We finished the tour after what felt like every human being in Scotland, the retirement community, had taken a photo of Aiden and told him about when they went to Andorra or how sorry they were to hear about his brother and his father’s illness. Carmen and I had hung out, as she filled me in on the retirement home scandals. About halfway through the tour, I decided I liked her.

By the time we walked out the front door, I had lost the emotions I’d felt earlier. Of course, a black car was waiting for us outside, reminding me I was angry. And rightfully so.

Resentfully, I climbed in, irritated to see Isaac in the driver’s seat, as Aiden waved once more and got into the car while Tracy held the door. “We need to talk,” Aiden said softly, not touching me or trying to hold my hand or even sitting close enough that our legs would touch. It had been months since we’d seen each other, and this was how he decided to start the conversation?

“Fine.”

“Please, please resist the urge to act like a child.” His hushed tone flickered between slips of ire and the discipline to hold it back. “As in you can’t go running off.”

Asshole.

“I’ve come here this morning, all the way from Andorra, in the middle of a bunch of constitutional meetings, because we have several major issues that need to be addressed.” His tone was cold, biting. He was actually going to do this in front of his spies? Scold me like a child?

The car stopped for traffic, out of view of the retirement home, so I pressed the unlock button and climbed out, slamming the door.

“Running off? I’ll show you running off.” I stomped down the footpath, where they couldn’t follow in the car, muttering vengefully to myself like a crazy person, “As if I’m going to sit in that car and listen to that. You wanna come all this way and treat me like a little kid? I’ll act like one.” It wasn't my proudest moment, stubbornest maybe, but not proudest.

My rational mind screamed at me to stop and wait, to think and be calm, but bitchy Fin wasn't having it. Even if it proved his point that I was a child, I was taking my moment to prove I also was pissed off.

With my arms pumping and my fists balled and my rage back at an eleven, I rushed along the footpath to the crosswalk and hurried through slow-moving traffic to the sea. I needed fresh air and a moment to gather my thoughts. I had to be articulate, which didn't come naturally.

He’d crossed the line.

I needed to explain how and why and demand change.

And if he didn't want to change, what would I say? Would the relationship be over?

Over?

That made me want to be sick. Clearly, I didn't want it to be over.

But he wasn't going to win by mocking me for being a teenager or scolding me like one in front of Isaac and Tracy. He was practically a teenager himself.

The wind was cold and biting as I hurried past the café near the pier. It wasn't a real pier, more like a long concrete and cobbled sidewalk with water on either side that separated heaven and hell. On the left, facing town, the beach was sandy and beautiful. And on the right, it looked like some kind of old lava flow. There wasn't a beach, just black scary rocks like in Mordor.

Today the sky was cobalt blue with wispy clouds for the slight breeze to play with. I held my sweater over me, wishing I’d worn a better coat, and stormed out near the end. I sat higher up on the concrete stairs that led downward to the water so I could get a better view of St Andrews, to help relax me along with some deep breathing.

It took several minutes before I began to unwind, or go numb from the cold air.

Either way, it was chilling me out and I needed that.

I reminded myself this was out of character for him, and likely he had a reason for doing it. He wasn't a bad person, but neither was I. Not really.

Once I was back to a sane place, I exhaled slowly and took in the view, which was stunning from the pier. This was one of my favorite places I’d been since we arrived.

The history was unique, dating back to the Middle Stone Age.

People had apparently been farming in the area since 4500 BC.

The church and ruins dated back to the 700s, something that made me wonder how this all looked back then. The old drawings and artwork in the school and galleries gave an idea, but they did nothing to show what it must’ve really been like when the castle stood in perfect shape.

From where I sat I saw the old ruins in front of the college, lined by the weird rocky black shores. The landscape and seascape were flat, like prairie flat, as far as the eye could see.

Which meant I saw Aiden step out onto the pier the moment he did. He was a dark figure in a charcoal pea coat and navy slacks. His brunette hair added to the darkness of his silhouette.

My heart raced, unsure what I would say but certain I didn’t want to lose my cool. I always ended up the bad guy when I freaked out. And then in the middle of my freak out, all he had to do was look down at me through those inky lashes and I was a puddle of goo.

Not today!

I needed to be strong.

But not hateful.

Hattie’s speech about going easy on him replayed over and over as he got closer and closer. He didn't rush which made it seem like a scene from a horror movie; a tall, dark, strong, angry man slowly make his way to me. And like the storm cloud he was, he appeared moodier and moodier the closer he got. I swore he was bigger since the last time I saw him, like knowing he would be king had made him larger.

