Page 6 of The Billionaire's Royal Crown

“It’s like assuming our marriage is going to fail.”

“No, it isn’t. Don’t think of it that way. But…you never know what could happen. Someone’s eyes get turned, someone changes their mind.”

“Marriage is forever. We should work through our problems.”

“Nate, that’s easy to say, and quite a different thing to do…especially if you go through something…”

Nate puckered his lips, his nose wrinkling. “Go ahead and say it. Especially if Ellie cheats. That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it?”

“No one is accusing her of anything. And I doubt this will ever come into play. I certainly hope it doesn’t, but things happen. People stray.”

“You and Mom are fine.”

“Your mother and I are from a different generation. You kids these days run away from the first little problem. Case in point, you almost weren’t engaged to Ellie. If your mother and I hadn’t rigged that plane–“

“Wait, what?” Nate asked, his jaw falling open.

Charles pressed his lips together. “There was nothing wrong with the plane. Your mom just…thought you could use a minute to cool off and think things through. And she knew if you got on that plane, it’d take you far longer to realize you were being…well, never mind.”

“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you manipulated me like that.”

“It worked, didn’t it? You’re happy, aren’t you?”

Nate slouched in his seat, bobbling his head. “Yes, I am. I was being an idiot, but…that’s beside the point.”

“Well, there you are. What if you’re an idiot again? Or she is? She nearly married someone else.”

“That was my fault.”

“What if you have another lapse in judgment that leads her to make a mistake?”

Nate massaged his temples. “Maybe you and Mom shouldn’t have messed around and lied to me, because clearly you think this isn’t going to work out.”

Charles let his head loll to the side. “Now, Nate, no one is saying that. But every marriage goes through rough patches. And if it gets too rough to bear, you want to be prepared. You want to make things clean.”

“I said I’d talk to her about it. But…I don’t want to insult her or her family.”

His father raised his hands in the air. “You bring it up however you’d like. Just make sure you bring it up. We don’t want another Chloe situation.”

“Blame Stephen for that. At least I wasn’t stupid enough to marry her after what she did.”

“Try to give your brother a little leeway. He’s hurting.” Charles rose from his seat and buttoned his jacket.

“Oh, boo-hoo for Stephen. Maybe he should grow up like he told me to.”

Charles offered him a warning glance. “You are the big brother. Try to be nice.”

Nate shook his head as his father strode from the room. “Yeah, yeah, put it all on me as the big brother.”

He sat staring at his blank monitor for another few minutes before he grabbed his phone and answered the text from Elena, allowing the warmth of their relationship to wash over him again.

With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself to stand and leave his desk behind. He strode through the office, smiling and nodding at the few people who said hello. Many of them raised their eyebrows at him as he passed. Word had really gotten around about his recent royal adventures.

He cleared his throat as he slipped into the hall leading to the corner office opposite his. With a wave at the secretary outside the office he sought, he bypassed her wide-eyed stare.

His knuckles rapped against the wooden door as he stuck his head in.

Stephen glanced up from his monitor, his shoulders rolling back. “What do you want?”

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