Chapter 338

“They’re pushing him past his limits,” Julian said again, “And it’s about time too.”

I looked at him sharply. Surely he couldn’t be happy that his brother was being harassed into uncharacteristic outbursts.

He shrugged at my look. “He’s finally acting like a living breathing human in front of the camera. Yeah, it’s probably not the side he wants people to see, but even you have to admit, Piper, that it was unnerving as hell watching him pretend to be that perfect emotionless statue.”

I couldn’t deny that exactly, but it wasn’t great that Nicholas’s walls were crumbling without his consent. He should be able to raise and lower his walls at his own will, not because others pushed him into it.

“If he wants to be the statue, he should be able to be the statue,” I said.

Julian shook his head. “We know Nicholas would be a great king because we know him. He know how much he cares about everything, including the people. He’s always at that orphanage, for instance. But you know who doesn’t know any of that, even about the orphanage?”

“The people,” I said, realizing.

“The people,” Julian replied. “This competition wasn’t just about finding Lunas for us. You know already that a big part was about raising the popularity of the royal family. Well, to do that, we were supposed to show pieces of ourselves to the public, so they could know our faces. We hid away from them for too long.”

“If he hides who he really is, they have no reason to believe he would be the best king.”

Julian pointed at me. “Bingo.”

“But if the only time they see him break is when he loses his temper… won’t the public think he’s being too volatile to be king?”

“They’ll think he’s human,” Julian said. “They’ll find him relatable. They’ll trust him, more than they’d trust a statue.”

I supposed I could see the reason in that, and for Julian to believe it so strongly meant that he had given it a lot of thought. Julian might have given the outward appearance of being carefree, but the truth was that he was a massive over thinker.

He knew more about this than me, I could admit that. So he was probably right.

But, more than I was worried about the public perception of the Nicholas, I was worried about Nicholas himself.

I stood.

“Follow the beach down to the group of trees,” Julian said. “It’s in a bit of an alcove, hid away from the house. It’s private. If he wanted to be alone, that’s where he would have gone.”

It was sweet of Julian to give me this information. The knowing smirk he gave me wasn’t so sweet.

As I looked at him, he waggled his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes.

Of course, I was still going to go. I fully intended on following his direction and I wasn’t going to even feel bad about it. But he was so ridiculous, I couldn’t leave him without saying something.

“Mind your own business,” I said.

He laughed, and the sound helped heal some of the more fragile pieces of my heart.

I followed Julian’s directions, walking down off the deck and then following the water line. All of the cameras, in Nicolas’s absence had turned their attention onto Bridget. Nathan was even asking her questions, which she was answering with the brightest of smiles and dispositions.

I ignored them just as they ignored me.

The waves licked at my feet as I walked along the shoreline, following the coast up and around into where the trees began to block the house. The beach dipped inward there, like a letter C, with the water filling in a small pool.

Palm trees zig-zagged around, some of them bent at odd angles. One even looked like it had grown sideways for a while before bending back upwards.

Sitting there on the sideways part of the tree, was Nicholas. Just where Julian had said he would be.

“Piper?” he called.

I smiled a little as I walked toward him. When I was close enough, he reached down and offered me a hand. I accepted it, and he pulled me up onto the tree beside him.

From this height, three or four feet off the ground, the view was beautiful. More of the ocean stretched out before me. The light flickered on the rippling water, the rising and falling waves.

We sat in comfortable, companionable silence for a moment. His hand placed flat at his side, resting on the palm tree. Mine was placed directly beside his. We weren’t touching, but I could feel the heat of him. I was so attuned to him, I swear our breathing matched just from being so close.

“You saw my outburst,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“Julian thinks it’s good for you, to look more human in front of the public.”

Nicholas rubbed his forehead. “Julian saw my outburst.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Sorry.”

Silence fell over us again, and we watched the waves.

“Julian spoke with Selma,” I said.

Nicholas’s gaze snapped to me. “He what?”

I filled Nicholas in, explaining how I hid in the closet, and then what I could remember from Julian and Selma’s conversation. I was clear about the main takeaway: the King and Queen wanted to lift Bridget while knocking me down.

“You’re popular again,” Nicholas said. “Good. That will make it easier to protect you.” He sighed in clear aggravation. “I’m getting tired of this. I want so hard to be a good leader for my people. I also want to be a perfect son. But… my parents seem to be succumbing to their darkest impulses lately. It’s a path I don’t know if I can or want to follow anymore.”

His words surprised me. “Nick.” I didn’t know where to even start to try to help him feel better.

“Their acts are becoming more and more despicable. And when I think about how they might have been behind you being trapped in that pit…” Nicholas’s hands curled into fists. “I get so angry…”

I reached out and placed my hand over his fist on the tree. “I’m not in that pit anymore,” I reminded him. Maybe reminded us both.

Nicholas turned his head and looked at me. There was a fire burning in his eyes, kindled with anger, but in short time, it developed into something else.

Nicholas loosened his fist, then turned his hand palm up so our fingers could slide together.

“I’m exhausted with doing everything that is required of me and never stepping one foot out of line, even for the things I so desperate want,” he said. “I want to do something for myself for a change. And something for you, as well.”

I looked at him. I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew what he meant, but I refused to allow myself to think it, afraid that I would be wrong and hurt again.

But then he spoke once more, “Piper, if I asked you, would you still want to make love?”

My heart clenched. It was as I thought. But that was a vague statement. It still might not have meant what I had hoped it to mean. So I pressed, “When you say ‘make love’…”

His eyes were a wildfire, and I was trapped in its path, burning.

“Piper. I want to give us both the ultimate pleasure.”

My throat went dry. My heart raced.

He continued, “I want to be inside of you.”