#choicestrr

„Very well, Hakim. Why don’t we save the details for our dinner next week? Perfect! Alright, talk soon, old friend“, Constantin hangs up and looks at Liam very seriously. „So Liam, I heard from Regina that you were talking about transferring to an U.S. University“, he stands up and walks to the bar cart, pouring himself and Liam one fingers of whisky.

„Yes, father. I believe that living abroad would broaden my horizon and I’d like to get to know other cultures before I finish college and start working in service of the crown“, he looks at his father, who hands him a drink.

Constantin walks back to his chair, „Regina thinks it will be good for you“, he sits down and looks at Liam, „and I cant deny, I think it is a good idea myself“. Liam smiles and his eyes widen. „I pulled some strings and due to your impeccable curriculum and grades, you were admitted into Stanford. You will be flying next week to California“, he smiles.

Liam jumps from his chair and walks up to his father to hug him, „Father! I can’t believe it… I never thought you would ever consider letting me go! Thank you so so much!“, he smiles.

„Liam, my son, I just wish you would have come to me first“, he hugs him, patting him on the back. „However, there will be rules!“, his tone becomes stern and Liam goes back to his seat, „There can be no scandals and nobody can know you are a prince“, he opens a drawer, picking up a brown envelope and putting a few papers on the table, „In the U.S you will be known as Liam Thompson, a British exchange student from London. Only the US Government and the University know your true identity. This is your new passport, drivers license and everything you will need — The British Government has helped us with everything and it’s only be possible thanks to our shared ancestry with the English Monarchy, Queen Victoria. So, next time Elizabeth invites us for a wedding, we better show up!“, he smirks. „I’m taking your platinum credit card, you will get a normal one with  a comfortable limit to live off but not too high to draw attention — if someone asks about your comfortable life though, tell them your parents are bankers. You will live near campus in a two bedroom apartment that you will share with Drake. Your security detail will occupy the apartment in front of yours and will be always in your shadows, making sure that you are okay“, he puts everything back into the envelope and hands it to Liam. „However, if the press finds out about it and your whereabouts or if anyone discover your true identity… that’s it! You will have to come back home, understood?!“

Liam smiles, „Understood, father! This is only fair…“

„Alright, I guess you have a lot to get done before flying out to your new life in the states, so you better get it done!“, he walks up to Liam and hugs him once again. „Now, I will try to track down your brother to tell him the news. I’m sure he will want to say goodbye in style!“, he chuckles. 

„Okay. I really have a lot to get done. See you later, dad and tell Regina thanks from me!“, he smiles and walks out of his father’s study.

——————

One week later…

Leo knocks at Liam’s apartment urgently, „Come on, little brother! The guys are already waiting!“. Liam opens the door suddenly and Leo almost falls into his room, causing Liam to chuckle.

„Alright! I can’t even get ready for my own going away party…“, he shakes his head while his brother puts his arm around his neck and they walk down the stairs to meet Drake, Maxwell and Bertrand in the entrance of the palace. Liam greets each one of them and says: “If everyone is already here, what are we waiting for? Let’s get this party started!“. The guys cheer and one after the other enter the limousine but shortly before Liam’s turn to go in, he hears a familiar voice behind him.

„So, it is true?!“, Olivia stands there, her eyes welling up with tears.

„Guys, go ahead, I have to talk to Liv for a second… and no worries, I’ll be right behind you. Now, go, go, go!“, he shuts the car door and watches as they leave, turning back to Olivia. „Let’s go for a walk.“

Olivia crosses her arms in front of her and walks out of the palace with Liam following behind her.  Heading to the gardens, she says: „I can’t believe you were going to leave without saying goodbye! I really mean nothing to you…“, she lowers her head, looking at her feet.

„Liv, don’t say that“, he stops her and puts his hands on her shoulders. „You are one of my best friends. It’s just too complicated right now“

„I don’t wanna be your friend, Liam. I want more… that kiss meant something to me… I thought you felt the same way“, she looks at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

He hugs her and she rests her head on his chest, „I’m sorry, Liv. I thought, perhaps there was more there but… I love you as a friend, as a sister and it won’t change!“

Olivia pushes him away, „Wow Liam… as a sister?! You kiss me and then tell me you love me as your sister?“, she looks at him for a moment in silence, her face expecting something from him but there is nothing there, „Good. I wish you a good flight, Liam. Have fun with your new life!“, she walks away.

„Liv… Liv! I’m sorry for hurting you… I really am!“, he says, walking in her direction but she doesn’t answer, just makes some motion with her hands and leaves. Liam watches her as she goes, torn between going after her or letting her alone but he knows, it’s better to leave things this way — he will never be able give her what she wants from him.

——————

Liam arrives at the beer garden thirty minutes later and everybody notices due to his facial expression that he had a lot in his mind. He sits next to Leo and Drake, watching Maxwell and Bertrand greeting someone on another table.

„What happened? You look down… it’s your going away party, you should be happy to leave this place for a while to enjoy some time with people of your own age“, Leo says.

„He kissed her, that’s what happened!“, Drake says sipping his pint, earning him an annoyed glance from Liam before he looked at Leo.

„Yeah, I just made my situation with Liv a lot more complicated“, he takes Leo’s pint and takes a gulp, „She spent the entire summer throwing herself at me, I thought maybe there could be something there… but there isn’t. Now she is hurt and mad at me“.

Leo takes the pint back from Liam’s hand, „She will survive, Li. This was a stupid move though, everybody knows she has been crazy about you from a young age. However, what is done is done. You are leaving and now with you moving away, she will have no other choice than get over it“, Leo wraps an arm around his neck, „“I’ll miss you, brother but I am glad you will be able to leave this madness. And I envy you for all those American girls… make me proud, little brother!“.

Liam laughs, „Yeah, I’m pretty sure being an asshole is not part of my curriculum“, they all laugh and Maxwell and Bertrand join the guys.

„Hey, what did we miss?“, Maxwell says smiling.

„Not much, just my brother being an ass…“, Liam laughs.

„Wait, you are talking to the next king, Liam. You better show some respect!“, Bertrand says in a very serious tone.

„Too late for that, Bertrand!“, Drake says smirking.

„Alright, who wants more beer?“, the guys put their hands up excited, „Good, let’s get this party started! My brother is leaving to the land of opportunity, we have a lot to celebrate!“

To be continued…

For more chapters go to my MASTERLIST in my bio.

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Chapter 2: Party In The USA

It’s been three days since Liam and Drake arrived in Palo Alto. While Liam has been busy buying books and getting ready for summer quarter, Drake has been out getting to know their new surroundings. Suddenly Liam hears a knock at his bedroom door:

„Come in!“, he looks at the door, closing his book.

„Hey Li, what are you up to?, Drake asks.

„Just catching up with my reading. Where have you been all day?“, he says smirking.

