Page 97 of Scandal Queen

“Oliver, that is enough!” A pin could have dropped as the King silenced Oliver’s tirade.

I couldn’t breathe.

I’d singlehandedly destroyed the royal family.

Oliver turned to me, and like he’d been able to since the moment we met, he read the thoughts on my face. “It wasn’t you. It was us all along.” He turned and smiled at Daisy who stood frozen with a red ribbon in her hand. “Come on, Daisy. I think I’ve got something better planned for Christmas.”

“Ollie, please don’t. Don’t leave, I can’t stand it.” Bella’s voice croaked from the sofa and for a moment I thought he’d back down. He walked to the sofa and bent down to kiss Bella on the top of her head.

“Sorry, sis,” he whispered something else the rest of us couldn’t hear and then straightened up.

John watched in silence, his mouth open as Ollie ushered Daisy and I to the door of the sitting room. He turned at the door, his chin held high. “I wish you all a merry Christmas.”

Then he pushed us through and dragged us down the hallway.

My breath flew through my chest, my ribcage ached with the deep gasps of air I pulled down.

“Oliver, please. We don’t have to go. Just calm down. We don’t need to fight a war today.”

He turned his beautiful face; the angelic carving of an avenging warrior tore straight in two. “It’s a war I should have fought a long time ago. Now we leave.”

“And when we come back? You have to come back, Ollie. You are the prince, this is your rightful place.” Funny that I got that right now, now at the end when he’d given it all up. “This is all part of the man I fell in love with.”

“Then I come back on my own terms. Now, can we please go and try to enjoy Christmas?”

“Where are we going?” Daisy’s voice shook and Ollie dropped his shoulders.

His eyes met mine. “The cottage? We haven’t got any food in though.”

“I could know somewhere better? And the roast potatoes are good.”

“Nana?” Daisy said, her smile growing.

“Who else does the best roast potatoes in town?”

“She was meant to come here for Christmas. She might not have anything in either.”

“Nah,” Daisy and I both said at once. “She’s always got the makings of a roast dinner.”

The moment had lightened, our decision was made, but as we walked back out of the palace doors, I couldn’t help but meet that emerald gaze and shiver down to my toes.

The Range Rover trudged through the snowy streets and Oliver’s hands clenched the steering wheel. The press, the poor bastards standing in the freezing cold by the gates, had watched us leave, their cameras raised for the shot.

“So you always give your staff Christmas off?” I peered at him anxiously, the streetlights bounced off his cheekbones, throwing the shadows of his face into an orange glow.

“They deserve it after being with me all year.”

“Bill’s going to be pretty cross when he finds out you’ve been driving through London in the snow without him.”

Oliver turned, his face exasperated. “I’m a grown man, Leia. I am allowed to drive by myself.”

I shrunk down in my seat. “I know. Question is, should you?”

He steered the car to the side of the road and I automatically glanced behind us to see if we were being followed. The London streets were too quiet almost, the downpour of snow had sent the last-minute Christmas shoppers scurrying home.

“Leia, I’m getting mixed signals here. You’re the one who keeps saying we should change, that the royals should show who they are, so here I am, trying to enforce some sort of chain of events that might enable that to happen, and now what? Now you aren’t sure?”

“Ollie.” I glanced at Daisy in the back seat. She watched the snow swirl around the car. “I just don’t want you to be rushing this because of me.”