“What the fuck is that?” Drake muttered, pulling on his jeans and striding to the door. A loud crash had woken us up as we dozed, followed by a thump. “Baby, stay here,” he ordered, swinging open the door and striding downstairs. I hurriedly threw on a sundress, terrified that somehow Liam or his guards had come to order me back to Cordonia. He had the power to do so; would he exercise it?
“Stop!” A voice cried tearfully. Olivia. Forgetting Drake’s warning, I hurtled down the steps, skidding to a stop when I saw the scene before me.
There Maxwell stood, angrily clutching Leo’s shirt as he slammed him against the wall. An overturned table laid beside them, the shattered remnants of a vase at their feet. Leo’s lip was split, a trickle of blood creeping down his chin. What the hell had happened?
“You son of a bitch,” Maxwell seethed, the fury on his face unlike anything I had ever seen. “You think you can show up whenever you want, fuck around for awhile, and leave when you’re bored with her? Olivia deserves better than that!” He emphasized his words with another slam of Leo’s back against the wall. Leo fought against him, but Maxwell had rage on his side.
“Get your fucking hands off me, Beaumont, before you regret it,” he threatened, struggling against the younger man’s hands.
Drake stepped forward, physically separating the two. “Enough, both of you,” he demanded. “You wanna tell me what the fuck you two are doing?”
Breathing heavily, Max and Leo stared each other down, Olivia crying silently as she stood to the side. I crossed to her, watching the shards on the floor, and bundled her into my arms.
“Little Max here thinks he’s man enough for Livvy,” Leo sneered, wiping the blood from his chin. “She made her choice, Beaumont. Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”
“Fuck you!” Maxwell lunged again, swinging his fist wildly at Leo’s face. Anticipating, the other man dodged and swung back, connecting solidly with Maxwell’s jaw and dropping him to his knees. Leo took the opportunity to tackle him then, straddling him and pounding his fists into Max’s face.
“NO!” Olivia cried, throwing herself to the floor next to Maxwell and trying to shelter him from Leo’s fists. Drake quickly pulled Leo off the smaller man, holding his arms behind his back.
“Stop it right fucking now, Rys,” Drake warned. “I’ll kick your ass myself if you lay another hand on him.”
I watched Olivia help Maxwell sit up, his nose and lip bloody, a bruise already forming on his handsome face. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” she chanted, sobbing into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, whispering in her ear. It was an intimate moment, one the rest of us were intruding on.
I turned to Leo, still held back by Drake, but I could see the fight quickly leaving him as he watched Olivia and Maxwell huddled together. “Livvy?” he asked tentatively, hurt flashing across his features. She sniffled into Maxwell’s chest and raised her head, jade green eyes looking sadly into his.
“I’m sorry Leo. I just needed to get away from everything, I thought we were just having fun … and I didn’t …” she trailed off, turning back to Maxwell. “And I didn’t think you cared,” she admitted to the man next to her.
“Jesus, Liv,” Maxwell breathed, brushing her long, fiery hair away from her face. “I’ve cared since we were kids – how could you not know?” He looked at her with so much love that my heart swelled with happiness for her. This was what Olivia had wanted for so long.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo shrug off Drake. He walked slowly to the door, keeping his back to the rest of us. “I’m going out,” he called over his shoulder. “I won’t be back tonight.” He stilled for a moment. “Maxwell, take care of her. She deserves the world.” With that he left, the rest of us staring after him.
“Oh, Leo,” Olivia murmured. She looked up at me. “I didn’t want to hurt him, Char, I swear.” Tears welled in her eyes. Despite her heart belonging to Maxwell, I knew she cared about Leo; she wouldn’t have intentionally hurt him.
Gingerly, Maxwell stood, bringing Olivia up with him. Never letting go of her hand, he crossed the room to sit at the marble breakfast bar we’d been at only a few hours ago. Now, that seemed a lifetime away.
“Fuck, he hits hard,” Maxwell mumbled, swiping his arm across his nose. He looked down at the mess that was now his shirt. “Guess this one can go in the trash.” Olivia clutched at him as though she was afraid he’d disappear if she let him go.
