Eyes filling with tears, Kelsey nodded again. “Yes.” She leaned in for a kiss. Started to throw her arms around his neck, but Elias leaned back, out of her reach.
“I suppose that means you don’t need your present.”
She made a time-out sign with her hands. Did they use those in European soccer? Well, she’d teach him what it meant. Because they had their whole future in front of them. “Whoa. I’m going to chalk that up to English being your second language, because this girl never turns down presents.”
He swiveled to grab a white bakery box, tied with a red ribbon, from underneath the chair. “Open it.”
Kelsey tucked her legs to the side and lifted the cardboard top. Inside was an enormously tall cheesecake. The puffy edges were golden brown. It was…it couldn’t be… “Is this a Junior’s cheesecake?”
“Yes, overnighted just for you. I thought perhaps I could bribe you into staying in Moncriano by proving that whatever you miss from America can be brought over.”
“Omigosh. This is amazing. Thank you.” Kelsey lifted it to her face and sniffed. Glorious. “I don’t know if I can make it last until Mallory’s allowed to eat more than broth, but she’ll kill me if she doesn’t get a slice.”
“Not a problem.” Elias tapped a paper sealed in tape on the lid of the box. “That’s their recipe, because it’s bloody expensive to overnight a cheesecake. I hoped the palace chefs could try their hand at recreating it for you.”
“They can try as often as they like. I’ll be a willing victim.” Carefully, she set it back down. No point risking a single crumb of deliciousness, no matter how giddy with happiness she was right now. “Will you share it with me? Tonight?”
His voice dropped to a sexy growl. “I hope to share many things with you tonight.” Elias stroked a hand up her leg, to make sure she got all the innuendos he’d delivered on a silver platter. “But there’s one more thing. The reason we’re down here. With your grandmother’s permission, by the way.”
“You asked the grand duchess for help?”
Grimacing, he said, “I told you I’d do anything to get you back.” Elias pulled her to her feet. Then he opened a drawer on the back wall. “I’m so sorry that I made the automatic choice before. That I chose duty over you, over my heart. But it wasn’t what I truly wanted. What I truly want is the woman I’m falling in love with, and I vow to put you first henceforth.”
Who knew henceforth could be so romantic? “I feel the same way. Like everything is better and brighter when shared with you. I’m so head over heels for you, Elias.”
“That’s a relief.”
“You’ve finally offered me a princess perk I actually want—yourself.”
“I’m not ignoring that you’re a princess anymore. Whether you stayed or left, I thought you might need a reminder of who you truly are.” He rummaged in the drawer, his back to her.
“I can’t, I won’t deny the fact that I’m a princess. It isn’t a problem to be solved. It is literally in my blood.”
“Good.” Turning around, he handed her an exquisite, delicate tiara. The pearl-topped loops on each side rose to a fleur-de-lis in the center, the whole thing encrusted with diamonds. “I want to be next to you as you walk down this new path. To encourage you to embrace everything about being a Villani, to make up for how hard we both fought against it.”
“This is beautiful.”
“I thought you could keep it in your bedroom. According to the grand duchess, it was your mother’s favorite.”
The man’s thoughtfulness knew no bounds. That’s what made her feel like a princess—the way Elias treated her. “The bedroom can wait. I want to wear it now. For you.” Kelsey set it on her head, pushing the combs into her hair. It fit perfectly. Like it belonged there. “Kiss me.”
“It would be my great pleasure, Princess.”
Elias’s mouth took hers. Another perfect fit.
Epilogue
One Week Later
Kelsey held tight to Elias’s hand. Half because she wanted to, and half because she was able to in front of everyone, finally. It was such a relief to not hide their relationship anymore.
Although she’d very much like to be in hiding right about now…
“I still don’t understand,” she said to Genevieve, seated next to her in the row of stiff-backed antique chairs.
“Why we tricked you and claimed this was another family portrait session?” Genny held up her hands, palms out. “Don’t look at me. That was Gran’s idea.”
Odd. The grand duchess didn’t seem the sort to play games. She was more the type to give orders and expect them to be obeyed no matter what.
“Oh, dear,” murmured Duchess Mathilde. She was pacing in front of the purple floor-to-ceiling drapes of the Peacock Gallery, shut tight against the gathering throng outside. “I was concerned you wouldn’t react well to our little ruse. Honesty is always the best policy.”
“Except for when it isn’t,” snapped the grand duchess. She was seated at the end of the line of chairs. With more than a bit of exaggerated sighing and shoving, she twisted her chair sideways and forward to be able to look down the row at Kelsey. “Ten days ago, we gathered as a family to wave at our subjects. And we were attacked. Mallory was shot. It was…traumatic. For all of us.”
“Agreed,” Kelsey said fervently.
Elias brought his other hand up to sandwich hers in comfort. He did that a lot now. Offered comfort and touches and was an absolute rock when she’d collapsed in tears after loading a sedated Mallory on the royal jet to heal back home to Michigan.
He still didn’t speak up much in front of the older royals. Relaxing, dropping his guard around Mathilde and Agathe was a work in progress. Hard to kick years of habit in a matter of days. But he made his presence as her boyfriend very much known.
“I thought you might still be…a bit…ruffled from the experience. That you might spend all week in a state of anxiousness if told early about our balcony appearance today.”
Oh. Oh.
Her grandmother had lied to be kind. To try and protect her until the last possible moment. It was a very, very grandmotherly gesture. It was also very, very surprising. In the best possible way.
Kelsey almost jumped up.
At the last second, she remembered that she was all princess-ed up, with orange and beige spectator pumps to coordinate with the ornate orange floral design of her cream dress. One she’d chosen after finding out that Genevieve planned to wear a green silk blouse with a white pencil skirt. And wonder of wonders, her stylists hadn’t put up a fight at all about them not matching.