"Time for another exciting day of prenuptial festivities!" Maxwell told me cheerily as we walked through the manor the next morning. We were on our way to a country picnic, which as I learned during the social season, was rich folk talk for "white tents and only two kinds of forks".

"And the purpose of this is…?"

"To serve as a send-off!"

"Wait a what? Who's going where?"

"We're all leaving tomorrow for the international leg of the engagement tour! First stop is Italy, then France, then Shanghai, and last but not least, your own Alma Mater, New York City!"

"I didn't go to school in New York," I tried to explain, but Maxwell brushed me off with a wave of his hand.

"But besides all that, today is also a great chance for us to do a little more investigation. Bertrand thinks we might learn something if we can figure out exactly where the photo of you and Tariq was taken from. So, while the picnic is going on, we need to sneak away and see if we can recreate it."

"Sounds like we'll need a distraction," I said. I was smiling, because at that moment, the perfect person to help us was walking straight towards me.

"Good morning Riley, Maxwell. Are you two ready for the picnic?" Hana said cheerily.

I explained our situation, and she was quick to volunteer her services. "I can 'accidentally' dump an entire tray of food on someone! I've perfected my faux-clumsy act." She giggled.

"You have?"

Hana frowned. "My mother says that some guys like that? Kind of like a damsel in distress?" She shook her head, and her smile returned. "Anyway, the point is, I can definitely distract the guests, and security, while you and Maxwell sneak off."

With that settled, the three of us joined the growing group of nobles at the picnic, which was set up on the lawn behind the manor. Maxwell left me and Hana with Madeleine, Kiara, and Penelope, who were chatting in a circle and sipping lemonade from Mason jars.

To my surprise, Madeleine ordered Penelope to get drinks for Hana and me. As Penelope did so, Madeleine turned to me with a sneer. "Isn't Penelope so obedient? It will serve her well in finding a match, especially among some of the more traditional noblemen." Then, she turned to Hana. "Oh! That reminds me! Hana, there are two men here that I'd like to introduce you to. They're both quite eligible. I'm sure if you work at it, you can manage to catch one of their eyes." Madeleine excused herself, and I looked at Hana with no small amount of concern.

"I know your parents expect you to find a match here," I told her, "but how are you feeling about all this?"

Hana looked at me, then at Penelope and Kiara who were both still with us. "It's very kind of Madeleine to help me like this," she said simply.

Kiara chimed in. "Vraiment, Madeleine is tres charitable. She is going to help me get a position in the foreign ministry!"

So it's not always all about marriage, I thought to myself. Why was Hana being treated like that was her only option? But looking back at Hana, who was staring intently at me, I could practically hear her begging me not to make a fuss. So, I dropped it, and promised I'd help her charm the men. "Not that you need a wingwoman, you're so charming all on your own."

She blushed a little, but before she could properly respond, Madeleine was back, with Liam and two strangers in tow.

Liam greeted us all warmly and introduced his companions as Lord Neville and Rashad. Thankfully, Liam and Madeleine left after the introductions, because with Liam there I wouldn't have been able to give Hana any attention and would have utterly failed in my wingwoman duties.

As it was, the whole conversation was decidedly boring, but I could tell that both noblemen were quite taken with Hana. After they excused themselves, Kiara, Penelope, Hana and I fell into girl talk.

"They were so handsome, don't you think?" Penelope asked.

"I don't know," Hana said, unenthused. "Didn't they seem kind of...boring?"

"Hmm…" I said, "Rashad was okay. Neville seemed super pompous though."

"I thought Rashad was a little rude," Kiara decided. Just then Drake sidled up to me, joining our little circle.

"Speaking of rude…" I said, with a grin aimed at Drake so he would know I was teasing.

"Maxwell sent me to tell you," he said, his voice quiet, so the other ladies couldn't hear, "It might be time for...you know." He jerked his head back towards the manor.

"Right." I turned to Hana. "Hana, they're serving some delicious looking curry chicken. Didn't you say you wanted to grab a plate?"

Her eyes went wide as she caught my meaning. "Oh, right! Of course! Excuse me, ladies."

