Ice queen

Ice queen.

Xavier

I hated attending balls. My mother insisted I attended today to find a bride. I never want a bride; I am happy on my own and I will choose a worthy successor from my younger recruits. It was always my plan to do that, but I went to please mother. She was the only one who cared about me, she was the only one I cared about. My father was not abusive, but he was not caring, he only saw me as the next boss, and he trained me to be great from a young age. When I was 16, he was killed, and I took over the day after his funeral.10 years later, I made this mafia the most powerful and the most respected in the whole world.

I fixed my tie in the reflection of the car while waiting for mother. I was wearing a black suit with no blazer, just a waist coat. My tie was blood red and tucked into my waist coat. I make sure my hairs in place and see mother walking up to me in her beige dress. It was simple and flowed down gracefully. It had a high neck and the sleeves stopped just past her elbows. She wore a fur shawl over the top of it and I could see simple matching pumps as she walked. “You look beautiful mama” I say with a smile before opening the door for her. She smiles back at me and climbs in, me following. She was the only person I smiled for, she begs me to smile for others, insisting I had wonderful smile, but I would not show weakness to enemies. The driver drives quickly but at a comfortable speed for mother. I just notice the white gloves on her hands that stopped at her wrists and the beige clutch she was holding that was embellished with beautiful diamonds. We arrived quickly and I escort my mother to her friends. Anna woods, Regina swan and callisa Reed. After making sure she was comfortable I left in search of a bar.

It had been an hour or so and everyone expected was in the ball room. The host, Gerald Redford, was expected to speak soon. He was a horrible man with no morals. The worst thing about him was his disrespectful nature towards women. He was a single man and never hesitated to assault and rape innocent women. I was desperate to kill him, but I could not, he was under protection by deal of my father. Click click. “Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for joining me on this brilliant night. I would- “he started, but never finished. Mid way through his sentence a gunshot resonated through the large room and the man dropped dead. Blood oozing out of the wound in the back of his head. Everyone rushes to him to check his state, but I look for the killer. On a balcony a woman stood, gun in hand. She was beautiful. White hair, grey eyes, pale skin but gorgeous red lips. A lot of her face was covered with a midnight blue mask. Her hair was styled perfectly at the back of her head, so I was unsure of its length. Before I could study her in any more detail, she calmly made her way to the exit. I go to follow but I am stopped by a shrill voice. “He’s turned blue! The ice queen did this!” She screamed. I walk over and people part to let me through. On the ground I see a weeping woman who was not ugly but wore to much makeup to be attractive to me. “Tell me about this ice queen” I demand in a cool tone. “Sh-she’s an assassin. Nobody knows what she looks like or who she works for, but she kills men of power, but only those who hunt women. You can tell it’s her work because she always shoots the head, but something special about her is her victim always turns a blue colour.” She said still blubbering. “How do you know it’s a girl” I say, crouching to look at the blue stuff. “Because of her song. When she kills not long after you can hear her sing, then she disappears until she is needed again”

Before I could respond I heard a soft sound echo through the room. It was a song.

“Quantus tremor est futurus

Quando Judex est venturus

Quantus tremor est futurus

Quando Judex est venturus

Damnata, invisus, ubique

Ab omnibus, ad infinitum

Rex tremendae majestatis

Qui salvandos salvas gratis

Salve me, Fons Pietatis

Salve me, Fons Pietatis”

Latin. I look around the room for the origin but find no one. “Xavier, I want to leave. I don’t feel safe” I hear my mother say while holding my arm gently. I nod and escort her to our car. “Mother I’m going to investigate for a while. Dean will be at home to protect you while I’m gone” I say before she gets in the car. She nods and touches my cheek before getting in the car and driving off. Dean was my second in command and leadership would most likely be passed to his child. His wife Merliah was 2 weeks pregnant and he was extremely excited. I take my gun out of my pocket and start walking around the areas.

It had been half an hour and I was about to give up but then I heard something. Humming. I creep to the source and peek over the bush to see a hooded figure. “Don’t move. Who are you” I say as I put the gun to the back of their head? They were so small, no more than 5’2. She chuckles and turns, her face covered by her hood. “I can’t tell you my name. But I can tell you yours” she says softly. I do not give her a response. “Xavier Blake, 20 years old, runs the biggest mafia in the world. I have had many people request for me to take you down, but you do not fit my criteria. I find that strange since you have so much power” she continues. I started piecing things together. “You’re the ice queen” I state. She lifts her hands slowly and does a sarcastic clap. “Your smart pretty boy. All the others I encounter assume I am just a poor girl who is lost and offer to help me. You are, however. You saw me didn’t you” she says as she takes a step closer to me. She had balls, I was impressed and intrigued. “I smirk and use my gun to flip of her hood. It was her. Her mask was gone, and I could see her face properly. She had rounded cheeks that were a pinkish colour and freckles decorated her nose and cheeks. Her nose was small and cute, and her lips were big and round. Her eye lashes defined her grey eyes that hid an array of blues and greens. She had a minimal amount of makeup and I could tell she looked the same without it on. “You’re the first to see my face and know my identity Xavier Blake, for that reason I owe you one thing. Anything you wish” she said with a smirk. What do I do with her?

I ended up taking her home with me. She was still Wearing a short blue dress that accentuated her body perfectly. Her hoodie covered her top part, but her bottom half was perfect. Big round ass and thick thighs. “You stay here tonight, and I decide what I do with you tomorrow” I state. She just nods. I tell her to follow and take her to a room, a room right next to mine. I give her pyjamas and leave. I go downstairs and see mama sat reading a book with a cup of tea. “Mama you should be asleep” I say before kissing her cheek. “I know. I saw that girl. Who is she? She’s incredibly beautiful” she says as I sit next to her. “To be completely honest mama I have no clue who she is. But I feel I can trust her” I tell her. She puts her book on the table and smiles like She knows something I do not. I frown in confusion. “Goodnight son” she says simply before leaving.

Next morning, I throw on some sweatpants and head downstairs. As I reach the bottom, I hear laughter and smell something delicious. I enter the kitchen to see my mother sat at the table eating while the girl from last night cooks. “Xavier your up! Anneliese here is absolutely wonderful!” She exclaims as the girl brings her more food. Her name was Anneliese? I sat down across from my mother and Anneliese sets a plate of bacon and pancakes in front of me. “That was wonderful my dear, I have to go change but I’m sure Xavier wouldn’t mind keeping you company while you eat” mother says while standing. “Thank you, Luna,” she says in return. My mother leaves and Anneliese sit across from me. “So, your name is Anneliese hm?” I ask while eating. “Yes, it is, and no one can know that” she says with a serious face. I nod in response. “I won’t beat around the bush here. Your strong and smart. And you intrigue me, so I want you in my mafia. You would be responsible for training new recruits and I would want you working with me on missions because of your skills” I say bluntly. She nods and says ok. We eat in silence, stealing glances from one another now and then.

