“That was fine. The media will spin a story or make up one if the truth isn’t juicy enough. Letting them know there was more to come will pacify them for a bit,” Stefan told her. “Once Mikos comes to and can speak for himself, this will be easier to handle.”
Eyes closed, head still back, she gave a slight nod. “Yes, it will. Just tell me how I can help.”
Stefan smiled. Even when she was dragging and on her last leg, she was still putting herself out there for him and his family. She was the strongest woman he knew and perfect to be reigning as queen...if she stayed.
No, he couldn’t think about that right now.
“The best thing you can do is rest,” he told her, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her down to his side. “Once we get back to the palace we’ll both try to get some sleep.”
And then he planned on staying at the hospital until his brother showed a vast improvement. He needed to give Karina some time to eat, to sleep, but once the doctor had assured them all that Mikos wouldn’t be waking or likely showing much change for the next day or so, they’d all promised to go home, rest, shower and refuel and return the following morning.
Stefan glanced at his watch. He was so confused on time. Between not getting enough sleep before arriving and the time difference, he didn’t know what time he thought it should be. But his body knew it was time for sleep.
By the time they reached the palace, Victoria had a soft, steady snore going. He smiled. He’d tried telling her once when they were teens that she snored when she’d stayed for a movie and had fallen asleep. Like any young lady, she refused to believe that she could do something so rude...or normal. So he’d let the moment go, until they’d fallen asleep once while on an evening picnic. They’d stayed out late and lain beneath the stars talking when she had drifted off and started snoring. She occasionally joked that maybe she did snore, but it wasn’t loud like he claimed.
And every night for the past three months, he’d been lulled to sleep by those soft purrs, as she liked to call them. She may think it was a catlike purr, but it was more like a tiger growl.
When the driver opened the door, Stefan carefully slid her into his lap and eased from the car to carry her inside. The palace wasn’t a small place and his room was at the end of the long corridor, but that didn’t matter, not when he held such precious cargo.
He wasn’t about to wake her to make her do the zombie walk of exhaustion up to the room. Besides, she didn’t weigh much, not when he was used to pulling his own body weight up while rock climbing.
Would he ever be able to climb again? If his brother didn’t make it, he honestly didn’t know. But he couldn’t think like that. He wasn’t scared to tackle the rocks again, but he didn’t want to do it alone when he’d done it for so long with his brother.
Victoria was being strong through this process; he needed to mimic her actions in order to get Karina through this tough time.
The weight of Victoria in his arms felt so...right. He didn’t know how he would’ve gotten through this initial shock of his brother’s accident without her. She may have not done much, but being by his side, refusing to leave the hospital until he did and then handling the paparazzi like that only gave further evidence that she did love him.
But did she truly love him as deeply as she thought she did? Part of him wanted that to be true, but the friend side wanted her to be mistaken. He could admit his feelings for her had deepened since their wedding, but...love? No. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—go that far.
For years he’d wanted to explore their friendship to see what could come of it, but he never thought love or marriage would be a step in their lives.
Maybe fate didn’t want them together since the timing was always off. Or maybe fate knew just when to throw them together for maximum support and impact. Between his father’s death, her scandalous breakup and now his brother’s accident, he knew they needed each other now more than ever.
Not to mention the upcoming coronation. Yes, they were always there to offer support and for consoling, but that’s what friends did, right? All of that did not allude to love.
Stefan entered his suite, closing the high double doors behind him, and crossed to the bed, where he laid her down.
He stood over her, looking at all that pale blond hair spread across his navy, satin sheets. She was such a beauty, such an angel to have come into his life to save him over and over again.
How could he truly ever repay her?