"Oh, I'll come too," Penelope said, trailing after Hana. "I'm starving!"

While we waited for Hana's distraction, we stood awkwardly with Kiara for a minute. Finally, to fill the silence, she said, "I'm surprised to see you here today, Drake."

He shrugged. "Gotta support Liam any way I can."

"You've always been such a loyal friend to King Liam. I've always appreciated that about you. It's such a shame about your sister."

Drake tensed, and I jumped in quickly. "What do you mean?"

"Just the way she left court so suddenly. I always thought of Savannah as a good friend, even if she wasn't noble. And her French lessons were coming along so well."

"Savannah didn't know French," Drake said, confused.

"I had been teaching her before-"

Our conversation was cut off as Hana completed her objective. Kiara spun around to watch the commotion. I tugged at Drake's arm. "Let's go," I whispered.

He hesitated. "But she knows something about my sister…"

"Okay, then stay. But I gotta go, now. I'll catch up to you later."

Drake looked between me and Kiara for a moment, but ended up coming with me. We found Maxwell on the side of the manor, just outside where my room had been during the social season.

"Where's Bertrand?" I asked.

"He's in the room," Maxwell pointed up, and sure enough, I could see Bertrand through the tall window. "He's going to be you, and we're going to try and line up the shot."

"Bertrand is going to be me?" I asked with a hint of a smile.

Drake shuddered. "I'm going to have nightmares now."

Maxwell showed me a printed copy of my infamous picture. I had to grit my teeth to make myself really look at it. I was not a fan of seeing myself half naked, and knowing how many people had seen this picture just made it that much worse. Drake looked over my shoulder, and I couldn't keep a blush from forming. Drake had out his phone and was trying to take a picture of Bertrand that might match the angle of my photo.

"This isn't gonna work," he said with a shake of his head. "Even with a high zoom, you'd need to be a lot closer. Like, maybe over there?" He pointed to a group of nearby shrubs that surrounded a tall tree.

We headed that way, and Drake tried a few more shots. Finally, he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Even if I were seven feet tall, I couldn't reach high enough to get the right angle."

"Maybe they climbed the tree?" I suggested.

The boys looked at me, as if waiting for me to prove my hypothesis. I waved at my dress and told Maxwell to climb the tree and check it out.

"Spider Maxwell, to the rescue!" He said as he made his way quickly up the branches. Once settled, he pulled out his own phone and snapped a picture of Bertrand.

"That's totally it!" He said, dropping his phone into my hands so I could see. He half-climbed half-fell out of the tree, dusting himself off as he quickly sprang to his feet. "That was trickier than it looked," he admitted.

"Whoever took that picture didn't just happen to be in the right place at the right time," I realized. "They were staking out my room!"

Maxwell and Drake both looked serious as we contemplated the significance of this discovery. Finally, Maxwell decided to go get Bertrand and fill him in. He took off running, leaving me and Drake standing near the shrubbery. I looked up at the second story window where my room had been.

"Someone must hate me an awful lot to go through all this trouble for me," I mused.

"Come on, Harkness," Drake said. "Whoever did this did it because they feel threatened by you, not because they hate you." His face grew fierce, but in a protective, rather than an angry, way. "You've got to remember, no matter who ends up being behind this, it's their problem, not yours. You didn't do a damn thing wrong."

I suddenly couldn't look at Drake's face, so I stared up at the tree where Maxwell had been. "Thanks," I said quietly. As I stared intently up, something caught the light. "What's that?" I asked, and reached into the leaves to grab it. Drake and I both looked, and saw that it was a discarded ID badge.

"Mansingh?" Drake read. As we were examining the badge, Maxwell and Bertrand finally reappeared from the manor. We showed them the badge, and they were convinced it must have belonged to the photographer.

"Mansingh is the company contracted to do security at royal events," Maxwell said. "There's no way one of the actual security guys would lose their badge like this."

"The photographer probably used the fake badge to gain access to the party, then when she was discovered, she tossed it to cover her tracks," Bertrand said.

"I don't think this is a fake badge," Maxwell said, looking closely at it. "It looks real to me."

