great plans for this nation. Many ideas that, well, many others did not understand or agree with. However, he had the people’s trust and acknowledgment behind him.”
“Are you saying I do not have that, Ambrose?”
“You are slowly building it, sir, that same trust and acknowledgment. People are coming to see you as the new Adelaar. Anything new may—”
“Ambrose,” I interjected, not wanting to hear anymore. “I am determined. I shall have my way in this.”
“Very well, sir. But there must be a statement,” he said, the tone in his voice changing.
“Then, there will be a statement. I will personally write it and send it to you so you may look it over.” I frowned, leaning against the window as my brother’s face came to my mind.
“Yes, sir, and when do you wish for it to be released?”
“Immediately.”
Another pause before he finally said, “Very well.”
“Ambrose.” I sighed, sincerely wishing it did not have to be this way, praying that she and I were underestimating people's true nature.
“Yes, sir?”
“Before you send out the statement, prepare for everything—the media, the leaks, the gossips, everything. There may be a need for many more statements ahead, I am sure.”
“Understood. We will prepare. But so must you, sir,” he replied.
I snickered, nodding, and let out the air in my lungs. “Do you think we shall survive it?”
“The House of Monterey always survives—somehow.”
I nodded. “We shall see you soon.”
“Very good, sir.”
Hanging up, I turned to go back to the room and found her standing there, sleepy-eyed, and in an oversized robe.
“Jesus!” I held my hand over my heart. “Odette, make a sound! You know I hate when things or people just appear behind me.”
“Fâlipüks,” she replied, calling me a scaredy-cat in Ersovian.
My mouth dropped open. I could not help but smile. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing—”
“No! That was not nothing.” I grinned, rushing over to her as she tried to escape into the bedroom. “Say it again!” I laughed, wrapping my arms around her.
“No!”
“Please?” I held on tighter.
“LäIrak meni.” Odette struggled in my arms telling me to let her go.
“You know, Ersovian?” I exclaimed. “Your accent is adorable!”
“Shut up, and let me go back to bed!” She tried to pull away.
“Say something else.”
“I will kick you!”
Grinning, I yanked at the belt of her robe.
“Gale!” she screamed.
“Odette!” I screamed back, making her throw a pillow at me.
“You are so annoying, sometimes!” she screamed in Ersovian, and each time she spoke, I laughed. She was beautiful and cute.
How fortunate could I truly be?
Scooping her into my arms, I threw us back onto the bed.
“If you came to divorce me, why did you learn my language?” I smiled, pinning her under me.
She glared. “I started learning before I decided to divorce you.”
“And your excuse for after? Or did you decide only recently?”
“I had already paid for a tutor, and it seemed like a waste to just give up—”
I kissed her lips quickly. “And now, your real reason.”
“That was my real reason.”
“Very well, then. I will not let you out of this bed until you tell me.” I wanted her to say it. I wanted her to admit that she had learned because she knew she belonged beside me too. She knew she couldn’t let me go also.
“I learned because I hated not knowing what was said around me,” she admitted softly. “The day you left, everyone was talking, but I understood nothing.”
“So, you learned for me?”
“I learned for me,” she corrected stubbornly.
Frowning, I rolled off her and onto my side before sighing dramatically. “Is it so hard for you to inflate my ego a little bit?”
“Isn’t that what everyone else does?”
I pouted, and she rolled onto my chest, her brown eyes alive, sparkling, the smile on her face taunting. “Everyone else is not you.”
“You like me because I am different. And yet you want me to be like everyone else?”
“Well, when you put it that way,” I grumbled. “I sound like you—wanting everything and nothing at the same.”
She smacked my chest. “Hey!”
“Ah!” I pretended to wince. “You are hitting me more often than last time! This is abuse.”
Her mouth dropped open, and I could not stop myself from laughing. She tried to get off me, but I held on to her again until she finally just gave up. Somehow, we both managed to twist and turn until we ended up facing one another on top of the pillows.
“I missed you.” Even though I knew her for such a short time, I really did miss this even without realizing it. She made a face at me. “You are supposed to say you missed me back, Odette.”