The Wild Heir(56)

“I don’t know, Viktor. Paris bores me.”

“Not to Paris, idiot,” he says. “Let’s go hike up to one of those royal cabins of yours in the mountains and make a campfire and get shitfaced drunk.”

“You want to come to Norway?”

“Do you see any damn mountains in Sweden?”

I clear my throat, trying to think fast. I haven’t seen Viktor since July, and it’s long overdue for us to cause some mayhem.

But Ella is here.

I have no choice but to tell him.

“I think it’s a great idea,” I say. “When?”

“I’m about to get Freddie to buy me a ticket. Today. You’re still at the apartment, right?”

“No,” I tell him. “See, here’s the thing. I’m totally down for all of this but it won’t be quite the guys’ trip that you think it’ll be.”

Silence. Then, “You want to bring your flavor of the month with us?”

“She’s not the flavor of the month,” I tell him, feeling defensive. “But she’s here with me. We’re at Skaugum Estate, outside of Oslo. And well, she has to come because I’m not about to leave her alone here. See, she’s under house arrest. And we might be getting married. I’m not sure yet.”

More silence. “What?”

I take in a deep breath and explain it all to Viktor the best I can.

When I’m done, he doesn’t believe me.

I explain again.

Then he laughs.

And laughs, and laughs.

“You’re being a real shitbag,” I tell him. “You’re supposed to be supporting me.”

“Right, like you’ve ever supported me,” he says, sighing. “My god, I’m actually crying. Oh Magnus, so happy for you to join the club.”

“Whatever. So you want to do this or not?”

“Well, how are you going to get Cinderella out of there?”

“It’s Ella. And I’ll figure it out. Just get your ass over here ASAP, and we’ll figure out our next move.”

We hang up, and I manage to finally get out of bed. After I freshen up and slip on dark jeans and a white t-shirt that’s probably too small for me, I head out into the hall.

Straight to Ella’s room.

Just as Jane is coming out of it.

“Morning, sunshine,” she says to me brightly.

“She in there?” I ask, running a hand through my hair to make sure I don’t look completely crazy.

“Barely,” she says. “I don’t know what you did to her last night.”

“Me?” I say innocently. “She’s the one who drank. And talked. And I swear the world will never be the same.”

Jane purses her lips. “Mmmm. Anyway, she’s not used to that, so next time please take it easy on her.”

I raise my hands in protest. “I will do nothing of the sort. Can I go in?”

She shrugs. “It’s your house, Your Highness.”

“Thank you, Lady Jane.”

I open the door and step inside.

Ella has flung herself dramatically across the bed, lying on her back with her arm over her eyes. She’s also wearing next to nothing, just a long t-shirt that has a picture of a whale on it, and I see a peek of yellow booty shorts.

Good god.

I take a moment and just stand there, admiring her long, smooth legs, wishing I could take hold of the hem of her shirt and pull it up over her, exposing her stomach and her breasts.

Don’t get carried away.

I shut the door behind me. “Ella?”

She jolts and turns her head to look at me in surprise.

But she doesn’t move otherwise or attempt to cover herself up, which is what I expected. In fact, she had to have known I was just standing there and ogling the hell out of her and she didn’t do a thing about it.

Interesting.

I push that out of my head for now.

“Feeling okay?” I ask.

“You tried to murder me last night,” she mutters, closing her eyes with a wince. “Murder me with alcohol so you can collect my inheritance.”

“How much are you worth, by the way?” I ask as I saunter over to the bed, secretly thrilled that she’s still lying there in her underwear.

“Me? I have no idea. Probably nothing,” she says, blinking up at me as I stand over her. “Ugh.” She covers her face with her hands.

“My handsomeness blinding you?”

“No,” she mumbles through her fingers. “But the light behind you is.”

“I notice that you didn’t deny my handsomeness.”

She sighs, and her hands drop away. She rolls on her side and gives me a weary look. “What do you want, Magnus?” It’s then that she grabs the end of her t-shirt and covers her butt with it. I almost say something in protest.

“Considering I only got up twenty minutes ago, I wanted to see if you were alive.”

“This is why I don’t drink much,” she says. “Jane says I turn into Princess Lush and then Princess Lush turns into Princess Fuck Me I’m Hungover.”

“I do like the sound of Princess Fuck Me. Perhaps she can pay us a visit.”

She gives me a caustic look. “Don’t even start with me today.”