„Yeah, I wanted to go shortly to the coffeeshop but I met this cute girl, Meghan“, he walks into the room and sits down on a chair, looking at Liam, „She showed me around… and she invited us to this party tonight“, he puts his feet on Liam’s bed.

„Not a chance, Drake!“, Liam pushes his feet away from his bed, „I don’t know anyone yet and I’m not going to be your third wheel!“.

Drake chuckles, „She has a roommate… for what I head you two are perfect for each other, she is all about studying but she is cute, I saw her photo!“, Drake stands up, „And I’m not asking you to come, I’m telling you to because if you don’t… then her roommate is going to be the third wheel and you can’t let it happen!“, Drake smirks and Liam throws a pillow at him.

“Alright... but only because I can’t leave the poor girl alone with you two making out!”, he takes his book in his hands, lying down while Drake leaves his room.

—————

When Drake and Liam arrive at the party, they walk around looking for Meghan, finding her next to the drink table.

„Hey! There you are, I thought you guys had changed your minds!“, she says hugging Drake, „I take this is your roommate? Hi, I’m Meghan“, the petit brunette smiles friendly, shaking his hand.

„Meg, where is your roommate. Liam is already looking forward to get to know her!“, Drake chuckles and Liam throws him an annoyed glance.

„Cathy?! She should be here any minute. Last time I talked to her she was leaving the hospital to go home and change“, she says handing the guys a cup of beer.

„Is she okay?“, Liam asks.

„Oh, yeah. She is a med student doing rotation, so basically she is assisting residents…”, she sees a familiar face coming to their direction, “There she is!“, she says excited. Liam turns around to see the 5’8 blonde with big green eyes and the sweetest smile he has ever seen — she is wearing a red floral summer dress and flats. He stares at her for a moment feeling his heart skip a beat. Meghan hugs Cathy and says: „So good to see you! How was your day?“.

„Good but I’m exhausted!“, she looks at the two guys behind Meghan, „So, I see you have made new friends already…“, she giggles.

„Yeah, these are the exchange students I told you about, Drake Walker and Liam Thompson. Guys, this is Catherine Levine but everybody calls her Cathy“, she says making them acquainted.

„Hi Drake, nice to meet you“, she shakes his hands and turns to Liam, „Hi, nice to meet you“, she offers him her hand and Liam takes it, kissing her knuckles without taking his eyes of hers. Catherine blushes and looks at the others. Drake shoves him discreetly and Liam releases her hand.

„Hi Cathy, I’m Liam and it is nice to meet you too“, he can’t stop looking at her, Meghan throws a glance at Drake and he says:

„Yeah, you two get to know each other… we have to go somewhere to do something else…“, he takes Meghan’s hand and they leave chuckling.

„Can I offer you something to drink? Perhaps a beer?“, Liam asks.

„I’m not of drinking age… and I don’t really like alcohol, thanks anyways. But I’d love a glass of orange juice“, Cathy smiles and leans on the wall next to Liam. „So, you are British?!“, she looks to the side and catches him looking at her.

„Yeah, how did you know?!“, he smiles, handing her her drink.

„Your accent makes it obvious… and no American guy would be such a gentleman and kiss a girl’s hand“, she giggles and Liam blushes. 

„I’m sorry for that… force of habit... I mean, not that I do it often... I just...”, he closes his eyes afraid he is making a fool of himself and breaths deeply for a second, “I never meant for you to feel uncomfortable“, he mumbles.

Cathy turns to him, „I didn’t… I thought it was really cute“, she smiles and takes a sip of her drink. She looks at some drunk guys trying to flirt with a girl, „I don’t really know why I agreed to this… I can’t stand these parties where people only come with the intent of getting drunk!“.

„So you hate college parties then?“, he chuckles, „Do you wanna go outside? It’s kinda loud in here“, Liam says nervously, „But don’t feel pressured to go with me… I mean, it is only an offer“.

„I know, Liam… relax, I don’t bite!“, she smiles, putting a hand on his shoulder, „Let’s go“. They walk through the crowd on their way outside and make their way along the sidewalk for a couple of minutes until they arrive in front of a car and Cathy sits on its hood, „Come on“, she taps on the space next to her.

„Won’t we get in trouble if the owner sees us?“, Liam says looking around.

„Nope… because I’m the owner, come on!“, she leans back against the windshield, looking at the sky, „So, what are you majoring in?“, she looks at him.

„Political Science and Economics“, he looks at her, „I was told you are a med student…“, he smiles.

„Yes, I always wanted to be a doctor but it does take a lot of my time and energy…“, she looks back to the sky. „Are you excited about living in another country?“

Liam chuckles, „You can’t imagine how happy I am! Back home, everything is so… different“, he looks down, his voice expresses sadness, „It was fine as long as my brother was around but when he was old enough to leave, things changed… thankfully Drake was always there for me“, he looks at her shortly, „I don’t wanna bother you with these things... let’s talk about something happier“. 

Cathy turns to see him and hugs him shortly, whispering into his ear, „Whenever you need someone to talk to, just let me know“, she looks into his eyes and smiles. They sit back for a while watching the sky in silence from a moment and Liam couldn’t stop himself from look at her every now and then. Suddenly, Catherine’s phone rings and she answers:

„Hey! We are at the car… when you leave the house just take the path to the left, along the sidewalk. We are waiting!“, she hangs up. „They are coming and we will drive to our apartment. Do you wanna come?“, she smiles.

Liam smiles brightly, „Yeah… sure. But we didn’t have time to buy a car yet. Do you mind if we drive with you?“

„If you trust me with your life“, she winks at him and gets out of the hood of the car, giggling.

Meghan and Drake get closer, he has an arm around her waist. Liam looks at Cathy and smirks and Meghan says: „Okay, okay… nothing to see here! Let’s go, this party sucks“. They all get in the car and drive to Catherine’s and Meghan’s apartment. They order in some pizza and chat for a while before Meghan and Drake disappear in the apartment.

Cathy and Liam are in the living room laughing together talking about movies and whatnots, when she hears something, „Psst…“, she says holding a hand up, „What is that?“, she hears faint panting, moaning, grunts and start blushing when she looks at Liam.

He starts laughing and whispers, „What about we give them some privacy and step out for a minute?“. Cathy stands up and leads Liam to the balcony, where he sees a telescope. „Is it yours?“

„Yeah, stargazing is one of my hobbies“, she leans on the railing and looks at the sky.

„This is a fascinating hobby. What is your favorite constellation? And can you show me?“, he leans on the railing looking at her.

„Orion… but you probably already know how to find it“, she giggles.

„No, tell me more about it, please“, Liam smiles.

