Page 28 of Big, Burly Bodyguard

“This can’t happen,” I say.

Mike blinks. “What?”

I take a breath. Slow. Controlled. The way I was trained to do before stepping into chaos.

“You can’t marry her,” I say. “You won’t make her happy.”

“Excuse me?”

That’s when I notice the woman standing beside Mike. They’re both frowning.

“I know her,” I continue, voice steady even as my heart pounds. I reach behind me and clasp Evie’s hand. “I know what she needs. I know what scares her. And I know you won’t give her the life she deserves.”

Mike’s confusion deepens. “Mitchell⁠—”

“I will,” I say. “I can. I’d choose her every day, not because I have to—but because I want to.”

The room goes very quiet.

Mike looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. He shakes his head, then he turns slowly to the woman at his side. “I already married her,” he says.

“Married who?” I ask.

“Evelyn Barlow,” he says, indicating the brunette at his side. She nods once as if I need her confirmation as well.

I point at her. “That is not Evelyn Barlow,” I say.

At this point, Evie has come closer to my side.

“But I am Evelyn Barlow,” the brunette says.

Silence.

My stomach drops.

I pull my Evelyn in front of me. “I don’t know what’s happening, but Mike, this is Evelyn Barlow, the princess from Saldania.”

Evie holds out her hand to my brother. “Nice to meet you.”

Mike instinctively shakes her hand. But then his frown deepens.

“An actual princess?” the woman beside him asks.

“Yes,” Evie says. “It’s a small island nation that very few people have heard of.”

The brunette looks up at Mike. “Is that why you’ve been calling me princess?”

Then, very quietly, “Oh shit.” Mike says it, but I might have too. I certainly thought it.

The realization hits him all at once. I can see it in his face—the mental replay, the assumptions, the paperwork, the vows.

“I married the wrong Evelyn Barlow,” he says.

I pull Evie into my chest without thinking, my arm wrapping around her shoulders as I press a kiss to the top of her head. She fits there like she was always meant to.

Mike scrubs a hand over his face. “This is… wow.”

I meet his eyes. There’s no anger there. Confusion and maybe amusement?