Page 19 of The Prince Falls First
“Oh fuck.” She slammed the door in his face, then whimpered.
She sneezed again.
“Are you unwell?” he asked muffled through the door.
She nodded through two more sneezes.
He knocked gently. “Genevieve? Would you open the door?”
She shook her head, knowing full well he couldn’t see her.
“Please?”
“Oh fuck.” She glanced back up the stairwell but it didn’t seem like her mother or sisters were coming to see who it was.
Slowly, she opened the door barely a crack, and hid her body except for one eye.
He had a broad smile on his face though, and she couldn’t tell if he was laughing at her or the situation. Her toes curled into the hardwood floor and embarrassment flooded her cheeks.
“I’m sorry to stop by so early and unannounced. I wanted to check on you after last night and, since the weather was so beautiful this morning, I thought you might like to take a drive with me. I’d like to show you one of my favorite spots.”
He was speaking way too fast for her sick-addled brain to understand it, but she did comprehend that her mother would force Gen to go if she found out the prince was here.
Her voice was raspy and rough from sleep and being sick. “I’m not well. I’ll make you sick.”
“I’ll take that risk.”
Her heart fell. Maybe another woman would want to hear those words, but not her. She wanted a man to tell her to rest, and that he’d take care of her. She didn’t want another person in her life to force her into situations that compromised her health or who didn’t put her first. It was just another example of how ill-suited they were to each other.
“No, thank you. I’m sure you can find another woman to take,Your Highness. Good day.”
She shut the door again, and heard him say, “Wait! Please. Hear me out.”
She was literally sick and tired. All she ever did was sacrifice herself and her future for her ungrateful family (except Diana). She had no desire to marry a man who treated her like her mother did, or marry into a family that would treat her the same way, even if they were royalty.
Fuck that. And fuck him.
“Genevieve?”
“Please leave, Your Highness, before my mother sees you.” She sneezed again twice, then walked away from the door towards the bathroom.
The cold had come on hard and fast in the middle of the night and she’d quickly run out of tissues and cold medicine but didn’t have the energy to get more. Maybe she could ask Diana if she caught her when she woke up. She grabbed the toilet roll from the bathroom—the next best thing to a tissue box, and usually cheaper anyway—headed for the kitchen to drink some water despite how much her throat hurt when she did, then made herway back towards the stairs. She hesitated by the front door, then dipped into the nearby sitting room to peek through the window. He wasn’t by the door anymore, but his car was still outside the gate.
She wanted to go out and yell at him, tell him to leave her alone even though he didn’t seem to be listening to her. What more could she do? How else could she say ‘leave me alone’ in a way that the prince would believe it?
She sighed, then went back to her room and crashed on the bed. She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but Diana came into her room at one point and cuddled with her. Diana promised to bring some more meds home, and she once again fell into sleep.
The next time she woke was by her mother yelling at her and shaking her awake. There was a dinner or something and she was supposed to go, but she could barely stand and told her mother to go instead or send one of her sisters.
The next time she woke, she saw some medicine and a glass of water on the bedside table. As she reached for it, she noticed movement in the corner of the room and screamed. Then screamed again when she saw who it was.
Prince Gabriel was in her bedroom, and had been watching her sleep. What the fuck?
“How are you, Genevieve?”
GABRIEL
Gabriel watchedas Genevieve scrambled up to sitting on the bed, blinked several times, then gasped and pulled her covers up and over her chest.