„Okay… According to greek mythology, Orion was a gigantic hunter with supernatural powers. He was very strong but extremely dumb and one day he said he would kill every animal on the planet, enraging the goddess Gaia, who sent a scorpion to kill him. The giant soon realized he couldn’t shoot an arrow through the scorpion’s armor and jumped into the sea to avoid the creature. Artemis hit him with an arrow after Apollon tell her, this giant was a terrible villain. When she saw the body, she realized it was her friend Orion and begged the gods to bring him back to life but they refused, so she put his picture in the sky“, she smiles excited and places herself in front of Liam. He is so close to her that he can smell the lavender scent of her hair, „Hold me tight with one hand and give me your other hand“, he does as she says, „There, you see?“, she takes his hand pointing her finger to the stars, „Head, shoulders, the belt…“. Liam chuckles and Cathy turns around, „Wait… you tricked me! You already know, don’t you!“, she looks up into his eyes, he is still holding her tight.

„Yeah but I enjoyed your lesson anyway…“, he realizes how close they are and feels a force pulling him to her. He tries to resist it and his hand leaves her waist. „It’s kinda late… you said you were tired, I should go“.

„I’d love you to stay but I actually have to wake up early“, she sighs, „ But I’ll drive you home and no discussion… it’s not like I will get any sleep now with those two putting on a show“, she giggles.

Liam stares into her eyes for a moment, „Okay… Thank you!“.

Cathy takes his hand and they walk to the car. It was a five minutes drive and they listened to some music, Liam kept glancing at her, admiring her beauty while she was focused on singing the songs out loud. 

The car stops in front of Liam’s building, „So, here we are…“, she looks at him smiling.

„Give me your phone, please!“, he says with a chuckle.

„What? Why?“, she says giggling.

„Just give me your phone, you will see!“. She hands it to him and he types something in it, „Here… now you have my number. Let me know you are alright when you get home!“, he looks at her nervously for a few seconds, not really wanting to leave. Then, he leans in slowly to kiss her, noticing she is blushing. She looks down to her hands and he goes for her cheeks instead. „Sweet dreams, Cathy“, his voice is husky and tender.

„Sweet dreams, Liam“, she looks into his eyes one last time before he leaves and she drives away.

—————

After a shower, Liam lies in his bed thinking about this evening and he can’t stop thinking about her. He wanted so bad to kiss her but he was afraid of overstepping the boundaries with her. He doesn’t know her, yet he knows that there is something special about her, something that makes him nervous and his heart beat faster.  Her smile, her eyes and those lips of hers, something sensual and angelical at once. Suddenly a text comes in, pulling him back out of his thoughts. He opens it and smiles:

„I’m home. It was nice meeting you, Liam. Have a good night, x Cathy“

Quickly, he answers, „I’m glad. It was nice meeting you too, Cathy. I hope I see you around soon!“ And leaves his phone on the nightstand, knowing it will be hard to sleep thinking of her.

To be continued…

For more chapters go to my MASTERLIST in my bio.

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Katrina put her phone down on the counter and walked over to him, shutting off the water. “Here, unscrew the head,” she said. Liam did as instructed. She separated the pieces, rinsed off the remnants of the flour in the sink, and handed it back to Liam, who attached it back to the pipe. “Forgive me long enough to join you for an actual shower and clean up?” She pulled off her tank top and sleep shorts.

Liam smirked at her as he turned the water on again, rubbing his face as the water sprayed down, washing the flour off his face. She stood behind him and pressed her body against his, kissing his back, and wrapped her hands around his waist, reaching for his half-hard member. Liam groaned at her touch and turned around. He lifted her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist and yelped as he pressed her against one of the shower walls.

“Let’s get you dirty before cleaning you up,” he growled, rubbing his stubble across her neck. “But for the record, this doesn’t mean it’s over, love.” He braced himself against the wall with one hand and kissed her hard as he sheathed himself between her legs.

Katrina gasped as he penetrated the slick folds of her skin while his tongue parted her mouth in a searing kiss. She closed her eyes as he thrust himself into her over and over again. “Du…ly…no…ted…” she panted, pulling the hair at the back of his head.

~

The last straw for Katrina was when she thought Liam cut her hair. They’d been getting ready for a formal but unofficial dinner with some nobles, and her hair was down in loose curls while she applied eyeshadow at her vanity. She heard the unmistakable sound of scissors snipping as Liam stood behind her, and she whipped around to see him holding a handful of hair.

“Liam! What the FUCK?!” she cried out, feeling the back of her head for her missing locks. Only…nothing was missing. She ran her hands through her hair, waiting to feel her hands empty as she looked in the mirror, her heart racing…but her hair looked fine.

Liam was beside himself with laughter, holding a fistful of hair in his hand. “It’s fake, sweetheart, it’s just from a wig,” he said, hands on knees, as he laughed harder. “You should have seen your face!”

She swatted at his thigh, a little harder than intended. “That’s not funny, Liam!” She huffed and turned away from him, her heart still racing, and she tried to ignore his laughter. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling; truthfully it was a damn good prank, and hearing his heartfelt laugh was one of her favorite sounds. Even if hearing it had been at her expense.

Liam took a few breaths to stop laughing, putting the scissors and fake hair on the corner of the bed. He stepped behind her and tenderly placed his hands on her shoulders, dipping down to kiss her on the cheek. “I’m sorry, my love, it was just meant as a joke. You know I’d never actually do something that callous to you. I love your long locks….especially when I can pull on your hair when I’m behind you.” He nipped at her earlobe and kissed the sensitive spot on her neck, making her gasp.

“You’re such…a jerk…” she whispered. She glanced at the clock as his hands roved the front of her dress. “We can be a little late…”

~

Later at dinner, Katrina walked over to Drake while Liam was busy talking to several noblemen about expanding a grey area on their respective property lines. “Drake, I need a favor, “ she said, quietly.

“What’s up?”

“I need to get Liam back for pranking me earlier tonight.”

“Oh my GOD, you two are still at that?” Drake shook his head. “He told me you stole all his underwear the other day when we all had lunch. I did not need that mental image, let me tell you.” He took a sip from the glass of whiskey in his hand. “What did he do to you this time?”

“He pretended to cut my hair while we were getting ready. Bought extensions that looked like my hair.”

Drake chuckled, earning an elbow to the ribs from Katrina. “Come on, that was a pretty good one on his part,” he said, smiling. He was silent for a moment, scanning his memory for something useful. “Are you asking me to help with retaliation, or do you want him to surrender?”

“Drake, I need your help to win this. Please! It’s been fun, but I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up. We’ve got too many things going on for me to think of ways to trip him up without outright embarrassing him.”

Drake nodded. “He hates roaches. Big ones.”

“What?”

“We went to an insect zoo when we were…ten? Twelve?” Drake explained. “Some of the exhibits were live, like the butterfly room. All these butterflies just sorta swarmed him to rest, on his hands, shoulders, on top of his head. You’d swear he was like a Disney princess or something,” he laughed, recalling the memory. “But we got to this exhibit with those Madagascar hissing cockroaches, and Rhinoceros roaches, and he practically noped outta the building.”