"How would you know that?" Drake scoffed.

"Hey, when you've been nearly thrown out of enough parties, like I have, you get used to seeing security badges."

I giggled a little and took the badge back. I turned it over and saw a scratched and worn photograph. I tried reading the name underneath, but weather and time had worn it off. "So, she had help from the inside, to get a legit security badge?"

"Then this conspiracy really does go deep," Bertrand said grimly. "We must be ever vigilant."

"But, this is a good thing!" Maxwell said. "We know what the photographer looks like! If she shows up at any of the engagement tour events, we'll be able to question her."

"That's true," I said, feeling a little hopeful.

"For now, we should all pack and then get some rest. We're off to Italy in the morning." This was Bertrand's advice, so we slowly dispersed and headed back to our guest rooms.

After I packed, I took Bertrand's advice and got changed for bed. It was still fairly early, but I was still surprised to hear a knock on my door. I opened it to see Liam's smiling face.

"Liam!" I stepped back to let him in, and he quickly shut the door behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"You know I just can't stay away from you Riley," he said with a cheesy grin. I rolled my eyes, and he straightened up a little. More seriously, he said, "It's going to sound silly, but...I kept thinking about last time you were here. And how I was under the same roof, but not around to protect you. And...I just had to see for myself that you were okay."

"Oh," I said, more breath than word. I stepped closer to Liam, and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in for a tight hug. When we parted, I looked up at him fondly. "Well, I'm okay. But I'm still glad to see you."

"But now that I know you're well, I should probably go before I put you in more danger."

My heart sank a little. I had barely seen Liam all day, I wasn't ready for him to leave just yet. "Wouldn't it be safer for you to leave in a few hours…after everyone's asleep?" I tried.

Liam's stern face melted into a smile. "You make a good point, as always."

"And you are easily convinced. Something tells me you were hoping for an excuse to stay longer."

He shrugged and walked past me to the bookshelf that sat on one wall. "Perhaps," he said. Then, changing the subject, "This room has a secret, you know."

I sat on the edge of my bed, watching Liam intently. "Oh?"

He pulled out a book and opened it, revealing a hidden compartment with a corkscrew in it. I raised an eyebrow, and he just kept smiling as he replaced the book. On the next shelf down, he pulled out several books to reveal a bottle of wine stashed behind them. Then a few more books came out and he found two glasses of wine.

"You are full of surprises, King Liam," I said as he proffered the bottle. I nodded, and he quickly uncorked the bottle and poured two glasses of red wine. He joined me on the edge of the bed, handing me one glass and cradling the other in his hand.

"Here's to having survived the day," Liam said, holding his glass up for a toast. I clinked my glass against his, and we both took a long drink.

"Was it that hard for you?" I asked.

"Every day that I spend looking at you without being able to touch you...each day that Madeleine is on my arm instead of you...each night when I lie awake praying that you're safe for one more day...yes, I find the time very challenging, indeed, Lady Riley."

I pressed my free hand into his and he squeezed it tightly. He flashed a smile to lighten the mood. "But enough of that," he said, "On to better things."

"Such as?"

"How stunning you look." I smiled and blushed a little; I didn't think I would ever get used to his compliments. His voice took a more gravelly tone as he continued, "And how desperately I want you right now." My smile turned into a smirk as I fixed him with my best come hither look. But then, he frowned as he continued, "And how badly I wish I had given you that ring."

I frowned, too, and rested my head on his shoulder for a minute. "We can't change the past," I said quietly. "We just have to move forward."

He nodded, and I sat back to look at him as he started speaking again. "It's hard to do. I spent the whole day imagining you were on my arm instead of Madeleine. Us laughing together, holding hands in front of the entire court. Today would have been so fun with you, Riley."

"I am very fun."

He grinned widely. "That's one of the things I love about you. You have perspective. Every little gaffe isn't a disaster. For instance, can you satisfy my curiosity on one point? If an entire platter of curry chicken fell on someone how would you react?"

I laughed. "Well, I guess first probably grab some napkins to clean up."

"Always ready to help. You always take everything in stride. Where did you learn how to do that?"

