Page 84 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

The rest of dinner seemed to fly by. I tried to imagine my life always being like this. So elegant and glamorous. I felt out of place.

But when Rafe smiled at me, that feeling went away.

“My family’s going to celebrate Christmas early,” he said, leading me from the room. “Since the wedding is tomorrow.”

“Oh.” That would be awkward. “I can’t celebrate Christmas with your family.” Talk about an imposition! They weren’t planning on me coming out here.

“You can,” he insisted.

“I don’t have any gifts for anyone.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It will matter if I get gifts and don’t have any to give back.” I couldn’t explain to him what that would do to my pride. But he seemed to instinctively understand.

“That won’t be a problem,” he reassured me. He took out his phone, typed in something, and put it back in his pocket.

“Aren’t we going to get changed first?”

“Christmas is more fun in formal wear.” He took me into his family’s private rooms, right into a large, comfortable family room dominated by a massive Christmas tree. There was a roaring fire going. “Look at that,” I pointed out. “No smoke.”

He gave me a wry smile, seating me on one of the couches. The rest of the family joined us not long after that—the king in his wheelchair with his queen walking alongside him, the princesses following, and Nico, Kat, Lemon, and Dante all arriving together a minute later.

Serafina sat next to me. “I’m askingLa Befanafor a sister this Christmas.”

I was pretty sure there wasn’t one of those under the tree. “Is your mother going to have a baby?”

“Ew. No. She’s old. Rafe’s going to marry you.”

How could a simple statement both thrill and terrify me? “He’s not,” I told her. I didn’t want her to get her hopes up. We were nowhere near that yet.

“He is.”

“I wouldn’t bet against her,” Kat said as she walked past, slowing down long enough to speak to me. “She’s two for two on that front.”

“I used to only have two sisters, but now I have five.”

“Almost four,” I corrected her.

“Five,” she said stubbornly, eyeing me.

They all settled in and started exchanging gifts, mostly novelty and prank items that made everybody laugh. Lemon handed Kat a clothing box. When Kat got it open, she pulled out a risqué piece of lingerie that had her blushing, Nico smiling, and Lemon cackling with delight.

As promised, there were no gifts for me, which made me feel more relaxed. There weren’t as many presents in total as I had expected, and Rafe explained that the majority of their gift-giving took place later, in early January.

“Well, my parents are going to be here early in the morning, so we’re going to say good night to y’all.” Lemon kissed the king and queen on both cheeks, and Dante did the same. Everybody seemed to empty out of the room quickly after that.

Rafe offered to put a sleeping Serafina in bed, but Nico insisted he be the one to do it. “Because if I walk my soon-to-be-bride to her bedroom door, she won’t be able to wear white tomorrow.”

Kat put her hands on her hips in mock anger and said, “I’ll have you know I’m perfectly capable of controlling—”

He interrupted her with an “Until tomorrow,cuore mio,” and a kiss so passionate and intense that I studied the wallpaper behind them instead of looking. As if remembering that we were there, a breathless Kat made him stop, and they left the room in separate directions, even though they were both reluctant to do so.

Which left me and Rafe alone. I’d always imagined myself too young to get married, but I wanted what Nico and Kat had. I liked the idea of making a permanent commitment. Standing up in front of everyone I knew and telling them that I loved Rafe and would spend the rest of my life with him.

That was not where my head should have been. I kicked off my shoes, rubbing my feet. “I feel bad about missing the talent show.”

“Nicole will film the whole thing for you. She even said she would be Henry’s assistant.”

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