Page 81 of Daniil
“Jesper, stop.”I glare at him.“Tell me the truth.Is this some bullshit unfinished business to do with our relationship?If so, let’s talk this out and be done with it.I thought we moved on.”
“Yes, of course we have.”He sighs, finally looking away.“I don’t know what came over me.I apologize.A moment of…jealousy, I guess.”
“Why with Courtney and never with anyone else?”
“You’ve never looked at anyone else like you look at her.”He pauses.“Not even me.”
Am I supposed to apologize for not loving him the way I should have?I already have, multiple times, but if it keeps peace at the palace and within the organization, then I’ll do it again.
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I say quietly.“That was never my intention.And I don’t know what else I can say except that the way I treated you was wrong.I wish I could change the past, but I can’t.”
“I know.And I’m sorry if I caused issues with you and Courtney last night.It was stupid.It won’t happen again.”
“So we’re good?”I ask.“Because I want her to stay.I want her to want to be with me.Are you going to be okay with her living here, with me?Among us?Becoming one of us?”
He frowns.“I thought she didn’t want to be a Protector?”
“She doesn’t, but she becomes a part of the family once she’s with me.”
“Yes, of course.”He waves a hand.“Don’t mind me.Joe and I had a fight yesterday morning and I was still annoyed.I was being a jerk.You have my word it won’t happen again.”
“I appreciate that.”
“So.You’re…happy?With Courtney?”
I relax.“I am.”
“And you think she’ll move here?”
“I don’t know,” I hedge.I’m not going to get into the intricacies of our relationship with him, even if we’ve both apologized and are moving on.“We’re still trying to work things out.She’s not going to be happy being a kept woman, but she also doesn’t want to be a Royal Protector.”
“She’s a pilot, right?She could be part of the flight crew.”
“I don’t think that suits her either, not with a baby.”
“Quite a dilemma.”
“Anyway, talk to me about the pipeline.”
“You’re going to continue to get pushback,” he says.“Parliament isn’t on board with outsourcing our oil.”
“We’re not outsourcing,” I grunt in frustration.How many times do I need to have this conversation with people?“We’re expanding.Our refinery isn’t big enough to keep up with demand, and the country needs money.By building the pipeline into Turkiye, we not only provide a ton of jobs for our own people—for the next five years at least—but we also bring in a ton more money once it’s done.”
“People are hungrynow,” he says.“They can’t wait five years for a pipeline to bring in money.”
“And we’re providing for those people,” I remind him.“We donate hundreds of thousands of dollars of our personal money—me and Erik and Sandor and Elen—to feeding and clothing people in the rural areas.Financing jobs and infrastructure.But if we continue to finance the entire country, the money is going to run out.Then we can’t help anyone, not even ourselves.”
“Oh, so this is aboutyourmoney,” he says in frustration.“Because you’re not rich enough?”
“You know that’s not it,” I snap.“But our personal money isn’t infinite.We need a back-up plan, which is what this pipeline is.Proving financial stability for Limaj and its people for decades to come, so they don’t have to count on the royal family’s personal fortune.”
“At the expense of our souls.”
“Oursouls?”I stare at him.“Whose side are you on?”
“Believe it or not, I’m on the side of the people.Who don’t want us to outsource.”
“Where do you get your information?”I demand.“Because we’ve done a number of polls and they all show that the people don’t care where the money comes from, as long as it comes.Yes, the people in Hiskale are a little more hesitant but that’s because they have jobs and the winters here are milder.They don’t care about whether the people up north are going to be warm come January.”
