EPILOGUE
Maddie
I didn’t think I’d ever see the palace again.
But here I was… walking up the same steps I, not long ago, wanted to throw myself down.
It had taken several weeks for all the legalities to be taken care of in New York, but I’d mostly come through it unscathed. Which I knew was unfair. If I’d been a normal woman who’d met a normal man and who had done what I did, it would be much worse.
In return for the mercy I was given, I was currently working on establishing a foundation whose sole focus was on helping women who were trapped in situations involving domestic violence. I wasn’t sure if it provided enough redemption, but it was a beginning, and I wanted to do more. In fact, now that I’d escaped the confines of my old life, I wanted to do much, much more. Both here in Aldcliff and in the United States.
My getting a green card was still being determined, although a huge Facebook group of women were rooting for me to stay. #LetHerStay had trended every day since the press conference, so I was hopeful. And thankful. It was so wonderful to be wanted.
The palace doors opened, and my mother rushed out. Soon, I was wrapped in her arms. As her scent enveloped me, the deepest sense of gratitude wrapped around me too.
“Thank you, Mama.”
I’d already thanked her many times when we’d spoken on the phone since my impromptu press conference. I knew she was okay, and I knew she’d confessed to my father to have assisted me in my escape. But neither of us ever mentioned the captain. As if by some unspoken agreement, we’d never even acted as if a third person had ever existed. He was a secret I was comfortable taking to my grave.
“You’re welcome, my darling. I couldn’t be more delighted with the outcome.”
I looked over at Xander, who looked so very handsome in his dark gray suit. “Me too.”
Papa was just inside the door, waiting for me when I stepped inside. My stomach churned as nerves assaulted me. Discreetly, Mama led Xander and the children away as I faced my father.
“I owe you a heartfelt apology, my dear.”
I nodded, appreciating the acknowledgement, but I wasn’t surprised that he’d given it. What surprised me was when he pulled me into his arms. I didn’t remember the last time he had done so, if ever.
“I was wrong,” he said. “I refused to see the truth of the situation. With your resilience, I thought you’d have him charmed and wrapped around your finger within a week. I deeply underestimated the man and his penchant for evil. Will you forgive me?”
I kissed his cheek. “Of course.”
What started as a happy day grew even more glorious as my brothers and sisters arrived, their flock in tow. Xander was immediately accepted while Kylian and Kenzie were pulled outside to play with my nieces and nephews.
I couldn’t ask for more.
But I received more.
Tears and well-wishes from our staff, past and present. I spoke of my adventure in Central Park with my English tutor, and when I saw Franz, I gave him the biggest hug.
“You will never know the important role you have played in my life,” I told him. He first appeared stunned, then smiled and laughed as I explained the various dishes I’d made, the successful ones and the failures.
My brothers both surprised me with their affectionate hugs. Although we were siblings, the heir and the spare had been raised in separate parts of the palace. We didn’t know each other well.
“Any American girls I might like?” Jacques asked with a little wiggle of his brow.
I laughed. “Father would genuinely drown me if I made such an introduction. Besides, won’t your betrothed…” I wrinkled my nose at the word, “be announced soon.”
The future king grinned. “Actually, no. Father has given me permission to choose. You, dear sister, have apparently destroyed that archaic tradition completely.” He kissed my cheek. “Thank you.”
All that was missing was CeeCee, but she and the puppies were staying with Lydia, who was quickly becoming my closest friend. Just this morning, she sent me a picture of the group, all dressed in “Bow wow to me” outfits she’d custom-made. She was a total goof.
When the director of public relations handed me a piece of paper with a gibberish of numbers and letters on it, I was confused. “These are the passwords to your social media accounts, Princess.”
“Really?”
She smiled. “Really. The King asked that I give you the key, so to say, to your public identity. You may use them at your discretion.” She lifted her hands in a prayer position. “Might I beg that you use them wisely?”
I grinned. “Are pictures of puppies and children allowed?”
Her smile grew wider. “Of course.”
“Then I promise to use them wisely.”
That evening as we all sat around the dining table, regaling each other with tales of our prospective lives, I knew this was how it was supposed to have always been. A part of me mourned my lost childhood, what I’d missed because of the solitary meals that had been part of my strict upbringing.
But I didn’t focus on the loss. I focused on the gain.
I didn’t focus on the escape. I focused on the arrival.
I focused on the man and children I loved.
The man and children who loved me too.
And that night, as Xander slipped inside my body, his hot flesh pressing down on mine, it was my turn to make an affirmation.
“We are free.”
We.
The we was important.
The we was everything.
Xander
I was seriously going to be sick.
At best, I thought I might throw up. At worst, crap my pants.
Even with a gun pointed at my chest, I’d never been this nervous.
“Your majesty…” Hell, I could barely remember what to call the man. I’d almost fallen over when I attempted to bow. I needed to pull my shit together and quick.
Madalyn’s father. Shit…
She was Madeleina again. We’d discussed her name at length and decided to honor the name of her birth. Her past. Of course, to the kids, she would always be Maddie.
