The Prince’s Bride: Beginning Forever (The Prince's Bride, #3)

by J.J. McAvoy

“We are just going to build our own secret language?” I grinned. “Blink twice for no, stuff like that? Raising an eyebrow?” “You don’t want to?” “I want to!” I giggled. It would be something just between us two.

i love this

He looked at me, and if his hair weren’t already gray, I would have sworn the fear in his eyes would’ve made him age. Even he knew better.

“No, Grandmama, I think that was the live viewing,” Eliza said quickly, obviously seeing my face had changed.

I felt Gale tap my finger, and when I looked at him, he tapped the rim of his glass twice. His code for, he was about to abandon me! I gripped his hand and smiled, blinking slowly. He was not going to make some excuse to leave me here with her.

“Odette, you already do. The fact that no one can change his mind is because he so angry for you.”

“I wanted to relax over the holidays, sir,” he said dryly. And it was amusing. Iskandar had his moments for sure.

There was going to be a fallout from this. How could there not be? I couldn’t believe it…Sabina was dead.

omg

“You think that scares me? I am a part of this monarchy now.” I sneered. “I’m not some nobody maid. I am not a pitiful girlfriend. I am the wife of the king. I am the daughter of two legends. No one will quietly overlook me. You know my mother, and my mother knows you. Let me tell you, you don’t have that type of fight in you. I am no meek woman. I am tolerant. I have tolerated you enough. So you will tell Gale personally you wish to go home. Then we will never hear from you again!”

AND THATS HOW U CLEAR A BITCH

“Paris does that to women, for some reason… Thank you, James,”

Iskandar had told me that Wolfgang was a full queen loyalist now, and he wasn’t the only one.

“Four hours and fifteen minutes, sir,” Iskandar said

“Iskandar. I will remember this.” “Yes, ma’am.” He nodded. “Let’s go.” She spun on her heels.

There were a lot of sides of her I liked…but this was my favorite, and I never knew when to expect it. Her sweet, cheesy heart pouring out. I was going to bask in it a little more.

“All. Of. It.” Not only had she called me her one and only forever, but she had also admitted that she had been waiting basically all her life to have this moment with me.

“So basically, she’s like a saint to them. Is that what you are telling me?” Gale ignored me and looked at them both.

He leaned over and whispered into my ear, “So long as I’m the only man who knows and sees the real you, I don’t care.”

Everyone is waiting at the parade.” I looked at Gale. He looked back at me. Both of us were thinking the same thing. What parade?

Here I was, Queen Odette’s husband.

but there was this look she had in her eye…it felt sad, and I didn’t understand it. This was her favorite city, wasn’t it? People were in love with her here, calling out to her, praising her. I was with her. What could possibly be wrong? Was it just my imagination?

oh no

the older woman said as her husband grabbed me, and Iskandar looked like he was having a heart attack.

“Stay calm, sir,” he whispered in my ear. I nodded for him to go on. “The queen is ill.” I froze.

she’s pregnant i knew it

“Good tears? Bad tears? What all are you feeling?” She just sobbed more, gripping me tighter. That explained everything. Oh my God.

she’s scared

“Wow, he really doesn’t know how to read the room,” Wolfgang muttered, shaking his head, causing the others to chuckle, even Thelma.

“Apparently, I’m not the only one bad at surprises,”

“Apparently not…I’m not a fan of the blindfold…outside of the bedroom, of course.” He grinned, then frowned. “See, I can’t even see your expression! That comment was supposed to be made with a wink—this

I made a face before I grabbed the guitar. “You wrote me a love song?” He gasped, grinning wide.

“Fourteen and half million, sir,” he said as he adjusted his glasses.

uh oh

No, this wouldn’t put a dent in the billions Odette had given to this family, but still, the fact that I had no choice but to use it right now, when we hadn’t been married a year, bothered me. And it made it clear how we had ended up in such desperate times.

psssh y’all good

“Before that, I am supposed to be Gale to you! I am supposed to be your husband and partner, and instead of trusting me, coming to me…you lied and covered up things from me. Who the hell are you now, Odette? Because right now, I don’t have a fucking clue!” Grabbing my jacket, I marched toward the door, slamming it behind me. I had no words…none for any of this.

“Your pregnant wife is not important?” she snapped.

“The queen…she woke up this morning…bleeding.”

bro i predicted this

Consequence. The word repeated in my mind as I stood there, all the air vanishing from my lungs. Sometimes, I found myself wondering if maybe…just maybe everyone was right. Maybe we were cursed.

I had been so careful. I did everything they told me. So why? What was wrong with me?

“Bevilën.” He kissed the side of my head through the sheet. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t do anything wrong. He had nothing to apologize for. But hearing him say it made me sit up and reach out for him. He hugged me to him, kissing the side of my face over and over again, saying sorry. Here came the stupid tears again.

I fought her right on that. How could she suggest it? She then told me…that was exactly how it had happened with Arty.

She shook her head. “Gale…I…I don’t want to know.” “And I don’t want you to get ill. Please,” I begged, kissing her forehead. “If you don’t want to know, I’ll tell them not to say anything. They will just talk to me. But we need to make sure you are okay.”

Odette stared at her for a long time before falling back onto the bed, bringing her hands to her face, sobbing. Bending beside her, I hugged her tightly. It hurt…losing one hurt. But God, I was damned relieved.

“Sir?” Balduin asked beside me. “They’ve bloomed.” I hadn’t even noticed. “Yes, sir.” I grinned. “He’s going to want to see it. He has to see it.”

“Are we all just going to keep staring at one another, or is someone going to explain why my comment was off?”

“If it’s true and you are pregnant, I hope you both die!” she screamed, hanging up the phone.

choke bitch

“Sir, it is my deepest regret to inform you…your father, King Lionel III, has just passed.” It was like the world had stopped.

I inhaled from my nose, putting my hand on my stomach. “What if he gets upset with me? And calls me jealous.” “Throw something at his head and blame it on the hormones,” she replied, linking arms with me. “Come on, no need to look any longer.”

When I entered our bedroom, she was sitting in bed with a bottle of red wine, cigarettes, sushi, cold shrimp, and oysters, plus cookie dough. “What in the hell are you doing, Odette?” I asked,

“Firstly, thank you. Secondly, note this: your mother is a bit crazy!” She smacked my shoulder! “Don’t call me crazy! This is your fault.”

“If it ever happened with you, I won’t go crazy, I won’t scream, I won’t throw anything at you. I. will. leave. One kid, two kids, five kids…first year, second, or ten years into this marriage. I don’t care. Queen or not, I don’t care. I will leave faster than you can say, ‘Your Majesty.’ I won’t forgive you; I will not be at your side till the end. I refuse! I’d rather everyone laugh in my face for being the former queen than have them laugh in my face for standing next to you. I’ve been alone before; I can go back. I can survive. I watched my mom survive—”

“If you say Winnie one more time, woman!” I cut her off to complain, and she crossed her arms, sitting back against her pillow.

“She had a phone; couldn’t she look it up?” she muttered, and when I looked at her, she pretended something was wrong with her earring and looked away sheepishly. She was kinda cute like this.

I glanced behind him at Iskandar, who looked at the back of Gale’s head for a moment and blinked, which for him was basically an eye roll.

“Not if you are already serving the king,” Gale shot back, waiting for him to agree. He said nothing, though, and giggled. “Wow, Iskandar, and here I thought we were as close as brothers.” “I am an only child, sir.”

I LOVE HIM

“Oh my gosh, let him off the hook. He’s human. It’s a phone. Come on.” “Odette, these moments are very rare for me—”