“where’s your place, we need to pick up your stuff” I say to Anneliese while washing up plates. “oh, uh well I don’t actually have a place. I moved around a lot for work, so I never got one. I usually give my stuff away when I am done with it too, I only keep 3 sets of clothes” she says in response while biting into an apple. I turn and search her face for a lie. “seriously? I’m taking you shopping, go find my mother she’ll lend you something appropriate for the day” I say to her, lifting her off the counter and pushing her out of the kitchen. She does not object. I tell a maid to take her to my mother and I finish cleaning before heading to my room to change. I throw on a casual black suit and head downstairs to wait for Anneliese. I pick up keys and mess with them. I hear heels clicking and look towards the stairs. Anneliese was walking down in little black heels that had a strap around their ankle and a strap over her toes. She had a thigh length dress shirt that had a white belt that matched the buttons. The rest of the dress was black and had long sleeves that were rolled up to her elbows. Her hair was straightened and was parted at the side. It reached past her hips. She had a thin line of eyeliner on and she had a gloss on her lips. She looked beautiful. “let’s get this over with” she huffed as she got to the bottom of the stairs. I smirked and we left. I got in my 720 and she got in the passenger. I took off, far surpassing the speeding limits to scare her. I glance over and she was just sat calmly. I smirked. Brave little girl. “I never asked. How old are you?” I ask. “I’m 18 in a week” she says in response. “you’re so young. How long have you been an assassin little girl?” I ask. “ok one I’m not a little girl I’m only a couple years younger than you and two I began training at 6. My father taught me everything. My brothers were taught better but I- never mind” she said. I decided not to pry in fear of upsetting her.

We reached the mall and went in. I notice men staring at Anneliese and I feel jealousy wash over me. she does not even notice. She starts walking towards some cheap shop. “where are you going?” I ask while stopping. “uh… the store?” she says as she turns to look at me. “I roll my eyes and grab her wrist, pulling her to the lift. We go to the top floor that had all the luxury brands. “you’ll be seen with me a lot I can’t have you looking like shit” I say to justify myself dragging her into the lui Vuitton. “yea sorry boss but I can’t afford this shit” she says as I look around for a worker. I call one over and hand her my card. “start a tab. Anything she wants she has. And anything that looks good on her put on there too” I say while pushing Anneliese to her. “of course, sir. An incredibly lucky girlfriend you have” I go to object, but my subconscious stops me. Anneliese does not object either. She leaves with the women and I make my way to a waiting area.

It had been about half hour. I was so bored. “sir I’m sorry but your girlfriend is being terribly stubborn and has only chose one thing. She’s adamant everything looks terrible on her.” I do not react and head to the room she is trying things on in. I walk in and see her frowning at herself in the mirror. She was in a tight red dress that showed of a lot of her cleavage and stopped at her midthigh. She looked amazing. “the worker said you keep saying you look terrible in everything” I said to her while leaning against the wall. “I do. My hair is to light to go with any colours and my body just isn’t right” she says while running her hands down her body. “I think you look great in that dress and I’m sure you look good in everything you’ve tried on Anneliese” I say to her while standing next to her and putting her arms by her sides and lifting her head up so she looked proud. She gave me a slight smile in the mirror before turning to look at me. we were so close. I held my breath while looking into her eyes. I could tell she was doing the same. “so, I assume we’ve had an improve- “a voice said. I jump away from her and look towards the door. The worker is stood there looking very awkward. I smirk and then leave. Why did I miss having her near me?

It had been about 20 minutes and Anneliese had just come out of the dressing room wearing the black shirt dress. A male worker followed holding two medium bags. That is all she got. I look back to her and see her with a frown. She did not even want those clothes, she only got them because she was given no choice. I take the bags from the worker and he hands me my card with a receipt. We leave and we make our way to another store. “Xavier isn’t this enough clothing? I don’t need anything else” she whines, stopping. I look down and smirk. “fine you don’t need any outer clothes but there’s one thing you haven’t got any off.” I say before pointing to the Victoria secret lazily. She goes red but does not say anything. I take her wrist and pull her into the store. I summon over a worker once again. “she needs complete new sets. Something for every occasion and multitudes for everyday use” I say to the woman. She nods and takes Anneliese to a room. I follow behind and put the things in the room before leaving again to look around. Out of the corner of my eye I notice a blood red set with matching stockings and corset. I make my way over to too study the intricate patterns on the set. It had no purpose other than to look alluring. I take it and hand it to the worker, telling her I want it for her. She nods and takes it.

Once again, I wait for half an hour, wondering around the store. Everything I see I imagine Anneliese in, everything I imagine using on her. I smirk at my own thoughts; unaware the familiar little blonde was finished. “what’s with the look on your face?” she frowns while crossing her arms. “it doesn’t matter” I say to her. I walk to the counter and pay for the things. While she trails behind.

“are you sure there’s nothing else you need?” I ask her once again. “yes I’m- oh... my feet…” she says while looking down. “alright, I’ll have different pairs delivered. You seem tired already” I said calmly. She nods and we leave the mall.

The car ride home was silent. Not an awkward silence but I tired one. I could tell Anneliese was unused to things like this. I glance at her and notice her eyes were closing. I smiled to myself and drove faster so she could rest at home.

We got home about an hour ago. I ordered a servant to unpack her things into the walk-in wardrobe across from her room. I also ordered for more clothes from different brands that would fit her. All of them in similar styles. Shoes were brought for her two, my mother making sure everything would fit her and making sure they would look good on her. Anneliese was sleeping and I was working. Dean was supposed to be coming around to update me on things. “Mr Blake, Mr summers is here for you” a maid said to me from the entrance of the living room. I nod in response. She walks away and a few minutes later dean joins me in the living room. “hey. So long story short most things are ruining smoothly but we are having trouble with Charles Alexander.” He says to me while sitting across from me. “I see. Difficult man. What haven’t you tried to kill him with?” I ask simply. “we’ve tried everything in our skill range” he continues. “every time we are stopped by his men”

“I see” I begin to say but am stopped by a soft voice. “perhaps I can help. I don’t think his men would suspect me and I can go a great distance and still be able to hit them.” Anneliese Spoke shyly. “pardon me but who are you” dean asks her coldly. “she puts on a fake smile. “I believe I’m known as the ice queen to others” she says calmly while walking to him. “ha! You expect me to believe that you are the ice queen? A little girl that looks as though she has no strength at all.” He says loudly. I watch her and notice her going for the knife in deans’ pocket. I did not stop her. “your probably just one of Xavier’s whor- “he begins snidely but is interrupted by Anneliese holding his own knife to his throat. “1 never insinuate I am a whore. 2 if I have no strength please tell me why I am the one holding a knife to your throat and 3 that is exactly why I am the best assassin at Xavier’s disposal.” She says with a cold look in her eyes. I smirk at the scene. “snowflake, id highly appreciate you putting the knife down. Dean is my second in command and I really don’t want him dead” I say simply. I see her eyes sparkle before she looks at me. “put the knife down? Alright” she says mischievously before holding the knife at dean’s crotch. “snowflake, you know what I meant. Deans a family man he needs that area of his body.” I say as I stand up and walk towards her. I put my hand out and she puts the blade in my hand. “get dressed I’m taking you to base” I say too her while handing the knife to dean. She nods and runs off. “quite the troublemaker isn’t she” I say to dean while watching her run off. “well well it seems as though Xavier has found his muse” he says cheekily. I scoff and walk away from him

I was in the kitchen having a drink when I heard Anneliese calling my name. “kitchen snowflake!” I yell to her. She walks in and my jaw drops. She was in a tight black outfit that covered all her skin but somehow left nothing to the imagination. She had boots on and had a thigh holster that held 2 knifes and had space for a gun. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, but her hair still reached far down her back. “ready to go?” I ask her as a distraction. “yes, I am” she says with a smile. For the second time today, we get into my car and we drive away.

