Princess

Chapter 21: Call Me By My Name

Damon

The restaurant fell quiet as we walked in, her hand placed in mine as she followed close behind me and I rubbed circles in her palm to calm her down. Hungry eyes from customers pierced through my skin, glancing between the two of us.

I could tell she felt intimidated—she had always hated public attention—and she quickened her pace, using her other hand to wrap around my bicep. I slowed down a bit, falling in step with her and removed my hand from hers, wrapping it around her waist instead. She smiled at me gratefully and let go of the bottom lip she was biting so furiously.

On the way to our table, I stopped by the New York Police Commissioner dining with his family–the same one who told me that killing Matteo would come back on me no matter what and that I should find another way to get rid of him. What a useless man.

Ariadne greeted him confidently. He looked quizzically between the two of us, no doubt figuring out when to tell her father that I was no good for his daughter. That I would never have a chance with her.

Immediately though, a younger boy hugged her leg and she crouched down to his level, introducing herself to him with so much happiness and excitement. His hands ran all over her face, pulling her hair, and fisting her dress but she didn't seem to mind at all. She's a pediatrician. She's used to this.

But it wasn't just her profession; she was so comfortable and at ease with the boy, I was almost sure he was going to follow us when we finally broke away. He placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek, and she laughed loud and clear in response, pulling him in for a hug.

An uninvited thought popped into my head: she'd be an incredible mother.

Kind. Strong. Humble. Noble.

If I ever had kids, they would be lucky to have a mother like her, to have all her imperial perfection rub off on them because their father was a bad man. Is a bad man. Will always be a bad man.

But her? Ariadne would be amazing.

The mostly secluded table, surrounded by light waterfalls, mood lighting, and gold-plated refurbishments was all ready for us with a dim candle lit in the middle and rose petals scattered on the fresh white linen, none of which was standard procedure for the restaurant.

We looked at each other at the same time and concluded, "Robyn."

"She's so insistent on this. Us," Ariadne chuckled as I pulled her chair back for her to settle down. Unbuttoning my suit, I sat right across from her.

"She's brought it up to you too, has she?" I drawled and she nodded, blushing.

"Oh yes, she has."

"Seems like everyone's rooting for us, princess," I put out carefully.

She blushed deeper, a hint of mischief lingering in her eyes. "It does indeed seem that way, pretty boy."

I glanced down at my phone momentarily to look at the alarming number of texts I'd received, all from separate people.

Christian: I'm going to kill you.

Robyn: I literally landed the biggest opportunity on your lap. If you ruin this, I will kill you. Kill you dead. Have fun though, love you!

Francis: Try not to do anything under the table this time.

Bella: TALK. Do you understand me? USE. YOUR. WORDS.

Finally, another text from Christian.

Christian: I'm going to kill you.

I ignored them all.