Chapter - 17

BRIDGET POV...

TWO DAYS LATER, WE LANDED IN COSTA RICA LIKE RHYS HAD

promised and drove two hours from the airport to a small town on

the Pacific coast.

I

stared out the window at the country’s lush landscape, my

head spinning from how fast everything had moved. I couldn’t

believe Rhys, Mr. Safety and Security himself, was the one who

suggested a last-minute trip, but I wasn’t complaining. I hadn't

visited Costa Rica before, and four days in a tropical paradise

sounded like, well, paradise.

We’d finished packing the townhouse, and I’d turned in my

keys that morning. Everything else I needed to do, I could do

online. I was, for all intents and purposes, free until we returned to

New York.

“This is it.” Rhys pulled up in front of a sprawling, two-story

villa. “Bucket list number one.”

Go someplace where no one knows or cares who I am.

That was definitely the case here. The house was nestled high

in the hills and the only residence around. How had Rhys even

found this place?

My chest tightened with emotion as we unpacked our

suitcases from the back of our rental car and walked toward the

entrance. “How did you pull everything together so fast?”

Rhys would never let me go anywhere without doing the

proper advance work first, but it had only been forty-eight hours

since I told him about my list. For him to have researched the

town, booked the charter jet and villa, and handled the millions of

details that came with royal travel in such a short time…

“I cheated a bit,” he admitted, unlocking the front door. “An old

Navy buddy of mine moved down here a couple of years ago and

owns this place. He’s on vacation right now and let me borrow it

for a few days. I visit every year, so I know the town and people

well. It’s safe. Quiet. Under the radar.”

“Exactly what I need,” I murmured. The tightness in my chest

intensified.

Rhys showed me around the villa. The walls were all glass,

offering gorgeous three-hundred-sixty views of the surrounding

hills and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Everything was open,

airy, and made of natural stone and wood, and the house’s design

made it seem like it was flowing into its surroundings instead of

dominating them. My favorite feature, however, was the infinity

pool on the second-floor terrace. From a certain angle, it looked

like it fed straight into the ocean.

Rhys, being Rhys, also walked me through the security setup.

Tinted, bulletproof glass all around, state-of-the-art motion

sensors, an underground panic room stocked with a year’s supply

of food. That was all I gathered before I zoned out.

I

appreciated the security measures, but I didn’t need a

detailed breakdown of the make and model of the security

cameras. I just wanted to eat and swim.

“Remind me to send your friend a big thank you,” I said. “This

place is incredible.”

“He loves showing it off, usually by letting people stay here,”

Rhys said dryly. “But I’ll tell him.”

It was already close to two, so the first thing we did after we

finished the tour was change and head into town for lunch. The

town was a twenty-minute drive from the villa and, according to

Rhys, home to less than a thousand people. Not a single one of

them seemed to know or care who I was.

Bucket list number one.

We ate at a small, family-run restaurant whose owner, a round

faced older woman named Luciana, lit up at the sight of Rhys.

She smothered him with kisses before embracing me too.

“Ay, que bonita!” she exclaimed, looking me over. “Rhys, es tu

novia?” How beautiful! Rhys, is she your girlfriend?

“No,” Rhys and I said at the same time. We glanced at each

other before he clarified, “Sólo somos amigos.” We’re just friends.

“Oh.” Luciana looked disappointed. “One day, you’ll bring a

girlfriend,” she said in English. “Maybe it’ll be you.” She winked at

me before ushering us to a table.

I blamed my blush on the heat.

Instead of ordering off the menu, Rhys told me to trust

Luciana’s judgment, and I was glad we did exactly that when the

food came out twenty minutes later. Olla de carne, arroz con pollo,

platanos maduros…all so delicious I would beg Luciana for the

recipes had I had any kitchen skills beyond scrambling eggs and

making coffee.

“This is incredible,” I said after swallowing a mouthful of

chicken and rice.

“Luci makes the best food in town.”

“Yes, but that’s not what I meant. I meant this.” I gestured at

my surroundings. “The trip. The whole thing. You didn’t have to do

this.”

Especially since Rhys was paying for everything out of pocket.

I assumed his friend let him borrow the villa for free, but the flight,

the car rental…they all cost good money. I’d offered to reimburse

him, but he’d responded with such a dark glare I hadn’t brought it

up again.

“Consider it my goodbye present,” Rhys said, not looking up

from his plate. “Two years. Figured it was worth a trip.”

The chicken that had been so delicious a second earlier turned

to ash in my mouth.

