Page 53 of The Champion
I tried to follow along as technical terms flew back and forth, but my mind was stuck on Victor’s grimace when I had said the word husband.
Before any of our plans to settle down in another part of Europe could become a reality, I would need to talk to my family. Victor might be a genius, but I was sure that my father and brother wouldn’t approve of him as my partner. They never liked him, and they would worry that he wouldn’t be faithful to me. I had the same concerns. We had known each other since I was sixteen and he was eighteen. After our three weeks of living together, I had no doubt that Victor loved me. He didn’t say it with words, but I felt it in his actions and the way he made love to me several times a day.
It was clear that Celeste, Shelly, and Victor didn’t need me in that moment. Excusing myself in a soft mutter, I walked outside the building to get some fresh air and clear my mind.
Two days ago, we had involved the Polo family in our plans to start a new country and their enthusiasm for the project had boosted my beliefs that it was possible.
We all agreed that no existing country was perfect and that we would get to pick the best ideas from France, the Motherlands, and the Northlands to create our own way of doing things.
So far, the Polo family, Victor, and I agreed that it should be a democracy and that people should be free to drink alcohol and use swear words if they so pleased.
We were hoping that the French parliament would lift their strict rules and allow their people to leave the safe zone in order to settle down in a new part of Europe. Victor, Shelly, and I had discussed ways for Victor to sell them the idea.
I should be happy now that there was a chance of Victor and me living together, but the part that bothered me was that we hadn’t been truthful to Marco.
Officially, he was my protector and well aware that my father wouldn’t like that I had chosen a French man over an Nman. Marco still agreed that it should be my choice and declared that he would stand by my right to marry Victor.
Problem was that Victor didn’t intend to marry me. He and I were still discussing the details of how we would make it work between us. As I exited the building my mind was spinning with questions.
What if he never agrees to marry me?
Am I willing to live with him on his terms, and if I do, will his terms include sleeping with other women?
I would have said that was a dealbreaker to me but walking down the street toward the park, I considered the alternative.
If Victor and I didn’t give our relationship a shot, I would go back to the Northlands and continue searching for a man who made me feel like Victor did.
In twenty-nine years, I hadn’t found him in the Northlands and the thought of settling for someone I didn’t love in order to have a family was depressing.
Could I live with Victor without us being married?
My mother loved my father, but she had once told me that she had thought of marriage as archaic and unnecessary. She would have had no problem living with my father without a contract of marriage.
Starting a new country with people from across the world would require all of us to put away our fixed ideas on what was normal.
So why is marriage so important to me?
The answer was right there in front of me.Because it matters to my father.
Khan Aurelius was old-school, and he had drilled into me that I needed to marry a strong pure-blooded Northlander.
I was already disappointing him by choosing a French man, so why not go all the way and tell him we were doing things our way?
No, he would worry about me, and I didn’t want my dad to suffer on my behalf. Khan might be stubborn and old-fashioned, but I loved and adored him.
That night the Polo family came to the penthouse to discuss things further.
“What should we call the country?” Marco asked.
“We could go with the name of the country that used to be in that geographical location,” Albert suggested.
“But have we decided which area we’re choosing? All three of the safe areas we looked at were wonderful.” Victor moved forward in his chair. “There was the area up north that used to be Belgium. Then there’s the area down south that used to be Portugal, and lastly the area out east that used to be Austria.”
“I liked Belgium the most,” I said. “That area was larger, and the surrounding zones were further along in the cleaning process. It’s also the closest to France.”
“Yeah, but those mountains in Austria,” Shelly gestured with her hands. “It doesn’t get more beautiful than that.”
“Austria didn’t have any beaches by the ocean though,” Ada pointed out. “I’m voting for either Belgium or Portugal.”
