Love For Hire

Chapter 16: 16

Kinsley stood at the table with Nicholas and his siblings as his parents entered the dining room. Once the King and Queen were seated, everyone else took their seats. Kinsley thanked the maid that placed her meal on the table before her. Everyone began to eat, but as usual, Nicholas sat at the table calm and relaxed, not touching his meal but drinking his wine and refilling his glass.

“Are you not eating?” Naya asked when she noticed her son had not so much as picked up his fork.

“I am not hungry,” he said. Kinsley had been at the palace with Nichols for nearly two weeks, and she had only seen him pick at his food, only eating a few mouthfuls occasionally. In all honesty, she had no idea how he managed to get through every day without fainting or experiencing weakness.

“You must eat to keep up your strength,” Naya lectured. Kinsley had to agree with his mother to a point. She would feel better if he ate more.

“I am strong enough,” he muttered, lifting his wine to his lips.

“I insist you eat,” Naya ordered. This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

“I must regretfully defy your insistence, Mother.”

“Nicholas…” She snarled his name.

“Nauseous Mother,” he snapped back, harshly, instantly silencing her. “Nauseous… I am always nauseated. The medications you insist on have Octavius force on me turns my stomach, and the only reason I am not on my knees bent over the toilet violently vomiting all day every day is I do not eat. So, do me the courtesy of getting off my back,” he hissed.

The whole room went quiet, and Kinsley felt awkward being witness to the royal family’s discontent. “So, Kinsley,” Teegan piped up, ending the uncomfortable silence that hung in the air, “how long have you and Nickolas been seeing each other?”

“Long enough,” Nicholas answered for her.

“Well, how did you two meet?” Teegan asked, addressing Kinsley once more.

“In passing,” Nicholas answered again. He then reached out and took her hand then smiled. “I thought she was utterly enchanting and knew I had to have her. Besides, when I recently lost my vision, she stayed when she could have walked away.”

“And I am sure that the fact that you have the wealth of a nation and the blood of royalty in your veins. After all, it is not like women seduce men with wealth and power just to get ahead in life,” Samuel drawled as he reached for his wine glass.

Kinsley was speechless. Nicholas’ father had just insulted her in a roundabout way that was painfully obvious to everyone at the table. The worse part was neither Nicholas nor she could refute his accusation that Kinsley was only with him for the money. Though she was quickly developing feelings for Nicholas, it had been the money that placed her in this palace and his bed when neither she nor Nicholas rejected the idea.

When no one corrected him, the King placed his glass down on the table. “That is what I thought. Well then, let us put all the cards out on the table,” he said, turning his gaze to Kinsley. “You are a pauper, a common unimpressive peasant, who is below my son’s station and breeding. He is so far out of your league you two are not even in the same universe. Let me debunk the fantasies swirling in your mind. He does not love you. He will never love you. How could he, you are beneath him?...

“He will never marry you. You will never be a princess. He will not make you a queen; because, though it breaks my heart, he will never live long enough to be King. If you think he will leave you anything in his will after he passes, you are sorely mistaken because everything he has is mine. My kingdom, my palace, my wealth; when he dies, you will return to the streets penniless and forgotten like every woman to have come before you…

“But for the gifts, he showers you with now. You will come out of this relationship with nothing. So, enjoy the ride while it lasts and knows this; the only reason I am willing to so much as even tolerate your existence is that I love my son, and you make him happy; at this point in his brief life, he has so very little to be happy about.”

His words cut deep, and Kinsley looked down at her meal and realized she had lost her appetite. “Excuse me,” she said softly and stood up to leave.

Nicholas’ hand shot out and caught her by the wrist, stopping her from fleeing the room. “Kinsley, wait,” he rose to his feet, still holding his her. He did not look directly at anyone, but the anger was clear on his face. “I would like to point out, Father, that everyone at the table is a guest in what is my home. And until I am cold in the ground, it is MY home, and out of everyone at this table, Kinsley was invited… you were not. So, do me the courtesy that the next time you have an opinion, keep it to yourself,” he snarled, and then he left the room, dragging Kinsley behind him. He whistled, and Brutus jumped up and rushed over to him. Nicholas grabbed his harness in the hall, and they made their way up the stairs, headed for the room they now shared.

