“Did it bore you?” I asked after a beat.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“You make it sound like this may not be that much better.” My lip tilted at that. “You really are an asshole, you know that?”
“So you’ve said.”
“I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s brought that to your attention.” I glanced at him. He had his long arms set on his knees, his hands dangling as he looked out into the ocean.
“Outside of my siblings and maybe a few cousins, you are the only one who’s said it to me.” He met my gaze after a moment. “To my face, anyway.”
“Interesting.”
“It is interesting.” He inched closer. “Do you know why they won’t say it to my face?”
“They’re afraid of the consequences?”
“I guess so. I could end them. Easily.”
“Perks of being the future king.”
“There aren’t many perks to that job.” He made a sound that sounded between a snort and a scoff as he looked away from me. I stared at his profile. He had pretty features. Rugged yet pretty.
“There might be if your family wasn’t dead set on keeping things so traditional.”
“You think I haven’t had this conversation countless times?” He looked at me again. “Do you think I haven’t tried to figure out ways to keep the Crown happy and the people happy? It’s not as simple as you may think it is.”
“You’re right. I don’t imagine it is.”
“It’s a lot of pressure. The king dying.”
“Your father, you mean.”
“My father, the king.” His eyes searched mine. “I don’t expect you see him as a father or a husband. Just as a strict ruler who wants the last say in everything and the reason a lot of people are suffering.”
This time, I glanced away and looked back at the ocean. The turmoil in it matched his eyes, and I couldn’t seem to find solace in it. He wasn’t wrong. A lot of people were waiting for his father’s demise. There were hungry people in the street. People losing their houses, their jobs, their families. It wasn’t something the king could possibly understand and up until tonight, something I didn’t think Prince Elias could understand either. Maybe I’d been wrong in my judgment. He seemed like a man who carried loss well, but felt the burden of it nonetheless. The sound of sand swishing behind us made us turn our heads as one of his security detail approached.
“The Princess of Austria is looking for you,” he said.
Prince Elias sighed heavily, throwing his head back as if to ask the universe for patience. It was yet another glimpse of the person he hid beneath his stoicism. He stood up slowly, the sand on his pants falling on the skirt of my dress with the movement. The security detail walked away and Prince Elias stood there for a long moment in silence, watching the ocean, with only the sound of the waves to disturb his thoughts.
“I’ll see you another time, Miss Adeline,” he said. “Thank you for indulging me and attending the party, as short-lived as it was.”
“Thank you for inviting me as a guest.” I smiled slightly, looking up at him. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry your father is dying.”
His smile was small and pained just before he turned around and walked away.
Chapter 10
I went to the second floor of my villa and sat out on the balcony with my coffee. The sun had risen an hour ago according to the weather forecast, and I was sad to have missed it. It was always the one thing that stood out about this place to me. The sunrise hadn’t been like this anywhere else I’d been. As I sat there, I noticed someone walking out of the ocean. A man. I was close enough to the water that I could make out his toned torso and that damn V that disappeared into his board shorts. His hair was covering his face, but he suddenly reached down, wet his hand, and combed it back with his fingers. My heart skipped a beat. Elias. Fuck. Of course. He was so damn gorgeous. He tilted his head up and I could swear his eyes met mine. My heart stopped beating entirely. I held my breath. Would he walk this way or disappear into his villa? My answer came when a man walked out and said something to him. I made the decision for him and stood and went back inside my own villa. The last thing I needed was to look for trouble right now and Prince Elias, soon to be King, would definitely be trouble.
I placed the wicker basket by the front door and turned to walk away. There was no guard here, so I assumed they were inside with Prince Elias. Just as I turned to leave, the front door opened. I braced myself, as I turned around, for Prince Elias himself, but it was Pierre I saw. He smiled as he walked out of the villa and closed the door behind him.