The rest of the day went slowly for Tony. He plunged through mountains of paperwork, made hours of phone calls and still he couldn't get the letter out of his head. His biological mother was Princess Diana and even though he couldn't remember her, he felt a horrible loss at her death. One year before she was to marry Prince Charles, she got pregnant by Prince Charles' younger brother Edward, who is now the Earl of Wessex. They were in love. Diana and Charles didn't love each other. They married to make their families happy and for the best of their country. But not many knew of Diana and Edwards's relationship. Neither family permitted Diana to keep the child because she was engaged to marry Charles. Having the baby of her future brother-in-law would be too complicated. So, Diana begged to let her give their baby up for adoption instead of an abortion. A family by the name of Dinozzo adopted him, knowing of his half royal blood, and raised him as a normal boy. After his mother's death, Dinozzo Sr. didn't really know how to raise him so he sent him away to boarding school. Tony never really had a family. When he was little his mother had told him of his biological mother and told him when he turned 18 he could get in contact with her, if he wanted. But he didn't. Tony wanted nothing to do with her family. He wasn't even first in line for the throne. When he was 18 he received a letter requesting his appearance but he denied it. He ignored it and pretended like it never happened. He wanted his own life. So he went to college at Ohio State and later became a Baltimore cop. When things there went downhill and he didn't have a clue what to do with his life, Leroy Jethro Gibbs called him to DC to work with him at NCIS.

That's how it all began. NCIS became Tony's home and safe haven. He admired and respected Gibbs to no end and adored his "little sister" Abby and "Grandpa" Ducky. However, when Kate came to their team, things heated up. Tony had his eyes on the brunette beauty for a year before he decided to make a move. They slowly began dating and pretty soon fell into being boyfriend and girlfriend. Gibbs pretended to not approve of their relationship, but Tony and Kate were not fooled. There were some things the Marine could not hide and the happy glint in his eyes when he saw them together was one of those things. Kate and Tony were incredibly happy together. And Tony wanted to keep it that way. He loved Kate with all his heart and he loved his life here with Gibbs, Kate, McGee, Abby and Ducky even the autopsy Gremlin, Palmer. Tony was not at all happy about being contacted by some Prince. Whatever he had to say to him, he was wasting his time.

Tony sighed and got up. "Hey, you want to grab some coffee?" he said to Kate who smiled and grabbed her purse. "Yeah, let's go." He took her by the hand and led him to the elevator. After the doors closed, Tony pulled Kate into his arms and kissed her. He sighed as he felt her relax in his chest. "You've been preoccupied all morning." She murmured as she brushed his hair out of his eyes. Tony groaned and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You've noticed?" he asked as he tucked her hair behind her ear. Kate chuckled. "We've all noticed. It started after you got that letter…" she said, raising an eyebrow. Tony hummed and softly kissed the smooth skin of her neck. "And trying to distract me with kisses isn't going to work!" she playfully reprimanded as they exited the elevator. They walked hand in hand to their little coffee shop at the corner of the street before making their way to the nearby park. "So, what was the letter about?" Kate asked hesitantly. Tony sighed and looked up at the sky. "It's just a letter from some guy who wants to meet me, but I don't want to meet him… he knew someone from when I was an infant…" he said trying very hard to avoid the subject. The profiler in Kate saw immediately that Tony was hiding something, but she chose not to push the subject. She did however reply, "If you want to talk I'm here for you. You know that right?" she said softly. Tony turned to Kate. He hate keeping things from her. They were in a relationship and part of being in a relationship was being honest with the other. But he didn't know how to tell her. He didn't know how she would respond to his news. He's not a Prince, he's not in line for the throne but he's connected to the Royal Family by birth. And nobody knows this secret of his. And he wanted to keep it that way. But he wanted to be honest in his relationship with Kate.

