The Wild Heir(100)

“Positive,” he says. Then he flashes me a smile. “Besides, you said she got your DNA from her father? That’s a load of shit. The prime minister doesn’t have people’s DNA on file, he’s not a criminologist or whatever. I doubt anyone has your DNA. You’d have to know about it if they did.”

“Soooo,” I say slowly.

“So, Heidi Lundstr?m just royally fucked herself.”

“But her stomach?”

He shrugs and puts his hands on his own round belly. “Maybe it was a food baby. Either way, it doesn’t matter what it was. That test is a fake and therefore you’re not the father. Rest easy, Prince Magnus. There shall be no red-headed ginger babes.”

I should be relieved.

I mean, I am relieved.

Relieved but I also feel completely foolish for taking Heidi’s word at face value and on top of that I feel like a total ass for losing my temper like this and having a yelling match with Ella last night which prompted her to leave.

But I’m also still angry.

Only it’s a righteous kind of anger.

Driven by justice.

“Oh hell,” Ottar says. “You’re getting that look in your eyes, Magnus. You know the look. This can’t be good.”

I grin at him. “You’re a good friend, Samwise. Been here through so much of the journey.”

“Please don’t start, sir.”

I ignore him. “But we have to do this together. We have to put an end to this battle once and for all. Or at least, you can come along for the ride.”

I grab a sweater and leave the room. I’ll deal with the mess when I get back.

“Where are we going sir?” Ottar asks with a weary sigh before eventually following me. “Or maybe I don’t want to know.”

“We’re going to see Sauron.”

“Fucking knew it,” Ottar swears.

We pass by Jane on the stairs. “Jane, tell me where Ella is.”

She pauses and leans against the railing and rolls her eyes. “I told you. I think she went to Liechtenstein.”

“Think? How come you don’t know? You know everything.”

“Because I’ve tried calling her too. She won’t answer. I think she’s just figuring stuff out. Maybe she wants to be alone. I certainly don’t blame her when she’s surrounded by a bunch of twits all the time.”

“Well keep trying her. Tell her to call this twit, please.”

She sighs. “Will do. You know, I don’t like being put in the middle of your marital quarrels. I don’t think it’s fair.”

Ottar laughs nervously. “Welcome to the rest of your life, Lady Jane.”

We get into the car with Einar behind the wheel and he drives Ottar and I into the city. I call Ella numerous times, trying to tell her the news, but she never answers, and my texts don’t seem to go through either. Not that I was about to text her: Surprise! No Demon Baby! Come Home!

Einar drives us straight to the prime minister’s office, which actually is just a few blocks from my parent’s palace. I think I’ll pay my father a visit after but for now, I have one thing I need to set right, even if it hurts me.

Of course, I don’t have an appointment with the prime minister, but I use my status and smile to get the secretary to send me on through, Ottar at my side.

“Your Highness,” he says as we step into his office. He gets to his feet and gives me a slight bow, which already makes me feel like I have the upper hand. “To what do I owe the honor? I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I have something I need to discuss with you,” I tell him, leaning against the edge of his desk. “It’s rather personal and sensitive.”

He nods slowly and eyes Ottar. “Should he be here then?”

“He’s here for backup,” I tell him. “You see, this concerns you. To be more specific, it concerns your daughter.”

Oh, it’s so hard not to call her the “psycho-hose-beast, stage-five-clinger, batshit barnacle of a daughter” but I manage to bite my tongue.

“What about her?”

Uh oh. His eyes are already narrowed. This won’t be easy.

But hopefully it will be satisfying.

“First of all, I want to apologize yet again for that video that leaked out into the world. It was never meant for anyone else’s eyes and I’m still very mad at myself that I let it happen,” I say.

His eyes soften, just slightly. “Oh. Okay. Well that never hurts to hear again.”

“I should have never put myself in that situation. I never should have gone out with her and I never should have let her film us. It was a bad idea and being a prince, being the older one, being the man, I should have put a stop to it. I didn’t, and I accept that as a lack of responsibility and control. It’s something I will forever aim to make better.”

He was nodding during this but now he’s stopped. “You make it sound like it was her idea. She would never…”

I try not to smile. “Yeah, well, here’s the thing. It was her idea. I should have said no, I should have known better, but it was her idea. And I think she leaked the whole thing as well. There was no hacker. It was just her, sharing it with the world.”

His eyes spark as he looks to Ottar and back to me. “That’s insane. More than that, it’s terribly inappropriate, horrific even, to accuse my girl of that. How dare you!”