Page 48 of Royal Bosshole

“Thanks again,” I said to him, wishing I could get rid of the ache in my chest and my stomach.

It was going to leave America. I was going to leave my friend and the woman I loved behind, forever.

“No ride to the airport?” he asked.

When I shook my head, he laughed. “Oh, that’s right. You’ve got people to do that for you.”

“Something like that.”

“Great. Let me know when you get there. We’ll keep in touch.” He opened his car door, and then he turned around. “Don’t forget that letter.”

“I won’t.” I walked inside, feeling more tired than ever.

But I would write that letter tonight. The only thing was, I had no fucking idea what to say. How does one tell a woman she’s a princess? In my apartment, I put down my bag and went straight for the whiskey. There was no way I could sleep right then.

My phone buzzed, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw who it was.

Lily.

I need to see you. Now.

CHAPTER20

LILY

I’d waitedall day to message him because I couldn’t bring myself to see him again no matter how much my heart might have wanted to. But it just had to be done, and there was no way around it. I texted him while I was sitting in the middle of my bedroom floor, the papers from my grandmother’s lawyer in a mess all around me.

I still couldn’t believe it, and I replayed the time with her lawyer over and over in my head to make sure that it wasn’t a dream.

“Your grandmother wanted to wait until you turned twenty-six before you found out everything. She wanted you to have time to be with the coffee shop and make it your own before she dropped this on you.”

“But a princess. I am a princess? A real-life actual princess?”

“Yes.” He’d chuckled. “I’d advised her to tell you earlier, but you know your grandmother. She was rather stubborn about things.”

“Yes, I do know that.”

“Your name is Princess Lillian Jonasson of Brauchenstein. It is no longer a country, for it was annexed by the Nazis in WWII. Your grandmother had to escape, and she did so, even physically fighting to get away.”

A little smile had come to my lips at the thought of that.

“But there’s more. There is a marriage contract that she didn’t want you to see.” He’d showed me another paper, and my mouth had fallen open.

“You’re to marry Prince James of Lenovia in order to save his own country. It was the only way to return the princes of Lenovia to the throne as kings. It was an old contract made long ago, doesn’t quite fit with our modern ways.”

That old contract sat in my hands. It felt like a major joke was being played on me. Any moment, cameras were going to come around the corner, and we were all going to have a big laugh about it. Did James know who I was the whole time? Had he tried to get me into bed so that I’d be willing to help save his country? Or was it just about the business, and he hadn’t known about me?

I touched my back where the birthmark was, and then I remembered the look on his face when he’d learned about it. This had something to do with the birthmark, I knew it. He’d looked genuinely surprised as if he’d found out that I was the princess right then.

It took me hours and nearly a bottle of wine to get my head on straight, and then I texted him. Of course, I believed the lawyer, but I needed to know the whole truth from him. Something just wasn’t adding up.

I need to see you. Now.

I’m home. Shall I come to you?He wrote.

No, I’ll come to you. Send me the address.

I picked up all the papers, put on a jacket and tied up my hair in a ponytail. I grabbed a taxi to his place. But when I got there, I was too distracted to fully appreciate just how incredible his apartment building was. But of course, he was a prince. It made sense how nice everything was.

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