Page 19 of The Crown

9

Nico groaned again. He paced along the balcony outside his room. The sound of distant crashing waves, hypnotic to him generally, did little to ease his heart. He had to convince her to stay. She was perfect for him. She was everything he had ever wanted. He was so much better when she was around. He panicked for a moment. He knew he could never continue this charade of being a respectable and reliable future king if she wasn’t around. He felt like the imposter he was. Stepping into overlarge shoes, clomping along in paths his father carved out. He knew he couldn’t do it without Jo.

And he loved her. Nothing in his life had meaning without the thought of her in it. She was perfect for the country. She didn’t know it. The country didn’t know it. His mother didn’t know it. But Nico couldn’t be more sure. Jo was just what Torren needed.

Trane knocked on the sliding glass door that led to the balcony where Nico stood. Nico waved him in. He rested his forearms on the balcony railing. “She wants to go home, plans to leave as soon as we can get a flight for her.” His voice caught. Then he turned to Trane who had come to stand beside him. “I can’t do this without Jo.”

His brother rested a hip against the railing. “She’ll be a way better monarch than you.”

“I know that. Better than most.” He couldn’t be irritated with Trane and his usual high expectations. He didn’t have the energy, plus he needed his brother’s help. “What do I do, Trane? She thinks it is too much. They got to her, throwing her father up on the television.”

He frowned. “Do we know who is responsible?”

Nico shook his head. “They are working double time to find out. Of course it’s no coincidence. Someone is out to get her.” He clenched his fists. “And it worked.”

“You know who did it, right?” Trane crossed his arms.

“I just said, we don’t know yet.” Nico didn’t like the self-satisfied, smug expression on Trane’s face.

“If you can’t see it plain as day, I’m not gonna be the one to point out the obvious.”

“Brother, what can I do? I need to convince Jo to stay.”

Trane chuckled. “Love really does fuddle the brain.” He shook his head.

“That’s not helpful.”

“Maybe not. But think. If you didn’t love Jo, if this were some other woman, what would you do to convince her to stay, to give yourself more time?”

Simple. Genius. He loved Trane more than ever. Nico gripped his brother by the shoulders. “The Fairweather.”

Trane shrugged, “Or just a nice date. But a vacation on the Mediterranean would work also.” He chuckled. “If you can get away.”

Nico groaned again. “I could never. You’ve noticed, perhaps, how much father is requiring of me lately.” He frowned.

“I’ll take over your responsibilities. You take Jo and Julian and her best friend out on the yacht for a week.”

Nico’s heart unclenched and his stomach relaxed. “You always did want the crown.”

“The thing weighs a ton.” His expression turned more serious. “The crown is a Valdez responsibility. We need Jo as much as you do.”

Nico searched his brother’s face and saw nothing but sincerity. Then he almost smiled. He wanted nothing more than to be able to take a break with Jo, to win her over, to simply enjoy his fiancé. And in the process convince her she could never live without him, and that she needed to be the queen of Torren.

The next morning Nico knocked on Jo’s door, then he peeked his head in. The sight made his heart clench anew.

Jo hugged a pillow to her chest, her eyes red, her body shuddering. “We are leaving in a few hours.”

He hurried to her side and pulled her onto his lap. “No, honey, you don’t have to.”

She shook her head. “I do. We already talked about this.” She leaned her head down on his shoulder and snuggled into him.

“I never took you out on The Fairweather.”

She sighed. “I would have loved that.”

He ran a hand down her arm and pulled her closer to him. “Can you put off leaving one more week? We’ll do what I should have done first, take a vacation out on the boat.”

She sat up and looked at his face. Her tears left unchecked, glistened on her face, and his heart ached for her. He almost held his breath. “Sierra and Julian can come with us. One last party before you go?”

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