It was a short drive there and Anneliese practically jumps out of the car When we arrive. “I’m going to introduce you to the trainees that you’ll be teaching. This is what you will be teaching them.” I say to her while walk. I hand her a piece of paper with a list of skills. “only those you think are worthy to move on will. I trust you won’t be kind with your judging” I say to her as we reach the training area. She nods and we go in. we are greeted by trainees messing around. “all of you line up!” I yell. They do as there told and they stand at attention. All of them were taller than Anneliese and it amused me. “hi everyone. I am your new teacher. You will call me ice” she says with no smile. “I apologise sir but is she really going to be teaching us? We are probably more advanced than her” a guy says smugly. Before I could say anything, the man was on the ground crying in agony. I look to my side and see Anneliese holding my gun out. I smirk. “yes, she will be. She holds the same power over you as I do. Meaning if you decide to disrespect her, she will not hesitate to kill you. Your future in this mafia rests in her hands” I say strongly. “someone take him to the infirmary” Anneliese says while giving me back my gun. I notice the others looking at her in fear. “ide like to know your names” Anneliese says to them much nicer than before. The 14 recruits all say their names and age. We get to the last recruit and she stutters over her words. “m-my name is H-Hadley. I’m 14” she says while looking down. She was the youngest one. Anneliese smiles at her. “do any of you have any specialties?” she asks. They all shake their heads no. “we better get to work then.” She says as she heads to the wall of weapons. She picks up s bow and some arrows. I simply lean on the wall and watch. “grab something you want to use, anything will do.” She says to them. They all run over and grab something. “I wanna get a sense of what you can all do, you. You go first.” She says as she points a woman. The women looked startled. She was staring at me. I smirked. She walked over to a target, the trainee following. The trainee held a pistol. “I need you to shoot the target” she said to her. The girl did not move. “hm, maybe we should use the thing that you were distracted by as a target. Boss? Would you mind?” she said with a fake smile. I stood up and walked to her, standing in front of the target. “shoot” she says to the girl harshly. The girl closes her eyes and shoots, missing me by miles. “first mistake. You were distracted. You must have focus, or you will be shot, and you will be killed. second mistake. You hesitated. In that second it took for you to convince yourself an enemy would have shot you and you would be dead. third mistake. Your stance is terrible. I am surprised you did not go flying back from the recoil. Third mistake never close your eyes. As soon as your eyes closed you lose the ability to know your surroundings, without that you die. Do you want me to continue?” she says harshly. The girl looks down and shakes her head. “leave your done for today” she said, and the girl ran out. Let us see if the rest of you can focus. Do not worry your targets are not your boss” she says nicer to the remainder of the trainees.

It had been about an hour and we were on the last recruit. Hadley. The 14-year-old. The girl held the same bow as Anneliese. “ready? don’t be scared. Look. Feet shoulder width apart. Hand on the bow like this. Perfect. Now pull back pull it back till it touches your chin. Look at where you want it to go. Release” Anneliese said, guiding her through it all. Hadley narrowly missed the centre but did better than everyone. “well done Hadley. Your done for the day” she said with a smile, taking the weapon from the girl. She smiled back and ran off. “What do you think of them” I ask her once we are alone. “I think they amazing potential. Already though I can tell several won’t make it through.” She says while putting the bows back. I nod. “It’s getting late we better head back” I say to her. She nods and we leave

Once we arrive home, we are greeted by mama. “Welcome home you two!” she says cheerfully. “Go clean yourselves up and get ready for dinner” she says, pushing us upstairs. I smile, watching her sway her hips while walking up the stairs. I really enjoy having her around. Once I reach my room, I unbutton the top few buttons on my shirt and wash my face and hands in my private bathroom. I lean over the sink and stare at my reflection. Why do I like this girl? I know nothing about her. I do not even know her last name. I should probably ask her that. I brush through my hair, removing any gel. My hair falls over my face slightly, but I just leave it. I roll my sleeves up and head downstairs. I make my way to the dining room and once again I am greeted with the sound of laughter. my mother and Anneliese were sat at the table together joking. Anneliese was in some leggings and a baggy jumper and mother was wearing her a loose shirt, cardigan and some slightly long trousers. I smile and sit at the head of the table. “Anneliese, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your last name?” I ask while resting my chin on my crossed hands. “my last names Rinaldi” she says calmly. I hear mother gasp. “Rinaldi? Anneliese was your father’s name Miguel?” she asks cautiously. Anneliese frowns. “yes, how do you know my father” she questions. “my god. I thought you were all dead. Miguel was a family friend. Xavier went to school with one of your older brothers dear. You… no I shouldn’t say anything yet” she says while tearing up. Anneliese looked confused and shocked as she looked between me and my mother. “please tell me the rest” she begs while putting her hand over my mothers. “your mother made a deal with me and my late husband. Early on in life I knew Xavier would not wish to marry, and he would end up giving our family business to someone else. No offense dear. But we decided to save our family legacy and to create an alliance with your family that Xavier would marry the only Rinaldi daughter. That daughter is you” mother said cautiously. I was supposed to marry her. “I’m guessing when the accident happened you thought I died. The reason I am not dead is because I was not on that trip. Mother insisted I stay home to finish my work. When I found out a week later, I ran away. The only person that new I was not on that trip and that knew I was alive was one of the guards. He was an unkind man and people thought he was crazy when he said I was still alive. I don’t know where he is now” she said sadly. “you are safe now snowflake. You will be taken care of here” I said in attempt to calm her. She looked at me and smiled softly. I smiled back.

Nothing else was said at dinner. We ate in a comfortable silence. Mother went to bed, but I and Anneliese made our way to the living area and we sat together watching a movie. Anneliese had chosen birds of a prey to watch. She watched the film carefully while I watched her, reacting to her different reactions. When the time came for the big fight her eyes lit up. She liked combat. I smirked and started conceiving plans for tomorrow. Just before the film finished Anneliese had started falling asleep. Her head drops to the side, falling on to my lap. I smile and move her hair out of her face. She looked even more stunning asleep. I move her carefully of my lap and stand. I lift her into my arms and carried her to her room. I lay her down and pull the sheets over her before turning to walk away. Before I could walk, I feel something grab onto my shirt. I turn and see Anneliese holding onto me. “stay with me” she says shyly. I smile before taking of my shoes and sliding into the bed. “Xavier? What do you think would have happened if my parents had not died?” she asks me while rolling on to her said to face me. “I think we would be unhappily married, being encouraged to have a child so I could have an heir. There would be a lot of more disgusting men in this world. You wouldn’t be an assassin, and things would just all be wrong” I say in response. “I don’t think being married to you would be that bad” she says quietly as she falls asleep. Did she really think that or was I just that she was just exhausted? I pushed it out of my mind and fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke with my arm wrapped around something small and hair in my face. I open my eyes and am met with tuffs of white hair in my face and a small curvy body in my arms. Anneliese. She smelt amazing, like Cherrie blossoms. I move her hair out of her face. And look at her. I do not think I will ever get over how beautiful she is. She starts stirring and I move away slightly. “good morning snowflake” I say to her with a smirk. Her face goes red and her eyes widen before she jumps away from me. she gets out of the bed and turns away from me. her jumper falls, revealing her pale shoulder. “I’m sorry Xavier. I don’t know what came over me last night, we need to have a professional relationship” she said after composing and turning to face me. she smiled before leaving the room. I frown slightly. I had just net her, but I knew already I was falling for this girl.

