Page 38 of Lily and the Billionaire Prince

“If you’ll give me a moment, I’m going to do just that.”

Henrik waited for Mr. Hope to peruse his phone for several moments. His glance darted from the phone to Henrik and back again several times. A faint redness overtook his cheeks and then he lowered his phone.

“I see.” Mr. Hope cleared his throat and stared in disbelief out the window for several moments. “Why didn’t she tell me who you were from the start? Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t want to draw attention away from what needed to take place.”

Acceptance strung between the two men. “Thank you,” Mr. Hope said with meaning. “We had quite an unusual reunion, I’m sure you thought so.”

“It doesn’t matter what I think.”

“No? Then—Your Majesty—”

Henrik waved him down. This was his least favorite part of people finding out who he was. Americans especially didn’t understand how royalty was meant to be addressed, though he was grateful they tried to show respect to his title. “Please, just call me Henrik.”

Mr. Hope shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He cleared his throat and adjusted himself in his seat. “All right then. Henrik. What can I do for you? Do you have a specific reason for coming here with Lily today?”

“I do, sir,” he said.

Another throat clear. “Okay then. You have my attention.”

This time, Henrik shifted. He hadn’t fully thought out how this conversation would go, but it’d been on his mind since he found out he would be meeting Lily’s parents this afternoon.

“I must marry before I turn twenty-five or I lose my claim to the throne.”

“You failed to mention the stakes.”

“Did I? Apologies. In any case, I have come to America to find a bride.”

“Why here?”

“Because I didn’t want a pompous royal for my bride. I wanted a woman who I could come to care for and love.”

“And you couldn’t come to care for a royal?”

Mr. Hope sent Henrik through the gears. He quizzed Henrik on several different subjects and Henrik felt more like he’d finished a scholastic examination than a discussion with his future father-in-law.

When Henrik felt as if the questions had reached their peak, he posed the question he’d been practicing for the last two hours. “Mr. Hope, I have asked Lily to come home to Einvar with me. I want her to be my wife. I would like your blessing for this. She will be taken care of, she will be well-situated and never want for anything, food, clothing, or attention from me.”

“But do you love her?” Mr. Hope asked.

Henrik blinked. He’d explained to Mr. Hope why he’d chosen Lily, how she’d stood out like a vibrant light apart from every other woman he’d ever come into contact with, how he adored conversing with her and how she brought him down to earth, how he felt as though he could be himself around her. He thought he’d covered this question.

“Sir?”

Mr. Hope placed both feet on the floor and leaned over his desk, spearing Henrik with stark green eyes a darker shade than his daughter’s. Henrik saw other traces between them, then. The shape of her nose and her face. She was a good blend of traits from both of her parents.

“Do you love my daughter? Will she be happy and safe with you as she deserves?”

“I will take care of her, sir.”

“That’s not what I asked. Do you—”

“I want to love her,” Henrik blurted.

More brow raising. “Want? That’s not the same thing.”

Henrik considered. “I think it’s part of love, sir. I think what I feel for her is the beginning of something that will last if we want it to.”

---