I was in no mood for political drama. I’d spent the last few nights sharing a bed with Clara in a frustratingly puritanical fashion. She was asleep when I turned in and gone when I woke up. Her meals were spent with Edward or Belle or alone. We’d barely spoken more than twenty words to one another since I’d revealed the truth about Anders. I was determined to give her space, but if she appreciated it, I didn’t know. She certainly hadn’t told me. Meanwhile, I had the fucking privilege of sitting through unproductive meetings and accomplishing nothing. I was trapped in a cycle of doing nothing and saying nothing, which left me feeling bloody hopeless.
“The Prime Minister has arrived,” Norris informed me.
“You aren’t my secretary,” I snapped. “Shouldn’t you be protecting someone?”
“At the moment, the only person in danger is you,” he said in an even voice.
I placed the bait on the hook and dangled it, angling for a fight. “Oh really?”
“In danger of making an ass of yourself.” He tugged at his suit jacket without blinking. “Shall I show the Prime Minister in?”
“Please,” I said through gritted teeth. Norris wasn’t going to fight with me and, in my experience, Prime Minister Clark was more likely to roll over and take it than defend himself.
The whole situation left me feeling twitchy. I’d tried to do the right thing and give Clara what she wanted. I’d fucked up plenty, but it wasn’t as though I was keeping a secret to hurt her. It was the opposite. I’d accepted she would be angry with me when I finally decided to tell her, but her silent show of disappointment was so much worse.
The Prime Minister showed up in my office looking as though he’d swallowed a rotten egg. I wasn’t fond of these meetings either, but this was extreme. He took a seat across from me and cleared his throat ominously.
“What’s happened now?” I asked wearily. There was always some new economic crisis or terrorist threat. The sky was always falling, and yet, we were still sitting here breathing.
“Parliament has called a special council to discuss the treatment of Oliver Jacobson,” he informed me.
It was the last thing I expected. “He’s been formally charged.”
“Yes,” Clark hesitated before continuing, “but there are some members of Parliament who feel the crown has overstepped its bounds in this case.”
“I bet I could pick those members out of a line-up,” I said darkly.
Clark winced as though I’d struck a sore point. “In addition, they’re calling for his release.”
My fingers dug into the arms of my chair and I stared at him, waiting for the punchline. “You aren’t serious? We have a signed confession.”
“Some are saying a man will confess to anything after being held—”
“Stop being a politician for one goddamned minute, Clark,” I ordered him, rising from my seat, “and tell me what you think.”
His jaw tensed as he stared up at me, the only proof that he was anything but calm. “I think its bollocks. I’ve seen the evidence. It’s damning.”
“Then what are you going to do about it?” I turned and gazed out the window, wondering how anyone could be so blind.
“I can’t do anything. They’re calling for action and for legislation which will severely limit the powers of the monarchy,” he explained in a low voice.
“They want my crown,” I muttered with a laugh as I stared at the grounds of my palace. It was ridiculous. I never wanted the damn thing in the first place. I’d been forced to take it to protect my wife from a man who wanted to destroy me, no matter the cost. It was a twisted, unending cycle, and I was trapped. I whipped around to face Clark. “Maybe you should be King.”
“That’s not really how it works,” he said slowly, missing the joke.
“I’m not looking for a lesson in government.” My whole life had been one: shaking hands, enduring endless hours of political discussion, parties, paparazzi, lies, secrets, and impotent compromises.
“I wanted to warn you.” He paused as if weighing what he would say next. “I think you might have more enemies in Parliament. I only pray they don’t come after you like Jacobson.”
“Let them.” I leaned down, clutching the edge of my desk. “Let them come for me. They’ve mistaken me for my title, but I’m flesh and blood and I’ll fight like any man for what’s mine. They think I’m some powerless figure that they can control—that they can frighten into bowing to them? I bow before no man.”
Norris appeared as soon as Clark left, white-faced and apologetic. He smiled tightly as he shut the door behind him. “That went well.”
“So I don’t need to catch you up?” The perk of having an advisor trained to eavesdrop constantly was that I didn’t have to rehash the sordid stories. Now that Clark was gone, I collapsed in my seat, feeling the fury that had fueled me moments before leak away.
“I’m having our people look into who is behind this legislative action.”
I rested my head against the back of my chair, closing my eyes. “It will be interesting to see where it leads.”
“I spoke with the nurses and everything is fine,” he reported. It was a needless reminder of my responsibilities.
“I assume you’ll tell me if that changes.”
“I thought you might like to know.”
I filed the information away. There were more important items to consider: Clark’s warning for one, and my wife’s studious avoidance of me for another. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.
“You’ve done all you can,” Norris began, “so I think you should take a day off.”
“I get a break from ruling the country? Brilliant. I thought it was a full-time job.” I rubbed at my jaw and wished I was talking to Clara. Being with her was the only thing that could grant me a moment’s reprieve. But I was being punished; I had to take my medicine and like it.
“Do you even know what day it is?” he asked, finally taking a seat. “Burning the candle at both ends only leaves you in the dark.”
“I’m afraid I’ve been in the dark for a while,” I admitted. “That’s how it always feels when she shuts me out, but this time I can’t pretend I don’t deserve it.”
“Clara doesn’t want to hurt you.”
“She’s doing a damn good job despite that,” I said with a rueful smile. “She needs time.”
“She needs you.”
I wanted to believe him, but right now, it felt like I was the last thing my wife needed. She certainly didn’t need me to burden her with any more trouble. What would I tell her if she was here? Nothing would come of the parliamentary council except an increase in editorials calling for the end of the monarchy. Personally, I might welcome an early retirement. It was best to give her the opportunity to process things, even if I would rather she was here distracting me with her perfect body.
Instead, I had Norris, who was good company, but not half as sexy.
“What day of the week is it anyway?” I asked.
“Wednesday,” he said pointedly.
“And that’s important because?” I didn’t have the energy to decipher the hints he was dropping.
“It’s less the day of the week so much as the date.”
“Just tell me,” I begged. “What am I forgetting?”
He considered for a moment before taking pity on me. “A rather important doctor’s appointment.”
I was on my feet before the last syllable left his mouth.
“Keys,” I barked.
“I’ll have the car brought ‘round.” Norris stood, straightening his jacket with excruciating care. Sod his goddamn suit when I was wrecking my marriage—again!
“Keys, Norris,” I said, hoping to make myself clear.
“Alexander, I can’t allow you—”
“There is nothing more dangerous than failing her right now,” I said in a low voice. I needed to be there not as a king but as her husband. “Some things a man has to face alone.”
His wife was one of them.