The Crown Jewels (13 page)

Never in a million years did I think his niceness was anything more than just being polite.

“I like you, Julia. A lot. It feels good to be around you.”

“Will, I don’t think —,”

“—don’t think. Just say yes. We’ll do something fun, I promise.” His smile was so genuine, and he looked downright hopeful. How could I have said no?

If only I had.

If only the girl back then knew what was coming. If only I’d have had some indication that ten years later I’d be sitting here at this huge table with a zombied-out Aunt Ora and eating croissants made by the palace chef, I’d have said no.

But I didn’t. I said yes. And I said yes again. And again. And again.

In fact, I’d done more than said yes. I’d begged him for things I never even thought of before, but once he showed me the ecstasy that my body was capable of, those long nights alone with him in his bed, I’d have begged him for anything. I’d have done anything he asked. Anything he wanted. Anything that pleased him.

His status as a member of the Royal Family had nothing to do with any of it. It didn’t get in the way. It barely even registered most of the time. No, my submission was purely a physical reaction to the sheer seductive magic he was capable of, and nothing more.

He seduced me. And I let him.

So who’s fault was that?

Not much had changed, I realized, when I thought of last night. He’d pulled me out of my shell once again, hell, he’d ripped me right out of it.

Just like I’d ripped us out of the moment with that hard slap across his face. I felt terrible about it now. In fact, I couldn’t wait to apologize to him.

If only he’d get out of this meeting so I could do just that.

WILL

“Someone stole my crown!” My mother’s voice bounced off the walls of her chamber, full of panic and anger. “That’s what they’re saying!”

My mother’s living room was full of men from the SAPO, the Säkerhetspolisen, which is the security force that protects the Royal Family.

“Mother, calm down, I’m sure there’s a mistake,” I replied, my mind racing as I tried to take my own advice. I’d left Jewels in the vault last night alone, and as the full realization of the possibility that we were to blame for this began to dawn on me, I felt sick.

“There’s no mistake, Wilhelm!”

“How is that possible? The vault is totally secure!” I stopped short of saying I was in there last night. Before I went back to the party, I had gone into the security room and deleted the footage of our little tryst.

But not until I watched it for myself first, and I have to admit, it turned me on to relive those few moments. I couldn’t help but reach into my pants and pull out my cock. I’d been hard so damned long, and watching the look that crossed Jewel’s face as I pressed myself into her just pushed me over the edge. I spent the next twenty minutes watching it over and over until I found some relief. After I was finished, I’d gone back down to the party with the images of Jewels swimming through my head, and my cheek still stinging from her slap.

But I’d never even thought to go back and make sure she’d closed the door to the fucking vault.

I was beyond mortified, especially now that the jewels were missing. But I wasn’t about to open my mouth and claim responsibility. I’d deleted the footage. Nobody would ever know we were there, and I wasn’t about to tell them.

My mother was enraged, though.

“How could this happen, Dankvart?” Mom turned to the large, obviously shaken man standing next to her. “I blame you for this!”

Dankvart Dagfin was the Main Guard at Drottningholm Palace, and had been with us for the last twenty years. Nothing like this had ever happened before, and we were all shocked.

Someone had come in after Jewels and I left and took her oldest crown. Priceless heirloom gems, gone. An irreplaceable historical artifact, vanished.

“Your Majesty, I assure you, we will leave no stone unturned. We will not rest until we recover the crown. I have no idea how this happened, the vault was tightly secured when we closed it for the day before the party. We’ll be sure and check the video surveillance immediately.”

“You haven’t done that yet?” Mom exclaimed. “Get out! Don’t come back until you have answers for me.”

The men filed out one by one, but not before the largest of the guys from the SAPO turned around to address us again.

“Your Majesty, rest assured, the party responsible for this will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

I ignored the fact that my heart was about to jump right out of my chest.
Everything was going to be okay
, I told myself.

I erased the tapes. Jewels and I were in the clear.

JEWELS

After breakfast, I went back to my room and grabbed my big purple coat. I took a walk in the gardens, doing my best to clear my head. I was rehearsing what I was going to say to Will, but everything was coming out all wrong.

I was so torn. I wanted him. I didn’t want him. It all felt so right, but it was all so wrong. The entire thing was impossible, so why was I so torn about it? There was only one realistic option for us, and that was to keep our hands…and lips and everything else…off of each other. Why did that seem like the worst possible outcome?

Maybe if there’d really been a baby, I wouldn’t even think about forgiving him. But to be honest, I understood why he fled. I didn’t agree with it, but I understood. If I could have fled, I would have, too.

We were both so young. And youth makes you do foolish things. Apparently, living in a castle and being forced to be in close proximity with your princely ex-boyfriend made you do foolish things, too. Like kiss him. And then slap him for it.

I certainly felt foolish, that was for sure. Luckily, the only people who knew what I was going through were Will and Sally. And I knew they would never tell anyone.

If keeping a secret was the key to keeping my dignity, then so be it. I wasn’t afraid of secrets. I could handle secrets.

What I couldn’t handle was public humiliation, and as long as I was avoiding that, then I could handle almost anything.

I made my way back towards the palace. My father was due to pick me up for lunch soon, and I was hoping to get a few moments alone with Will to talk before he arrived. I stopped short when I saw the group of men walking out of the palace. Serious, stoic and suited in expensive clothes, they looked very official.

A few seconds later, Will emerged as well, and lit up a cigarette. I’d never seen him smoke before, in fact, I had no idea he smoked at all. I was slightly turned off, but I told myself it was none of my business. Will could do what he wanted.

His face remained serious when he saw me, and that’s when I knew something was dreadfully wrong. Will always greeted me with a smile, no matter what. He lifted his hand to take another drag off the cigarette, and I saw that his hand was shaking.

