Page 27 of His Forever Princess

He wasn't in Glorvaird, but he didn't say that. Maggie was too astute for her own good.

He stood frozen, emotion battering him. He'd kept busy since the interrupted ball so that he didn't have to face it. But Maggie wasn't letting him off the hook.

He closed his eyes and pressed a thumb and forefinger into his eye sockets. It didn't help.

"I've always loved your mom." There was a relief in saying it. Admitting it to himself.

"When's the last time you said that to her?" Maggie asked.

He'd almost blurted it out in that little cabin, when she'd saved him from hypothermia. He was supposed to be the one rescuing her. She'd turned his life upside-down, from the very beginning. Made him realize what was truly important.

It had broken him, when they’d grown apart.

"Dad?"

He shook his head. His voice emerged rough. "I don't know, peanut."

"What do you really want?"

Her words galvanized him to go to the narrow desk on one wall and pull his laptop out of the leather carrying case. What he wanted right this second was for Alessandra to be safe. He'd managed to get it out of one of the old security guards he'd worked with before that she was due to arrive within the hour. He could spend that time memorizing an escape route. Just in case.

Because his gut was telling him something was wrong.

"If you want Mom back, you need to tell her how you really feel. Don't hold back."

He blinked away a hot layer of tears, quickly here and gone. His daughter knew him. He didn't admit to his feelings easily. Never had. Had that stubbornness cost him years with Alessandra? Probably.

But Maggie might be onto something.

"It might not be that easy," he said as the schematics for the hotel popped up in his email inbox. "There are things that could keep us apart."

"So eliminate them." Maggie had always been the most practical of his daughters. And the most bloodthirsty. She loved a good revenge movie.

For a moment, he imagined getting Arnault out of his way in the most creative of ways. There was a visceral giddiness to the thought. But he blinked it away.

"One of those obstacles is your aunt," he said.

Maggie made a noise of understanding.

They both knew the strength of Alessandra’s loyalty to the crown and the duties Eloise assigned her. He didn't think she'd ever walk away. It was part of who she was.

He personally thought Eloise took advantage of that. And Eloise knew that he thought it. It was part of why she didn't like him.

But it didn't mean the obstacle was insurmountable.

"The ranch can survive without you," Maggie said quietly. "You've put years of your life into it. If you want to stay in Glorvaird... I guess it comes down to the same question. What do you really want?"

His daughter might be a cowgirl, but she was also a royal, through and through. She could hold her own against any politician.

"When did you get to be the one dispensing advice?" he asked. If his voice was a little rough, he hoped she wouldn't notice through the cell phone connection.

She'd grown up when he wasn't watching. Fallen in love. He liked her husband well enough, even if he was a city slicker who barely knew how to ride. He treated Maggie right, and that was all that mattered.

"I just want you to be happy, Dad."

Now he had to blink a couple of times to get rid of that heat in his eyes. "Right back atcha, peanut."

She told him she loved him and rang off.

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