Right. I almost forgot. Rhys only had two weeks left as my

bodyguard.

I stabbed at my food, my appetite gone. “Do you have a new

client already lined up?” I asked casually.

Whoever it was, I already hated them for getting a beginning

with Rhys instead of an ending.

Rhys rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I’m taking a

short break. Maybe I’ll come back to Costa Rica, or head to South

Africa for a bit.”

“Oh.” I stabbed harder at my chicken. “Sounds nice.”

Great. He’d be playing world traveler while I was attending

queen lessons at the palace. Maybe he’d meet some beautiful

Costa Rican or South African girl and they’d spend their days

surfing and having sex—

Stop it.

“What about you?” Rhys asked, his tone also casual. “Know

who your new guard is yet?”

I shook my head. “I asked for Booth, but he’s already assigned

to someone else.”

“Funny. I thought they’d be more accommodating, considering

you’re the crown princess.” Rhys cut his chicken with a little more

force than necessary.

“I’m not crown princess yet. Anyway, let’s talk about something

else.” Our conversation was depressing me. “What fun things are

there to do around here?”

The answer was, not much. After lunch, Rhys and I walked

through town, where I picked up some souvenirs for my friends.

We checked out an art gallery featuring local artists, took a cafe

break where I had the best coffee I’d ever tasted, and shopped for

groceries at the farmer’s market.

It was a simple, ordinary day, filled with mundane activities and

nothing particularly exciting.

It was perfect.

By the time we returned to the villa, I was ready to pass out,

but Rhys stopped me before I could crash. “If you can stay up a

while longer, there’s something you should see.”

Curiosity won out over exhaustion.

“This better be good.” I followed him out onto the terrace and

sank onto one of the wicker chairs by the pool, where I stifled a

yawn. “I get cranky when I don’t get enough sleep.”

“Trust me, I know.” Rhys smirked. “Good of you to admit it

though.”

I watched as he turned off all the lights, including the outdoor

floodlights.

“What are you doing?” He never turned off all the lights until

right before he went to bed.

He sat down next to me, and I spotted a flash of his teeth in

the darkness before he angled his chin up.

“Look up, princess.”

I did. And I gasped.

Thousands upon thousands of stars splashed across the sky

above us, so numerous and densely packed they resembled a

painting more than real life.

The Milky Way, right there in all its sprawling, glittering glory.

It hadn’t occurred to me we could see it so clearly here, but it

made sense. We were high in the hills, miles away from the

nearest big city. There was no one and nothing around except us,

the sky, and the night.

“I thought you might like it,” Rhys said. “It’s not something you

see in New York or Athenberg.”

“No. It’s not.” Emotion gripped my chest. “And you were right. I

love it. Worth staying past my bedtime and getting cranky for.”

His low chuckle settled in my belly and warmed me from the

inside out.

We stayed outside for another hour, just staring at the sky and

soaking in the beauty.

I liked to think my parents were up there, watching over me.

I wondered if I’d turned out the way they’d hoped, and if they

were proud. I wondered what they would say about Nikolai’s

abdication, and whether my mother knew I was the one who

should’ve died that day in the hospital, not her.

She should’ve been queen, not me.

At least she and my father were together. They were one of

the lucky couples who started off in an arranged marriage and

ended up falling in love. My father had never been the same after

my mom’s death, or so everyone told me. I’d been too young to

know the difference.

Sometimes, I wondered if he’d lost control of his car on

purpose so he could join her sooner.

I turned my head to look at Rhys. My eyes had adjusted to the

dark enough that I could make out the tiny bump in his nose and

the firm curve of his lips.

“Have you ever been in love?” I asked, partly because I really

wanted to know, and partly because I wanted to pull my thoughts

off the morbid path they’d taken.

“Nope.”

“Really? Never?”

“Nope,” Rhys said again. He cocked an eyebrow. “Surprised?”

“A little. You’re old. You should’ve been in love at least three

times by now.” He was ten years older than me, which wasn’t that

old at all, but I liked teasing him when I could.

A deep, rich sound filled the air, and I realized with shock Rhys

was laughing. The deepest, loudest, realest laugh I’d pulled out of

him yet.

It was beautiful.

“One love for every decade,” Rhys said when his mirth faded.

“By that calculation, you should’ve been in love twice by now.” The

intensity of his stare pierced through the darkness. “So tell me,

princess. Have you ever been in love?”

“No.” I returned my attention to the stars. “But I hope to be one

day.”

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