Clearly there was a lot of scowling going on. The doorbell rang and Grandfather nodded. “Our last guest is here… excellent. I do prefer promptness.”
I hadn’t taken a seat yet so I turned as Margareta Waldemar walked in. She was dressed in an impeccable morning suit, but managed to appear casual despite the formality.
We’d spoken twice since that night in Prague. Today was the first time I’d seen her since then. Despite her declaration in the tunnels that she’d already mourned him, I suspected her son’s death for a “second” time, particularly at her own hands, had left her with more to deal with.
“Margareta,” I greeted her as I crossed to take her hands. She brushed the air next to each of my cheeks with a light kiss before she squeezed my hands. “Welcome to Der Sonne.”
“Thank you,” she said, glancing from me to Grandfather then back again. “Leopold invited me. He was rather insistent that this was a tradition I shouldn’t ignore.”
“He was right.” I offered her my arm. “Sunday brunch is always fun.”
Or it used to be.
I walked her to the other side of the table. It had a place setting and everything. It had been my grandmother’s spot. No one sat there and when I gave my grandfather a questioning look, he nodded.
After she was seated I returned to my chair. Once I took my seat, the guys all took theirs. Then my grandfather lifted his orange juice flute and we all picked up our own. “Thank you,” he said, his tone warm and his gaze sweeping over all of us. “Thank you for helping us to rekindle a tradition that we’ve not had in too long. Sunday brunches… it’s important to make time for family. To enjoy and to not play politics. To engage with each other, and to make plans for the future.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Adam said and we all toasted before taking a sip. Even Margareta looked pleased.
Once Grandfather took his seat again, he motioned for service to begin and then focused on me. “So darling girl, which one of these boys are you actually going to marry?”
Silence greeted his request and I met his gaze. Pure devilment danced in his eyes. “You just want to start trouble,” I murmured and his grin warmed my heart.
We still had so much to do. So much healing to do for the kids, for Ezra, for our families. We had relationships to repair, or in this case build, as with the new siblings and my new grandmother.
So much to do.
But, now, also had the time to do it.
The Bay Ridge Royals still existed. The connections and investments were there. Rather than let it languish or worse be taken over by someone with the kind of aspirations King had, I’d stepped into the role.
With the support of my guys, we were going to make changes. Big ones. Some day, Andrea would be a Bay Ridge Royal, a legacy, and it would be a safer, more controlled environment. It would be what it once was…
“Hey,” Milo said, turning to study me. “You look very fierce.”
I grinned. “Just savoring our victory and planning for all the mayhem…”
That made his grin grow and he dropped a kiss on my lips. Levi and Andrea didn’t stare every single time now, but Andrea did make a groaning sound.
“Can we please dial back on the PDAs? It’s so gross that Lainey kisses all of you.”
Grandfather cleared his throat, but it was Margareta who laughed as she said, “Give them some grace, little one. They have fought hard to be where they are and we’re family. We shouldn’t have to hide anything from family.”
Andrea’s disgruntled expression suggested she was definitely not on board but under Margareta’s firm yet kind look, she let out a sigh. “Fine.” She cast me a plaintive look and I laughed.
“We’ll talk,” I promised her. “Now eat and tell us about this new class you had me take you to this week.”
We’d been investigating dance schools and the minute I brought it up, her expression brightened. She immediately launched into what she loved about the class and kept all of us entertained.
Der Sonne was alive again with family. Our family.
Tomorrow?
We’d conquer it when it got here.
Afterword
Hey, welcome to the end of the Bay Ridge Royals saga. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. If you need a minute to grab a drink, stretch, and then come back—go for it. I’ll be right here, waiting.
Back?
Fantastic, I want to tell you a story. It’s going to take a minute. Way back at the beginning of 2021, I was in the process of releasing Frankie still. I think we were on book six or seven (honestly I don’t remember) but we were also coming up on the release of Savage Vandal.
Also, in 2021, I herniated a disc in my spine in February of that year (yes right before Savage Vandal came out). This left me laid up hard for months, but I figured out ways to keep writing. In the meanwhile, I had this fun conversation with Steph—and for those of you who know Steph, you know how much I adore her.
She had a funny request. She said, “I would love it if you would write a Dark Archie and Frankie.” Frankie is the FMC of the Untouchable series. Archie is one of her MMCs.
I said, we have a dark Archie and Frankie in their parents, his dad and her mom had a very unhealthy relationship. A dark mirror if you will. But no, Steph wanted something more…
From that conversation Lainey and Adam were born. There were even a couple of chapters written and a blurb. Tally was there and Ezra. It opened the day of Melissa’s wedding to Harper. It a bit bully, very enemies to lovers, dark, and extremely M/F.
*record scratch*
Yes, you read that right, it was initially M/F. Then Adam popped up in Vandals and so did Lainey. I mean, that’s okay, my worlds re tied together. I planned this whole M/F Bay Ridge Royals series with the second book focused on Ezra and his “arranged marriage” and then a third book focusing on another of the families, etc etc etc.
Yeah, that didn’t happen. Why?
One word answer:
