Twisted-Games

Andreas raised his eyebrows. “I’m getting offended by the rude greetings
you and Bridget insist on giving me. Perhaps she can get away with it, but I
am a prince, and you are not.” There was an odd note in his voice when he
said that, but it disappeared so quickly I wondered if I’d imagined it.
“You show up at my door unannounced, you get whatever greeting I want
to give.” My smile contained more threat than humor. “Be glad you’re not
staring down the barrel of my gun.”
Andreas clucked in disappointment. “And to think, I came here to help.”
“I doubt that.”
“Contrary to what Bridget may have told you, I’m not a bad guy. I want
what’s best for my family and country.” He straightened the cuffs of his shirt.
“For example, I find it quite admirable, how Nikolai abdicated for true love.
At the end of the day, he’s the one who has to live his life, and he chose
happiness. Good for him.”
Impatience spiraled through me. “Do you have a point, or do you just like
hearing yourself talk?”
“I do enjoy hearing myself talk,” Andreas said. “Usually because I speak
the truth. But Nikolai’s wedding made me wonder…which would Bridget
choose if she had the choice? Her heart or her country?”
My hand closed around the doorknob. I was this close to slamming the
door in his face, prince or not. “She’s not abdicating. Whatever scheme you
have in mind, it’s not gonna work.”
“You might be right, in which case I feel sorry for my cousin. Stuck in a
marriage of political convenience for the rest of her life.” Sympathy crossed
Andreas’s face, but it didn’t fool me. “She’s a romantic, even if she tries to
hide it. Grand love and all that. Sadly, that’s not always in the cards for the
heir to the throne.” He paused. “Then again, Steffan Holstein could very well
be an exception. They make a good-looking couple, don’t you think?”
A muscle pulsed in my jaw.
“Like I said, I look out for my family and country.” Andreas’s eyes
flickered. “I want everyone to be happy, and while Steffan seems like
perfectly adequate consort material, Bridget would be far happier if she
abdicated.”
“So you can be king,” I said flatly.
He shrugged. “She never wanted to be queen, anyway. Why not pass the
throne to me?”
“You know, this all sounds like a personal problem. For you,” I said