3 weeks later

I get up and walk into my wardrobe and put on black jeans, a white shirt and a blazer with the sleeves pushed up. I slip on my shoes and head downstairs for breakfast. Once I reach the kitchen, I see mother sat at the table eating fruit and yoghurt. “morning mama” I say before kissing her cheek. “morning dear, the maid cooked up some French toast, it’s in the oven keeping warm. I nod and take out, placing it on the side. I take a couple slices and eat happily while leaning on the counter. “morning everyone” Anneliese says with a smile. Her hair was tied into a low ponytail and she only had mascara on. She was wearing a cute grey dress that ended mid-thigh and a black cardigan. She had flat knee-high boots on that were a matte black. She was making it exceedingly difficult not to like her. “morning snowflake” I say while taking another bite of my toast. “are we going to the office today?” she asks while picking up an apple. She throws it in the air before taking a bite. “yea so hurry up” I say while finishing of my toast. She nods and eats her apple. I leave to grab my keys. I go towards the garage door, my keys hung neatly next to it. I grabbed the 720 keys and turn to walk towards the kitchen. Before I can Annelise stands in front of me. “ready to go?” she says cheerfully. I nod and we go get in the car. The drive was short, and we went straight to the training area. As soon as we entered the room 13 recruits lined up. The women who was distracted quite after Anneliese told her off. “hi everyone. We are gonna be getting and working on specialties today. We will spend an hour on those then the rest pf the day will be practicing what you learned the past few weeks” She said as she took of her cardigan. Her dress had sleeves that went to her elbows. She threw her cardigan on the floor next to the door and walked to the wall of weapons. She grabs 3 different weapons and hands them to certain recruits. After each person had a weapon, she showed them how to use them. After each one was shown what to do, they went to practice on their own. She was on the last trainee. Hadley. she held a bow. “remember what I showed you?” Anneliese asked. Hadley nodded. “show me then” Anneliese replied. Hadley grabbed an arrow and loaded it. She pulled back and aimed. It took her a bit long to aim but she hit the edge of her centre. “your form is good, and your aim is good, but you need to move faster. If you don’t you wot get a chance to shoot” she says. Hadley nods. Anneliese smiles and walks towards me. “anyone you not confident about?” I ask her. “I think if they put in the effort, they’ll all do fine, the only reason I cut someone is if they don’t have dedication and effort. Skills can always improve; loyalty wont and you see that through how hard they work.” She says while watching them practice. “I completely agree. Everyone, ice and I have something to attend to. the guards will be watching you. If you are not practicing, you’ll be punished” I say. Anneliese picks up her cardigan and we leave. “where are we going?” she asks while she walks next to me. “I’m gonna introduce you to some of the other members. You have not seen the rest of the facility yet either.” I explain as we walk. She nods with a smile. I head towards the break room first, figuring most people will be there since its lunch time. “listen up guys, this ice she’s the new trainee teacher, and she will be working close with me and dean. You are to respect her and if you choose not to there will be no consequences for her reaction” I say to them sternly. “FINALLY, ANOTHER GIRL!!!” I hear someone yell from across the room. Merliah, Dean’s wife came forward and stood with a bright smile in front of Anneliese. “hi, love my names Merliah, I am dean’s wife. It is a pleasure to meet you. Sadly, we don’t have many girls in the mafia the most I know of is 9 and there all low ranking so I don’t socialise with them much” she says sweetly. Anneliese smiles back. “well it’s a pleasure to meet you too and I’m training 5 new female recruits I think have the potential to get pretty far” she replies politely. “I better show you everything else, you and Merliah can talk later. There coming over tonight for dinner.” I say. She nods and follows me out of the room. I show Anneliese briefly round the rest of the facility before I make my way towards my office. Once I reach there, I head into the room next to it. “this is gonna be your office. Mines next door and deans is across the hall. Any paperwork that needs doing you can do here. You can also come here for alone time” I say to her while leaning on the light brown desk. She sits in one of the plush armchairs and crosses her ankles before putting her hands on her knees. “it’s really nice. Why is it so feminine? who had it before me?” she says sweetly. “my mother. She used to help my father run the place” I say back. She nods. “we should get back to the trainees. I need to teach hand to hand combat skills.” she says as she stands up. “can I trust you to find your own way back?” I ask. She nods and says bye before leaving. I head into my own office and sit down at my desk to get through some paperwork.