"What are you thinking about?" Kate asked him, stroking his arm. Tony pulled her along with him as they walked together through the park. "I was just thinking about us… how much you mean to me. How much I love you." He murmured into her hair. Kate giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh yeah, and just how much do you love me?" she teased. Tony laughed and hoisted her up. She squealed and wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging to his muscular shoulders as he carried her to the top of the hill and laid her down. Settling himself over her petite body, he gently pushed her hair back and kissed her sweetly. "I love you so much and I know if I want this relationship to work I need to be completely honest with you." He pulled her up and leaned against the tree, tucking her into his arms. When she was settled with her back in his chest, Tony pulled out the letter and handed it to her. "I know you're going to have so many questions after. And some I can answer but some I can't." Kate nodded slowly and opened the letter. She read it several times before she looked up to see Tony studying her face. "I don't understand… Prince William…? Why is he calling your biological mother his mother…? Are you related to Princess Diana?" Kate stared at Tony open mouthed. Tony took Kate's hands in his and explained his connections to the Royal Family. His mother was Princess Diana and his father is Edward, the Earl of Wessex who is Charles' brother. So, he is not in line for the throne. That is still Prince William but he is his half-brother. "It was illegitimate. Diana and Edward were not married and it was arranged for her to marry Charles. So, you can kind of see why it was considered inappropriate for her to keep me. So I was adopted to the Dinozzo family. When I was 7 my mom died and when I was 11 my dad sent me to a boarding school. He didn't really know how to raise me. On my 18th birthday, I received a letter from Wales requesting my appearance. I didn't go. I don't want to know anything about my ties to the Royal Family."

"Why?" Kate asked her brain slowly processing the information she just received. Everything she thought she knew about her boyfriend had just changed. Tony was related to the Royal Family. Why didn't he tell her? Why was he working as a federal agent when he could be rich enough to never have to work again? None of this made sense… Tony shook his head. "I love my life here. I love you and NCIS. I could never fit in over there with them. It's just not me. I just want to be Very Special Agent Tony Dinozzo." He said as he pulled Kate in for another hug. But she pulled away. "Tony, why didn't you tell me? Why were you hiding this?" Tony reached for her but she scooted away. "Answer my questions!" she demanded. Tony felt his heart break when she pulled away from him. "Kate please." He pleaded with her. "I know you're mad. And I'm sorry. But it's not something I ever told anyone-"

"So I'm just 'anyone' to you?" Kate exclaimed in a hurt tone of voice. "No, Katie. You're so much more than just anyone. You're my girlfriend, the love of my life. I'd do anything for you. You're the world to me." He said softly trying to make Kate understand that he loved her very much, he just never intended for this part of him to ever come up. Kate stared at tony before getting up. "Katie, please don't go." Tony said, grabbing her hand. Kate sighed and looked up at him. Her heart broke at the look of despair and anguish on her boyfriend's face. "Tony, I'm not leaving you. I just need some time to process things. I know you may think this I'm being irrational, but I need to step back and look at things from a different angle for a while. And I suggest you do too." Tony was confused. "Why me?"

"Because even if you did not intend for this to ever come up, it did. And ignoring it and saying it's not what you want isn't going to make it go away. I understand that this, whoever you are is now a part of you and I accept that. I just need time to fully comprehend what all this means. For you and for us and our future. I love you so much, Tony. And I just want you to be happy with whatever you choose." she said as she walked away. Tony dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands. He never wanted to hurt Kate. But he felt like he just ruined everything they had. She said she wasn't leaving him; they were still a couple. So why did he feel like his heart just got ripped from his chest. He never thought to tell Kate before about his secret and he cursed William for sending the letter in the first place. But he did. Tony's secret was out and now he needed to figure out what he wanted and fast. He didn't know what was next or what was going to happen but he knew one thing for sure: Kate was his whole life and whatever decision he made would be best for her and their future together.

Thanks to all the reviews! I was completely blown away at the support of this story. I was definitely not expecting that! Thank you! And also, thanks to everyone who helped me out with the whole Royal Family who's-in-line-for-the-throne-next because I honestly have no idea how that works!