Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
I close the laptop, and some of the same questions float through my mind. I look at the bag I packed, knowing it’s time to face the music. I stand up and prepare myself, but stop when I hear a soft knock on my door.
“It’s Dad, sweet girl. Open up,” he says softly.
I take a breath to steel myself, and I do as he asks. The look I see on my dad’s face isn’t one of disappointment or even anger. It’s concern.
Everything I’ve tried to hold down in my heart bursts out all at once. I throw myself at him, and he catches me, wrapping his arms around me as I sob into his chest.
“It’s all going to be fine,” he whispers into my ear.
I don’t know how long we stand there, but my dad pulls me over to the little sitting area I have in my room. I lie with my head on his chest for a few minutes, getting the rest of my tears out. It’s not until I give one last hiccup that I think I’m finished.
“I’m so sorry,” I finally get out.
“It will all work out, sweet girl. It always does.”
I pray he’s right.
“We thought we’d never make it through your mom’s death, but we did.”
I sniff and sit up, nodding my head.
He smiles, then his eyes go to my packed bag. “And where is it you’re going?” he asks, and I bite my lip.
“I have no clue, to be honest. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I thought I’d need a bag for something. Maybe just to get away. I thought about going on a vacation and letting everything settle.”
“This is your home, Star. If you don’t want to leave, then you don’t have to. Don’t let those tabloids run you off.” This time his voice is stern. “All of those gossip rags are trash anyway. You know that better than anyone.”
I cringe. “So you saw them?”
“It was hard to miss,” he says, and I playfully smack him on the chest. He lets out a grunt like I hurt him. “Something you want to tell me?”
“It’s not what it looks like. I mean, maybe it is.” I close my eyes for a second, not wanting to say this to my father. “I didn’t have sex or anything.”
I open one eye, and my dad looks slightly shocked, before he begins to chuckle. This is actually funny to him. I decide to use that moment to my advantage and blurt the rest of it out.
“But I did marry Romy.”
He sobers for a moment as he takes in what I just said. Then he throws his head back and proceeds to full-on belly laugh at my situation. What the hell?
“It’s not funny!” I shriek, but he keeps laughing. The sight of him, the ridiculousness of this whole scenario hits me, and I start to laugh with him. This is so over the top, it can’t even be real.
“God, you remind me so much of your mom sometimes,” he says, smiling at me. I love when he says that. It’s usually when he thinks I’m acting impulsively, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
“What a mess.” I lean back in my chair.
“Is it so bad? I saw you two dancing last night. I saw the look on his face every time he made you smile. I know the look because it was the same one I gave your mother. That man is in love with you.”
“Dad,” I say, rolling my eyes. I don’t believe that Romy was looking at me in a way that was more than just pleasure at getting what he wanted. “You know what people say about him.”
“No. I know what silly tabloids write about him. Just like they write about my little girl. I don’t believe them, and neither should you.”
“We don’t know what his intentions are. What if this was a set-up? What if he tricked me because he wants the throne?” I try to help my dad see the possible deception that could be right in front of us.
He shrugs. “I threatened to give up my throne for your mother. Why wouldn’t I be okay with handing it over to someone else? Besides, I know he has his own money. It’s not like he needs ours.”
“You tried to give it all up for love. You loved mom.”
“Could you love him?” my dad asks, and I nod.
I think I could easily love Romy. Even when I’ve wanted to smack him, I’ve wanted to kiss him, too. I would pretend to get annoyed when he bugged me at events. But in reality, a lot of times he saved me from dying of boredom. I never thought he was really interested in me, though. He never tried to kiss me, but sometimes, when he touched me, his hand would linger. I brushed it off as him being flirtatious, but my heart wanted it to be…more.