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queen. Not on the addictive smell coming from Nico that made me want to bury my nose in his neck to get a better whiff. Not on the large, hard muscles that I didn’t see but could feel flexing against my upper arm. Not on the sexy five o’clock shadow that had just started to form on his strong jaw.
    Exhaling a loud breath, I forced myself to pay attention to our surroundings. Nico explained that we were in the family’s private apartments, and they were all connected by drawing rooms and hallways. Everyone had their privacy, but had easy access to one another. He indicated that the guest rooms were in another part of the castle.
    “But Lemon and I are staying here.”
    I saw his eyes flicker toward me briefly, but he didn’t respond. Instead he kept talking about how things were laid out.
    Why weren’t we in the guest wing? Why were we in the family’s personal area? Was that supposed to mean something? I tried to distract myself by making a mental map so that I wouldn’t ever need him to escort me again. This hallway was decorated in different shades of ivory and blue, with artwork that I knew was very expensive from the two weeks I’d been enrolled in Art Appreciation 101.
    We came upon a couple of men in dark suits, and they both wore white earpieces. The security that Nico had mentioned. He greeted each man by name as we passed.
    Then he pointed out the family’s private kitchen, telling me I could help myself anytime that I wanted as it was always well stocked with their favorite treats and snacks.
    “Do you ever cook in there yourself?”
    He gave a slight shrug. “If the mood strikes me.”
    “Does it ever strike you?”
    His eyes met mine, and it was like sitting too close to a fire that suddenly roared to life. I stumbled over my own feet, but he righted me quickly.
    “On occasion I have been known to cook.”
    He cooked too? Could he at least try to not be like the totally perfect man? “Please don’t tell me you wash your own dishes.” I wasn’t sure my heart could handle it.
    Nico looked completely amused. “I am saddened to say that I leave them for someone else. Have I lessened your opinion of me?”
    “It’s actually sort of a relief. I was worried you were too perfect. No one would believe anything I said when I wrote about you.”
    “Did you hear that?”
    “What?”
    He looked smug. “That was almost a compliment.”
    “Only almost.”
    “I am going to consider that progress.”
    I couldn’t help smiling back. Nico went on to explain that if I didn’t want to get something myself, I could ring for a servant to bring it for me. Ring for a servant? I pressed my lips together with a suppressed glee. Holy crap, it was like being in a real-life Downton Abbey .
    But before I could ask him if he had an evil under-butler, he was opening two large doors into another high-ceilinged room that stunned me with its expensive elegance. I saw chandeliers, ivory and silver wallpapered walls, and an enormous, beautifully decorated dark wooden table that had Nico’s whole family sitting at it.
    Two men stood when we walked in, and I realized they were identical twins. Lemon was seated between them. Chiara waved at me, and I waved back while Serafina stood in her chair and yelled, “Hello, Kat! Come sit by me!”
    “Introductions first,” an older woman said. She sat at the end of the table. “Please sit down, Serafina. Remember your manners.”
    Serafina rolled her eyes and slunk back down in her chair.
    Nico walked me across the room to the woman who had to be his mother. For reasons I didn’t understand, I really wanted her to like me.
    “What am I supposed to do here? Bow? Curtsy? Kneel?” I whispered to him as we got closer to the queen.
    He leaned down slightly to whisper back, his breath hot against my neck. It almost felt like a caress. “You’re an American. You don’t have to do anything. She’s not your queen. Just follow her lead.”
    We stopped in front of her, and my body