Page 73 of Recklessly Rogue

“Yes. And that does make sense. But it also kept him indentured to Denmark and whoever was in power there.”

“Okay. I guess that could also be bad. It’s like when Rachel Goosman told me I couldn’t be friends with anyone but her in second grade. Then when she was a shithead, I didn’t have anyone on my side, or anyone else to turn to.” I scowl remembering it. “AndonlyRachel came to my Halloween party. Scarlett didn’t even stay home for it, because she hated Rachel.A party with just two people isfarless fun than parties with a bunch of people.”

Henry is looking at me with both brows arched.

I shrug. “It’s not a terrible metaphor.”

He laughs. “I guess not. What happened to Rachel?”

“She moved away, actually.”

He laughs again. “Well, then the analogy falls apart a bit. Denmark isn’t going anywhere. And they’ve always had lots of ‘friends’. It was only Cara that was cutting itself off. It still does to some extent. Though Torin is working to change that.”

“So Alfred didn’t change Diarmuid’s mind? The king didn’t mind having lame Halloween parties?”

“Pretty much. So, Alfred decided to make a plan B. When it came time for Declan to start preparing to take the throne, Alfred encouraged him to leave Cara instead.”

My eyes widen. “Wait. Declan abdicated because of Alfred?”

I know from my study of the country and the O’Grady family that all of the grandchildren abdicated the throne and left the country, but Declan actually left almost five years before the others did. And when he returned for Cian’s wedding—which also turned intohiswedding—that was the first time he’d been back to the island since he’d abdicated.

Henry nods. “Diarmuid didn’t know that for a few years, and when he found out, he didn’t speak to Alfred for nearly six months, but yes, Alfred encouraged Declan to leave and invested in all of his startups. He felt strongly that someone in the family needed to be divorced from the throne, loyal to the country and family in their heart, but independent of their power and money.”

“Why did he choose Declan? He was firstborn, so he should have been king. Alfred could have just convinced Declan to be the king he thought Diarmuid should be, right?” I ask.

“Because Declan has the right personality to go out and kickass in business and politics in the US. Torin is the right one to lead the country. Alfred saw that in them even before Torin abdicated.”

“Did he panic when Torin left Cara?”

“He expected it. It made him happy. It meant Torin would have experiences that would make him an even better king. Because he also knew, somehow, that eventually Torin would return to Cara. It was hard to keep Declan in Portland though.”

“No way. Declan thought about going back to Cara?”

“Yep. Alfred practically had to chain him to a chair.”

“What did he do to keep him from going back?”

Henry grins. “He hired Iris.”

Oh, I kind of love this. “Iris kept Declan in the US?”

“Yep. They—she and Alfred—convinced Declan that everything was going according to plan and it would be fine. That Declan’s role was to build wealth, power, and connections outside of the royal family so they had that additional layer of networking and influence.”

“Wow.”

He nods. “We always called Alfred the Boss. He had the vision and the heart the family needed. He knew the royal family and his own grandchildren could, and would, use their privilege and resources to do good things in the world, if they were given the support and the occasional nudge in the right direction. But hereallywanted to get them out of Cara to make that happen. He loved the country, but it was so small, and he wanted it connected to the rest of the world. The opposite, really, of what Diarmuid wanted. Until after Alfred died.” Henry sighs. “I think losing Alfred made Diarmuid realize that he’d been right about so many things. Then seeing all of the grandchildren actually out in the world doing great things, was the final proof.”

“Now that Alfred is gone, who is managing things in the US? Helping Iris?”

Henry smiles mysteriously. “No one.”

“What?”

“Everyone thinks there’s a new Boss, someone Alfred appointed to take over for him, someone pulling the strings. But…it’s Iris.”

“Iris is the big overall boss?”

“Yep.”

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