“So I suppose that answers the childish question.” He decided to start with asshole and maintained it. “Good to see you’re maturing here at college abroad.”

He went low, I forced myself to go something resembling high. “I’m not having an argument with you in front of your spies. If you want to talk to me, talk here where we can be alone.”

“Spies?” He stopped directly in front of me, blocking out everything else.

“Don't play dumb, Aiden, you know you’re caught.” I folded my arms and hugged myself, trying to look spicy but actually freezing. Even my wrath didn't keep me warm.

“Caught?” He sounded confused. Was he going to lie to me? We didn't lie to each other. At least I didn't think we did.

“Jess heard everything as Isaac replayed the entire night to you. Of course, that made me realize they’re here to keep tabs on me. I’m not in any danger, but you already know that.” I said it slowly and watched him not respond.

Man, his poker face was impressive. It had improved since the last time I’d seen him.

“You and I both know no one at this school recognizes me or cares who I am. And I’ve been doing my own checking. Andorra doesn't even have any enemies and neither does your family. Everyone loves you. You’re a tax haven for God’s sake. I am completely safe and those are spies, not guards.” I pointed at the shore where I was sure they were, though I couldn't see them.

“Fin—”

“This is how you knew about my bribing teachers too, isn’t it? Oh my God.” My already aching stomach landed with a thud as I recalled the other conversation he had to know about. The ring. Jess had said the word “ring,” but it had gotten lost in the shock. “You came here because I took my ring off and gave it to Isaac, and he told you everything I said about the doubts about being engaged.”

He maintained his unimpressed stare, not answering for his crimes.

“You hired guards to spy on me, lied about them, and then used my own phone as a tool to track my every move. You don't trust me.” I was slowly creeping back up to that eleven.

“You took your ring off and spent the night with some guy you just met—”

“Whoa, I sure as hell didn't. And before you accuse me of being sexy with some—”

“Sexy? What”—he closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath—"are you talking about?”

“Jess said I’m not allowed to say ‘slutty’ because it shames women—” I stopped myself from getting too distracted. “It doesn't matter. What matters is you don't trust me, and now because of that, you think I did something I didn't do. But nothing happened. And nothing ever would happen. Because I love you. Clearly, far more than you love me.” Confused on whether I was making sense or not, I stood and pointed up into his dark, soulful eyes and thick lashes. “And if you don't trust me, we have nothing.”

And there she was, angry irrational Fin escaped.

“Which means we are over.” I blew by what Hattie had said about giving him a break and went rogue, stepping closer and still pointing. “Because if we stayed together, we would have four years, minimum, where we wouldn't live in the same place. Unless I give up college and come to you, since you will never live anywhere but there.”

The thought of that hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Oh my God! I’m eighteen and already I know where I will live for the rest of my life? Do you know how daunting that is at the start of a relationship? Not to mention adding in your crazy friggin’ family and a whole country. Trust was legit the one thing we had.”

He clenched his jaw, giving me the stormy look but said nothing. Guilty Aiden was awfully quiet compared to angry Aiden.

“Fine, say nothing. I’m not doing this anymore. I deserve a fucking explanation. If you don't want to explain it to me, then I guess we have nothing to talk about.” I stormed past him, but he reached out, like a snake attacking a mouse, and wrapped himself around me.

I wanted to fight him but it was pointless. He would win or I would fall off the pier and die on the scary rocks. I pushed on his chest, struggling as best I could without the dying part.

“Fin.” He folded around me, pressing me to him. “Fuck, I’ve missed you.” He inhaled me, cussing, which he never did. Unless he was crazy angry. But this was something else.

“I’m mad at you, Aiden. You can’t just hug me and say nice things and smell me.” I tried weakly to continue being pissed, but he smelled like home in my heart. And touching him chased away everything else. Two months was too long. I forced myself to remember that I’d really opened up to Isaac, and he’d asked me loaded questions, all of which I had assumed was sort of between us. The fires started burning again, hot enough not to notice I was frozen.

“Can we go to the hotel now?” He completely ignored my struggling. “Talk there? Please? I have one night and I want to be alone with you. Even if it means you yell at me the entire time.”

