Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty

Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty
Alexander

I woke up to sunlight in my face and Leo in my phone.

8:03 AM
You alive?
Because Italy isn’t.
You just broke the internet, my love. 😘🔥

8:07 AM
My mother’s phone has exploded.
Like, full-on national crisis.
She had to silence her presidential alerts because every text was “IS HE TALKING ABOUT LEO???”

8:10 AM
Kisses. Also: I love you.
Also also: you owe me popcorn. 🍿💋

I sat up, blinking, heart pounding with something that wasn’t quite fear—but wasn’t not fear, either. I immediately messaged back.

Wait… really??

YES. Really.
Apparently when a prince hints at secret love and a reporter says “Italian,” it doesn’t take a genius.
Twitter is unwell.

I stared at the ceiling. The weight of it all hit me at once. The announcement, the question, the silence that followed… and now this?

Leo, tell your mother I’m so sorry. I never thought it would—

Nope. Nope nope nope.
I’m not apologizing, so neither will you.
This? This is just the consequence of being brave and hot at the same time.
My mom supports us.
We still don’t know if this media explosion is a win or a disaster for her campaign—or your throne.
So let’s wait and see, okay?
Don’t spiral. Just breathe. 🫶

I smiled, the soft, stupid smile of a lovesick teenager.

He wasn’t wrong.

We didn’t know where this would go.

But for the first time in a very long time…

We weren’t hiding anymore.

I tapped the screen again, fingers still trembling.

So… what now?

A pause. Then three dots blinked like he was writing and rewriting every word.

Let’s do our own speech.
Just us. You and me. Together.
Set the record straight. Say it with our own words, before someone else spins it for us.

I swallowed.

I knew he was right. The longer we stayed quiet, the louder the rumors would get. The press wouldn’t wait. Neither would the people. If we didn’t tell the truth… someone else would sell their version of it.

Agreed. 
I typed back.

But not quite yet.
Let’s give it a couple days. Let him fume a little before we drop the next bomb.

Leo’s reply came fast.

Oh, excellent.
Yes, let’s give your father time to marinate in his rage like a proper roast.
Then serve him piping hot scandal.

I laughed out loud, one hand over my eyes.

When?

Two days.
Palace. Your turf.
We do this face to face.

I hesitated for just a moment.

You’re really coming here?

Leo replied instantly.

I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Let’s go ruin our lives, my love. 💋



I checked the time again.

Ten minutes to ten.

The palace was too quiet.

Too polished. Too clean. Like it didn’t know a storm was about to hit it head-on.

I’d already checked my reflection three times. Fixed the collar on my jacket. Switched my cufflinks. Then switched them back.

I found Karl in the main corridor outside the family wing, standing exactly where I expected him to be—like a statue with trust issues and too many knives hidden under that uniform.

“Did you brief the guards?” I asked.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“All of them? Even the ones on the inner gates?”

“Yes.”

“And the outer gates?”

He looked at me slowly. “Yes.”

“Did you tell them Leonardo is expected?”

“By name,” he said flatly. “And by title. Guest of the prince. Cleared by the queen. Sworn in by the gods, if that makes you feel better.”

I frowned. “I just want to be sure.”

Karl’s jaw twitched.

“I’ve triple-checked the security log, rerouted two overzealous guards to the garden, and told every man within five hundred meters that if they so much as blink at Leonardo wrong, I will personally fire them, exile them, or feed them to Queen Margareta’s cat. I believe your boyfriend will survive entry.”

I stopped pacing long enough to glare at him.

Karl arched one eyebrow. “Something wrong, Your Highness?”

I crossed my arms. “Why are you like this?”

“Because one of us needs to remain calm.”

“I am calm.”

He blinked. “You’ve circled me six times in the last two minutes. If I were a tree, you’d have worn a path around my roots.”

I opened my mouth, closed it, then exhaled through my nose. “Fine. I’m nervous. There. Happy?”

Karl didn’t smile—he never did—but his shoulders softened just slightly.

“It’s allowed,” he said. “He’s important.”

I looked at him. “You mean to me?”

His eyes softened as a slight grin began to surface. “Yes, and if it is to you, it is also important to me, my… prince.”

And for a moment, that was enough.

I stood by the window of the upper salon, eyes locked on the palace gates. The press was already gathering—cameras, microphones, a wall of lenses all pointed at the road beyond. A few paparazzi had climbed onto stone benches. One was standing on a flower bed, which would definitely earn a rage-filled call from the head gardener later.

And then I saw him.

Leonardo stepped out of the black car like he belonged here. No hesitation. No hiding.

And the press exploded.

Flash after flash. Questions hurled like fireworks, as he would explain to me later.

“Mr. Vitale! Is it true?”
“Are you the prince’s Italian love?”
“Is this an official visit?”

I saw Mario standing by the gate, phone in one hand, smirking like he’d manifested the entire event from thin air. He waved at Leo with obnoxious enthusiasm. Leo flipped him off—grinning the whole time.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

Moments later, the doors opened and he was there.

We didn’t speak at first. He dropped his bag and walked into my arms like it was the most natural thing in the world. I kissed him—his hair, his cheek, then his lips—like I couldn’t believe he was real again.

“Hi,” he whispered.

“Hi.”

“You see the crowd?” he murmured.

“Hard to miss.”

“I think one woman fainted.”

“That was probably Mario.”

Leo snorted.

We walked down the corridor side by side, our footsteps echoing through the polished marble halls. Every portrait we passed stared down like it was holding its breath.

“I can’t believe how many people were outside,” he said. “Mario’s been working overtime. He actually gave the press a countdown. He literally said ‘brace yourselves for history.’”

“Of course he did.”

“He’s insufferable,” Leo said. “I love him.”

I raised an eyebrow, and he threw his arm around me, kissing my cheek.

“As much as anyone can love that insufferable troublemaker, my love.” He laughed.

We slipped into the library, closing the doors behind us.

For a moment, we just stood there in the quiet, surrounded by old books and the kind of history I was finally ready to rewrite.

“You okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “Are you?”

“Terrified,” he admitted. “But I brought clean underwear, so I’m emotionally prepared for whatever hell breaks loose.”

I laughed again. God, I’d missed this.

“We’re really doing this,” I said.

He nodded. “You ready?”

“No.”

He took my hand. “Then let’s go together.”

We walked through the palace with Karl a step behind, silent and solid as ever, until we reached the king’s office.

The guards stepped aside.

My heart didn’t just beat. It thundered.

Leo gave my hand a squeeze as I raised mine to knock.