Katrina scrunched up her face in disgust. “Ugh, I can imagine.”

“They weren’t that bad, those two roaches are massive, but they don’t fly. It took some coaxing to get him to speed walk to the other side of the room to keep up with the tour group. Though if you decide to use this information, go with something fake. I don’t think you want actual roaches wandering around the palace.” He winked at Katrina.

“Noted,” she replied, casting a mischievous smirk in Liam’s direction. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to see a man about a dog,” she said, walking out of the formal dining room. Drake raised his glass at her, grinning as he shook his head. She slipped out and found Nicola in a nearby room, typing away into her phone.

“Your Majesty,” Nicola said, standing up. “What can I help you with?”

“I’m wondering if you can help with a little mission,” Katrina replied. She spoke with Nicola in a low, hushed voice, even though they were the only ones in the room, and Nicola stifled a laugh. “I’m entrusting you personally with this mission, and this secret,” she said, fighting the grin that wanted to flash across her own face. “For all I know, Drake is the only other person that knows this information about our sovereign king.”

Nicola’s eyes lit up with delight, though she quickly composed herself. “You can trust me, ma’am, I’ll say nothing. Do you need this…item…tonight?”

“Preferably, yes. If not, as soon as possible.”

“If you don’t need anything else ma’am, I’ll see what I can find right now.”

“Thank you Nic. And remember, tell no one,” Katrina warned. Nicola nodded, and Katrina went back to the dining room, rejoining the noblemen and ladies, ushering them into a drawing room for after dinner drinks.

Before the night was over, Nicola had returned, successful in her mission. She gave Katrina a small parcel, and Katrina recoiled when she saw the replica roach inside. “Oh my god, it looks so real,” she said, rolling the bag down, and stuffed it into her clutch. “Excellent work, Nic.”

“If that’ll be all, ma’am, I’ll be off,” Nicola said. “Enjoy your day off, and do let me know how this all ends up,” she added, grinning wide. She curtsied and left the room.

Katrina composed herself and returned to the drawing room, where only a handful of guests remained. She and Liam entertained every one of them, feeling exhausted when the last guest finally left the palace. They walked back to their apartment as quickly as their tired feet would allow. Once in the bedroom, Katrina slipped out of her dress, tossing it on a chair as she slipped out of her heels. She wandered into the bathroom in just her underwear and washed the makeup off her face, before applying her specific routine of serums and creams to her face.

She unhooked her bra and tossed it at the basket of dirty clothes in her closet, slipping into one of Liam’s worn-in shirts as her nightgown, and climbed into bed next to her husband. As soon as she joined him, he rolled over and kissed her, pinning her to the mattress as he attacked her lips with one heated kiss after the other.

“I’ve been waiting to be alone with you all night,” he breathed into her ear, sending a pleasant tingling sensation straight to her core.

“And what were you planning to do with me once you had me to yourself?” she crooned.

“Let me show you, my queen,” he replied, his voice low and full of desire.

~

Katrina quietly crept out of bed after several rigorous rounds of lovemaking with Liam. He was completely passed out, and she grabbed the clutch she’d left on her vanity and took it into the bathroom. She tried to make as little noise as possible retrieving the parcel in her clutch, gingerly removing the lifelike replica of the massive roach that Nicola had obtained. She shuddered as she slipped it into the breast pocket of Liam’s shirt and folded the bag back up to hide in her clutch. She flushed the toilet for good measure and washed her hands before returning to the bedroom.

Liam was still asleep. She tiptoed across the room to his side of the bed and placed the roach on top of his phone. Then she made her way back to her side of the bed, trying not to disturb him as she got back under the covers. It was only when she pulled the covers up to her chest that Liam stirred, and he rolled over to spoon her.

Katrina woke with a start the next morning, hearing a high-pitched shriek. She fell out of the bed on her side with a hard thud, and looked up, confused. Liam was on the edge of the bed, his eyes wide with fright.

“Oh my god, Trina, I’m sorry! We have to get out of here!” He looked at her apologetically from the edge of the mattress.

“What’s happening?”

“Roach! Monstrous roach! On my nightstand!” Below him, Katrina shook with laughter as she bit her tongue. “What the—why are you laughing? This isn’t funny! There’s a roach over there the size of a boat!”

Katrina clutched her stomach as she laughed. Liam looked at her with confusion, then irritation, as he realized what was happening. “It’s…fake…” she choked out, between laughs. “It’s just a toy.” Tears fell from the corners of her sleepy eyes, and her stomach hurt from laughing so hard.

Liam grabbed a book from Katrina’s nightstand and moved across the bed, noticing that the offensive creature hadn’t stirred at all. He pushed it with the book until it fell to the floor. He rolled back to look at Katrina, who was convulsing with laughter so hard that she wasn’t making a sound. “That’s not funny. Who told you I hated those vile things?”

He pulled her back into bed as she took deep breaths and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Drake,” she muttered, suppressing her laughter to short bursts of giggles. Liam scowled next to her. “Do you surrender to our prank war?”

“I yield to you, my queen,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist. She straddled him in the bed, running her hands through his tousled hair. “But this marks the start of a new war, on Drake…after I punish you for scaring me,” he said, as his hands started unbuttoning her shirt.

Katrina burst into another fit of giggles despite her sudden arousal. “You screamed like a little girl!”  

Feeling Liam’s warmth and his kisses, Catherine slowly opens her eyes and sighs satisfied, enjoying his presence, „Good morning, Liam“, she says in a husky sleepy voice, turning around to face him.

„Good morning, my love“, he smiles as bright as dawn on a dazzling summer’s day when their eyes meet, „God, you are beautiful… I am so glad I didn’t dream it and you are finally mine…“, he leans in for a gentle kiss.

„I’ve always been yours, Liam…“, she nestles into his arms closing her eyes and listening to his heartbeat, „Even though there were forces keeping us apart, I have never stopped loving you“. She raises her head shortly to look into his eyes, „A paper will make it official but it won’t change my feelings for you, my love“.

„I will always love you, Katie… never forget that! To me there is nothing more important than you“, he caresses her cheek, „I’d give up everything and anything for you and our baby. I appreciate everything you are putting into this relationship… I know you love your job and…“, before he finishes his sentence, she says:

„I love you, Liam. My job is important to me but you and our baby are everything that matters to me and if loving you and spending my life with you includes being the queen of a country, so be it. As long as you love me, I’ll be fine!“, she smiles looking at his excited eyes. „And I can’t wait to have a palace full of children running around…“, she giggles.

„A palace full of children? I’d love that but a palace is a very big place, my Queen. Are these the pregnancy hormones talking?“, he chuckles.

„Maybe…“, she laughs, kissing him. Suddenly, her face expression changes and she jumps out of the bed, running to the bathroom.

