Page 39 of The Prince and the Double Shot
“You would be a much better leader to our people than I could ever be.”
“Well, I do expect that you will keep me on as your advisor. Now, who is the boy? Is he an American?”
“No. He’s from… Europe.”
“Well, thatreallynarrows it down. You don’t know? What do you know about him?”
“He’s… Not that much. He doesn’t really talk about himself that way. He also doesn’t know who I actually am, either. I mean, he knows that I’m a… But not where and who.”
“I’m flummoxed. You do realize that he could be a spy.”
“He’s worked here at the café for years. He’s not. But there’s something that… It’s uncanny, actually. He looks so much like Petra. I mean, they could be brothers.”
“Isn’t that weird?”
“Comforting, I guess. Of course, it was weird, but I’ve… gotten over it, I suppose. He’s beautiful and strong.”
“Like Petra.”
“But in a different way. Petra’s strength was… He had surgical precision. I think Zane might be more of a wrecking ball, if you know what I mean. But their hair and eyes, even the shapeof their face, are… Petra was leaner than Zane. Zane looks more like an action hero.”
“He sounds dreamy. I just want you to be happy, Phillipe. But I also want you to be careful to whom you give your heart, and the way you speak, I can tell it’s already been given. What will you do?”
“I accept that I have a duty, and I will fulfill it. But if Zane were interested, I wouldn’t be the first royal to have a consort that shared their life.”
“Is that fair to him or yourself? To always be split between duty and your heart?”
“It’s not what I…” I slumped in my chair. “No. It’s probably not. It would have destroyed Petra.”
“I suppose then that you have a choice you have to make.”
“No. My choice has to be for my people. I understand that. I have come to terms with that. I have to put them and the country first above all else, even myself.”
“Then I think you have to… Well, you know what it is you have to do.”
“I do. But I think I might just be selfish for a while. He already knows that I’m… He understood the law. But I can’t leave him, yet. Before I marry into whatever this is… I want to be happy. It’s been so long since I…”
“I know. Oh, here comes the waiter, finally.” She grinned. “At least we got to do this.”
“Are you seriously flying back tonight?”
“Phil, you know the answer. Besides, I wouldn’t want to cramp your style.” She winked.
The waiter walked up and we gave him our orders. Lunch was quick, and thankfully, Seraphina dropped me off at the hotel so I didn’t have to walk back. But her words rang loudly in my ears. ‘My heart had already been given.’ She was right. Now what could I do about it?
ZANE
Iwalked up to Phil’s room. I stunk of coffee and my shirt was stained with creamer, but I needed to see him.
The last week had gone by in a blur of stolen kisses behind bushes and restless nights of sex and cuddles before we began our day all over again. We didn’t see each other every night. Phil had needed some time to deal with stuff back home, but those days felt longer than normal.
I knocked on his door. How long had it been? Over a month of getting to know him and falling for him felt fast. But right. Fate was a bitch, and I still didn’t know what it was that I should do. I knew I needed to tell him where I was from and who I was, but…
My family wasn’t really liked by most other wealthy families in Europe. They saw us as warlike and cruel, even though we hadn’t been to war in well over three hundred years. Monarchs, presidents, and prime ministers knew our country well enough to avoid it. My family was treated like the mafia, and at times, the moniker fit.
But that was many years ago.
My country had fallen on hard times before I was born. Crops failed over and over again. The land turned sour, and thepeople struggled. Pride and greed gave way to something else – something far humbler than the people had ever known. Fear creates hard people. We were not known for our niceties.
