I blow out a sigh. At least it’ll be better than standing around waiting for the party to be over. “Lead the way.”
CHAPTER 17
CAM
Tucker has been off since we left the wedding reception. I don’t think it actually has anything to do with the chaos we caused or the fact that we might have stolen a princess. No, he was off even before that.
I could feel it all throughout the wedding. We’d been good up until then. We actually went out a day early and spent some time alone together. That part was amazing. I think Tucker wouldn’t have a problem seeing the world with me if it was only him and me, which I’m not necessarily opposed to.
I am opposed to him lying to me, however. He kept telling me everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t during the wedding reception. Yet, that in some ways is the least of our worries right now. We have much bigger problems at hand. I reach over and run my finger across his knuckles.
They are still red from when he punched Edgar Frank right in the jaw. Edgar called me a cunt after I foiled his plans. I don’t think he’s going to be calling anyone anything for a while with his broken jaw. Tucker sent the man flying back a good five feet right into a table. If I hadn't been comforting a crying Maria, I might have jumped Tucker right then and there.
I was already on edge once I saw how sexy he looked in his suit. Watching him manhandle a jerk only ramped up my need for him. I’ve never been a fan of violence, but Edgar had it coming. It was sexy as hell to see my cowboy teach Edgar some manners on how you speak to a woman.
Maybe I could have handled it all better. I’d gone straight up to Edgar when he was talking to his wife Glorianna and called him on the bullshit he’d said to Tucker. The man didn’t deny it. What had shocked the hell out of me is when Glorianna called her sister over and then proceeded to call the young girl a whore before saying she has been trying to steal her husband for months.
It wasn't only laughable because I know for a fact Maria has had dozens of offers for her hand in marriage but it was also full-on bullshit. She would never do such a thing, especially to her own sister. Maria is as sweet as they come. She’s been pretty much sheltered for most of her life. Her father, Prince Harold Costatelli of Luxemstei, kept her on a short leash after her mother, his first wife, died in a plane crash. Maria was only a small girl at the time of the accident.
I’m seeing now there is some serious jealousy going on with Glorianna and her younger sister Maria. I guess I’d never noticed it before because Glorianna is a successful, beautiful actress but she wasn’t born a Costatelli nor is she a princess. She had the last name Costatelli until she married, but only because Prince Harold adopted her after he married her mother many years ago.
“We’re landing soon.” Jenny, the flight attendant, whispers to me, not wanting to wake Maria, who is asleep.
Thanks, I mouth to her. I try to shift over to my own seat, but Tucker’s arm that’s wrapped around my waist tightens.
“I own the plane.” He kisses my neck.
“Fine.” I relax back into him. “You mad at me?”
“No, but you’re mad at me.” I don’t know how he reads me so well already. I guess the same way I do him. “Wanna tell me what the issue is?” I take a deep breath in to try to gather my thoughts before I answer him. It’s so hard to concentrate when he’s this close to me. Or be angry at him.
“I don’t want there to be lies between us.” He tenses. “You kept saying you were fine when you weren’t. You hated every second of that wedding.”
“Just because I’m miserable at an event doesn’t mean I want to make you miserable.”
“Was it that bad?” I shift in his lap, wanting to see him better.
So often when I try to steer our conversation to serious things about us really working out, he sidetracks me with that mouth of his. Right now, he doesn’t really have that luxury. Part of me thinks he truly is trying to knock me up. That way he knows he has me for sure.
“I hated it.”
“You enjoy the dresses I wear.” He tenses again. “Tucker!” I hiss quietly, glancing over to make sure I didn’t wake Maria up. “What the hell?”
“I enjoy the hell out of them. For myself. Don’t much care for everyone else seeing you in them.” He grumbles the last part.