Page 34 of Lily and the Billionaire Prince

Mom lowered her head and Dad nodded. “You said you’re staying at Ethan’s?”

She smiled. “Yes. It was good to see you both.”

“You, too.”

Dad had a pensive expression when she turned and walked away from them, away from the love she’d been craving, the love they were offering, just as she’d done before.

* * *

Lily knocked softlyon Ethan’s door, kicking snow from her boots as she did so. Several moments later, Ethan opened the door.

“I called you a couple times,” he said with concern in his voice. Of course, her security guard brother would keep tabs on her. She was touched to know he cared. That he’d worried when she hadn’t been there. What would he do when she disappeared for good? “Where did you go?”

Lily stepped in out of the cold, leaving trails of snow she neglected to kick from her boots on the rug. She unwound her scarf and hung it and her coat on the hook behind the door. “Sorry,” she said. “I woke up early and didn’t want to disturb anyone.”

“So you couldn’t hang out in your room until we got up?”

Lily met Ethan’s gaze, decidedly avoiding Henrik’s though she could see him standing near the fire crackling behind its glass beneath Ethan’s mantel. “I just needed to think.”

Ethan frowned but jutted his chin toward the kitchen. His cell phone was visible on the counter’s corner. “In any case, you’ll never guess who just called me.”

Henrik approached the bar where they stood, curiosity in his gaze. Lily wondered if he’d heard the conversation and wanted to know its gist.

“Who?” she asked.

“Dad,” Ethan said. The word was a finality, like a door slam or an ended call. Lily’s body jolted.

Ethan pulled at his neck. “He said they want us to come over for lunch today.”

Lily couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t been invited home in years. “Why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s Christmas?”

A noticeable pause bounced from Ethan to Lily and finally made its way to Henrik. Lily wondered what he was thinking. She’d told him about her and her brother’s fallout with their parents over a lack of interest in the family business.

Other Christmases had passed, and her parents had never reached out for those. She couldn’t help but wonder why they were doing so now. Mulling through every possibility, Lily sat at one of the barstools. Henrik took the one beside her, and Ethan stepped into the kitchen. He bent at the waist to rest his arms on the counter across from them like a barista waiting to take their orders.

“I saw them during my walk this morning,” she said. “I wonder if that has something to do with it.”

“You saw your parents?” Henrik asked.

She loved his accent. Even a night away from him was enough to make her shiver hearing it. Not to mention the kisses they’d shared the night before and the offer he’d made. She forced her gaze away from him, not wanting to get awkward on Ethan. If he didn’t know anything had gone on between them last night, there was no need for him to find out now.

“Yeah,” she said.

“And?” Ethan prodded. “What happened?”

“I was standing outside their driveway. They were out for their morning walk. I said, ‘Merry Christmas,’ and they were nicer than they’ve been in a long time. I almost thought they might ignore me, but they didn’t.”

“Your parents wouldn’t ignore you,” Henrik said.

Lily and Ethan exchanged another look. “They would,” they said in unison.

“Then what’s changed?” Henrik asked.

Lily looked to her brother. “Did Dad say anything about why they want us to come over? Is it—” Had word spread? Did they know the Prince of Einvar was with them and were only wanting to make nice because they wanted to kiss-up to royalty?

She wouldn’t put the notion past them, but she wasn’t sure how they would have found out Henrik was here. Lily brushed the thought aside. Her parents had seemed genuinely surprised and pleased to see her. Mom had even hugged her.

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