Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Our favorite almost-king has upgraded to playing god. He’s decided that since he can’t have you, I should. I guess I’m the fucking consolation prize.”
“Not a consolation prize.” She bristled. “He’s being a noble selfless idiot, isn’t he? Just like he was when he decided that I’m getting carted off home. I didn’t hear you complaining about that decision.”
“Because it’s the right fucking decision. You don’t have a stake in this game. You’re just a walking liability, and you deserve better than to play second fiddle to whatever noble Theo marries.”
Meg looked up at him with hazel eyes that saw too much. “It sucks when someone else makes the call for you, doesn’t it?”
Fuck, he hated having his choices thrown back in his face, but hell if she wasn’t right. Galen clenched his jaw. “Fine. I’ll play. What would you do if we didn’t decide to cart you back to New York?”
“I love you.” She reached out, almost tentatively, and pressed her hand over his heart. “It seems stupid to say it like it means nothing, but it does to me. I love both of you.” Meg hesitated. “This was never in my plan, and I don’t have some neat little answer for you. I would have gone with you to Thalania. I would have done whatever Theo needed from me to help him take back the crown. And after… I don’t know what would have happened after. But I would have made my own decision about where I ended up.”
They turned almost as one to look at the airport security line. Galen had been following orders his whole fucking life. First with his father, and then to Theo’s father, and then to Theo. Granted, it was different with Theo. He loved that idiot, and Theo usually knew when to back down and let Galen’s expertise take over.
Not this time.
“If something happens to him, I’ll never forgive myself.”
She poked his chest. “That’s cute. Try again.”
Damn it, what did she want from him? But he knew, didn’t he? “We keep saying there isn’t a way for the three of us to be together, but we haven’t even fucking tried. Maybe it’ll blow up in our faces. Fuck, it probably will.” He caught the edge of her smile and it made something in his chest twist. “I love you too, Meg. Both of you.”
Theo did, too. He wouldn’t be this determined to see them happy if love wasn’t involved. The emotion made people do stupid, noble shit like sending them off to be together while he resigned himself to a life apart.
No. Fuck that. Galen wasn’t leaving.
Neither, it seemed, was Meg.
He did some quick calculations. “They’ll have driven. Kozlov hates flying and avoids it whenever possible. If we leave now, we’ll barely be an hour behind them.” He knew Kozlov well enough to know which route he’d take back. The man was cautious and he’d be overly careful with Theo as a passenger.
They might even be able to make it across the border before Theo did.
Meg’s eyes lit up and she gave him a grin that was downright wicked. “What do you say we go get our man?”
He hooked the back of Meg’s neck and pulled her to him. Galen kissed her hard, loving the way she melted against him. When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard. “I love you, Meg. I said it before, but I fucking mean it.”
“I know.” She nipped his bottom lip. “If you didn’t, you would have let me get on that plane and gone after Theo yourself.”
It would be complicated. He didn’t see a way forward for them that didn’t involve a shit ton of compromise and a healthy dose of pain.
Galen didn’t give a fuck.
For so long, his life had boiled down to one hard task: keep Theo safe. That wouldn’t change, but now there was somehow room for more. He’d make room for more.
He took Meg’s hand and tugged her toward the doors. “Let’s go get our man.”
When they drove across the border between Greece and Thalania, Theo expected to feel relief. Like he was finally coming home. Unfortunately, relief was in short supply.
Peace had left the building, too.
He had one chance to get this right or Phillip would no doubt build a dungeon just to throw him into it for the rest of his life. But all Theo could think about was Galen and Meg. They’d be close to landing in New York by now. Meg would want to go back to that threadbare little apartment, but Galen would growl at her until she snapped and agreed to go to theirs.
No, not theirs anymore. Galen’s.
Damn it, he made the right call. The only call. If Theo couldn’t have what he wanted, then he’d make damn sure the people he loved could. They were both too stubborn by half, but they’d figure it out. Galen just needed to learn to give a little instead of stepping onto the battlefield, and Meg needed to be coerced into believing that bending was better than throwing herself against every problem she came across until she broke.