“Absolutely not!” I stepped back, stumbling a bit on the cobble but catching myself before he could grab me again. “Are you insane? Did you do drugs on the way here? Are you listening to me at all? You think you can just Shakespeare this and everything will be fine?”

“I’m listening, I promise, and I want to talk. But your teeth are chattering and your lips are turning blue and I can’t feel my toes. We need to talk. It’s why I got into the helicopter at eight this morning and began the long journey here. I’m exhausted and cold and you‘re angry.”

“Angry isn’t the right word.”

“Fine, you’re enraged. Please, can we go?” He sounded bored.

“I’m not going to a hotel with you.” I knew what that would lead to. Inky eyelashes and stormy eyes and a bed. Not a chance. “I know why you got into a helicopter this morning. You know about the private conversations I had with Isaac. You paid him to pretend to be my friend so he could ask me loaded questions and report back to you. It’s fucking low, Aiden. So no hotel.”

“You don't want to talk in the car with Isaac and Tracy. Obviously, we can’t go to the dorms; Jess and Linna are there.” His lips lifted into a subtle grin. “And eventually you will forgive me, and I would prefer if there were a bed in the location you did that.”

Pressing my lips together was the only thing stopping me from laughing at him—not with him, at him. I took a minute before I spoke, “No bed. No forgiving. You might as well go home. Sorry you came all this way, but the hotel isn’t happening.”

“Just talking then. I swear, I will listen to everything you say.” He pleaded with his stare, tugging at my heart. “Fin, it’s been two months. I need you. I came because I needed you.”

I wanted to say no and stand my ground, but I also was dying inside at the thought he would leave, and I wouldn’t see him again for months. Or at all.

No.

That wasn’t an option. “Fine. I will talk, talk only, with you at the hotel. But I’m not riding in that car.” I pointed down the pier. “I can’t stand to look at either of them.” I gave in way too fast. I told myself the cold was motivating.

“I’m not walking all the way to the golf course. It’s half an hour, and I’m not bloody wasting another minute with you. We just spent two hours at the retirement community. You can be reasonable for five minutes.” He slipped my hand into his and started walking, deciding for us both how this would be. “They will not speak the entire five minutes it takes to drive there, and we will not see them again until tomorrow.” He wasn’t discussing it or taking no for an answer.

Every fiber of my being wanted to pull back and demand my way, but he was here. He had come. He wanted to talk. And he didn't seem as angry as I’d expected him to be. He was something else, desperate maybe. And I liked it when he was desperate.

I counted backward from ten, five times as we got into the car and drove in awkward silence to the hotel at the golf course, the one Lucas and the guys had stayed at. When I climbed out, before they could get my door, I slammed it, stormed up to the front entrance, passing the valet with the kilt. All my thoughts and feelings and opinions were kept to myself as Aiden caught up, taking my hand in his, and led me to the elevator. His killer grip said far more than he had yet.

Tracy stepped in with us.

Aiden clenched his jaw, answering my glance filled with daggers with his own unspoken annoyance.

When we reached the room, Tracy went in first, clearing the space, something I’d seen him do before, though with me there had been no real need. My cheeks flushed as Aiden spoke to him in a low tone. Tracy nodded, not meeting my gaze and hurried from the room.

As he closed the door, I continued to count backward, praying I wouldn’t let go of the hold I clung to.

“Before you overreact again, let me explain something,” he offered, literally striking the match that would be his doom.

“Are you friggin’ kidding me right now? You need to explain before I overreact? That’s where you’re going to start with this? I’ve caught you. I can’t even with you! You hired fucking spies for me. Babysitters to snitch on me and control everything I do. Which means every time I called and told you what we’d been doing, you’d already heard it. And there you were, suffering along, listening to it all over again.” I balled my hands up and stormed to the huge window overlooking the golf course and ocean. My private conversations with the guards flashed back in my mind, shaming me.

“Are you done?”

“Done?” Lava flowed through my veins as I seethed my next words, “Done what? This? Absolutely. I’ve given your ring to Isaac, though you already know that, don’t you? Him and his little secrets. Ha! I’m such an idiot. And you’re such an asshole.”

The conversation with Isaac about the ring made me shudder.

I was an idiot.

My anger turned to tears, something I hated. “I wanted so badly for you to come and see me or for me to come see you. And now you have and I don’t even want to be near you.” Blind rage stole my moment and overcame me with tears, making me seem pathetic and weak. I wiped them away and refused to look at him as my body trembled.