I narrowed my eyes, thinking for a minute. "Maybe it's all my years working in customer service. I mean, compared to a drunk table of ten whose dinner order was lost by the chef an hour ago, nothing's that bad."

"Ah, so that's your secret!" His smile softened as he scooted back, pulling his leg up on the bed so he could more fully face me. "You've been so strong through all of this. First the social season, and then now..."

He took my now empty wine glass and set it on a table with his. When he sat back down on the bed, he cupped my chin, tilting my head up to look him in the eyes. His voice was full and quiet when he spoke next. "You are the most amazing person I know. Why are you so incredible?"

"It's not me," I said. "It's the amazing people who support me. I wouldn't be here without Maxwell, Hana, and Drake. Even Bertrand. And especially you."

"I'm glad you have so many good friends. We all need people we can hold on to. You know...when Madeleine and I are in front of a crowd or a camera, I really do pretend it's you on my arm. At first, I was so stiff, it was obvious I didn't want to be there with her. Regina told me something needed to change. She told me that when I look at Madeleine, I should think of something I do love."

"So you thought of me?"

"And it worked. See, Riley? You keep me strong. And as long as I can maintain the facade, I can keep you safe." He frowned again. "But I don't want to keep pretending."

"We are making progress in the investigation," I told him, and caught him up on what we had learned. He seemed happy, but still his face remained serious.

After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath and asked, "Riley, have you ever thought about what it would be like if the tables were turned?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you were the Princess and I was the Everyman. If you had stumbled into my bar during your bachelorette party."

I giggled a little. "I can't imagine you in an apron."

He laughed, but kept going. "If your friend had invited me to your country, and I had competed for your hand..."

"Against who? Bertrand?"

"...Would you have picked me?"

I hesitated, even though I hated myself for it. Before the Coronation ball, if Liam had asked me that question, I would have undoubtedly said yes of course. But since then, we had been apart so much, and I have to admit, I was still reeling from the way everything had shaken out...I shook my head, bringing me back to the present. "I would have. Of course, I would have picked you, Liam. I love you. Nothing could have stopped me from falling in love with you."

He smiled broadly for me, and pulled me in for a quick kiss. When he pulled away, I leaned in for another kiss, and he responded by wrapping his arms around my waist and tugging me closer. Together, we fell back onto the bed. My hands explored the skin beneath his shirt as his tangled in my hair. "Is this what you were hoping for when you came to my room?" I asked, teasingly.

"I never stop hoping."

I quickly undid the buttons of his shirt and he shrugged it off, and I started on his pants. Once his clothes were removed, he wasted no time removing mine. As I lie supine before him, Liam kissed me urgently all over my bare skin. I grabbed a fistful of his hair, pulling him even closer, savoring the warmth of him. His kisses moved from my neck to my breasts, and then trailed further down. I moaned loudly as he kissed the inside of my thighs, and bucked my hips up a little, encouraging him. I let my head fall back onto my pillow, closing my eyes and grasping at the sheets, then at Liam. I tugged his hair, making him stop before he sent me over the edge.

"Yes?" he said cheekily, looking up at me with big eyes.

"Get up here," I panted. That was the last thing either of us said until we fell side by side into the mattress, spent and smiling.

"I love you," I said sleepily as I cuddled up next to Liam.

"I love you," he said, kissing the top of my head.

The next thing I knew, Liam was waking me, telling me that he had to go. "We fell asleep; I have to go now or someone's bound to catch me sneaking out of here."

I whimpered a little as he untangled himself from me, but he tucked the blankets around me and kissed my cheek and promised he'd see me soon.

When Maxwell came for his usual wake-up call, he had to wait in the hallway while I made myself decent. When I finally let him enter, he noticed something on the floor just inside the door. "What's this?" He asked, bending over to pick up the folded paper.

"I don't know, I didn't notice it before," I told him, taking it and opening it to read. "If you want to root out your enemies, meet me in the boutique car of the train tomorrow at 5pm on the dot. Alone..."

"Who's it from?" Maxwell asked, peering over my shoulder.

"It's just signed...O."