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One: A Princely Affair?
Something’s up.
Luke smirks every few minutes, which would be alarming enough on its own – Luke Watanabe doesn’t smirk – but he’s doing it in her direction, and she doesn’t need to be a detective to know that doesn’t bode well.
“Spit it out.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Luke...”
“For god’s sake, Watanabe, show her the post already,” Mafalda orders through her open door.
“I was working up to it! Detectives,” he grumbles. “None of you have any patience.”
“Luke.”
“Fine, fine. Check this out.” He opens a tab and gestures to the screen.
A Princely Affair?
Exiled prince Trystan Thorne was spotted with a mysterious brunette out and about the streets of Manhattan last Thursday. “It looked like they were on a coffee date,” a source says. Does the Drakovian expat have a new woman in his life?
“Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”
“Well, if you think it’s a tabloid speculating about whether you and Trystan are dating, then I’m afraid it is exactly what you think it is.”
“It might not even be talking about me! There’s no way in hell I’m the only brunette that Trystan has had coffee with.”
“On Thursday? When you spent all day together cramming for tonight’s gala?”
“It might have been in the evening.”
“Yes, because I’m sure Trystan Thorne is an evening coffee date kind of guy.” Exasperated, Luke throws his hands up. “Why don’t we just ask Trystan?”
“Ask me what?”
“Of all the detective agencies in all the cities in all the world,” she mutters under her breath as Trystan strides into the office. “Forget it. You said we had to meet with someone before the gala?”
“Ah, ah, ah. I distinctly heard my name, and now you’re trying to change the subject. My detective senses are tingling.”
“Once again, you do not have detective senses.”
He gives her a pitying look. “You keep telling yourself that.”
Two: A Prince in Shining Marguerite
“You made the tabloids!” Ruby exclaims with concerning glee.
“Again?”
“What do you mean again? What did I miss? Anyway, look!”
She shoves the tabloid in Emma’s face and… oh, good lord.
A Prince in Shining Marguerite
Trystan Thorne attended the ill-fated Iverson gala last night in the company of Cordonian noble Anastasi Zimena. The night ended with a bang when the prince carried his paramour out of the burning governor’s mansion in true princely fashion.
“A Prince in Shining Marguerite?” Incredulous, she takes the paper from Ruby’s hands. “Seriously? Who writes this crap?”
“Journalism majors who couldn’t care less about Trystan Thorne and an unknown Cordonian noble but still need to eat?”
Emma laughs. “I guess. At least my cover is still safe. For now, anyway.”
“What’s still safe?” Trystan asks, walking into the agency with a coffee tray. “I think I remembered all your orders. I make an exceptional delivery boy, if I do say so myself. If only my mother could see me now.”
Ruby plucks her cup from the tray. “Yep, a caramel macchiato for me. Thanks, Trystan.”
“Who knew he had his uses?” Emma quips, but she smiles a thank you as she takes her own cup. “And to answer your question, what’s still safe is my cover. We may have burned down the governor’s mansion, attracted the attention of the NYPD, and gotten dangerously close to getting kicked off the case, but at least my name is out of the press.”
“Mine isn’t.”
“Perils of being literal royalty, I’m afraid.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let me read that.” He grimaces. “A prince in shining Marguerite? Who writes this?”
“That’s what I said!” She taps his shoulder with one finger. “Look on the bright side. You couldn’t have come out of this looking better if you tried.”
“Okay, but can we focus on the part where they bought that you two are together?” Ruby asks. “Whatever you did last night, it worked.”
Emma nods. “Which means we can continue to use Anastasi whenever we need to pursue a lead with that crowd.”
“You can admit you want to be my pretend date again, Emma. No one would blame you for wanting more of,” he gestures to himself with a grin, “this.”
She rolls her eyes. “You caught me. This whole murder investigation is just an excuse to get close to you.”
Trystan nods magnanimously. “Admitting it is the first step.”
Three: Has Trystan Thorne Found Love?
