I wake up early and stare up at the ceiling above me.

Last night was… intense. I don’t know how else to describe it.

As soon as Bran came into my room, I knew what he wanted. I knew I should probably say no to him, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. I saw what he wanted in his eyes and I wanted the same thing. Why pretend otherwise anymore? So I went with him, down into the bottom of the cavern, back to that beautiful lake.

And we had sex. Well, sex isn’t the right word for it. What we did down there was something much more than just sex. It was mystical, almost religious in a way. He called it a ritual, which I guess it was, although it felt good. So fucking good, actually, better than I’ve ever felt before. He was controlling and intense, and he didn’t hold back at all as he fucked me. He made me feel good, made me come, and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten off so hard before in my life. It was like he knew every part of my body to touch at just the right moment, and he pushed every single button he could find.

I expected him to come back to my room, but I guess I shouldn’t have. I went to bed and fell asleep, and now I’m awake with an empty bed beside me.

I’m surprised that I’m a little disappointed. I wish I could wake up with Bran by my side, although I know how dangerous that is. I wanted to keep this professional, but clearly that’s not going to happen, and at this point I don’t want to go back. I can’t give this up, even if I wanted to. I need more from him, and I know he has more to give me.

I get out of bed and yawn. I shower and dress and make some coffee. It’s nine in the morning, but when I knock on Bran’s door, there’s no answer. I don’t want to go into his space if I’m not invited, unlike the way he just barges into my apartment. One of us has to be a mature adult, at least.

The memory of the night before keeps swirling in my mind all morning. A couple of hours pass, and I still don’t hear a thing from Bran. I’m getting a little bored just waiting around in my room, and so finally I end up trying to leave. Maybe he’s waiting for me in the dining room or something like that.

But as soon as I step out of my room, two guards block my way. The older of the two guards hold up his hand apologetically. “I’m sorry, Princess,” he says in heavily accented English. “We cannot let you go.”

I stare at him for a second. “What do you mean?” I ask.

“You are guarded,” he says to me.

I raise an eyebrow. “I can see that, but why can’t I leave?”

“Orders,” he says. “You must stay. I am sorry.”

“Where’s Bran?” I ask him.

The two guards share a look. “Elsewhere,” the older guard says finally.

I sigh, getting frustrated and worried. I don’t know why they’re acting so strange, like something’s happening that I’m not supposed to know about.

“I want to see him.” I say. “When will he be back?”

“Please, go back inside,” he says. “For your safety.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “My safety?” I ask. “Am I not safe walking the halls in here?”

“Please,” he repeats. “Go back inside.”

“I want to see Bran.” I can feel my anger and my worry starting to grow. I don’t understand why he’s acting like this and why I’m supposed to stay inside of my room, but it can’t be good.

“Please,” he says again.

“Let me see Aleks, then,” I say suddenly. “Aleks, captain of the guard. I want to see him.”

The older man hesitates. He glances at the younger guard who’s studiously staring at the floor. Finally the older guard sighs and nods. “I will bring him. Please, go inside.”

I hesitate a second. “Bring him fast, or I’m leaving,” I say. I turn and head back into my room without another word.

What the hell is going on? I sit down in the kitchen and make myself some more coffee, but there’s a pit in my stomach that’s full of worry and fear. If they’re trying to keep me in my room and won’t let me see Bran, something bad is happening. They’re saying it’s for my safety but who knows what that means. They’re clearly just guards and low down in the ranks, so they don’t have any authority to tell me anything.

But Aleks can and will. He can’t keep this from me. I know Bran wouldn’t want me in the dark.

Unless… unless this is Bran’s plan. Unless he got what he wanted from me, and now he’s trying to ditch me. Maybe he’s going to send me back to the States and renege on our deal.

I keep having these thoughts, swirling in my mind, and I know they’re not helpful. I know they won’t make anything better. But I can’t help myself. I can’t help but imagine that the worst-case scenario is playing out right here and right now. I don’t know what I’m going to do if Bran suddenly changed his mind.

This isn’t about the job anymore, not entirely at least. I still want the job, of course, it’s still my dream job. But after last night, down by the lake, and that ritual… it’s becoming more than a business deal. Of course, I wanted to avoid this happening, but things are moving forward so fast that I can’t stop them even if I wanted to.

Which I don’t. I’m starting to like Bellestan, at least the bit I’ve seen of it. The history, the language, the art, it’s all incredible and beautiful and Bran clearly loves it here. Even if he pretends like he wants to live in America and run his business, I can tell that his heart lies with Bellestan. He doesn’t even pretend like he’s not going to take the Kingship when it passes to him. Clearly he wants to come to Bellestan and live here for real.

