From the balcony overlooking downtown, Alex leaned his back against the railing and sipped his wine. Through the glass doors, the charity event dragged on.

The speeches had been given. The toasts made. The money pledged. The five-course meal served. And yet still the night continued.

He caught sight of his parents, Angelo and Camila, moving fluidly from a conversation with French dignitaries to a formal introduction to an African poet and activist. They did it all so perfectly. The smiles. The gestures. The humble expressions they glued onto their faces when others bowed and offered deep reverence to the king and queen.

They had been born for this world. Just like their daughter Bianca and so many others before them.

As if drawn by his thoughts of her, Alex’s sister appeared on the other side of the glass doors. Her face was calm, a placid mask. Alex turned around to face the city lights as Bianca opened the door and joined him on the balcony.

“Were you looking for me?” he asked, peering sidelong at her.

One corner of her full lips quirked upward at his question.

“I had not seen you for at least thirty minutes,” she responded.

Alex repressed a sigh and looked over his shoulder. The king and queen were out of his view, having moved on to another part of the floor.

“Am I needed?” he asked.

He would go back inside if he must, and he would do it with a smile, but only if that was absolutely necessary. In Belmonte, ‘necessary’ meant if his parents had requested his presence.

“No,” Bianca said. “No one asked after you.”

She swept her long, black hair over her shoulder and eyed him in the exterior sconces’ soft lighting.

“You are eager to return to New York,” she commented.

Alex smirked. “Aren’t I always?”

“This time more than usual, it would seem.”

Alex paused, not sure what to say… for he did not know what he felt about that statement.

“How is the foundation?” Bianca asked.

“Good.”

“How is Paul?” She grinned.

“If you like him, Bianca, all you have to do is tell me. I can make that happen.” Alex chuckled.

She shrugged a shoulder. “I have no time for that. Not right now.”

“Have you ever?” Alex set his wine glass on the railing. He’d barely had half of the drink and he was done for the night. He’d mostly requested it from the bar just so his hands would have something to do while he rubbed elbows.

“Perhaps one day I will make the time.” There was a wistfulness in Bianca’s voice, and Alex blinked and looked harder at her. She turned her face away, though, and looked east.

“I believe you can see our wing from here.” She pointed at the palace lights.

Alex shook his head. “I haven’t lived there for years.”

She folded her arms and looked back at him. “Tell me. What is really going on?”

Alex stiffened. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re... different, Alessandro. More introspective, perhaps.”

“You believe I’m turning into a philosopher?”

“If not that, then what?”

“Then—” Alex bit his tongue. There was one thing on his mind… one person, and she had been there ever since he boarded a private jet and left New York three days earlier.

But what would be the point of bringing Paisley up?

“I could start guessing,” Bianca said. “And, trust me, that could last hours. I, too, have performed my duties for the evening and now I have nothing left but time.”

Alex barely made the choice to be honest before the words started tumbling from his mouth. “I have a friend in New York, and she... I very much am interested in her. A great deal. Except...”

“Except what?” Hand on the balcony, Bianca edged closer. Hair fell across her face, but she seemed to not notice.

Alex cringed. “She hates—” He paused, gesturing toward the commotion behind the glass doors. “She’s not a fan of all this. She wants to live like a normal person… without all the attention and formalities. She wants to preserve her privacy, her freedom. She would never want to become involved with someone like me.”

The weight that followed the words pressed down on the entire balcony. Bianca, just as much as Alex, understood what they missed out on by being royal. And even though she loved the difference in the world that being a princess allowed her to make, Alex knew too that she sometimes had wistful yearnings for a life lived away from the spotlight.

Her backbone as strong as it was, though, she had only mentioned these thoughts to him two or three times at the most. Typically, she stuck to the story that involved her loving her role in the world.

And Alex believed that to be the truth. Except... everyone wanted their life to be different at least occasionally. Didn’t they?

“She told you that?” Bianca asked in a stilted voice.

“She told me she didn’t want to be with a famous man, yes,” Alex said slowly.

Her brow furrowed. “But she never said she didn’t want to be with you, right?”

“Well, why would I be an exception?”

Bianca nudged him with an elbow. “I can think of many reasons that make you quite special, little brother.”

Before he could answer, the balcony door opened and their mother was there.

“Discussing plans for Alex’s return to Belmonte?” Camila asked.

The question was both hopeful and a thinly veiled jab. Alex’s mother knew he had no plans to move back home, despite the fact that she asked him about it every time they saw each other.

Bianca’s eyes darted at Alex as she waited for him to take the lead.

Alex straightened up from the balcony. “Merely chatting, Mother.”

Camila nodded, but her gaze climbed up him, as if the secret she was sure he hid might be displayed somewhere on his five-figure suit.

“Your father would like to spend some time with you tomorrow morning,” she told Alex.

He gave a terse nod.

“The four of us are having breakfast together,” Bianca said. “Are we not still?”

“Yes,” Camila answered. “But he would like some… man on man time with Alex afterward.” She paused. “His words, not mine. You both need to be inside in five to tell our guests goodbye.”

“Yes, Mother,” Bianca and Alex answered as one.

Camila went back inside, the door closing with a soft click after her. Alex looked back to his sister just as a warm breeze swept over the balcony. He set his laced hands on the railing and leaned into them.

Bianca mimicked his position at the balcony and they stood there in silence, gazing out at their sparkling homeland.

After a few moments, she spoke again. “Will you tell her how you feel?”

Alex’s jaw tightened. “I have hoped her feelings will change eventually.”

“Hm.”

He looked sharply at her. “Yes?”

Bianca pushed off from the balcony. “This girl is quite the catch, I assume, seeing as you have fairly high standards.”

“She’s amazing,” Alex said without hesitation.

“Don’t wait too long for her feelings to change, Alex. You might wake up one day and find her gone.”

She slipped back inside, leaving Alex standing there with his head even fuller than it had been before his sister’s arrival.