“Let me start over. I made a mistake. You’re completely right to be angry with me. I hope to the gods of all that is holy, this is the sorriest I will ever be in my entire life. Please, stop screaming at me and listen.” He remained calm, which of course he was; he was the guilty one.

“No!”

“Fin.” He stepped closer, earning a snarl from me and a glare, no doubt made scarier by the mascara running down my face, smudged everywhere, but it did nothing to deter him. “I love you.” He lifted his hands and did that thing where he spoke to me like I was a wild animal he had to tame. “Please calm down. I honestly never saw it from your perspective at all. I’m sorry for that. It isn’t what you think.”

“You didn’t hire babysitters because you were worried about the things I would do and the trouble I would get into while at college at eighteen years old, away from home for the first time with no supervision? And you didn't tell them to pretend to get close to me so you could find out little truths on things you doubted, like my sincerity about our engagement?” I spat my words, even growling at the end.

“Okay.” He paused then laughed nervously. “It’s exactly what you think, but it isn’t that I don’t trust you. I trust you. I swear. But I set you up to fail. I invited you to come with me and got you into my college, ten thousand miles from home, and then left you here.”

“Invited? That’s rich. You chose for me. And you know what else—I was always going to travel, Aiden. I didn't follow you around like a little lost puppy. And I’m not so stupid that I can’t live in a foreign country alone. And I’m not even alone. I have Jess and Linna.” Was I making sense?

“Right. I’m trying to say that this is not a normal young-love situation. It was already odd when we began dating and fell in love. Because I was me and you were you, and of course there would be some sort of scandal in that. An American girl and a prince. People would want to smear us. But I was no one to the throne at the time. I was like Johan, just someone in line who would never see it and never gave it much thought. My actions were my own.”

His touch was warm on my cheeks and his voice hypnotic. I stepped back, needing space to stay annoyed. He wasn't talking his way out of this.

“But then everything changed and now I am forcing you to choose to marry me at such a young age to try to create stability with my people and my country.”

“Oh my God, stop.” I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. “You didn't force anything on me. I chose to be engaged and now I’m choosing not to be. I’m old enough to vote and drink and drive. I’m pretty sure I’m old enough to know I don't want to get married.” That hit him hard. He flinched a little, which I didn't enjoy as much as I’d hoped. But it was the truth. I didn't want to get married. I didn't want to talk about getting married. I just wanted him, just me and him and no Andorra.

“Before you make any decisions, I need you to understand that I was terrified of you coming here with your friends. I’d thrown you to the wolves. By linking you to me, you lose the ability to have normalcy. I asked you to change everything about yourself, strip away all that was normal and be mine, and then I abandoned you here.” He stepped closer, his eyes those dark and stormy seas. He lifted his hands and cupped my cheeks once more. “And I was worried you would get hurt or—”

“Or I would do something that would make it impossible to marry you because, apparently, I’m still a little kid and couldn't possibly understand the warnings you gave me before?” I cocked an eyebrow, stepping back from him so his hands lowered. “Too young and American to behave myself but old enough to ask to be your wife at some point?” I folded my arms and waited for him to try to get out of this one.

“Why don’t you tell me what I was thinking, since you already know?” His burning gaze turned steely again.

“You wanted me to be with chaperones like this is a hundred years ago. You didn’t trust me not to make poor choices. And you still wanted to be able to control me, because let’s face it, we are both incredibly young to be in the roles we are. And neither one of us knows how to be this, engaged and in love and living two separate lives. It’s like something from a fake-ass movie, and to be honest, it feels fake. You’re fake. Where is the passionate and adventurous guy who sent me on scavenger hunts? You never even sent the one you promised you would, or any letters. You barely call. Where is the guy I fell in love with?” I regretted it the moment I said it.

He swallowed hard.

“That’s not what I meant.” I tried to think of what I did mean, but I had said what I meant so there was nothing.

“I suppose he’s been put away with his childish things.” He said it with so much pain my heart cracked a little. “What do we do, Fin?” he asked, his eyes wide and flooded with what I had to assume was fear. “Where do we go from here?”

How did I fix this?

I decided to be honest.

“We stop this engagement talk.” It was the one thing he didn't want to hear but the one thing I desperately needed. “We halt all plans for a wedding. We be almost nineteen and twenty-one and we live like normal people.” I took a step toward him, like I was offering peace. “Okay, you have to live your weird life, but I get to live mine. I’ll be the girl you may or may not be dating. No more guards. You trust me to be a good person and make good choices. I’m not completely ridiculous. I do understand the words ‘behave, Fin.’ And I’ll trust you not to be a psychopath or to lose the person I adore inside you. And I’ll finish school and you do the things you have to do, and we slow it down. We use the distance to slow it down.”

