Summary: The engagement tour arrived in New York and Liam’s first task is to meet Jade’s former roommate and gather information to protect her. But is he ready to know everything about her?
Warning: This chapter contains psychological issues about eating disorders that might be a trigger for some people. Reader discretion is advised.
Liam walked down at Bedford Avenue, looking around the neighborhood Jade used to live. He only has been there once, but it felt as if he walked those streets for years. Everything seemed familiar to him. The building where Jade used to live was next to the coffee house he was about to have his first meeting that day. As he passes by, he remembers his first encounter with her.
_______
“Do you always walk back home alone at this hour? Is it safe?”
“Yes. I can’t say it’s safe to wander around here, but no one messes with me.”
“Really?” He looked at her bemused.
“Most people live in this neighborhood for years and I always born and raised here. Some of them know me since I was a kid. It might look dangerous at night, but during the day, this place is great, everyone is friendly. And even if it wasn’t, I know how to defend myself.” She replied proudly.
“Is that so?” He raised an eyebrow. Jade held out her apartment keys, showing a small bottle of pepper spray. “Clever,” he smirked. “But is it enough to scare bad people away?”
“I did have self-defense classes when I was younger, but the spray usually works just fine. Not all of us have security detail to protect us.”
“What can I say? I have overbearing parents.” He shrugged and they laughed.
“So you can be funny, huh?”
“When the company is worth, yes.” He looked at her and her cheeks turning slightly pink. He smiled softly as they walked a few more steps side by side before she stopped in front of a classic old New York building.
“That’s me.”
“Jade, thank you for a lovely night. It was so much more than I expected. I’ll never forget this.” He leaned in and she cupped his jaw, kissing him tenderly. He responded, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. He wished the world could stop spinning so the night wouldn’t end. But unfortunately, all good things have to end.
Her chestnut eyes met his blue ones. Neither of them wanted to let go of the moment, but they had to. “I wish this wasn’t a goodbye kiss.”
He rested his forehead on hers and sighed. “Me too.”
_______
After walking a couple more blocks, Liam arrived at Oslo Café and took a table next to the window. The place was empty as he requested. He looked through Jade’s basic profile info wrapping his mind about all these information Cordonia’s security team had collected. He wasn’t even sure she knew all that. It didn’t take much longer for the person he waited to show up.
“Good morning, Your Majesty.” The young ebony skin lady bowed stiffly.
Liam stood up and nodded. “Good morning, Miss Rossom. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“The pleasure is all mine. Please call me Juliet.”
“Only if you call me Liam.” He pulled up a chair for her and they sat down. A waiter approached them and took their orders before leaving.
She placed her handbag on the chair next to her and rested her hands on her legs. “How can I be of service?”
“Juliet, as far as I know, you’re the only contact Jade has here.”
“There’s her aunt too, they haven’t spoken since she was eighteen though. I believe this is something I think she will tell you eventually. You mentioned your concern about her health.”
“Yes. Jade is a delightful and easy-going woman, but until a few months ago, she began to have mood swings and weight fluctuations, she gets tired easily and she tends to stress eat. She’s ill, isn’t she?”
Juliet pinched the bridge of her nose and inhaled sharply. “Yes. She was fine last time I saw her. But I assume courtly life became too stressful to her with the scandal.”
Liam felt a knot forming inside his stomach, but maintained his impassive demeanor. “She still is as graceful and charming as ever, but she has dealt with many adversities in the past three months.”
“No wonder she relapsed. In high school, she had a hard time dealing with mean girls. I guess the only difference now is that the bullies are noblewomen.” Her mouth set in a hard line. “Are knuckles hurt? Is her breath always smelling like she had mint gum?”
His brows drew together. “Not recently.”
“Knuckles hurt are a sign of forcing vomit and the mint gum is to mask the bad breath when she does it often. Maybe she’s better. Or she’s taking a laxative.”
“Does she really have an eating disorder?”
“She has bulimia nervosa and compulsive eating since forever, but she was only diagnosed when she was fourteen. Isn’t it in her file?” She pointed to the folder with Jade’s name.
“It just mentions occupational therapy for a year and one-month treatment at a mental health residential facility.”
“Can I look at it?” She extended her hand and Liam handed over the folder. Juliet scanned the document quickly, then gave it back to him. “There are many suppressed details. I’m sure you’re curious about those.”
“Do you know anything about the classified topics?”
“Yes, but if you don’t mind, can we have coffee first?” Juliet nodded towards the waited coming into their direction with Liam’s expresso and croissant and her latte with bacon and eggs. Despite the tenseness of their previous discussion, they had a friendly chat during the meal. She talked about when she met Jade and Liam told her about social season. “Jade was right. You really are a gentleman and a charmer. I can see why she swooned every time your name came up in our calls.” Juliet smirked.
“It’s an occupational hazard.” Liam shrugged smiling. “Do you talk to her often?”