“Seriously, you guys, the romance rumors are getting out of control.” Luke waves his phone in their direction. Then he makes a show of clearing his throat and reads the article, pausing now and then for emphasis.
Has Trystan Thorne Found Love?
Crime-fighting duo Trystan Thorne and private investigator Emma Rose were seen sharing a meal at Rosetti’s yesterday evening, fueling romance rumors. Click the link in bio for details.
“Apparently anyone can tell from the way you look at each other,” he says with a laugh.
Trystan and Emma exchange a glance.
“Hilarious,” he replies.
“A hoot,” she adds.
There’s an undercurrent to their words.
Neither of them is ready to examine it.
Four: Trystan Thorne and Emma Rose, sitting on a tree
“We need to be more careful.”
Trystan looks up from his book to find Emma holding up her phone. “Hello to you too.”
“Hi, yes, hello. We need to be more careful.”
“We’re always careful.” Trystan waggles his eyebrows. “Not looking for any little princelings in the near future.”
“Trystan. Stop cracking jokes and check this out.”
She holds out her phone. Trystan takes it with a preemptive grimace.
Trystan Thorne and Emma Rose, sitting on a tree
Rumor has it that Trystan Thorne and Emma Rose were kissing outside of a Bronx bar yesterday. “I swear they were making out,” a source says. “I tried to take a picture but my battery died.” But not all evidence is lost! Another source sent us this picture of the pair getting up close and personal as they left the Ginovesi Detective Agency.”
“At least their phone died?” Trystan offers feebly.
“Thank goodness for small mercies. But this.” She points at the grainy photograph. “This is bad enough.”
It’s a picture of them standing close together, his hand on her arm, hers on his chest. It happened in a split second, such a small moment that neither realized anyone had noticed, let alone snapped a photo.
“It’s a close call,” Emma says. “Too close. How are you going to explain this? How are we going to explain this?”
He snaps his fingers. “You tripped!”
She nods slowly. “That could work. You grabbed my arm, and I put my hand on your chest to find my balance.”
They both wince when they hear it spoken aloud. As far as excuses go, this one’s rather flimsy.
“Nobody will believe us.”
“Maybe not. But it gives us plausible deniability.”
He pulls her into his lap. “One of these days it’s going to come out, you know. The whispers keep getting louder.”
“I know. But the longer we can put it off, the better.” She nuzzles against his neck. “I’m not ready to share you with the world just yet.”
Five: A Royal Romance
Emma walks out of the bathroom after showering to find Trystan sipping a cup of coffee and scrolling down his phone.
“Secret’s officially out.”
“Oh? What does it say?”
Trystan puts the mug on the bedside table and hands her the phone.
“See for yourself.”
She reads. It’s hardly different from any other article speculating on their relationship, except that this one comes with undeniable photographic evidence: she and Trystan leaving The Drunk Tank, their hands intertwined.
A Royal Romance
Trystan Thorne is taken, ladies and gents! The once-exiled prince, now former king of Drakovia, has been spotted holding hands with private detective Emma Rose, confirming long-standing rumors of their relationship.
She was… not drunk, precisely, but definitely tipsy when these pictures were taken, and she could no longer remember why they had tried so hard to keep their relationship a secret. Once upon a time, sure, it made sense, but now? She’s so happy she could burst. She was not going to hide it from the world anymore. Looking back, she has the sneaky suspicion that Trystan has felt the same way for a while now and was just waiting for her to come around to his way of thinking.
Fortunately, tipsy Emma and fully sober Emma are in full agreement on this topic.
She grins at him. “You’re officially off the market now, Thorne.”
He takes her hand and yanks, causing her to fall on him. He flips them around, one hand on her hip, the other on the mattress next to her head. “I’ve been off the market since a certain detective broke into my home and pointed a taser at me.”
“No wonder you stayed single so long if that’s what it takes to get your attention.”
“What can I say? I’ve always loved a grand entrance.”
“You certainly do.” She presses a lingering kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now how about we go out for breakfast and give them something else to talk about?”