“I can’t believe you went head to head with him,” she said, her voice filled with wonder. “That’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, Max, and I’ve seen you do a lot of ridiculous shit.” She smiled despite her words, running her hand through his messy hair. Maxwell shook his head, gently grabbing her chin and turning her face to his.
“The stupidest thing I’ve ever done was make you think I didn’t want you.” They stared at each other for a beat, the heat between them filling the room. Drake and I glanced at each other, wondering if we should head back to my room, when Olivia broke the silence.
“Let’s go upstairs and I’ll get you cleaned up.” She turned and strode to the stairs, her perfect composure returning, but I saw the small smile that graced her lips and heard the quiver in her voice. Together, they climbed the stairs and disappeared from view, the soft click of her door signaling we were again alone.
“Christ,” Drake muttered, setting the overturned table back on its feet. I crossed over to him and knelt down to pick up the broken ceramic that was once a vase. “Did you know Leo felt that way about Olivia?” I inquired. Drake shook his head as he crouched next to me.
“Not a clue. Leo’s always been … well … really into girls,” he explained. “Even when we were young, all the noble girls chased after him, especially when they thought they had a chance to become queen. Olivia was usually too busy with Liam and Max to look his way, which pissed him off. I know they used to fuck around, but it wasn’t serious. Then Madeleine came along”– I winced at her name–“and he fell for her, hard. But he still ran away, met Katie, abdicated, and here we are.”
Drake shook his head. “I had no clue he had a torch burning for Livvy.” A cynical smirk crossed his face. “Honestly, I have no clue how anyone can have anything but a burning loathing for the woman, but what do I know?”
I stood, the largest pieces of the vase collected, and moved to throw them in the trash. “What’s the deal with that, Drake? Why do you and Olivia hate each other so much?” He rose too, letting out a deep sigh.
“I don’t hate her, Charlie. Olivia and I are complicated. We always have been and we always will be. A lot of it has to do with the way she treated Savannah growing up, and then there’s a lot of other shit that I really don’t want to get into right now.”
He trained his dark eyes on me, pleading with me to just let it go. I swallowed hard, a pit forming in the pit of my stomach. What was Drake not telling me? As if he could read my thoughts, he crossed to me and gently took my face in his hands.
“I love you, Charlie, and I have for a long time. Olivia is my past. I care about her, I do, but there’s a lot of water under that bridge and I don’t want to get into it with you right now. Please trust me. Can you do that?”
Mutely, I nodded. But inside, I was quickly becoming an insecure mess. I hadn’t been enough for Liam; was Drake going to find me lacking, too? He kissed me softly and I pushed my worries aside. Everyone had a past, myself included. I couldn’t fault him for anything that had happened between he and Olivia when they were younger. I just had to trust that Drake was devoted to me. “We okay?” he asked, pulling back and surveying my face.
“Yeah, we’re good,” I replied, leaning in to kiss him again. Every time our lips met, I felt a thrill go through me. Moaning softly, I let my tongue dart out to tease the seam of his lips and he responded quickly, deepening the kiss and cupping the back of my head. Our tongues languidly stroked and tasted, the ache between my legs building with each swipe.
“God, Charlie,” Drake groaned as he pulled away, “the things you do to me.” He adjusted himself, a grimace flashing on his face. “I haven’t been this hard from a kiss since I was a teenager.” He took my hand and led me to the couch, pulling me down next to him.
I sighed, knowing that real life was peeking around the corner, ready to burst the bubble of happiness I’d found myself in here. I had to face Liam, to figure out what our next step was. I had to not only extricate myself from a marriage, but also from a monarchy. The thought twisted my stomach. I really loved being queen, making a real difference in the lives of people who counted on me, people I truly cared about. I cuddled next to Drake, pushing him down so we were laying face-to-face on the couch.
“We have to go home, don’t we?” I whispered, running my fingers through his hair. His eyes met mine, acknowledging the truth.
“We do. But I’ll be by your side the whole time. I’m not letting you deal with this alone,” he promised. Warmth flooded me when I realized that Drake really was in my corner, and would stand by me no matter what. I smiled up at him and he grinned back.
“But for tonight,” Drake pushed his hips into mine, “I’m going to fuck you until you forget everything but you and me.” His mouth crashed onto mine and I succumbed, losing myself in the man who held my heart.