Page 71 of A Girl and HER Prince
And Deedee was going to have her head.
That still doesn’t mean she’s a murderer.
Livvy jumped when she realized she really had forgotten to lock the door. She hurried back and slid the bolt closed before she wandered to the bathroom to get ready for bed. What she’d do for a suite like this at home. The hallway between there and the bedroom stretched out with portraits decorating the walls. A dark-haired woman stared out from a gilt frame. She was stunningly gorgeous, and immediately, Livvy was struck by the sadness in her eyes. This must be the lady of the house. A stark reminder that riches didn’t always bring happiness, and yet, what had caused that kind of sorrow?
It reminded her of the tragic looks she’d caught on Venice’s face when she’d edited his videos.
And she didn’t want to think about that. She set about getting ready for bed before she returned to the cozy room and that blessedly soft feathery mattress. Sinking down into the blankets, she snuggled into them, wrapping them around her shoulders and feeling incredibly grateful to finally be able to sleep. Her door was locked, the roaming donkeys were keeping watch outside, Venice was on the other side of this wall, and she felt safe.
She’d also forgotten to turn off the light. Sighing, she struggled with mustering the last of her strength to hop out of bed as she stared up at the strange spiders painted over the portrait across from her. Wait… not spiders; those were ants. They looked like what she’d seen on Achilles’s ankle.
They were strange things to have on a painting, but more especially as a tattoo, and the image of their skeletal bodies haunted her as she fell asleep under the bright lights.
Hours later, she was awakened by someone knocking her bed around.
She lurched up in bed. Had the assassin returned? Was he wrestling with Venice in the other room? Why were the walls moving too? Somewhere downstairs, glass shattered.
This was an earthquake. She let out a squeak that turned into a scream that brought Venice running… no, racing into her room, seconds after the walls and furniture quit moving. It was a good thing too, because she didn’t like the groaning sounds the walls were making. Their Paradise in the Clouds wasn’t very sturdy at all!
Behind him, the donkeys barreled inside her room too, which turned this moment ridiculous, almost surreal as Venice rushed to her side of the bed. “Are you okay?”
She almost tackled him in her hurry to get his soothing arms around her. “Earthquakes too?” she shrieked. “What’s next? A volcano? This is starting to feel personal.”
He ran his hands across her back. “Shh. Shh.” He brushed his lips against her hair. “It’ll be fine.”
She let out a shuddering breath. Were they going to survive this island? It was far from the Utopia that Venice had claimed that it was. Steve brayed some donkey curse behind her and proceeded to drag her blankets off the bed.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Venice tugged it back. “You don’t get to stealeverybody’sblankets.”
“What was he doing in your room?” she asked.
He rolled his eyes. “I left to raid the medicine cabinet and Steve sneaked in while I was gone… I wasn’t sure if he’d let me back in quite honestly. He’s a little territorial. And then he let in BamBam and Ronnie and it became a full-on house party.” He placed his knee between her and Steve when he tried to burrow into her side. “Bad boy,” Venice told him. His eyes met hers. “You want a pet donkey for the rest of the night? I’ll flip you for it.”
She clasped Venice’s shirt. “None of you are going anywhere… you hear? I’m expecting giants to come crashing through the windows next.”
He pushed her hair behind her ear. “If it’s any consolation, earthquakes are usual after hurricanes like this.”
No, it wasn’t a consolation actually. Every part of her was shaking at what horrible thing might happen next. Maybe it was PTSD after the attack, but she was not handling this very well. She let out a shuddering breath. “And IthoughtI wanted adventure.”
Venice made a sound of sympathy, his finger catching the thread of her bracelet. “Sorry, this is a lot to handle.”
“I wish I was braver.”
He let out a chuckle. “Braver? How much braver can you possibly get?” His eyes held a serious gleam as they lifted to hers. “You’re the bravest woman I know.”
Venice wouldn’t be saying that if he knew how she’d used the excuse of her work to hide away from the world after her father passed away. Even now, when she sensed things were getting out of her control with Venice, she sprang back like a cat near water. “No, I’m not brave,” she confessed. He played with her bracelet and she glanced down at the two charms that dangled between his fingers. She let out a soft chuckle. “Look at that! Doesn’t that tell you everything you need to know?”
“What?” He seemed genuinely confused.
“It only has two charms on it,” she said with a sigh, “and that’s actually a really terrible thing because I got my bracelet from my father before he died of cancer, and…” Livvy noticed his stricken look, and she had to turn away to get through this. “This had always been our dream vacation, you know? And we never went together, and I just couldn’t go after that.”
To her horror, she felt the hot tears run down her cheeks—her momentary break was because she was so tired and stressed. That’s all this was. Normally her frozen, withdrawn existence didn’t bother her, but today, when she sat with someone who lived his life so fearlessly, it did! She’d let the world leave her behind, and her cowardice ate at her, forcing out more tears that threatened to choke out her voice. “After that, I never took any chances,” she said, “or got out of my comfort zone. I haven’t beenanywhereuntil Deedee forced me to go.”
His fingers tightened over her wrist. “And here you are,” he said. “After all that! You’re amazing, and I’m not just saying that. Livvy, look at me.”
She groaned and met the eyes of the man who dove for shipwrecks without blinking. His lips lifted with a reassuring smile. “You have the heart of a lion—no woman I know possesses half the courage you showed when we climbed that fishbowl and waited out that storm, and who willingly gave up her clothes for me… uh…” His face reddened, which was so uncharacteristic of him that she hid a grin. “I didn’t mean it like that. Your sleeves!”
She hiccupped on a laugh, but was so overcome by what he was telling her that she couldn’t talk.
