Astrid blinked. “Yes. I do know that the two of you get on like angry ants trapped in a jar. I also don’t think that’s the real problem.”
“Why?” Latika asked.
“Because I know you. Because we’re friends. Latika, don’t you trust me?”
Latika shifted uncomfortably. “Of course I do.”
“Are you upset about Gunnar getting married?”
Latika sputtered. “What?”
“I’m not a fool,” Astrid said. “I know that he irritates you, but I also know that there is something underneath that. I can never tell if the two of you are going to start yelling at each other, or start tearing each other’s clothes off.”
Latika stiffened, her face getting hot. The fact that Astrid had noticed that she carried some sort of shameful…fascination with Gunnar was truly alarming. It was somewhat refreshing to be able to be alarmed about something other than the email she’d received a few days ago, though, she would not have chosen this. “I can honestly say that I am not upset about Gunnar choosing to get married.”
“Then what is it? Please don’t tell me it’s to do with your parents.”
Latika sighed. “Not as such.”
“It’s related to that, though.”
“I… I have reason to believe that my former fiancé knows where I am.”
“Latika, that’s terrible. You should have told me immediately. I will do whatever I have to, to protect you.”
“And I will do whatever I need to, to protect you. You don’t need to worry about me, or the issues that I’m having. The scandals in my life were never meant to touch you.”
“That’s not how friendship works,” Astrid said. “Yes, you have been an employee, but more than that. And you know it. You are the single best friend I’ve ever had. It’s because of you that I found my husband.”
“In fairness,” Latika said, “it was highly unlikely any of that would work, and I feel it was only a stroke of incredible luck that saw it all come together. Or fate, perhaps. But either way, I cannot take credit. And had everything gone awry, I would have been responsible for your most disastrous decision ever. We could have damaged the whole of the country over a one-night stand.”
“But it was meant to be,” Astrid said. “And you trusted me. You trusted me when I said I needed your help, and believe me, the people in my life who have trusted me, who have taken me at my word, have been in short supply. For the most part, people have doubted I know my own mind because I am a woman. Really, only you and Gunnar, and my mother, ever treated me as though I had the head on my shoulders required to run a country. Or, to make any decisions on my own.”
“Yes,” Latika said. “Well.”
It was one of the difficult things about Gunnar. He had always been incredibly supportive of his sister. And though he had been angry over the incident with Mauro, and Latika colluding with Astrid to sneak her into his club so that she might engage his services in the making of an heir, in many ways, Latika couldn’t blame him. And indeed, would possibly respect him less if he’d had no issue with it whatsoever.
Latika had helped Astrid accomplish that for her own reasons, but it certainly wasn’t in the interest of her finding love with Mauro. No. It was only that she understood what it was like to feel that you had no power in your own life.
An ancient law written into the code of the land of Bjornland had stated that the Queen could declare herself the sole parent of her issue. With that goal in mind, Astrid had set out to get pregnant by the most disreputable man on the planet, thinking he would want nothing to do with the child. Of course, he had. And Astrid had not ended up with a child, and no man, but with a husband. One that she loved very dearly. Nothing had gone quite as they planned, but in many ways, it had gone better.
Latika had never seen Astrid so happy.
And that—she had concluded—was what happened when people were allowed to live. To make their own choices.
To make their own mistakes.
Sometimes even a mistake—in the end—was perfectly all right because it led you to where you had always been meant to be.
But choice, that was what Latika wanted. Eventually. A life of her choosing, with a man of her choosing.
She wanted children.
Watching Astrid with Mauro all those desires had only become more pronounced.
She was tired of surviving.
And with Ragnar coming after her those dreams seemed farther away than ever. Dreams other people took for granted.
“What can I do to protect you?” Astrid said. “Your problems are mine. Because we are friends.”
“Honestly, this ball is going to offer me a modicum of protection I would not have access to if it weren’t for my position here. We will, of course have to increase security. Seeing as we are inviting every eligible woman in the world to come and have a chance with Gunnar. And those who haven’t met him will surely jump at the opportunity.”
Astrid erupted into a peal of laughter. “You do protest too much, Latika.”
“Perhaps my protestations are honest,” she said.
“You find my brother attractive. Whether you want to admit it or not.”
“A spider can be beautiful in its web,” Latika said. “But that doesn’t mean I want it on my skin.”
Astrid shook her head. “But see, that’s where you have him wrong. He’s not a spider. Any more than you’re a fly. A predator, possibly. But maybe more like the wolves we have here in the mountains. Deadly if necessary, surely. But more than willing to put everything on the line to protect his pack. Gunnar is a true alpha. Leader and protector.”
“Perhaps that’s the problem,” Latika said. “It is difficult for two alphas to get involved.”
“That would be the story of my marriage,” Astrid said. “But what Mauro and I have learned is that sometimes it can be quite pleasurable to let the other take the lead.”
“Yes, well.” Latika firmed her lips into a straight line. “I will take the lead by finding some other woman for Gunnar to harass.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to wear this?” Astrid asked, gesturing to the orange gown again.
“No,” Latika returned. “I am not one of the women vying for your brother’s attention, and I will not dress like one. It would have to be a moment of true crisis in order for me to turn to him.”
“Well, let us hope we had don’t have any crises ahead of us.”
THE EVENING OF the ball, everything was going according to plan. Latika could find no fault with anything.
And she ignored the orange and gold gown that Astrid had sent up for her, in favor of a long, formfitting black dress and simple gold accessories. She would look appropriate, and she would blend.
And that was the idea.
She bustled around, making sure that everything was in place, pacing the length of the ornate ballroom, examining it from the gilt-edged ceilings, all the way down to the marble floors.
The massive, golden chandelier was lit, and it was like a sun burning brightly at the center of the room. Perfect. Gleaming and lovely.