Page 26 of The Prodigal Prince

He’d become Prince Maximilian again.

The hand-crafted Italian leather shoes.

The bespoke suit.

The haircut and clean-shaven face, thanks to the staff barber and his hot towel.

All of it combined to make him feel like the person he used to be and not the person he’d become.

Mac nodded toward a member of the staff who stopped long enough to give a slight bow his direction.

Before he could fully prepare himself, he found his way into the executive wing. The queen had summoned him. He couldn’t refuse.

“Good morning, sir. The queen is waiting for you.” The assistant wasn’t one Mac knew. He’d known all of his mother’s assistants. Esme only had one when Mac left, but she’d likely kept all of the late queen’s on her staff at least for a time.

Mac entered the office to find it the same as he remembered, but different at the same time.

Some of the furnishings were the same. Some were different, though Mac couldn’t put his finger on all of what had changed.

Esme waved him toward a seat as she held the phone to her ear. “Thank you, Edward. I appreciate the update.”

Mac wouldn’t take the seat indicated until after she replaced the handset. “Good morning, Your Majesty.” He bowed at the waist. He’d seen her talking to Fiona earlier in the day, but he hadn’t actuallyseenher to give the respect she was due as the queen of his country.

She rolled her eyes. “Good morning, Mac. Sit down.”

He took the seat across the desk from her.

“They’ve made progress in San Majoria. They think they know who the men were, but haven’t found them yet.” The queen rested her forearms on her desk. “There’s nothing we can do about that for now. There’s something else I want to talk to you about.”

Here it came. “Why I left. Where I’ve been.”

“Among other things. I know where you’ve been. You and Silas have been in the States. I’m not sure how you’ve avoided being seen by paparazzi or anyone else you know.”

Mac shrugged. “I got good at looking the other way when I needed to. The longer hair and beard helped a lot.”

“I’m not sure I would have recognized you if you walked past me in a place I didn’t expect you to be,” she admitted. “I do like this look better, though.”

“Me, too.” Despite - or maybe because of - its necessity, he’d spent the better part of six years wanting to shave it off.

Rather than continuing, she stared at her folded hands for a moment. “I don’t know the details of why you left. Edward told me you had very good reasons, but he’s never told me what they were.” She held up a hand to stop his protest. “And I’m not asking you to tell me now. I might require you to at some point, but we’re not to that point yet.”

“Good. Because I won’t tell you. Not unless there’s a reason it becomes vital, and even then I probably won’t tell you everything.” He shook his head. “There are some things you don’t need to know.” Like who his biological father was. Telling her he’d been adopted was one thing.

Telling her the man who’d held her and everyone else hostage was his father? That was a whole different matter.

“We’ll discuss that another time. For now, we need to discuss your future.”

Mac closed his eyes and sighed. “Do we have to? Do I have to have a future here? Can’t I go back to Trumanville and live a quiet life there? With Fiona and Gray in some capacity?”

The look she gave Mac told him she’d nearly perfected that mom glare that turned even more potent when the mom also wore the crown. “It is possible we can work something out where you’re not a full time working member of the family, but you do have responsibilities here that you’ve neglected for far too long.”

That stung, like she meant it to. “I know I have, but I was still in university when I left. I didn’t have very many responsibilities to start with.”

“Not at the time, but you should have by now. You’ve been well aware of that for many years.”

Mac shook his head. “I’ve always been your spare, Esme. You and I both know our parents didn’t treat us the same way.”

“Father didn’t treat any of us well, least of all Mum.” The tinge of anger in her voice surprised Mac.

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