“During social season, we used to video chat sometimes. Last time we talked she was at duchy Ramsford. The ‘restrict communication rule’ you guys followed there made my job more complicated.”
“It was for her protection.”
“I get it. Kudos on the wise moves during the tour, by the way.” She glanced out the window. “Well, I have to go now, but there’s someone else you should meet.” She stood up and bowed to an elegant elder lady. “Your Majesty.”
The woman patted Juliet’s shoulder. “Thank you, Jules. I’ll take it from here.”
Liam shook hands with Juliet before she walked away, then looked bewildered at the woman standing across him. “Queen Sofia,” he bowed.
“Good morning, my dear. You look as dashing as always.” She bowed and sat down. The waiter approached to clean the table and took their orders. “Just a chai. Thank you.”
“Chai?” He cocked an eyebrow.
“Don’t tell my son about the chai and I won’t tell Regina about your three cups of coffee,” The corner of her mouth quirked up.
Liam smirked and nodded. “Fair enough.”
“I know you’re wondering what I am doing here, so let’s cut to the chase. I’m here to talk about Jade’s future in your country. I know you want to protect her but we need to deal with this mess your father made in my granddaughter’s life.”
Liam’s eyes went wide. “Your granddaughter? Oh, I knew the lady in Jade’s family photo looked familiar to me. How didn’t I realized it?”
“I love that picture. It was the single most precious moment I had with her.”
“She carries it everywhere. But her parents-”
“Were two stubborn anti-monarchists. Can you imagine the irony of raising a son to be the next King of Spain and one day he flees the kingdom and becomes a democrat? Well, that’s how Luis was. He was Jade’s father.”
The waiter came back with their orders and both of them sipped their drinks. “So the former Crown Prince of Spain is her father.”
“Yes. When he came here to study journalism, he was disinherited by my husband because Luis made it clear he didn’t want to have any ties with the Crown. And you know how my husband is when he doesn’t get it his way. Both so headstrong men. They never spoke again. Juan only saw our Jay at Luis’ funeral.” She looked down, tracing the borders of her chai cup.
“Jade doesn’t know a thing about this, does she?”
“No. My son and his wife made me promise I wouldn’t tell because they didn’t want to be royals. They wanted her to have a normal upbringing. I had to watch her from afar for all these years. It’s what hurts me the most.” Liam took her hand and squeezed it delicately. The Queen replied with a sad smile “I almost told her everything after her mother died, but Juliet convinced me not to. Jay was too fragile. I had to wait. But now that she chose to be a noblewoman, things changed. She needs me. And you’ll help me with it.”
“You have my support as always.” He gave her a reassuring smile.
“I knew I could count on you. You always were my favorite and I’m glad to see that the power didn’t go over your head now that you’re king. Elise would be so proud of you.” She cupped his chin fondly. “Now let’s talk about this plot against my granddaughter.”
“My men and Jade’s sponsor, Maxwell, are tracking down Tariq.”
“Hijo de la puta…” Sofia mumbled. Liam sipped his coffee trying to hide a smile.
“I knew you always spoke Spanish besides those formal greetings you were trained to learn. You probably understood all conversations I used to have with your mother when we had our private tea parties, didn’t you?”
“Every single word,” Liam grinned.
“You little sneaky…” The Queen slapped Liam’s hand and he laughed. “In any case, I’m sending my men to help. Where’s Jade now?”
“She went for her morning jog when I left.”
“Good. What’s her condition status?”
“I’m not sure. She has been trying to hide it. I just had confirmation of her illness through Juliet.”
“She’s scared, afraid to look vulnerable. She always does that. She doesn’t want to be a burden to anyone.” The Queen pursed her lips.
He chuckled. “She looks just like you when she’s displeased with something.”
“If she has any more of my traits, you’d better be in for a treat, my boy.” Sofia cocked an eyebrow.
“Oh, I know that. Life with her is never boring.” He smiled to himself.
“You talk about her with such joy and affection. Do you really want to wed my Jade?”
“More than anything in the world.”
“I’m sure she has a mind of her own, but if she accepts your proposal, you’ll have my blessing. I’ll be elated to see you alongside my granddaughter.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I’ll do everything I can to reintroduce you back into her life once we solve the scheme.”
“I appreciate it, my dear.” She reached for her bag, took a brown parcel and handed to Liam. “This is all the classified information on Jade. I’m giving it to you and I trust you’ll give it to her when it’s time to tell her truth about everything.”
“I will.” He looked briefly through the pages then stared at one page, a little taken aback. “Did she do community service? A nose job?”
Sofia laughed. “Oh yeah… These are her teenage classic stories. Mi adorada y rebelde nieta.”
A line appeared between his brows. “Did she really do it? What the…”
Sofia rested her chin on the back of her hand, amused by Liam’s horrified expression. “I told you you’re in for a treat.”
