Chapter 399

"Alright. How can I help?" Erik asked, pulling himself together and straightening his tie.

"I have a personal question. For you. About mother." Christian said.

"Go on." Erik said.

"Tell me about meeting her. About your beginning. When you met her, was the American thing difficult for the both of you? Her being just a regular citizen and all that?" Christian asked. Erik looked at him as if he was trying to find the reasoning behind this question.

"You're taking me back there, eh? Alright. I knew I wanted her the moment I first saw her. She turned me into a stalker, really. I heard her speak at a conference about abuse. She seemed to understand the little boy I was when I was… broken." He said. "Everyone turned it into some kind of narcissistic manipulation but I truly felt it. I loved her, at first sight, the only way I knew how to love, which wasn't the best way."

Christian listened calmly. It was hard to hear a man speak of her that way but he needed to do it.

"Shall I continue?" Erik asked.

"Please."

"Alright. Honestly, I didn't care that she was American. She was about to release an album at the time I met her. She was divorced. Twice. She wasn't ideal by any royal standard. But I didn't care. I never cared. I was ready to denounce it all. To live a normal life. With her. I wish I had." Erik said. "Maybe things would have been different, if I could have gotten away from my father."

Christian saw the real pain on his face as he spoke. Whether Erik was full of shit or not, he obviously believed what he was saying.

"Was it hard on her?" Christian asked.

"Immensely." Erik said. "And I had guilt for what I put her through, even at the beginning. But her? Not at all. She was vivacious and strong. She was all in and I was a lucky bastard to have her." He said. Christian noted that Erik never said her name.

"Thank you. I appreciate your candor." Christian said. But Erik wasn't saying the thing he needed him to. And he wasn't even sure what it was. Or why he needed anything from Erik, at all.

"You're welcome. Happy to help." Erik said.

"We should have lunch soon. I'll arrange it. Maybe chat some more?" Christian said, opening the door to walk him out.

"I would like that very much." Erik said. He turned to walk out and then turned back. "Whoever she is, I know she must be incredibly special to have peaked your interest like this. To come to me. To make an attempt to forgive me. American or not, it shouldn't matter. It doesn't matter. My advice, if you care to have it? Go get her, don't waste a minute longer. Go and make her yours and never, ever, ever let her go." He said, patting Christian's shoulder and smiling. "We often learn too late that love, and only love, is what we truly live for." He turned and walked out, Christian watching him as he left.

That was it. That was what he needed to hear him say.