Page 93 of Duty and Desire

Nick turned, his expression neutral, and my heart sank at the lack of reaction.

So that’s how it’s going to be.

I bowed my head. “Your Majesty.”

I’d expected some emotion. A flicker of… something,anything, to show me the Nick I knew.

This wasn’t Nick, though. And it wasn’t just his short hair, his smooth jaw.

This was King Nikolaus, distant and formal, and nothing like the man I’d fallen in love with.

Chapter Thirty

May 26

Nick

Itook one look at Gio’s expression, devoid of emotion, and my stomach was as rigid as iron. I hadn’t been sure how I’d feel when I saw him. Perhaps keeping distance between us had been the wrong choice. Because justlookingat him flung me back into warm days in his company, long nights in his arms. The intervening days since I’d been forced to leave the island hadn’t diminished my feelings.

I still love him.

Which made his visit all the more difficult.

“My condolences, Your Majesty, on the death of your father and brother.”

Gio held himself so stiffly, as though he were made of the same stone that surrounded us. His voice—the same voice that had the power to reduce me into a quivering, boneless wreck—came out low, with maybe the faintest tremor in it.

Does he still love me?

Not that it mattered if he did. Neither of us were free to follow that path.

Claudia didn’t move, her posture equally stiff, regarding me with a thoughtful gaze, as if she was deciding how to greet me. I’d erected a barrier between us, and it was up to me to do something about it.

Some walls were meant to be smashed into rubble.

I walked over to her, my arms wide. “I’m so, so sorry,” I croaked.

She stepped into the circle of my arms, and I hugged my best friend, fighting back tears when she held me tight and whispered, “I willalwaysbe here for you, okay?”

I clung to her. “We’ll talk later, I promise.”

Claudia pulled back, her tears making tracks through her light make-up. “We’d better,” she said with a low growl that belied the light in her eyes. She wiped her cheeks with her fingers. “But right now you have someone way more important to talk to.”

More than that. I had a bridge to build.

I straightened. “Franz will show you to your room, while I take Gio on a tour of the gardens.” Gio blinked, and I frowned. “We can’t talk in here.”

He stared at me for a moment, then cocked his head in that way I’d always loved. “So walls really do have ears?”

“Maybe not the walls, but the servants? Who knows?”

I didn’t really think Daniela was bribing the staff to spy on me, but I didn’t want anyone to overhear our conversation.

I led them from the study, and gave Franz his instructions. Judging by his smile, I’d said the right thing. Gio and I walked through the hallways, and he kept stopping to get a better look at his surroundings.

“I’ll show you more of the palace later, only, we must talk first.”

Gio arched his eyebrows. “How many people can say a king has acted as their tour guide?”

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