Liam goes after her, but the door is locked, „Honey, let me in…“, he listens to her throwing up. Although everybody keeps telling him that it is a normal thing, he is still concerned — Catherine hasn’t been eating well and he could swear she is losing weight. After a few minutes, he says: „Love… please… open up the door“, he hears the flushing sound and she brushing her teeth. Soon she opens the door looking pale and he pulls her in for a hug, „Please, don’t lock the door when you are feeling bad...“, he kisses her hair.

„Sorry, force of habit…“, she looks up at him and tries to smile, „So, what are we doing today?“

„We are driving to your sister’s for breakfast. The entire family will be there to celebrate our engagement and afterwards we will drive to the airport“, he kisses her lips gently, „Hopefully, you will eat something, honey. At least try…“

„Okay, I promise I’ll try, Liam… next week I got another appointment, this time with my doctor in Cordonia and you can ask for a third opinion on my morning sickness“, she giggles, giving him a peck on the cheeks and moving aside. „We should get dressed, drive to my parents first to change these clothes and then go to my sister’s!“.

Liam smiles and they pick up their scattered clothes, getting dressed to leave.

—————

Catherine’s family was very excited for them and to have Liam as a new addition to the family because they knew he loved and respected Catherine and it was clear to everyone that she was completely in love with him. Liam enjoyed to be treated as just another person, around her family he was Liam — no titles or influence. This was one of the things that made him fall in love with Catherine, in her eyes he sees the man behind the crown. 

After a couple of hours sharing the details of their engagement with her family, they left to the airport on their way to Cordonia. Catherine was feeling tired and fell asleep in Liam's arms. Her lack of energy, due to her difficulty to keep food and liquids down, has not gone unnoticed and concerns Liam still. He is glad though that she was able to eat some fruits for breakfast.

Catherine wakes up a few hours into the flight to Cordonia and doesn’t find Liam by her side. She looks around and sees him in another seat, working on his laptop. She stands up and walks up to him and when he sees her, he smiles, „Hi love, did you sleep well?“, he takes her hand and pulls her onto his lap.

Catherine giggles and puts one arm around his neck, kissing his forehead, „Yeah but I missed you… what are you up to?“, she turns to the other side and looks at the computer.

„I’ve been working on our engagement announcement and getting prepared for our interview. We have it set up for 10am on Sunday, about 1pm the announcement will go out to the media outlets and the interview will be shown on TV at 8pm. Monday morning we will have a press appointment in the gardens, where media outlets will be able to take some photos and ask a couple questions and that’s it, once the news are out you will be officially Cordonia’s Queen-to-be“, he strokes her back. „Do you wanna see the announcement?“, she nods and he opens a file, showing the Royal Crest and she reads:

‚HIS MAJESTY KING LIAM OF CORDONIA

AND LADY CATHERINE SPENCER

ARE ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED

The King of Cordonia is delighted to announce his engagement to Lady Catherine Spencer.

The wedding will take place next month, in the capital. Further details about the wedding will be announced in due course.

His Majesty the King and Lady Spencer became engaged this month during a private holiday in New York. King Liam has informed close members of his family and also sought the permission of Lady Spencer’s father.

Following the marriage, the couple will live in the capital at the palace.’

Catherine turns her head back to Liam and smiles. He brushes her cheek with his fingertips and smiles back, „This day is going to be the happiest day of my life. I can’t wait to be your husband. I love you, Catherine. Everything I’ve been through has made me a better man and brought me here because this is where I need to be… by your side“.

„Liam… you are gonna make me cry, baby“, she brushes a couple of tears away and smiles. „I love you too!“, kissing him passionately, losing herself in the kiss, leaving his lips only when the pilot announces that they are preparing for landing. They giggle together and Catherines takes the seat by his side.

—————

After driving through the empty streets of Cordonia, Liam and Catherine arrive in the evening at the palace, heading directly to Liam’s study, where he planed on telling the news to Leo and Regina. Catherine was quite nervous — they were the only family Liam had and she hoped they would be happy for them. 

Leo was the first one to walk into the room and he smiled widely when he saw Catherine, „Good to see you again, Katie! You are looking so much better than the last time we talked“, he hugs her.

„Nice to see you too, Leo. What have you been up to?!“, she smiles and he walks up to Liam.

„Please, don’t get him started!“, Liam hugs his brother smiling. „Good to see you, brother. Thanks for running the show whilst I was gone!“

„My pleasure! And he is right, Katie, you wouldn’t be able to look me the same way if I told you!“, he glances shortly at her, turning his head back at his brother, „You look different, little bother… I don’t know, somehow happier“.

Liam smiles, „It’s because I am. I have an announcement to make but let’s wait for Regina…“, as he says her name there is a knock at the door and Regina walks in.

Regina smiles as she sees Liam and walks up to him, hugging him. She exchanges a few words with him, turning to Catherine surprised: „Lady Catherine! I didn’t expect to see you back in Cordonia… ever, actually. How have you been?“.

„I’ve been good, thank you, Ma’am. How have you been?“, she smiles politely.

„I’ve been busy traveling but I’m glad to be back home“, she looks at Liam, „So, now that I’m here, what is it that you wanted to tell me, Liam?“, she smiles.

„Well, thank you both for coming here on such a short notice“, he holds his hand out for Catherine to take and brings her to his side, „Leo already knows that Catherine and I have been seeing each other for the past two months. I asked her to give us another chance and after proving myself and showing her the sincerity of my intentions, she finally agreed“, Liam looks into her eyes, holding her hands in his, „Yesterday I asked her to be my wife and much to my delight she accepted my proposal“, he kisses her ring finger and looks at the others, „The announcement will go out tomorrow but I wanted to share it with you two first“.

Leo smiles happily pulling both of them into a hug, „This is wonderful news, Liam! You are a lucky lucky bastard! But you already know that… This woman is good for you, little brother, don’t you mess it up!“, he turns to Catherine, „You take care of him, Katie. My brother has the purest of all hearts and he needs a strong intelligent woman by his side, I’m glad it’s you!“. Catherine smiles and looks at Liam, who is smiling like a fool.

They look at Regina, who is trying to grasp what is going on but doesn’t seem very excited for them. She looks at Liam and says: „You two have all the time of the world. Why do you want to get married so soon? So many things happened after Lady Catherine left Cordonia… you should get to know each other first.“.

„Regina, I believe congratulations are in order here!“, Leo says narrowing his eyes at her. 

Liam pulls Catherine protectively into his arms and says, „Because I love her, I have loved her since the day she came to Cordonia for the social season and had my father not conspired against us, I’d have married her years ago. My biggest regret was letting her go and I don’t need to waist more time, I know exactly what I want and I’m not here asking your permission, Regina. I’m informing you that our wedding is in a month from now“.