He did the jaw clench again. “Do I get a say in any of this?”

“Not right now. You’ve pissed me off and even Hattie agreed with me.” I pointed at him. “You know how bad that is.”

“I’ll concede, the guards were a poor choice. But I maintain that I did it from a place of worry and love, not jealous boyfriend rage or the desire to spy on you.” His tone changed like the winds and his lips toyed with a painful smirk. “Until last night, that is.”

“Oh my God. Stop acting like I cheated. I know Isaac told you what happened. Jess heard him. He said I did nothing, because that’s what happened. Nothing.”

“But you went,” he said in a harsh breathy tone, almost a whisper. “You went into the dark courtyard to be with him, already knowing he’d hit on you. You let him tell you he hoped our relationship didn't work. You sat there while another man confessed he couldn't breathe when he thought he’d never see you again.” His voice cracked.

My heart cracked deeper.

I wasn't sure which sound was louder.

I hated that I’d done nothing when Lucas said that.

“You keep saying you don't need supervision and you won’t make a mistake and you’re not completely ridiculous. And then you do something so ridiculous. You called me, told me you missed me and loved me, and then went to the garden to meet him. Do you have any idea how much that hurt me?” His brow knit and it was over. He’d won. Seeing him devastated was awful. And I was guilty. There was no excuse for what I’d done. For what I’d let happen and let be said.

“It was stupid. Linna—no.” I paused. “Yes, Linna wanted to see Seamus for whatever, and she shouldn’t have gone alone. So I went and I sat with Lucas, knowing he would be there and he’d already hit on me. And it was stupid. But I had no idea he would say any of that other stuff.” My voice cracked as well. “Honestly, who says something like that to someone the first time they meet them?”

“Forget him. Why would you go?” His hands were balled and it was his turn to feel completely betrayed, killing me inside the way I had him with my angry tears and disappointment.

How did I explain it? How did I make this better? Deciding there was nothing but the truth of the matter, he was right—none of this was about Lucas, it was about me. And I needed him to see.

I tore open my chest and bared my heart to him, “Because I’m selfish.” I hated myself. “And I guess, it was safe since it was never going to be anything. It was cruel to you and him because I love you with my whole heart and there could never be anyone but you. I’m still a shitty person sometimes.” The tears were back but they weren’t rage; they were shame. I’d asked him to trust me and told him I understood what it meant to behave before I did the very thing he hoped I wouldn't do. “And I’m sorry. To me it was harmless, but I see how it looked.”

“You are beautiful and funny and insane and conflicted, and the vulnerability you show with one sad stare destroys my ability to stay angry at you.” He offered me the look, the one from under his thick inky lashes. “But I want to be the only guy who gets to tell you that I can’t breathe without you and I struggle to just get through the day since all I think about is you. And that the guards were there to live for me. To see everything I was missing.”

My body tensed and I prayed this was it. The fight was over and we agreed to respect one another more and he would forgive me.

“I want you to be mine. And I want to be yours. And I promise I will leave you at school to do whatever it is you were going to do, no surveillance. But for the last time I will say this, people will be watching you. Eventually. Everything you do or don't do will be made to look like something else. They want news and the only news the public enjoys is scandal.”

“Okay. I promise you, I won’t do anything that might risk us.”

“Fin, I don’t want to break off the engagement.” He dared to take another step closer, pulling the ring from his pocket. “I meant every word I said when I gave it to you and I always will. From the moment I met you, I knew. And maybe the ring doesn't have to mean forever to you, maybe you can just wear it for me for now, until it means the same thing for you.”

He was impossible to be angry with, especially since I missed his Shakespeare so much.

I wiped my eyes and held out my hand, saying nothing but letting him have this. He was right, I didn’t need it. I didn’t need the ring or the castles or kingdom or money. I had him, and he was better than anything the world had to offer. Even in my limited view of it, I knew that.

But he understood more than I expected. He gently took my other hand and put the ring on the wrong ring finger.

He brushed my hair from my face. “Fin,” he whispered, “forgive me for being so stupid.”

“If you forgive me for being reckless?” I asked.

“Always.” He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me, righting everything in the world in one kiss.