“Will?” I asked, walking up to him.

“Hey,” he replied.

“Hey,” I said softly. “What’s going on? I didn’t know you smoked.”

“I don’t.”

“You okay?” I asked.

“No, not really,” he said slowly. He waited until the black SUV’S the men had loaded themselves into drove away and then turned to me. “We need to talk.” He looked around, and then grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the front door.

“Will, what’s going on? Who were those men?”

“There’s been a burglary,” he whispered.

“What?” I asked. “Where?”

“Here. At the palace. The vault was burglarized last night.”

“The vault? What vault?”

“The vault we were in. My mother’s crown was taken. The case was cleaned out.”

“What!”
How could this be?
I replayed the events of the evening in my head, seeing Will place the emerald necklace around my neck, his smile when he posed with the crown on his head. I saw him kissing me, his roaming hands setting me ablaze with desire, and I saw his face when I slapped him. I saw him leaving, and me following shortly after.

“We didn’t close the door!” I exclaimed.

“Shhh!” Will said, putting a finger over my lips. “I took care of everything.”

“What do you mean? The crown is gone!”

“The video,” he said.

“Video? There’s
video
? Oh, my God, Will!” I felt sick. I was sure I was going to puke right there on his Italian leather loafers.

“Not anymore. Stop talking, Jewels. Listen to me, very carefully, okay?”

I nodded, speechless, as I tried desperately to keep the panic at bay.

“My mother hates the idea of video surveillance. She only allows it in the vault, and nowhere else in the palace. It’s absurd, but she insists. But after you left last night, I went to the security room and erased the surveillance video of us there. Unfortunately, my idiotic brain didn’t think to go close the fucking door, so this is totally my fault.”

“No, Will, it’s my fault,” I insisted. “I left last. I should have closed the door! I just - I was so upset - and I - oh, God, Will, what have I done?” I cried.

“Stop it, Jewels. I won’t let you take the blame for this. I promise you that everything is going to be okay.”

“But, how?”

“I only deleted the part of the video that had us in it. It’s set up to automatically record movement. Whoever stole the jewels will be on that video. The SOPA just took the hard drive to investigate it. So, don’t worry. They’re very good at their jobs. They’ll figure out who took them and get the jewels back. And nobody will ever know we were in there.”

“I hope you’re right,” I replied. Tears of fear and frustration began to fall down my face.

“Oh, Jewels, don’t cry. Everything will be okay, hjärtat, I promise.”

When he opened his arms, I walked right into them.

“I’m so sorry I slapped you,” I said, my words muffled by his massive arms surrounding me.

“I deserved it. You can slap me again, if you want.”

“This is no time to joke,” I said, laughing in spite of myself.

“Anytime I can make you laugh is the right time,” he said, staring down at me. I smiled, sighed, and put my head on his chest, letting his warmth envelope me, hoping he was right about everything turning out okay.

Unfortunately, I had a sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be that simple.

WILL

“Everything’s going to be alright, hjärtat.”

I’d said those words once before, and it ended up being a lie. As I held Jewels close, inhaling the flowery scent of her hair, I wanted so badly to believe them, just as I had all those years ago.

I closed my eyes, holding her tightly, while the afternoon she’d told me she was pregnant replayed in my head for the millionth time.

She’d asked to see me after her classes were over that day. I met her at my loft, hoping she’d have a clear schedule and we could spend the rest of the day devouring each other in my bed.

When I saw her face, I knew right away something was wrong. Over the last month, she’d blossomed right in front of my eyes. Sex agreed with her. She was never more beautiful than after we’d made love and seeing her eyes glistening and the satisfied grin on her face only made me want to start all over again. I was insatiable, never seeming to get enough of her. But now, her crestfallen features did nothing but worry me.

For a moment, I thought she was going to tell me she didn’t want to see me again, but she flung herself in my arms, which only confused me.

“I have to tell you something,” she’d muttered.

“You can tell me anything, hjärtat. What is it?”

“You’re going to want to sit down.”

I led her to the couch and grabbed her hands.

“What’s wrong, Julia?”

She looked so nervous. She hesitated before finally beginning to speak.

“I just want you to know. I can take care of everything on my own. It’s just a terrible mistake.”

“What is?”

She bit her lip and looked away. When she looked back at me her eyes were filled with tears.

“I’m late, Will.”

“Late?”

She nodded, letting it sink in. And it did.

“You’re pregnant, hjärtat?”

She nodded and tore her gaze away again.

I was stunned. I’d never even come close to getting a girl pregnant before. But Julia and I had been spending so much time together, and we slipped up a few times. I never really thought it would happen. The tears falling down her face reminded me of what an asshole I was. This was all my fault.

“Julia, don’t cry. We’ll figure this out together,” I said, pulling her shaking body into my arms.

“Shhh,” I whispered, stroking her hair. “It’ll be okay. We’ll do whatever you want. It’s your body, it’s your decision.”

Her arms slipped around me, holding me tightly.

“I’m here for you. Whatever you want, hjärtat, seriously. Anything at all. Everything’s going to be alright.”

We talked long into the night, weighing the options, until she came up with what she thought was the right decision for her. It wasn’t an easy one by far, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved. She finally fell asleep in my arms when the sun came up, both of us feeling like the weight of the world was on our shoulders.

I felt like the biggest prick. A month ago, Julia had been a virgin, and now she was dealing with this. All because I wanted to get in the studious girl’s pants, and then decided to stick around for a while.

I wasn’t consciously leading her on, but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I’d eventually go back to Sweden and that we wouldn’t be together forever. I was tied to the palace, to Sweden. It was my duty.

I knew my time in Providence was temporary, and I’d always just lumped Julia in with the whole package. Now, I’d irrevocably changed this whole girl’s life, forcing her to make a decision that would change her forever.