A few hours go by and I finish up my work. Just as I log of someone knocks my door. “enter” I say coldly. Dean walks in followed by Anneliese. “your little ice queen killed one of the recruits.” Dean said with crossed arms. I look to Annelise and see her stood emotionless. “I’m sure she has good reason. She wouldn’t do anything otherwise.” I say while leaning back in my chair. “I did. She decided to make an inappropriate comment and I warned her not to. she then proceeded to disrespect me and tried hurting another recruit.” She said simply. “what the fuck was this inappropriate comment?” dean said angrily. “she said, and I quote: I bet Xavier’s gonna be really easy to bed. And as soon as I do, I’m gonna be running this place and that bitch of a teacher will be killed.” She said. I smirked. “I think ice was completely justified” I said as I got up. Dean looked at me in shock. “ice, we should go home, I have to make sure dinner is ready for later. Dean I will see you and your beautiful wife later” I say calmly. I walk out and Anneliese follows. We go to my car and hop in. “hey snowflake, how good are you at cooking” I say as we drive off. “I’m decent at it. My mother taught me how… omg I just realised why she made me learn all those home skills. I was being groomed into the perfect little mafia wife.” She began calm but ended angry. I could not help but laugh. “yano you would have been lucky to marry me, because I’m much kinder to women then other guys. And I’m hotter too.” I say with a smirk. I glance at her and see her cheeks going a bright red. “sh-shut up will ya” she says will sliding down her seat. I just laugh at her. It does not take long to reach home. “I’m gonna go freshen up” Anneliese said before running upstairs. I make my way to the kitchen. I go to the recipe books and pull out my mother’s family recipe book. I sit at the table and start flipping through it. I stop on my mother’s pappardelle recipe. I leave it open on the table and go to collect ingredients. As I do Anneliese appears in the kitchen, her shoes and cardigan missing. “so, what we are making X?” she asks while sliding onto the kitchen counter. “this, it’s a family recipe” I say while handing her the open book. She sits and looks at it peacefully. “this sounds great, but it would be better if you added orange zest” she said as she jumps down and grabs an orange. We decide on having beef with the pasta. I go to the cupboard and pull out the pans we would need. I start on the pasta while Anneliese starts on the sauce. It took us about an hour to get everything ready since we were doing everything from scratch. Just as we finish the doorbell rings out. “I’ll get it” Anneliese says, brushing her hands down her dress to clean it. Before I could object, she runs off. I smile and shake my head before following her. I walk into the hall to see Anneliese being held hostage in a tight hug by Merliah. “M please let ice go” I say while walking to them. She laughs and releases her. “how are you guys?” I say while hugging dean then Merliah. “wonderful, thank you Xavier. What will we be eating tonight?” Merliah says as we make our way to the dining room. “were eating beef pappardelle, I hope that’s ok with you and the baby” I say as we sit. I sit at the head of the table, Anneliese to my left and dean across from her to my right, Merliah of course next to him. “its fine Xavier thank you” Merliah says with a smile. “you ask if its ok with my unborn child but not me?” dean comments jokingly. “you’re a grown man you’ll eat what’s put in front of you” Anneliese says while laughing slightly. Dean smirks and laughs with her. “were gonna go finish off, be right back” I say, signalling for Anneliese to follow. She does and goes straight to the pot with the sauce in. she turns the heat on and stirs it, so it does not burn. I take the beef that had been slow cooking for the hour. I cut it up into small pieces and add it into the sauce that was now warm. I add the pasta to hot water and leave it to cook. “how’s the sauce?” I ask Anneliese as she stirs it. “I don’t know, try it” she says as she holds the spoon up to my mouth, I open my mouth and she puts the spoon in, her hand underneath to catch anything that drips of the spoon. I close my mouth around the spoon, and she pulls it out, leaving the sauce in my mouth. It tasted amazing. “that’s amazing, needs to be a bit hotter” I say. She nods with a smile. She throws the spoon in the sink and grabs another. After 8 minutes everything was ready. I serve the pasta up on 4 plates and Annaliese puts the sauce on top. We each pick up two plates and carry them through to the dining room. I place plates in front of dean and Merliah and Anneliese places a plate in front of me and herself. “I hope you enjoy” I say before taking a bite of my food. “so, Xavier, ice, what’s going on between you two?” Merliah says with a smirk before taking a bite of her food. Both me and Anneliese choke on our food in shock. “excuse me?” Anneliese chokes out before drinking water. “I’ve never seen Xavier act like this, I’ve seen him smile more in the past 3 weeks then I have the entire time I have known him. And I do not know you very well, but you look at him like I look at dean” Merliah explains delicately. We both pause for a moment. “I… excuse me please” she says before running out the room. I run after her on instinct. Just as I reach her room the door is slammed shut. “Anneliese can I come in? its Xavier” I say while knocking the door. “of course, it’s you, you’re the only man who knows my name and it’s your house you can do what you want” she mumbles from the other side of the door. I open the door just wide enough to get in then close it again. I see Anneliese sat on her bed with her head down and her hands in her lap. “are you alright?” I ask her while walking closer. “I’m fine… just… never mind” she says while looking up and putting her head backdown. “what? What is it? Lemme guess your freaked cause you do not wanna catch feelings? I understand that but I can promise there not that scary” I say unconsciously while squatting down to look at her. “how would you know? Are you in love with someone?” she says with some hurt in her eyes. “you could say that” I say with a small smile while reaching up to cup her cheek. She frowns in confusion then realization dawns on her face. “oh… Xavier you know we can’t get attachments in this line of work” she says as she stands up and walks towards the window. I grip her wrist and turn her to look at me. “why can’t we? Because your scared that you will lose them? Well guess what snowflake if you get attached to me, I will not be going anywhere, I’m the most powerful man in the world, no one would dare touch me. so how about we try this?” I say while moving my hand to her waist. “alright. Do you promise I won’t lose you?” she says after a moment of silence. I nod and lean in. she leans in to and our lips meet. I felt fireworks explode. “OH MY GOD OH MY GODDDD” I hear someone scream from the direction of the door. We break the kiss and look to the door. Stood there with a big smiles were Merliah and dean. I feel Anneliese hide her face in my chest. “not another word. No one is to know about this” I say strictly. They nod and I signal them to leave. They do and I lift Anneliese’s head, so she is looking at me. I lean in again and kiss her again. no surprise she kisses me back. I place both hands on her hips while she snakes her arms around my neck, pulling me down so she does not have to stand on her tiptoes. “jump” I mumble against her lips. She does and wraps her legs round my hips. I move my hands to her ass to hold her up while walking towards the bed. I lay her down gently and hover over her. “do you want me baby girl?” I ask while running my thumb along her cheekbone. “yes” she replies breathlessly. So, I gave her me.

The next morning, I woke up before her. She had one leg over my waist and her head was hidden in my chest. I smile and wriggle out of her grasp. I pick up our clothes and head run over to my wardrobe. I put them into the washing basket before pulling out some black sweatpants. I put them on, not bothering with a shirt. I do pick one up before going to Anneliese’s wardrobe. I stand in the middle of it, looking for something for her to wear. I pick up some of her yoga pants that go with my black t-shirt. I go into her room and place them at the end of the bed. I pick up a piece of paper and a pen I write on it: morning snowflake, I am sat in the kitchen right now waiting for your lazy ass. Put these clothes on for me 😊. I put it on top of the clothing pile and walk out. I go to the kitchen and make myself a coffee. I grab a book too and sit at the table, not paying attention to what I picked up. My thoughts were clouded by Anneliese. She was so beautiful. I was not sure how long passed but my coffee was finished, and I had gotten through a couple chapters of the book I was reading. “50 shades huh? That were you get your inspiration” I hear someone say from the doorway. I look up and see Anneliese with her hair down and she was wearing the clothes I had picked out. My shirt hung off her shoulder, exposing the marks that were on her neck and shoulder. I laugh and put the book down. “I don’t need that bullshit for inspiration. I’m better and hotter and richer and stronger” I say as she comes and sits on my lap. She smiles and kisses me. “oh my god” I hear someone say from the doorway. We break the kiss and look. Mother. “mama I wasn’t gonna tell you this way, but I guess you got your way” I say with a small smile. She covers her mouth and tears brim her eyes. Anneliese stands and walks to her. “oh, please don’t cry. I’m sorry” she says, panicked. Mother just pulls her into a tight hug. “thank you. Thank you so much for making him feel something” I hear her mumble to Anneliese. “hey, I can hear you yano” I say jokingly. They both look at me with smiles. “I’m just grateful you’re not heartless. Anneliese honey if he ever wrongs you come to me alright. I’d say you could kill him, but you actually would and ide rather that not happen” mama says before leaving. “guess you were a heartless jerk before me, explains why everyone thought you were fucking me even before you were” she joked while going to make herself some tea. “yes, well I did find you rather delicious to look at” I say with a smirk. “I know I’m delectable” she says teasingly. She sips her tea and sits next to me. “you’re in the wrong seat” I say with a smirk. I push my chair back and pat my lap. She laughs ang gets up, sitting on my lap. “better boss?” she says with a smirk. “much” I say in response.

