“I didn’t blackmail you, nor would I ever do so.” Elin’s brows drew into a tight frown. “I sent you the video hoping it would prompt you to break off your relationship with Mr. Larsen. When you didn’t, I had to leak the pictures.”
“You didn’t have to do anything. You could’ve talked to me about it first,” I said coldly. “For a communications secretary, you’re not great at communicating.”
“It wouldn’t have changed a thing. You’re stubborn, Your Highness. You would’ve told me you were ending things and gone right back to him. I had to force your hand. Plus, The Daily Tea reporter we sent the photos to had already been snooping around, hoping to find dirt. Security found him trespassing on the grounds. He was quite persistent, that one, almost like he has a personal grudge.” Elin tilted her head. “Hans Nielsen, formerly of The National Express. Ring a bell?”
Several. Hans was the paparazzo whose camera Rhys had destroyed in the cemetery last year. Apparently, he’d moved up the career ladder and held a grudge.
I flashed back to a few weeks ago, when Rhys told me he suspected someone had snooped around his guesthouse while he’d been living there. I bet it was Hans, considering it happened before Rhys and I had gotten together and Elin hired a photographer to trail us.
I didn’t tell Elin any of that, though.
“Regardless, the pictures satisfied him and kept him from digging further,” Elin said when I didn’t respond. “I must say, in hindsight, your press conference was inspired, and you and Mr. Larsen made it work. Yesterday’s vote was a big win, so no harm, no foul.”
Funny she called the press conference inspired now when she’d thrown a massive fit over it.
“No harm, no foul?” I repeated. “Elin, you went behind my back, created a scandal, and dragged Mikaela into it!”
Mikaela, who’d been watching the rapid-fire exchange between us with wide eyes, lowered her head.
“I needed a go-between. I couldn’t have the photos traced back to me.” Elin heaved a deep sigh. “Honestly, Your Highness, it all worked out. I fed the press a smaller scandal so they wouldn’t stumble onto a larger one. I was protecting the royal family. That has always been my number one goal.”
“Perhaps.” I steeled my spine. “I appreciate your service to the family over the years, but I’m afraid it’s time we part ways.”
Mikaela squeaked while the color leached from Elin’s face.
“You’re firing me? You can’t fire me. His Majesty—”
“Has given me the authority to make whatever staffing changes I see fit,” I finished. I pressed my hands tight against my thighs to keep from shaking. Elin was one of the palace’s longest-serving employees, and I’d always been slightly terrified of her. But while she was great at the external part of her job, I needed someone who worked with me, not someone who snuck around behind my back and tried to dictate my actions. “You stepped over the line, and you lost our trust. Mine and the king’s.”
Elin clutched her phone, her knuckles whiter than her suit. Finally, she said, “As you wish. I’ll have my desk cleared out by the end of the week.” A muscle twitched beneath her eye, but otherwise, she showed no emotion. “Is there anything else, Your Highness?”
Brisk and efficient to the end.
“No,” I said, feeling strangely melancholy. Elin and I had never been close, but it was the end of an era. “You’re dismissed.”
She gave me a tight nod and walked out. She wasn’t one for dramatics, and she knew me well enough to know when I’d set my mind on something.
“You too,” I told Mikaela.
“Bridget, I swear—”
“I need to think things through.” Maybe I would forgive her one day, but her betrayal was still fresh and nothing she said right now would penetrate the hurt. “I don’t know how long that’s going to take, but I need time.”
“Fair enough.” Her chin wobbled. “I really was trying to help. Elin was so convincing. I didn’t believe her at first when she said you and Rhys had something going on. But then I thought about the way you looked at each other, and that time you took so long to answer the door at your office…it all made sense. She said you would get in huge trouble if—”
“Mikaela, please.” I pressed my fingers to my forehead. It hurt almost as much as my heart. If I were old Bridget, perhaps I would’ve let what she did slide, but I couldn’t afford to let things slide anymore. I needed people I could trust around me. “Not right now.”
Mikaela swallowed hard, her freckles stark against her pale skin, but she left without trying to make excuses again.
I expelled a sharp breath. The conversation had been shorter but harder than I’d expected, even after weeks of mental preparation.
I supposed nothing could fully prepare someone for firing one of their longest-serving employees and saying goodbye to one of their oldest friends in the span of half an hour.
I heard Rhys come up behind me. He didn’t speak. He just swept his palms over my shoulders and massaged the muscles with his thumbs.
“I’d hoped you were wrong.” I stared at where Mikaela had sat, the sting of betrayal lingering on my skin.
“Princess, I’m never wrong.”
I released a half laugh, breaking some of the tension. “I can think of a few instances when you were.”
“Yeah? Like when?” Rhys challenged, a hint of amusement shining through.
I deepened my voice to mimic him. “One, I do not become personally involved in my clients’ lives. I am here to safeguard you from physical harm. That is all. I am not here to be your friend, confidant, or anything else. This ensures my judgment remains uncompromised.” I reverted to my regular voice. “How’d that work out for you, Mr. Larsen?”
He stopped massaging my shoulders and curled one hand around my throat. My pulse jumped as he lowered his head until his lips grazed my ear. “Mocking me? Do you need a refresher lesson already, Your Highness?”
Another piece of tension cracked.
“Maybe. You might want to brush up on your teaching skills, Mr. Larsen,” I said, playing along. “The lessons should last longer than a couple hours.”
Another laugh escaped when Rhys picked me up and swung me around until we faced each other, and my limbs wrapped around his neck and waist.
“I knew you were trouble the moment I saw you.” He squeezed my ass, hard, but those steel-gray eyes were soft as he examined me. “You did what you had to do, princess.”
Despite the gruff delivery, his single short sentence comforted me more an entire speech from someone else could.