Page 30 of The Prince's Green Card Scheme

She shakes her head, her eyes shining with tears, and starts towards the door. “Goodbye, Paul.”

I jump up and hold out my hands to stop her, half in surrender, half-begging. “Chloe, please wait. Please. I know I’ve hurt you. Maybe I should have told you what was going on all along. But be honest — would you have paid any more attention to me if I had said,Hey, I’m a prince. Let’s get married?”

Her breath catches and she hesitates, freezing in place. This means there’s still a chance. This means I can still get through to her.

If she really could never forgive me, she’d have walked out of here already.

“Look, I know I can’t ever make it up to you. And I get that. But if you just come to dinner with my parents one time, I’ll give youdouble whatever I already promised you. I’ll give you a guided tour around Bellamare. I’ll give you anything that you ask for. Please just do one more thing for me. One more thing, and then I can be out of your life forever.”

Her mouth opens, her lips quivering, uncertainty plastered all over her face.

“I know I’m not asking something easy,” I say, taking a step towards her. “But I’m on my hands and knees begging.”

“Are you?” she says, raising an eyebrow.

That makes me blink. A joke?

I feel like I’ve got whiplash.

“Do you want me to?” I say softly. “Because I will. If you want me to get down on my knees and beg you to stay, I will.”

As if all this wasn’t humiliating enough already. I suppose that’s what she wants. My utter humiliation.

And if I want her to stay, I guess I have to submit to it.

With a sigh, I start bending my knees as if to get down on the floor, and Chloe chuckles, waving her hand at me. “No, dummy. I don’t literally want you to get on your knees. Why would I want that?”

“Oh,” I say.

She stares at me again, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And then it dawns on me. She’s not running. She’s not even frowning anymore. All she’s doing is standing here, in my bedroom, arms folded, the faintest look of amusement on herface. The kind of look you have when you’re desperately trying not to laugh.

“Wait,” I blurt. “Does this mean you’ll do it?”

She nods slowly, allowing the smile to spread over her face. “It’s so completely against my better judgment, but yes. I’ll stay. This means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

It’s my turn to nod slowly. “More than you could ever imagine.”

“And that’s why I’m staying,” she says. “I haven’t forgiven you. I can’t promise I ever will. But I’ll do it. I’ll stay for dinner. And if you show me around the country, I just might consider that whole forgiveness thing after all.”

“It’s a deal,” I say, letting myself return her smile.

And just like that, for the first time in months, the endless churning inside my chest quietens a little. Almost like everything’s going to be okay.

CHAPTER 15

CHLOE

For the next few hours, time flows by as I stay with Paolo in his room. We spend that entire time trying to figure out the best way to get me in the palace without it being too weird, without having a huge fanfare or nightmare.

Eventually, we decide that we’ll just skip the formal announcement. We’ll let everyone think they missed the memo about my arrival. It’s not like me coming was a secret, and if I just appear, hopefully people won’t question me, but themselves.

Fortunately, the king and queen aren’t home right now. They’re away on official duty abroad for a few days. The staff knew I was supposed to be arriving here this weekend, so they’ll probably just leave me to my business.

Paolo tells me that his parents weren’t happy with him booking the tickets for this weekend, almost like we were waiting for them to be away before I arrived. He tells me it wasn’t on purpose, but it definitely was a happy coincidence. If I hadn’t suggested this weekend, he would have. He thought it would be more comfortable for me if I wasn’t launched immediately into a royal meeting with parents whom I wasn’t expecting to see.

I hate him for being that thoughtful.

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