We sat there happily talking for ages. We only got up to go and sit in the living room. I sat in the corner of the couch and Anneliese sat next to me with her legs over my lap and her head resting on my shoulder. “how long has it been since we last did this?” I mumble while putting a film on. “nearly a month” she mutters back. I end up putting on a new film called 365 days, at Anneliese’s request. About halfway through the film I could not help but to make fun of the guy. “he’s a shit mafia boss” I scoff out. “just because he’s not as good as you don’t mean he’s terrible. And he’s pretty hot too” she says with a smirk. “whatever at least I didn’t have to kidnap you to make you like me” I say bitterly. Slightly jealous of her saying he is hot. “don’t get jealous x” she says sweetly before placing a hand on my cheek and kissing me gently. I smirk and pull her onto my lap. I deepen the kiss and she respond just as eager. Before things could get interesting. I hear something shatter. We break the kiss and look to the door to see a maid stood in shock. Anneliese goes to climb of me, but I hold her on my lap. “leave, not a word of this to anyone or you will face the consequences.” I say harshly to her. She nods and hurries out the room. Anneliese wiggles out of my grasp and walks over to the door. She picks up a piece of the shattered pottery from the floor. “teapot, she was bringing us tea. Ill go and get something to clean it up” she says. Before I could object, she was gone. I sigh and walk over to the shattered teapot. I kneel and start picking up the pieces. Anneliese returns with a bag and a cloth. I put the pieces in the bag, and she wipes up the spilt tea. “yano we have maids for this?” I say as we stand. “yes, but I think you overwork them enough” she laughs out before leaving to put the pieces of tea pot in the trash. Just as she comes back the doorbell rings out. “were you expecting anyone?” she says as we walk to the door. “no” I say simply as I open the door. “good day sir. I am in search of miss Anneliese Rinaldi. My goodness you look identical to your mother” the man at the door said as he stared at Anneliese. She stood confused. This man was an older gentleman that wore a full tuxedo with tails. His grey hair was pushed back, and he stood with a formal frown. I move and stand in front of Anneliese, so she is no longer being stared at. “what business do you have with her” I say coldly. I feel Anneliese wrap her arms around mine while still standing behind me. “I am here on behalf of the Giordano house. To alert miss Rinaldi that her presence is requested at the Domarian palace.” He explains. “why on earth would I be called to a palace” Anneliese says, pushing past me. “you don’t know…” the man says rather to himself then to us. “I think you better come in. please take a seat in that room over there while me and my… boyfriend make ourselves a tad more presentable” Anneliese says while opening the door and pointing to the drawing room. The man nods and goes there while Anneliese and I go upstairs. “what the hell do you think he’s talking about?” Anneliese says as we walk down the hall to the wardrobes. “I have no idea” I say just before we go into our wardrobes. I put on a buttoned shirt and some slacks before slipping on shoes. I comb my hair back and walk out. I walk into Anneliese’s room and see her putting her shoes on. Some nude heels that added 4 inches onto her height. She was wearing a loose white dress that was cinched at the waist and had sleeves to her elbow. Her hair was still down but it was pushed back. “let’s go talk to this random person then” she says before marching down the hall. I walk next to her and we reach the drawing room quickly. We sit across from the man. “please explain why I’m being called to a palace.” Anneliese says calmly. “of course. I am unsure if you know of your parents love story but before they met your mother was princess Rosalie Anne charlotte of Domair. Once she met your father, Miguel Rinaldi, she decided to abandon her royal duties. And she fled with him. But she was still royal blood, making her children royal blood. Of course, meaning you are royal. Recently there was an… incident and majority of the royal family was murdered. As far as we are aware your mother is the only member who has living heirs. After more research we discovered what happened to your family. After a while we discovered that you may be alive and after some thorough investigation, we managed to track you down. Hence why I am here.” He explained. “fuck off. I cannot. I’m not a fucking princess.” Anneliese mumbles while standing up. “excuse me” she says while hurrying out the room. “Anneliese wait” I yell while running after her. We end up in her room. “Anneliese calm down” I say as I hug her from behind. “I can’t be royal Xavier. I am a fucking assassin. I am dating you, one of the most powerful mafia bosses in the world. If what he says is true, that means I’m the only legitimate air to the thrown of wherever and ill have to be some kind off leader.” She says while turning to look at me. “snowflake you can’t assume. Ill tell you what. Well go to this palace together. Find out the details and make a decision based on what your presented” I say. She nods and we make our way back downstairs. “ill go to the palace but Xavier comes with me. and so, will anyone else we need.” She says calmly as she steps towards the man. He nods. “we shall arrange your travel immediately” he says as we walk to the door. “that won’t be necessary. I have my own plane we will take. All we need is transport when we arrive.” I say in response. He nods and we say our goodbyes. “we better start packing, and I want Merliah and dean to come. And your mother. Familiar faces will be nice” Merliah says after he’s gone. “just pick out what you wanna bring and ill have someone pack it for you.” I say as we go back into the living area. “I will, I still can’t believe I have royal blood” she says as she sits down. “neither can I” I mumble, sitting next to her.

3 days later we where on our way to the airport. Dean and Merliah were in the car behind us and my mother were in front. We had guards at the very front and very back at the request from the man we learned to be Mr Couffaine. Once we reach the airport we get straight on the plane. We settle down on the plane, me and Anneliese sat together and Merliah and dean sat across from us. Mother went and sat on her own so she could rest. “I can’t believe I’m friends with an actual princess” Merliah said excitedly as we began take off. “I am not a princess. I am an assassin.” Anneliese said simply. “I agree no chance in the world you could be royalty. You are not exactly graceful or kind. Merliah could be” dean says. “I agree she could, but I can assure you Anneliese is perfect princess material when she wants to be” I say. Dean just scoffs. “I can’t get over how pretty your name is el” Merliah says sweetly. A few minutes later we balance out in the sky. A flight attendant comes in not long after. “can I get you anything?” she asks us. “a water for me and a rose’ for el please, Boys what will you have?” Merliah says with a smile. “whiskey” me and dean say at the same time. The attendant nods and goes to get our drinks. “x can I borrow your laptop?” Anneliese says. I nod and she stands to grab it from the overhead compartment. She sits back down and opens it, going on to google and typing in Domair. “doing some research about your kingdom” I ask while resting a hand on her thigh. She nods and continues reading the page. The flight attendant returns and I start drinking my whiskey.”

