“Thanks.”
“No problem. He’s lucky, you know. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s in that envelope. Most people would’ve run away with your luggage and your money, Athos.” She snickers at my name, which means she’s figured out it’s not my real name.
“Leilani?” Knox says from behind me.
The water bottle pauses at her lips. “Knox?”
The room behind me is silent now. I’m obviously not the only one who doesn’t know this girl. Or maybe they all know exactly who she is and that’s why they’re quiet, waiting to see how this plays out.
“I can’t believe it’s you.” His large frame brushes past me and his arms wrap around her small frame, lifting her feet off the floor.
The woman’s eyes briefly shut as her arms lock around his neck.
They’ve obviously shared more than a friendship in the past.
I glance at Rian because she’s the closest to me, but she shrugs. Her gaze floats to the other side of the room to meet the other confused faces.
“Who’s your friend, Knox?” Dylan asks.
Knox lowers her to the floor and asks her, “Where have you been? Last I heard you were on the west coast.”
The woman nods but her smile is timid, as though she doesn’t want to go into specifics.
“We need to catch up. My apartment.” Knox takes her hand and escorts her across the hall.
When the door shuts, we all stare at one another, looking dumbfounded.
“I guess we’re not getting an introduction,” Dylan says.
I pick up my three pieces of luggage and head to my room.
“Want help?” Sierra asks.
“Nah, I’ve got it.”
Once I’m in the room that still has Blanca’s girly light-pink-and-white comforter on the bed, I open the envelope Jean added to my belongings.
Adrian,
Here are your belongings from the hotel. Declan and I have been filled in on your decision and are returning to Sandsal in the morning. This is all the money I had for our trip. Enjoy your two months.
“Your greatest responsibility is to love yourself and to know you are enough.”
~ Jean
Jean has this insistent need to recite quotes and write them on things I’ll find. He thinks I doubt my ability to be king, but truth is, I don’t want the position. I fold up his letter and stuff the cash into my dresser, laying my boxers over it.
Unpacking three suitcases doesn’t take long, so I enjoy the quiet of the room a bit more before rejoining everyone. But I didn’t leave my life in Sandsal to hole myself up in a stranger’s apartment, so I walk out and join the group. Everyone except Knox is still there. Apparently the guys from across the hall never leave.
“When is Mama Mancini coming back? Why isn’t she here to help Blanca move?” Seth asks, groaning as he holds his stomach.
“The ‘rents aren’t very happy with the ‘living in sin’ situation,” Dylan says, not taking his eyes off the television.
“Really? Don’t her brothers live with their girlfriends?” Rian asks.
“They do,” Sierra says.
“That’s shitty,” Seth adds.
“Yeah, but to be expected. She’s the only daughter and youngest in an Italian family.” Sierra chuckles and slides over on the couch to make room for me. “All unpacked and ready to live a life of boring normalcy?”
All eyes are on me and I feel like a petri dish science experiment. “I might go out and buy a few things.”
“Want me to tag along? I could show you more of the town.”
She’s so excited that I hate to turn her down, but I need to come to grips with what I did in a spur-of-the-moment decision because I was pissed off at my parents.
“Nah, you stay with your friends. I won’t be long.” I head toward the door.
They all say goodbye, none of them enthusiastic. More like they think I should’ve let Sierra come with me.
“Wait, a key!” Sierra hops up off the couch. “These were…” She waves. “Doesn’t matter. They’re yours for the next two months.”
Her smile suggests she’s not angry with me for needing a little alone time, so I take the keys with a thank you and leave.
Cliffton Heights is quaint and reminds me of one of those small towns depicted in the majority of Hallmark movies. Thanks to Felicia, I know all about those movies and how wrong they get royalty.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out to see my brother’s name flash across the screen.
“Hey, bud,” I answer.
“You’re not coming back from America?”
I anticipated his call once my parents told him. If I could ship him over, I would, but Mom would never allow that. “I am, but not right away.”
“Two months! Mom said two months!”
“Yeah, but I have my Xbox. We can play together here.”
“Why? Is it Dad?”
How do you tell a ten-year-old that our dad isn’t the man we thought he was? “No, I just need some time away.”
“I heard Dad and Mom fighting. They said you’ll have to step up and be king.”
God I hope it doesn’t come to that. At the same time, my mom deserves better than my father.
“We’ll see what happens. Right now, just keep going to school and doing your thing. You have my number. Call me whenever.”
“I hate the way everyone thinks they can keep secrets from me.”
I laugh. Sometimes I try to find all his hiding places when he eavesdrops on conversations. The kid knows more about what goes on in our castle than even our servants.
“Well, they’re trying to protect you.”
He says nothing for a moment. “Am I going to have to marry someone I don’t love?”
“No, because when I’m king, I’ll change that rule.” I kick at a small stone as I continue down the sidewalk—where to, I’m not sure.
“Hate to break it to you, but I’m not sure you have the power.”
“We’ll see.”
The kid is right, but I’ll try my best. No one should be shackled to someone else just because we were born into two royal families. My parents are an example of that.
I reach a parkette with a large gazebo in the middle and make my way over, sitting down inside to take in my new home for the next two months. I listen for a few minutes while Rowan fills me in on a game of Fortnite that he and his friends played yesterday.
When I spot Blanca struggling with a box down the street, I say, “Listen, I gotta go. I’ll call you soon, okay?”
“Wait!”
“Yeah?”
“Are you, like, going to get a job and stuff? Mom told Dad he shouldn’t have cut you off but…” He stops talking, probably because he doesn’t want to give me a reason to hate my father more.
“I’m not sure, why?”
“I just wonder why you’d want to move to America and work when you could be here?”
I have no response. At ten, I thought my life was pretty fantastic too.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” I say.
“Okay.” The disappointment in his voice squeezes my chest.