Page 64 of Lily and the Billionaire Prince

The door opened behind them. Lily and Mr. Elir turned on the bench to find Aaliyah and River entering. Aaliyah wore a coral blouse with jeans, her black hair twined in a braid over her shoulder. Beside her, River looked handsome in a yellow polo shirt and jeans.

“Ah, my daughter. River. You are both looking well today.”

“And you,” River said.

“Sorry to interrupt, Papa,” Aaliyah said, a smile basking on her cheeks. Her hands were clasped in front of her as if she needed something to hold on to. “But can we steal Lily for a moment?”

Confused, Lily gave Mr. Elir’s hand a final squeeze and rose. “What do you need?” she asked.

“I don’t need anything,” Aaliyah said, “other than to tell you that someone is here to see you.”

“Who?” Lily was gratified to realize things were returning to business as usual. She regretted that she hadn’t brought her tablet with her. It was time to do her job—to do the best she possibly could and make up for the self-esteem she’d lacked for so long.

River’s grin widened too. “I overheard him asking the front desk how to go about contacting you.”

“You—wait.” Before Lily could go on, River moved aside, and Henrik, glorious, dreamlike Henrik, made the rest of the room fade by entering it.

His smile was dazzling. He was just as handsome as she’d remembered, just as captivating. His muscles defined the lines of his black shirt, his slim waist was hugged by jeans, and he was tall and poised with one hand jutting from his pocket and the other at his side.

Lily touched a hand to her chest, needing the reminder that she was real. She was awake. This was really happening.

“You’re here?” she asked on a breath.

“I’m here.” His voice was as she’d imagined it countless times. Sonorous and velvety and encompassing all of her with a single sound.

“But—why?” She couldn’t comprehend the answer.

Henrik stepped past River and Aaliyah. Closer to her.

“There’s something I never told you,” he said.

From the corner of her eye, Lily barely registered the fact that Aaliyah, River, and Mr. Elir shuffled from the room and closed the door behind them. Lily and Henrik were well and truly alone now.

“When we were at your family home on Christmas, I spoke with your father.”

“I knew you weren’t just getting to know each other. What else did you talk about?” she asked.

A crooked smirk. “You, in fact.”

“Me?”

Another step. “I told him of my intentions toward you. That I wanted to make you my queen.”

His queen. She wanted to be his everything. “What did he say?”

“He asked if I loved you.”

Time stilled. Her heart betrayed the slowness by beating faster. “And?”

“I told him I wanted to love you. That hasn’t changed, Lily. You are the love I choose. But I’ll tell you what I would tell your father if he were to ask me the question now.”

He crossed the rest of the way to her in slow, deliberate steps. His hand stroked her cheek, weakening her knees in the process.

“You deserve a love with total and complete trust. You deserve a man to treat you with honor and decency. You deserve to know your private thoughts and your privacy will be respected. No manipulation. No secrets. No threats. I can’t promise you that we will never fight. I’m sure we will have disagreements. But I want you to know that you’re safe with me, Lily. Your mind, your body, your heart. Everything about you is safe with me.”

Her strength gave out, but he was there to keep her upright. Lily buried her face in Henrik’s chest and wrapped her arms around him, letting his words seep into her skin. She wasn’t overcome because of what he said; at least, his words weren’t the only reason for her reaction. More so, her quivering was because his behavior previous to this point had proven the words.

This was what she’d wished for at the wishing well in the forest. To be free of Damon’s threats. To have a life with Henrik. She discounted both of those things from the realm of possibility before now, but today?

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