I don’t know what that means for me. I don’t know if he would even want me to stay with him, but I think there’s something between us, something very real. I don’t think he’d take me down toward the lake and perform that ritual with me if it weren’t something serious developing. Maybe I’m overthinking everything, but I can’t help it.

The timing is awful. Right after whatever we did last night, now I’m suddenly being kept in my room by armed guards. They tell me it’s for my own safety, but won’t tell me any more than that. It’s driving me absolutely insane, and I can’t help but wonder if I did something wrong.

Maybe I messed up the ritual last night. Maybe that’s the reason he’s over me, or maybe we weren’t supposed to be doing that at all, and we’re both in trouble. His parents could be punishing the two of us for transgressing some kind of important Bellestanian tradition.

I take a deep breath and force myself to calm down. When the coffee’s ready, I drink that, although maybe caffeine isn’t the best thing for me right now. I don’t care, I just need something to keep my mind off of all this.

After maybe fifteen minutes pass, there’s a soft knock at my door. It opens before I can respond, and Aleks steps into the room, looking somber.

“Mila,” he says.

“Aleks.” I stand up and step toward him. “What’s going on? Why did the guards tell me that I can’t leave the room? Where’s Bran? Is he okay?”

Aleks holds his hands up. “Slow down,” he says. “It’s okay, just slow down.”

I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m a little freaked out.”

“I know. Come on, let’s sit.” He leads me over to the couches. I take a seat and he sits down in a chair across from me.

“Just tell me what’s happening,” I say to him.

“Last night, Bran was attacked.”

My heart skips a beat. That’s even worse than I could have envisioned. All of my thoughts go away and suddenly I’m focused entirely on Bran.

“Is he okay?” I ask.

“He’s okay,” Aleks says. “He’s in the infirmary being taken care of. He got lucky, honestly. Just some minor injuries.”

I bite my lip. “What happened? Who attacked him?”

“We don’t know much,” Aleks says. “The man was a member of the cleaning staff. We screen and check everyone that comes in here thoroughly, so we’re not sure how he slipped through.”

“Did he try to kill Bran?” I ask, horrified.

“Yes,” Aleks says seriously. “And he nearly succeeded, but Bran fought him off.”

“I have to see him,” I say. “I need to see Bran.”

“You can,” Aleks says. “But we should talk first.”

“Why?” I ask. “Just take me to Bran. We can talk on the way.”

“There’s something you should know.”

I blink at him, getting impatient. “Am I in danger?” I ask. “I don’t care if I am. I want to see Bran.”

“You might be, but it’s not that.” Aleks glances away from me. “This is a little awkward.”

“Just say it, please.” I don’t understand why this conversation is so frustrating. Bran was almost killed and he’s hurt somewhere nearby. I have to go to him.

“Bran wants you to leave.”

Aleks’s words strike me like a dagger. “What?” I say, totally uncomprehending.

“He wants you to go,” Aleks says. “Things here are more dangerous than we realized, and he wants you to go back to the States where you’ll be safe.”

“He wants to send me away?” I shake my head. “That makes no sense.”

“Think about it,” Aleks says softly. “Bran has a lot to do here, especially now. He’s going to worry about you if you stay here. But if you’re back home, you’ll be safe, and he can concentrate on his work.”

I hear what Aleks is saying, but his words just don’t register. I feel like I’m reeling a little bit, like I’m dizzy. I’m getting slammed with information here, and it’s all competing for my emotions.

Bran was nearly killed and now he wants me to go home. And just the night before, we did some kind of ancient and important ritual down by that lake, a ritual which I thought meant we’re getting even closer than I could have guessed.

I can see the logic in what Aleks is saying, though. I am a rational person, after all. I know that I’d be safer back in America, and Bran wouldn’t have to worry about me that way. But…

“No,” I say, and stand up. “Now take me to Bran.”

“Mila, please,” he says. “Hear me out.”

“I heard you. The answer is no. If Bran wishes to send me away, he can do it himself.” I stare at Aleks. “Now, take me to him.”

Aleks looks back at me and stands. A small smile passes across his face. “I can see why he likes you,” Aleks says.

I just shake my head at him and follow as he leads me back out into the hallway. The two guards fall in behind us as we head through the halls and up a couple floors. The place is pretty empty, even more empty than usual. I’m guessing everything is on lockdown right now, and nobody is allowed inside or outside. They probably want to make sure that there’s nobody else hiding away in here that wants to hurt Bran or any other member of the royal family.