While I liked Madeleina well enough, I didn’t like her last name at all. Because it wasn’t my last name, and if I could get my damn mouth to work properly, I would be taking a huge step toward correcting that.
But her father was sitting on his fucking throne — A. Real. Fucking. Throne. — an eyebrow raised nearly to his crown. A. Real. Fucking. Crown.
A little intimidating, to say the least.
I took a deep breath. “You know the entire story of how I met your daughter.” I barked out a laugh. “Hell…” was I allowed to say hell in the monarch’s sovereign presence? “the entire world knows of our relationship, but they don’t know this.”
Damn. Couldn’t the man smile or nod? Something?
“I love your daughter. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but…”
I shut my mouth. I almost said that she hadn’t even known the damn bastard prince when they were engaged, but I managed to hold my tongue.
“But…?” the king prompted, looking half bored and half amused.
“But what we don’t have in length we have in depth, and I deeply love her. And I want to marry her. With your permission, of course.”
King Phillipe lifted his hand and tapped an enormously gaudy ring against his bottom lip, and the seconds passed by.
Then a minute.
Two.
My intestines were playing jump rope with my stomach, and I was sweating down the crack of my ass. Dammit, man. Say something.
“Permission granted on one condition.”
What was the jail sentence for throttling a king?
“What condition is that?”
“You must bring her back to Aldcliff at least once a year. Now that I’ve found her, I don’t want her to disappear again.”
Instead of tap dancing around the room, I simply nodded. “Consider it done.”
We stared at each other, and I wasn’t certain what I should do next. Some dude in a red velvet uniform saved me, stepping forward and waving me toward the door.
Did I bow again? Say thank you?
Why couldn’t these people be normal?
As I walked out of the oppressive room and away from the oppressive man, I found it a wonder that Madeleina had evolved into the sweet, caring woman that she was.
But she was sweet and caring, and just about every other positive trait I could think of too.
It took a while to find her, but find her I did.
She was on the beach with Kenzie and Kylian as well as many of her other nieces and nephews. The children were all playing while Madeleina lay on a lounge chair, talking to her sisters and mother.
“What if he’s upset?”
That stopped me. Upset about what? And was she talking about me?
“He won’t be,” one of her sisters, Marguerite I thought was her name, said, leaning forward and touching Madeleina’s arm. “He seems like a very special man.”
“Yes,” another sister, Constance perhaps, agreed. “And he seems to really love you.”
Madeleina didn’t seem convinced. “You don’t think it’s too soon?”
Too soon for what?
“Well, it’s too late now,” the eldest, Cecile, said matter-of-factly.
“Indeed,” her mother added and placed a hand on Madeleina’s stomach. “It’s a reality now. I’m sure you will both enjoy every precious moment with the wee one.”
My legs wobbled a bit.
A baby?
We’re having a baby?
All the women turned. Shit. I said that out loud.
Madeleina’s hand flew to her mouth, and she jumped to her feet. “Xander—”
“We’re having a baby?” I said again, deliberately this time.
She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. “Yes. The family physician confirmed it less than an hour ago.”
I narrowed my eyes. The doctor she told me had made such a big deal of her hymen? No way in hell was he delivering my baby.
Madeleina looked stricken, and I realized it was because I was frowning while thinking of the doctor. I unfrowned immediately and moved toward her, not stopping until she was in my arms.
Sighs chorused around us as I kissed her, swinging her around.
When I put her down, she laughed. “You’re not upset.”
I kissed her again. “No. Not at all. I’m thrilled actually because it makes me even more certain that you’ll say what I hope you’ll say.”
I reached into my pocket and took a deep breath.
No time like the present.
Gasps chorused around me this time as I went down on one knee. This wasn’t how I planned it, but I needed her to know that I’d wanted to marry her before I learned of the baby. I needed her to know this very minute that I wanted her for her.
The children, all sensing that something was up, came running up the sand and huddled around us too.
Kylian’s eyes were big and bright. “Well, do it,” he said when I apparently hesitated a second too long.
Everyone laughed, and I looked up at Madeleina. “I know it seems sudden, but it’s not because I’ve waited my entire life for you.”
“He’s doing really good,” Kenzie whispered incredibly loudly to one of her new friends.
I laughed, so did Madeleina. So did everyone else.
It was perfect.
Just so damn perfect.
Especially when she said yes.
The ring fit her perfectly. “There are three stones because it’s not just me you’re taking on. I know we’re a lot, but we all needed you. We’re all so very glad you saved us.”
She turned, tears streaming from her eyes to take my children in her arms. She kissed their cheeks, hugged them so tight both of their faces turned red.
Then she was in my arms again, her family surrounding us as we began this new chapter of our happily ever after.
“I love you,” I said and touched her stomach. “And I already love our baby. I can’t wait to meet him or her.”
She beamed at me, one of those megawatt smiles that nearly took me to my knees. “I love you too, so very much.”
“Yay! I’m a princess,” Kenzie yelled and wiggled her eyebrows. “This is going to be fun.”
THE END
THE END
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