„I’m sorry, Liam. I’m just looking for your best interest… I didn’t mean to come off rude. If this is what you two want… congratulations!“, she tries to put on a smile.

„Yes, this is what we want“, Liam looks at Catherine, who looks a little uncomfortable with the situation and he strokes her back, „Okay. We just got back from New York. If there is no more questions, I’ll take Catherine to our apartment and come back to finish up a few things for tomorrow“, Liam throws an angry glance at Regina and she lowers her sight.

„Regina and I will leave you alone. Have a good night, you too!“, Leo puts one arm around Regina’s neck and leads her out of the study. Liam looks at Catherine, noticing she seems a little troubled because of Regina’s reaction and says:

„Don’t worry about her, she will come around“, he leans in for a kiss.

„I’m not worried… I guess, I just hoped she would be more supportive towards you“, she brushes her knuckles on his cheeks.

„Yeah, she can’t get over my divorce… but I don’t care“, he kisses her forehead.

„Well… Okay, maybe she just needs some time…“,she smiles trying to ignore what just happened, „So, let’s go?“. Liam takes her hand and they leave the room.

—————

Walking through the hallways of the palace, Liam chuckles and Catherine looks at him smiling.

„What is going on in this mind of yours?“, she brushes her hand over his arm.

„Nothing… I just thought of something. Would you like to move in with me? I mean… into my bedroom? We will be married in a few weeks anyway. I’d really like that“, he raises her hand and kisses it.

„And miss you sneaking into my room late at night? I don’t know…“, she giggles, „It’s so sweet of you to think about it but I’d like to keep some traditions alive and moving in together could be one of them“, she gives him a peck on the cheek.

„Hmm… If this is what you want“, he opens the door to his apartment and when they walk in he presses her against the door, „Is this really what you want, Catherine?“, he smiles a traces kisses from her neck to her décolleté.

„Hmm, are you trying to seduce me into accepting your invitation?“, she closes her eyes enjoy his kisses. Liam’s hands roaming over her body, trailing lower and stopping between her legs. She presses herself against his touch.

„Is it working?“, he smirks and she turns around.

„Hmm, care to give me a hand?“, he unzips her dress, revealing her back and a chill goes down his spine as he touches her naked skin. She turns around, looking into his eyes and lets her dress falls to the floor exposing her firm breasts to him and he groans.

„To answer your question… No, it’s not working“, she winks at him with a naughty smile on her face. Catherine kisses his cheek and walks past him to her room, closing the door behind her. Liam smiles and sighs, throwing his head back, then he looks back at her direction and walks up to the door, knocking on it.

„Honey?“, he tried to open the door but it’s locked, „Let me in, love… you can’t… you can’t do this to me. I am suppose to work a little bit, but how can I concentrate if you leave me high and dry?!“, he hears Catherine giggling behind the door, „I can hear you… let me in, please“.

„Bye, Liam. See you when you’re back!“, she walks into the bathroom to take a shower.

„Fuck“, he whispers, „I’ll be back in one hour and if you don’t open the door then… I promise I’ll have it removed by tomorrow!“, he says smiling and leaves shaking his head.

One hour later, after being in bed for a while waiting for Liam, she decided to go to his study to check up on him. A few feet from the door she could already hear Regina’s voice arguing with him about something. She stops before the door and listens to the conversation.

„Liam, this is too soon! You barely know her…“, Regina says.

„I don’t remember to have asked for your council on this matter, Regina“, he pauses, leaning on his desk, „Look, you don’t need to waist your time here with me because it is not up to discussion“, Liam says and there is a silence in the room. „We are expecting a child, Regina… everything is so perfect in my life right now, why can’t you just be happy for us?“, his voice softens and Catherine smiles, listening to him.

„A child? How far along is she?“, she asks.

„Eight weeks… we saw the baby, listened to its heart beat… it’s such an amazing feeling! I’m going to have a child with the only woman I have ever loved and I couldn’t be happier“, he says smiling.

„So you two are two months together and she is about eight weeks along? Liam, this kid could be anyone’s child, please tell me that you are not this naive!“, she pauses and Catherine frowns by the sound of her words, „Look, this woman could be taking advantage of you. This child will be the crown prince or princess of this country, you own it to your people to at least be sure it is yours! Who knows with how many men she has been in the past months?“, Regina raises her voice, „You could be raising a bastard… an impostor!“. Catherine feels as if the wind was knocked out of her. She waits for a reaction from Liam but she doesn’t hear anything coming from him. She looks carefully through the slightly ajar door and sees Liam walking to the bar grabbing a bottle of Whisky and a glass. She closes her eyes, fighting the tears, scared he is falling into Regina’s trap and considering her ideas as he doesn’t respond to her accusations.

Catherine shakes her head and steps back, walking briskly through the hallways on her way out of Liam’s Government wing. She needs some air and wanted to go for a walk as she sees Leo getting home, parking his car in front of the Entrance of the palace. She walks down the stairs and he sees her.

„Hey! What are you up to?“, he asks.

„Hi Leo, I need a car“, she says trying to pretend everything is okay.

„Hmm, have you talked to Li? He could call the driver… or I can do it for you!“, he smiles friendly.

„No, no… I went to his study but he is busy with Regina. I’d rather drive myself, there is a couple of errands I would like to run“, she says.

„My car is outside, but what kind of errands are you planing on running at this time of the night?“, he smirks.

„I’m a woman, Leo. Do you really want me to give you a list of the things I need moving into a new home?“, she smiles.

„Okay, okay. You can take my car! The Audi parked over there. When you get back, please leave it at the same place and the keys in Liam’s study“, he hands her the keys.

„Got it! Thank you!“, she says, smiling and leaves the palace.

Leo watches as she heads to the car and says: „Hey, do you even know how to drive stick?“

Before entering the car she says: „I’ll figure it out!“, quickly she get’s in and drives out. Leo shakes his head, hoping she won’t destroy his brand new car.

———————

Almost two hours later there is a knock at Leo’s bedroom door. 

„Leo? Are you awake?“, Liam says.

„Hmmm… Now, yes. Come in!“, Leo hides his face under a pillow and Liam turns the light on.

„Have you seen Catherine? I have been waiting for her for over an hour, I have looked all over the palace and I can’t find her“, he asks worried.

Leo sits in bed and looks at Liam confused, „She isn’t back yet? She said she had to run some errands and I gave her my car keys“.

„Errand? What errands?“, Liam asks nervous.

Leo puts his hands up, looking at Liam, „No idea, brother. She said she went to your study but you were busy with Regina and that she needed to go… she never told me where she was heading to!“

Liam closes his eyes and cover them with one hand, „Fuck!“, he turns around, punching the wall.

„What has this wall ever done to you, Liam?“, Leo asks worried.

„She probably heard parts of my talk to Regina, freak out and left“, he sighs, „She is pregnant with my baby, Leo, why would you give her your car keys this late at night?“, Liam raises his voice.