We end up inside the infirmary not too long later. Bran is lying in a hospital bed inside his own private room with three guards standing around outside of it, and he smiles as we approach.

“I’ll give you privacy,” Aleks says, and he leaves the room. The door shuts, and I know they’re standing right outside of it.

“I’m okay,” Bran says to me.

I walk right over to him and throw my arms around him. He laughs as I hug him tight. “You scared the fucking shit out of me,” I whisper.

He laughs and hugs me back. It takes me a second to realize that there’s a thick white bandage wrapped around one of his hands.

“That’s the worst of it,” he says, holding his hand up. “This whole bed thing is just a precaution.”

“What happened?” I whisper.

“A man attacked me when I was heading back to the room,” he says. “I had a glass of whisky in my hand and I used that to defend myself. I got lucky, but he killed himself before the guards could get him.” Bran frowns at me and sighs.

“I’m just happy that you’re okay.” I take his uninjured hand in mine. “Jesus, Bran, they scared the hell out of me this morning.”

“Sorry about that,” he says. “I ordered them to lock everything down, including you.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say. “I feel like it’s my fault that this happened.”

He smiles softly. “Not at all, not even a little bit.”

“But you wouldn’t have been out there if it weren’t for me.”

He grins. “You don’t know that. I have late-night snacks all the time.”

“I doubt that,” I say, eyeing his muscular body.

“It doesn’t matter now,” he answers. “I’m safe and so are you.” He hesitates for a second, watching me. “Did Aleks talk with you?”

“Yes,” I say simply. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Mila,” he says seriously. “I need you to go back to America. You can consider our deal as finished. You’ll get the job you want no matter what. But I can’t subject you to this.”

“I’m not leaving,” I say again.

“Mila.” He gives me a stubborn and annoyed stare. “You have to. I’m your Prince, and I command you to go. I need you to be safe.”

“First off, you’re not my Prince. And second, I’m not going anywhere. You need me here, Bran. Remember? You need me if this whole thing is going to work.”

“Maybe,” he concedes. “You’d help a lot. But I can do it without you.”

“I doubt it,” I say. “You almost got yourself killed without me.”

He grins a little bit. “Already making jokes?”

I shrug. “It’s not too soon. And you said you’re fine.”

“Fair enough.” He sighs and shakes his head again. “Mila, I really want you to go. I want you to be safe. I have no right to ask this much of you.”

“I understand,” I say. “I really do. But I’m not going anywhere. I want to help you.”

He watches me, silent for a moment, and I can’t read his face. I don’t know what he’s thinking, though I wish I did. I want him to understand that I’m not afraid. I’m not a coward. If he can be brave then so can I. If he can risk his life then so can I. Maybe this isn’t my country and it isn’t my home, but I lied about one thing. Bran is my Prince, he’s my Prince Billionaire, and I’m not going to leave his side when he needs me the most.

“Okay,” he says finally, and I grin huge at him. “But you have to do as I ask,” he says quickly. “Seriously. If I tell you to stay in your room, you’ll listen.”

“I’ll do whatever you say, my Prince,” I answer, grinning at him.

He can’t help but smile back. “You’re going to drive me crazy, you know that?”

“I know.” I kiss him softly on the lips. But when I try to pull back, he takes my hair and pulls me back against him, kissing me full and deep. His tongue explores mine and I lose myself in the kiss for a moment.

Slowly, we break apart. “Now, I need you to go back to your room,” he says.

I frown at him. “I want to stay with you,” I say.

“I know. But I have some things to do, and I want to know you’re safe.”

“Okay,” I say. “I’ll go.”

He kisses me softly one more time. “I’ll be back later, okay?”

“Okay.” I kiss him and pull back.

I turn to leave, but before I get to the door, he calls my name. I turn back and look at him.

“I’m glad you’re staying,” he says.

“Me too.” I smile at him then leave the room. Aleks meets me out there.

He escorts me back to my room and goes over some new security details with me, but I’m not entirely paying attention. I can’t stop thinking about the decision that I just made. It’s probably insane and stupid to want to stay in danger like this, but I can’t help myself. I love being around Bran, and he’s just so brave. If he’s going to stay in harm’s way then I’m going to stand by his side and help him. I’ll do whatever he wants and whatever I can, and together we’ll beat this. Perko and those bastards won’t get away with hurting Bran. I’ll make sure of it.

I’m afraid, but it’s not the end of the world. I have my Prince Billionaire to keep me safe.