Once in their room, Nicholas let go of Brutus and sent him to his doggy bed. “Nicholas, I am sorry about leaving dinner. I just could not…” He turned and took her face in his hands, then kissed her lips hard, silencing her.

His lips lifted from her. “You did nothing wrong. My family means well, but they are arrogant. The downside to wealth and privilege. Many would say I have the same faults.”

“Nicholas…”

“No, hush, let me say this. Regardless of what my father thinks, you must know I cherish every moment you spend with me. I know we have a deal, and that money will change hands, but it means the world to me that you stay, given the circumstances not many women would,” his hand caressed her face

affectionately. “He was right about one thing. You do make me happy. When my world has been nothing but black and dark for so long, you have been a ray of light. While my predicament has not changed and the outcome remains the same. You are making my last days bearable, and for that, I can never repay you.”

Kinsley was grateful he could not see her well. It meant he could not see the tears she was trying so hard not to let fall. His words were touching. She was happy to hear he was happy with her because she was happy with him. In a short time, she had developed feelings for this man, strange, confusing feelings. They did not make sense, but she was glad to hear they were returned.

She gazed up at his handsome face and thought about what the King had said. She had feelings for Nicholas; she did not want anything between them to ever make him question those feelings. She reached up and placed her hand over his and turned her head, placing a kiss on his palm and making him smile. She then looked up at him. “I do not want the money,” she said outright.

His dark brows drew together questioningly. “What?” He whispered.

“The money,” she said. “The rent, the debt, the million dollars; I do not want it, any of it.”

“I do not understand,” the look on his face confirmed he could not fathom why she would not take the money. His hands fell away, and he took a step back, looking worried and tortured. “Are you reneging on our deal?” His voice choked. “Are you leaving me?”

“No,” she giggled. “I will stay if you let me. But I do not want to be your employee. I want to be your girlfriend, for real, not just in front of your parents.”

“Why?” He sounded so unsure. “If not for the money, what do you get out of it?”

“You.”

His look of confusion grew. “I do not understand.”

She giggled and caught his face in her hands, then kissed his cheek. “For an educated man, you are dense. I have feelings for you, silly, and I want to be with you.”

“I am dying, Kinsley. I am deteriorating every day,” she could see pain and sorrow in his expression. “Blindness is just the beginning. It is going to get so much worse. I am going to become feeble, a burden on everyone. In two years' time, I will not even remember my own name, let alone who you are.”

She took his hand and sat Nicholas on the edge of the bed. She ran her fingers through his hair and then lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it. “Our time together will be brief and will lose you. But in our short time together, we will have loved a lifetime; and when you are gone. I will remember you, and you will live on forever in my heart.”

A tear fell from his eyes and rolled down his cheek. She’d never seen him so emotional. “You love me?” He barely managed.

She stroked his hair. “Yes.”

His hand came up and lay to the side of her face. “I love you too… so much,” his confession of love was odd. When one would expect to see happiness and affection, she saw pain and agony on his handsome face. He leaned in and placed a soft lingering kiss on her lips, then pulled back and lay his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes in anguish. “And because I love you so much. I will not let you waste your life watching me die,” he then shot to his feet and walked to the door. Opening the door, he yelled for Octavius, who appeared out of nowhere immediately.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Miss. Wells is leaving us. Collect her things,” he said, snapping his fingers to summon Brutus to his side. “Take her home,” he said, holding Brutus’ harness. “And see, she is compensated for her time.”

Kinsley stood up and came to stand in front of him. “Nicholas, do not, please do not send me away.”

“I set you free,” he whispered. “Live a good life,” he then left the room with Brutus, and she found herself alone with Octavius.

They both remained silent for a long moment allowing Kinsley to absorb what had just happened. “Miss. Wells, if you would be kind enough to pack. I will have Stephen take you home. As for your rent and your debt, all has been paid, and your account will receive a deposit of a million dollars by the end of the business day tomorrow,” her heart was breaking. She had confessed her feeling only to be sent away.

“Keep the fucking money. I do not want it.”