„What? She is pregnant?“, Leo jumps out of the bed. „Liam, I had no idea…“.

Liam breaths deeply, „I’m sorry, I know it’s not your fault. I’m just worried sick… Regina said terrible things… I gotta go find her, Leo“. 

„We will find her, Li. I’m coming with you“, Leo takes a white T-shirt and sweatpants he had thrown over a chair and puts them on, „Let’s go, we’ve got no time to lose!“.

(to be continued…)

For more chapters go to my MASTERLIST in my bio.

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She kept her promise and called Liam twice a day — she needed him and his love as much as him hers. After spending the day listening to the most horrific stories and trying to console and encourage these women, all she wanted was to hear his voice. Liam, on the other hand, knew by the sound of hers how emotionally drained she was feeling and he’d try to make her feel loved. Somedays, when she was too quiet, he would try to take her mind out of her worries by telling her about new projects he was trying to implement or how the kitchen construction was coming along; or even how Drake and Leo got into a fistfight playing basketball because Leo called Olivia ‚that bitchy red devil‘, not knowing that Drake is kind of dating her. 

They miss each other so much — Liam couldn’t wait to have her in his arms and feel the touch of her skin again and Catherine missed his deep blue eyes and was longing for his musky scent.

——————

4am:

Liam’s phone rings, waking him up from a pleasant dream. He looks at the display and sees Catherine’s photo and smiles.

„Good morning, beautiful“, he answers with a sleepy voice.

„Oh, no! I’m so sorry for waking you up, honey! I thought it would go straight to voice mail“, she says afraid that he won’t be able to sleep anymore.

„Don’t worry, my love. I’ve been waiting for your call… how are you today?“, he smiles

„I’m feeling better, still not completely fine but I’ll manage!“, Catherine feels the nausea beginning to rise again.

„What? Are you sick?! Why didn’t you tell me?“, he asks concerned.

„I saw the doctor two days ago and he told me I’m sun-struck… nothing too serious though“, she tries to calm him down.

„Oh love, you should have told me. I’ll take care of you when you arrive... By the way, are you ready to fly back to me?“, he smiles.

„My luggage is already packed and in the car. We will drive to the airport in about 1h, we should be there about 11am but we won’t fly out until 9pm“, she pauses and calculates the time difference, „Which means that if everything works out well I’ll get to Germany around 11pm-12am... Maybe it’s better if I spend the night in Germany and fly to you in the morning?!”.

„What? No, love! I’ll be in Germany waiting for you… Tomorrow we can sleep in and spend the day in bed together, don’t you worry about it. Also, I can’t wait one more day, I have to see you“, he sounds excited.

„I can’t wait to see you either, Liam. I never thought I could miss someone this much. I feel like I don’t ever wanna be away for you again…“, she says it quietly, touched by her feelings towards him.

„Oh, beautiful. Now is not the time to be sad… I’ll be holding you in my arms in a few hours. ‘I miss you deeply, unfathomably, senselessly, terribly’.“, he closes his eyes trying to remember her scent.

„Look at you quoting Kafka at 4 in the morning! I can’t… this is getting too deep for me!“, they laugh together for a moment. „I… I have to go check on my colleagues. But I want you to know that I love you and I can’t wait to be with you!“, she looks outside and sees the rising sun lighting the sky.

„I love you too, Catherine. I’ll be waiting for you“, Liam hangs up and turns to his left side, looking at a photo of him and Catherine on his night stand. He is holding her in his arms and looking at her whilst she smiles widely. She looks so beautiful and happy and it warms his heart. He opens the drawer and picks up a small velvet box. It’s been sitting there since he came back from their trip through the Mediterranean. Liam knows it is too early but his heart is certain that she is the one. He opens the ring box and looks at his mother engagement ring. It is the same diamond band with a five carat oval diamond in the center he had planed on giving her 4 years ago — he doesn’t know when he will propose but he knows that this time everything has to be perfect.

————————

11am:

Bastien and the Minister of Foreign Affairs walk up to Liam’s office. They stop in front of Liam’s secretary and Bastien says:

„Mr. Jones, we have an urgent matter to discuss with His Majesty. Would you please announce us“, Bastien seems nervous and agitated.

„Unfortunately, I can’t. His Majesty is on a phone conference with the president of France and he asked not to be disturbed“, he gives Bastien an apologetical look.

„Mr. Jones, you either go inside and tell His Majesty that we have to talk to him now or I will. I don’t have time to discuss the urgency of this matter with you!“, says the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

„Alright, Mr. O’Callaghan!“, he excuses himself and enters Liam’s office, closing the door behind him. After less than a minute, he walks out and says: „King Liam awaits you“.

Mr. O’Callaghan and Bastien walk in and bow their heads as they see the King.

„Mr. O’Callaghan, to what do I owe your visit today?“, Liam looks at both man worried, „Please have a sit!“. 

„Your Majesty, I must apologize for barging in uninvited but I have some… upsetting news“, He sits down in front of Liam. Liam looks at him and at Bastien and his heart sinks. „I was contacted by the US Department of State less than one hour ago. There was an attack on an United Nations humanitarian convoy in Iraq this morning“, Liam lowers his head, closing his eyes pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and middle finger, „Two cars were affected, the others fled the scene when they realized what was happening…“, Liam looks up at him again. „Four Iraqis died in one car. Another car lost control… Two Iraqis and a French citizen needed medical assistance, an American citizen is missing“, Liam stands up, turning his back towards them, feeling the air being knocked out of his lungs. Tears threatening to spill out as he tries to keep his composure. He waits, hoping Mr. O’Callaghan would tell him that it is someone else but in his heart he knows that this American is the love of his life. „They found a passport a few feet away from the scene, it belongs to Lady Catherine Spencer. It was near a car where two men were found dead, witness suggested that they might have been involved in the attack“.

Liam clenches his teeth, „Bastien… I need information on our special operators force, now!“, he stares at the wall.

„They have initiated protocol one hour ago, my King. We received a distress signal and they went underground…“, before Bastien can ends his sentence, Liam raises his voice:

„What the fuck does it mean ‚they went underground‘?“, he closes his eyes and breaths deeply, covering his eyes with his hand, „I’m sorry… I… shouldn’t have…“.

„Don’t worry about it, Your Majesty“, Bastien answers and Mr. O’Callaghan says:

 „We have a paramilitary unit in Iraq without the knowledge of the Iraqi Government, Sir. If this story gets out, the Americans will deny any knowledge of this operation and Cordonia will get involved in a diplomatic crises“. Liam nods, understanding what is at stake, and Bastien continues: 

„They should be on their way to the Jordanian border, their final destination is Israel. But the concern right now is that Lady Catherine doesn’t have her passport with her…“.

„The Americans will send an embassy official to the border and he or she will make sure she gets into Jordan and Israel“, Mr. O’Callaghan says.