After a few hours we get close to Domair. “Merliah we better change. Apparently in Domair women shouldn’t wear any dresses that are shorter than the knees and should have at least ¾ sleeves.” Anneliese says as she shuts my laptop. Merliah nods and grabs her bag, Anneliese follows. Once there gone I turn to dean. “what do you think of Anneliese then dean?” I ask him while brushing my hair back. “honestly, I think she’s wonderful. She is like the sister I never had” he says simply. “that why your tease her so much?” I ask. He just nods. “what you boys think?” someone asks. I turn and see Merliah and Anneliese wearing identical pink and blue dresses, Anneliese in blue and Merliah in pink. They were loose but cinched at the waist and rested on the knee. They were off the shoulder and had a thick ruffled piece of material wrapped around the top that covered there arms down to there elbows. They were both wearing nude heels and looked like they were wearing tights. “You both look wonderful.” I say simply. “thank you. We should be land” before Anneliese could finish the piolet announced we are coming in for a landing and that we should buckle up. We do just that. a few minutes later we were on the ground. Once of the plane we were greeted by Mr Couffaine. We pile into a limo all together. “Did you enjoy your flight mama?” Anneliese asks my mother. “Wonderful thank you dear. Thank you for bringing me with you as well dear” mother says in response. I feel the car start moving and I hear sirens too. “Police escort. We can’t take any chances with the only remaining heir” we hear Mr Couffaine say from the front of the car. “I high doubt anything will happen to us considering 6 of the 7 people in this car are trained to kill.” I here Anneliese mumble quietly. I laugh at her comment. “I don’t think the royal court would appreciate knowing their princess is a trained assassin and knowing that she probably has a gun attached to her pretty little thigh. Yep I was right” I say as I place my hand on her thigh, exactly where her gun was. “I know I know” she says frustratedly. “Once we arrive at the palace there will be press outside, we suggest you avoid interacting with them until you know how to. You haven’t been in the public eye and we suspect you’re not particularly good at it” Mr Couffaine says. “Actually, I have to disagree. I’m a very public businessman and Anneliese was training in publicity before you decided to show up.” I say coldly. “I still suggest you avoid it. There is going to be enough controversy about lady Anneliese as is. A lot of people are going to want nothing to do with her because of her mother. It’s not every day a royal member marries a criminal” Mr Couffaine says bitterly. I chose not to respond. About half an hour later Mr Couffaine says we are here. He explains that Anneliese should be the last to get out the car and I should help her out. Once the car stops my mother exits first. Then dean who helps Merliah and then I do. I am greeted by hundreds of cameras and a gorgeous palace I reach inside the car and take hold of Anneliese’s hand. She gets out gracefully everyone starts going crazy. “Hurry inside” I say quietly to her while slipping my arm around her waist. She nods and we walk quickly to the open doors of the palace. Once inside we relax slightly. We are each shown to our rooms. Originally, they tried splitting me and Anneliese up, but I argued until we were put in the same room. They gave us 2 hours to freshen up before we were called for dinner. Anneliese had changed into something a bit more formal and she looked gorgeous. The dress was fitted to her body and flared out just past her knees. The front had a slit reaching just past her knee and the whole dress was a royal red. It was off the shoulder and had full sleeves. She wore cute little heels that were black, and her hair was pushed back. And was being held in place with a silver comb that had pearls and diamonds decorating it. I was wearing a full suit that had a matching tie to her dress. Mother was sneaky when she bought her clothes. We make our way to the dining room and are led inside by a waiter and are sat down at a table full of people. No one was at the head of the table, but Anneliese was closest to it. “lady Anneliese it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is lord Jacques. This is my wife Elanor” the man across from us says, pointing to the woman on his left. They were both plumper and held kindness in there eyes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you to. This is my partner Xavier” she replies with a forced smile. I could see she was uncomfortable with the situation. “did you have a relation to my family?” she asks after. “we do, I am your second cousin and the third in line for the throne unless of course you have children” he says in response. “I don’t have children yet. Who is second in line for the throne if you don’t mind me asking?” she asks. I could not help but to smile at her saying yet when asked about children. “your first cousin Luka but he is only 14 so he is nowhere near old enough to rule yet so if you do not take the throne he will rule unofficially under an adviser” the man explains. Before Annaliese could respond servants flood into the room, bringing plates of food. They place them in front of us and everyone looks to Anneliese. She just looks at me confused. “there waiting for you to start eating” the man whispers to her. She smiles at him and takes a bite of her food. I watch as everyone else does the same. “just a warning everyone will stop eating when you do too” the man says before eating quickly. She looks at me and starts eating slower. About 20 minutes pass before Annaliese looks around the room and then puts her utensils down. Servants rush in to remove the plates. I look at Anneliese and see her frowning, so I lean over and whisper to her “you’re doing amazing baby girl”. She smiles and thanks me as servants bring in deserts. She once again eats slowly so everyone can finish. Once the plates are cleared, she does not stick around and quickly stands. I stand too and let her take my arm, so we leave together. She heads straight to our room and stays silent until we get there. “I don’t fit this life Xavier” she says as she walks onto the balcony. “you’re doing amazing so far snowflake” I say as I come up behind her. “I can’t be queen. I’ll stick around to help figure out what to do but I won’t do it.” She says as she turns to me. I nod and wrap my arms around her waist while resting my chin on her head. We stand there for a few minutes before heading back inside to change for bed.