Liam lowers his head and leans on the sideboard in front of him: „Are we sure they have her?“, Liam says under his breath as he braces himself for the worst.

„There is no 100% guarantee but we are hopeful. We are expecting to hear from them within the next 20 hours, my King“, Bastien says.

„Okay… if this is all, I’d like to be alone now but keep me updated!“, Liam says.

The two men excuse themselves and leave the room. He brings his hands to his head, pressing on his temples and he falls apart crying. His head is spinning with all these ifs... ‚What if they don’t have her? What if she is hurt?‘, he talked to her in the morning… he was so close to have her back and now this. He turns around, now facing his massive wood desk… everything on it seems so unimportant now. He grips the desk, feeling the anger building up in his chest and he flips it over making a loud noise — everything flies everywhere and Liam falls to his knees sobbing. He can’t keep his facade anymore whilst his world is falling apart in front of him.

Bastien comes in quickly, afraid something terrible had happened: „Your Majesty, are you alright?“, behind him is Liam’s secretary trying to see what was going on in the room. They watch Liam in his weakest moment for a second, there is no answer from him, until Bastien turns to his secretary, „Not a word about what happened today in this room!“, his secretary nods, „Clear his schedule, I’ll take the King to his quarter!“. He walks up to Liam and asks „Your Majesty, can you walk?“, but Liam doesn’t answer. He helps him up and talks to his team through his ear piece, „Send the doctor to the King’s quarter, right now!“. He puts Liam’s arm around his shoulders as they head to Liam’s quarter, he says:

„I can’t breath… I… I can’t…“, Liam gasps for air but it is visibly difficult for him to breath.

„You are having a panic attack, your Majesty. The palace doctor is on his way and you will be fine in a minute. Just try to calm down and everything will be okay“, Bastien says taking Liam to his apartment.

——————

1pm:

Bastien is in Liam’s office waiting for Drake and Leo. They walk in chatting, not knowing what was going on and suddenly they stop as they see the aftermath of Liam’s break down.

„Holly smokes, what the heck happened in here? And where is my brother?“, Leo asks worried. 

„Drake, please close the door behind you“, Bastien says as Leo walks up to him, „There were complications in Iraq… and Lady Catherine is missing. We have reasons to believe that our team has her but we can’t confirm it until they reach Jordan… there is nothing we can do now, just wait“, Bastien gives Leo and Drake a helpless look.

„Oh, my God! Liam must be freaking out right now, where is he?“, Drake says looking at all the documents and papers scattered around the room.

„His Majesty is in his room, he was sedated and will be out for the next few hours but it would be good if one of you could stay in his room with him. We don’t want him to wake up and do something he will regret later…“, Bastien sighs scared for his King’s wellbeing.

„I’ll be here holding the front while you, Drake, go to my brother. If there is any news on Lady Catherine’s situation, I want to know and I will be the one to break the news to my brother, understood?“, Leo says concerned, afraid Liam won’t bounce back from a loss like this. Bastien nods and leaves the room with Drake.

———————

9pm:

Liam slowly wakes up. He looks to the side and sees Catherine’s photo, suddenly he remembers pieces of what happened earlier. Drake, who is on the couch near to the window, notices him moving in bed and says: „Hey, how are you?“.

„Did it really happen? Where is she? Where is Catherine?“, Liam jumps out of the bed and looks at him confused.

„Hey, hey, calm down… we are still waiting for news, they will come in any time now but you have to relax, Liam!“, Drakes tries to take him back to bed but he refuses.

Liam walks to the sideboard and opens it looking for something: „Where is the bottle of Whisky that I had in here?“

„You were sedated, you can’t drink alcohol now!“, Drakes answers.

„Try and stop me!“, Liam tries to leave his room but Drake stands between him and the door.

„You can die by mixing both of them and I won’t stand here and watch you do that again…“, Drake screams at his friend.

„Get out of my way, Drake! I... I just want to numb this pain… I can’t bear the thought of losing her“, tears run down his cheeks and Drake comes in and hugs him.

„I’m not going anywhere, Liam. I’m not letting you give up now and make this situation even worse… If you drink now, Spencer will be so pissed at you when she gets back… she will kick your ass, Li!“, they let out a weak laugh.

„Is she coming back, Drake?“, he whispers. Liam knows that Drake can’t answer this question but all he needs now is some reassurance.

„Of course she is! Spencer is tough, Liam. There is no way she will allow anything to come between you two again. Whatever happened there, she will find her way back to you and you know that!“, Drake pats him on the back and Liam sobs.

„I am so scared for her… the kind of things that she could have been through…and what those fucking bastards can be doing to her right now, if we failed to protect her. I swear to God, if they put their hands on Catherine I am going to kill each one of them!“, Liam walks back to his bed, „I can’t lose her, Drake… I will never accept that!“, he lays down again.

„You won’t lose her, Liam!“, Drake brushes a tear away from his cheek as the bedroom door flies open.

Leo walks in and looks at both of them, both with tears in their eyes: „What is going on here?“, he wonders as he has never seen Drake crying. Drake turns around:

„Nothing… we were just talking…“, Drake answers.

„Sure…“, Leo look between both of them again before walking up to Liam, „How are you, little brother?“, he asks concerned.

„I’ve been better, as you can imagine…“, Liam brushes the tears off his face.

„Right... No need to cry, we found her!“, Leo smiles.

„Couldn’t you start with this news, Leo?“, Drake says from the other side of the room.

„Sorry, I got distracted with you two ladies weeping!“, he looks at Liam who looks back at him relieved but annoyed at his brother’s remark, „Oh yeah… so, the Americans contacted us and she is already in Jordan. They are flying Katie and her security team to Tel Aviv on a helicopter”.

Liam has never felt relief like this. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply, „How is she, Leo? Did they inform us about her health?“, he grabs his brother’s hand and Leo puts his other hands over his.

„I talked shortly to the doctor from our special unit. She seems to have a mild traumatic brain injury, he believes it’s a concussion but they won’t know for sure until they get her to the hospital. Other than that, bruises, scratches and possibly a broken rib but she is responsive“, he watches as Liam exhale his worries.

„Was this caused by the car accident? Did anyone saw what happened?“, Liam asks worried.

Leo looks at Drake who is also interested in his answer and back at Liam, „I didn’t get much background detail, most of it only Catherine can answer and I wasn’t able to talk to her — I was told that whatever happened, she put up a hell of a fight…“, Leo sees Liam clenching his fist, „But she will be okay, Liam and this is the only thing that matters now!“

„Those bastards…“, he takes a deep breath and gets up, „Tell Bastien we will need the plane in 30 minutes. We are flying to Tel Aviv“. Liam walks into his walk-in closet to get dressed and bring his love back home.

(to be continued…)

For more chapters go to my MASTERLIST in my bio.

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