Once again, I woke up to see Anneliese in my arms. She was still asleep, so I stayed still as to not wake her. She looked so sweet and innocent while sleeping. You would never think this little thing was a trained assassin. She moved slightly in my arms and hair fell into her face. I smile and brush it away running my fingers along her face as I did. Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she smiled. “good morning” she said quietly before pushing her head into my chest. “morning snowflake. How did you sleep?” I ask while playing with her hair. “good, what about you?” she mumbles. Before I could answer 3 maids and the butler guy flooded in. “rise and shine, you have a busy day ahead” he said. We groaned and sat up in the bed. As soon as we did trays of breakfast were placed on our laps. “eat up while I run through your schedule” he said as maids ran round the room doing chores. Me and Anneliese looked at each other before starting to eat. The butler started speaking again telling us all the things we were going to do today. It was a lot. After ten minutes he was finally done speaking and we were done eating. The maids took the trays and we got out of bed. I went to get dressed and Anneliese was dragged off by the maids to be dressed in a dress that had been picked for her. I decided on a white button down and black slacks. I quickly change and come out to see Anneliese in a crème dress that was fitted to her body and went down to her knees. It had sheer sleeves that went to her wrists. She was wearing some nude heels and a maid was doing her hair in a pulled back style. Her hair was extremely long and I could see the maids struggling with it. “you look gorgeous snowflake” I said as I came up to her. She was stood on a little box but I was still taller then her. “thank you” she said with a smile. “all done your highness” the maid said as she backed away from us. I helped her step off the box and she sat down at the vanity to put makeup on. “let me do that for you” a maid said as she stepped forward. “no I got it thank you” she said as she picked up a makeup sponge. She put a thin layer of makeup on which only took 5 minutes. “ready to go your highness?” one maid asked. She nods and stands. I put out my arm for her to take and she does. We walk out the room and we are led to the main hall. In the hall my mother, Dean, Merliah and Lord Jacques were stood talking. There were two young boys stood away from the group laughing with each other. “morning everyone” Anneliese said as we approached the group. There was a chorus of good mornings from the group. Before a new conversation could start the two boys approached us. “Hey, your Annaliese, right?” one of them said. “yes, and you two are?” she asked. “prince Luka, your cousin and this is my friend Adrien” the same one said. “oh, you’re my cousin then? Its nice to meet you. This is my partner Xavier” she said while they shook hands. “nice to meet you too. And by partner you mean your boyfriend” he said with a smile, saying boyfriend in a sing song voice. She laughed and said yes. The boys smiled before walking off. “so how did you all enjoy your first night?” lord Jacques asked as we re-joined the group. “oh, it was wonderful” Merliah said. “it was wonderful the bed was very comfortable” mother said after. “is your bed at home not comfortable?” lord Jacques asked. “its fine but this one was better” mother responded. “if your bed at home isn’t right, we could get it changed” I say with a frown. Mother just smiles and shakes her head. “do you know when we will be leaving for parliament?” Anneliese asks. “we should be going in a moment, if our cousin would like to reappear.” Lord Jacques says. “I’m right here. I was saying bye to Adrien” we hear from behind us. Low and behold we turn to see Luka behind us. “we hope you have a good time at parliament, but we aren’t required so we are going to go explore” mother says. “alright be safe mother, you too Merliah. Dean if anything happens to these women, I will kill you myself” Anneliese says in a joking tone but those of us who really knew her knew she wasn’t joking. “we better head of then” Luka says. We smile and leave. As soon as we exit the front doors we are greeted with hundreds of people outside the gates. Lord Jacques, Luka and we get into different cars due to the throne rule. Ever since the accident it was forbidden for more then one heir to travel in the same vehicle in case of an accident. It took about 10 minutes just to get out of the gates. People were desperately trying to take pictures of there new princess. Anneliese desperately clung to my arm and hid her face in my chest. I used my other arm to shield her from the cameras. As soon as we were through the crowd of people the driver sped up, leaving them all behind. I move my arm as soon as we were out of view. “they’re gone now you’re all good.” I say as she loosens her grip on my arm. “usually I can deal with that when it’s you that’s the centre of attention. Different when its me.” She says. “you say that, but you know the first few times we went out together all the attention was on you, you just didn’t realise.” I say while holding her hand. She looks at me in confusion. “what” she says lowly. “your fucking gorgeous snowflake. Every man you pass looks at you with lust. Every woman looks at you in jealousy. And you really think you could get away with staying in the shadows.” I explain while playing with her hair. She does not say anything. She doesn’t say anything for the rest of the journey. Once we get there once again a bunch of cameras appear again. I get out first and then I help Anneliese out. The paparazzi go wild. Mr Couffaine comes up and hands Anneliese a card. “read this when you get up there. Mr Blake you must stand behind her.” We nod and go to where she needs to be. Everyone applauds and once they stop Anneliese read the card to these people. The basics of what she said was that she is grateful for the experience, but she won’t be taking the throne, but she will be helping to decide what will happen. We go inside and are greeted by the prime minister. “it’s a pleasure to meet you your highness.” He says to Anneliese. I’m not bothered about being ignored. It was nice for a change. We go straight to a meeting room and Anneliese is sat at the head of the table with me beside her. I wasn’t bothered by it but I could see she was uncomfortable. The meeting was quick. It was decided that the young boy would become king when he turned 15 which was in 2 months. While he was still underage lord Jacques would act as advisor. Anneliese would stay until his 15th where she would officially renounce her title and pass it to Luka. It would be done through an official ceremony and he would become king at his party. She would stay in touch and be ready to fly back in case of emergencies. We were there for an hour in the meeting room working out small details. Anneliese was well aware of what they were talking about as I always brought her to my meetings. I smiled as she talked with parliament. I was proud. Once the meeting was done, we were free to go to the palace. I refused to use their cars and had one of my own brought that had blacked out windows. They tried to stop me as it was insulting to the people that they could not see there princess but they quickly shut up when I reminded them that she was no longer princess and that we could very well leave at a moments notice. The car pulled up behind the parliaments and I got in the driver’s seat with Anneliese in the passengers’ seat. I pulled out without anyone even looking at the car and speeding of to the palace. “thank you” Anneliese mumbled. I looked at her before looking back at the road. “what for?” I ask. She looks up at me and fidgets in her seat. “for being so supportive with everything that’s happened” she says. “that’s what good boyfriends do” I say to her while putting my hand on her thigh. She smiles at me and put her hand over the top of mine. “we should go out tonight” she says. I nod and smile at her. “ill arrange something for us” I respond. She nods. We sit quietly for the rest of the drive back which was only about 10 minutes. I pulled right up to the front door and we went inside quickly. We went straight to our room so we could be alone. “I’m gonna change. I don’t like this dress.” She says as she kisses my cheek. Before she could walk away, I grab her waist and pull her so her back is against my chest. “hm let me help you, snowflake” I say before kissing her cheek. She doesn’t object so I start unzip the back of her dress. I slip it off her shoulders and kiss the back of her neck. The dress falls to the floor and she slips of her shoes and puts her hand on my neck. I take the pins out of her hair and throw them on the floor, so her hair is loose. It falls down her back and was curled ever so slightly from how it was styled. I push it to the side and kiss her neck gently. She leans her head back and rests it on my shoulder. I roam my hands over her body while kissing and marking her neck. She turns and we kiss while moving to the bed. And we stayed that way for a couple hours.

We were laying in bed together with her head laying on my chest. I had the quilt covering her body while my upper body was exposed. My thumb was rubbing circles on her back while we lay in silence. “we should get dressed Xavier. We have dinner soon.” She says as she sits up. She hold the blanket against her chest. “or I could just eat you” I say as I pull the blanket from her and I pull her back down on me. She laughs and kisses me with a smile. She straddles my lap and we start another session.

Once again we were laying in bed. “we really have to get up now.” She says. I frown. She smiles at me and gets out of the bed. She walks saying her naked hips while walking to her wardrobe. I tilt my head to the side while watching her walk away from me. Instead of the wardrobe I go to the bathroom. I splash cold water on my face before noticing the stubble appearing on my chin. I frown and grab a razor. I shave my face and throw on after shave. It burned slightly but I experience worst pain all the time. I walk out and go the wardrobe where Anneliese was sat brushing her hair. She looks at me through the vanity. “put some clothes on before I jump you right here” she says as she pushes her now curly hair to the back of her head. She applies some lip gloss to her lips as I pull on trousers and a shirt. I leave it unbuttoned as I walk over to her. She stands and brushes her dress down. She was wearing a grey dress that went to her calves. She had a white cardigan on, and she had a small sliver necklace on and matching earrings. “you look beautiful, but I want you to wear something else” I say as I pull out a box from my wardrobe. I hold it as she opens it. Inside was a blue dress and silver dress. She pulls it out and holds it against her body. It was a floor length dress with a high slit. It was off the shoulder with sheer sleeves. She smiled at me and put it over the back of her chair. She took of her clothes and unzipped the dress before stepping into it. She pulls it up and turns for me to zip it up. I do and she goes to look in the mirror. She looked gorgeous. I grab a par of silver heels and hand them to her. She puts them on and smiles. “one last touch.” She says as she parts her hair down the centre. It falls over her shoulders and I smile at her. “perfect. Let’s go” I say to her. She smiles and we leave. I have a car pull up at the front and we get in. I immediately speed off towards the restaurant I had booked for the night. I pull up and hand the keys to the valet before escorting her inside. Everyone was looking at her then at me. I just smirked, feeling smug. We sit and order our food as the staff whispered to each other about the princess sat in front of them. “people are looking at me aren’t they” she whispers to me. A hum as a yes before taking a sip of my drink. I look at her and see her cheeks turn a rosy colour as she sinks into her seat. “don’t be shy snowflake. There looking cause there jealous.” I say with a smile. She smiles back. “I’m just not used to it.” She says quietly. “I know but you don’t realise that even before all of this everyone looked at you. Just pretend they are not. pretend there looking at me” I say as I put my hand over hers. She smiles and nods. She sits back up and the red in her face starts to fade. Not long after our meals are brought to us. She thanks the staff and I dismiss them.