by Dani Collins
From the moment the photos had emerged, he had been buried in meetings, phone calls and demands for his attention. He felt as though he’d gone twelve rounds, taking hits from every angle.
It was not in his nature to throw a fight. Keeping his mouth shut while his sister called for an HR investigation had been particularly humiliating. To protect the integrity of that report, he hadn’t spoken to Amy.
While they’d awaited a determination on whether Amy had been harassed by Luca, other factions had proposed throwing her to the wolves of public opinion to save Luca’s reputation. Several voices on the council had tried to cast him as the victim of a scheming woman, eager to make excuses for Luca’s lapse in judgment so they could maintain the status quo.
Sofia’s supporters had been equally quick to question what kind of queen Amy would make, forcing Luca to declare his intentions toward her.
“We seized a moment, that’s all.” He hated to reduce her to a one-night stand, but it was what they had agreed and it was better for her to be seen as collateral damage, not a contributor.
“The media storm will rage forever unless we take decisive action,” Sofia had pressed. “No matter how we attempt to explain it away, the photos will be reposted every time the king of Vallia is mentioned.”
“I’ve become synonymous with our father,” Luca said grimly, hating that it was true, hating that this was the only way, but he threw himself on the proverbial sword. “I won’t have his transgressions pinned on me.” On that he wouldn’t budge. “Vallia’s queens have always been bastions of dignity and honor. If I step aside, that’s what you’ll have again.”
That had been the turning point. Discussions had moved from if to how.
Luca had spared a thought to ensure Amy’s comfort, but he hadn’t allowed memories of last night to creep in. It would have destroyed his concentration.
That fog of desire was making him light-headed now, but he continued to fight it. He had sworn his misstep wouldn’t be repeated. His libido might have other desires, but tomorrow his sister would take the crown and Luca would once again become the Golden Prince, honorable to a fault.
Nevertheless, he owed Amy an explanation for how things had played out today.
“It’s standard protocol to shut down all the open networks and allow only secure messaging when incidents occur,” he told her as they walked. “And I wanted to shield you from the worst of what’s happening online.”
“I understand.” She nodded jerkily, looking like a ghost.
A pocket of gravel formed in the pit of his gut, a heaviness of conscience he wasn’t familiar with because he so rarely made mistakes.
“I assumed you would have an idea what was going on behind the scenes.”
“I did.” She was nothing but eyes and cheekbones and white lips, her profile shell-shocked.
It hit him that she did know—all too well. He wanted to stop and touch her. Draw her into his arms. Kiss her and swear he wasn’t pinning the blame on her.
He settled for following her into her suite.
“I couldn’t bring you into the discussions today. I realize, given our contract, that you expected to be consulted, but I had to sideline you. It was best to let the process play out through normal channels.”
“You think I’m upset because I feel ‘sidelined’? I wish I was a footnote! Why didn’t you tell me we were exposed out there? Did you plan this?”
“Of course not!” He hadn’t given thought to anything but her last night. Did she think he would walk outside naked for anyone else? He was still uncomfortable with how immersed he’d been in their mutual desire. “It was a fluke. For God’s sake, Amy. How could I plan it?”
“A fluke?” she scoffed. “You just happened to pick me to come here and take on the task of ruining you. You just happened to kiss me and take me to your room—” She cut herself off, shielding her eyes in what could only be described as shame.
The rocks in his belly began to churn.
“When I heard the door, I thought you were leaving.” He started forward, drawn by her distress. “I didn’t know you were going outside. I didn’t take you out there.”
As soon as his feet came into her line of sight, she brought up her head and stumbled back, keeping a distance between them.
That retreat, coupled with the trepidation in her face, was like a knee to the groin.
He held very still, holding off a pain that he barely understood. It was new, but so acute he actually tasted bile in the back of his throat.
“I’m not going to touch you if you don’t want me to.” He opened his hands in a gesture of peace.
“I don’t want you to scramble my head again,” she muttered, arms crossed and brow flexing with anguish. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, Luca. No one was supposed to know about us. You made me think that’s what you wanted.”
“It was.” But affirming it made his mouth burn. “Look, I know this wasn’t the way we planned it, but once the photographs were out there, I had to seize the opportunity. This is what I hired you to do.”
“You did not hire me to sleep with you. I won’t take money for it,” she said jaggedly.
He was insulted by her implication. “I hired you to ruin me. You have.”
She gasped if he’d struck her. Her hurt and distress were so clear, his arms twitched again to reach for her.
“I honestly thought you would understand this was the incident I needed,” he said. “I’m not clear why you’re so upset.”
“I was supposed to find someone who wanted the attention. Someone prepared for it.” She kept pulling at her shawl until it was so tight around her, the points of her shoulders and elbows looked as though they would poke holes in the raw silk. “I was supposed to control the message to minimize the damage. It wasn’t going to be ugly exposure where a woman’s reputation is torn to shreds.”
When her gaze flashed to his, there was such agony in the green depths, his heart stalled.
“My team won’t crucify you,” he swore, and started to take a step forward, but checked himself. “I won’t allow it. I’m taking responsibility. This was my slipup—”
“I slept with a client, Luca!” Her arm flung out and the shawl fell off her shoulder. “I compromised him so badly I caused a king to be dethroned. It really doesn’t matter what you or your team say. People will come to their own conclusions.”
He briefly glimpsed her tattoo before she shrugged the shawl back into place.
She was shaking so hard, he started to reach for her again and she stumbled back another step.
“I won’t touch you.” He couldn’t help that his voice was clipped with impatience. “But I’m worried about you. Sit down. Have you eaten? I told them to make sure you had food.”
“I’m not a dog!” she cried, eyes wild. “You don’t get to hire someone to check if I have food and water and call it good. Although, at least I would have got a proper walk today instead of being held like a prisoner.”
“That—” He squeezed the back of his neck. “I realize you’re angry, but stop saying such ridiculous things.”
“Oh! Am I overreacting?” She shot him a look that threatened to tear his head from his shoulders. “You know nothing about what I’m going through. Nothing.”
“So explain it to me,” he snapped back. “Because I don’t see this as the disaster that you do. You said it yourself. People love to clutch their pearls over a sexy escapade. I’m the one who’s naked in that photo, not you! Are you upset that we happened?” It took everything in him to ask that. It wasn’t an accusation, he really needed to know, but he braced himself. “Are you feeling as if I took advantage of you? Like you couldn’t say no last night?”
HR had interviewed her. She’d reported that Amy had confirmed their involvement was consensual. Even so, Amy’s chin crinkled. Her eyes welled.
H
is heart lurched and he couldn’t breathe.
“I should have said no.” Her shoulders sagged. “I knew it was a mistake and I want to take it back.” She buried her face in her hands. “So badly.”
That sent a streak of injury through him because the thing that unnerved him most was how little he didn’t regret sleeping with her.
As the dominoes had fallen today, he’d disliked himself for playing manipulative palace politics the way his father had. He’d met the disillusioned gazes of mentors and advisers and understood he’d fallen miles in their estimation. He loathed feeling fallible.
He had suffered through all of that to correct a thirty-one-year-old wrong and, unpleasant as proceedings had all been, at least he had the extraordinary memory of her to offset it.
Even now, as he saw how devastated she was over their exposure, he couldn’t make himself say he was sorry. Did she remember how much pleasure they’d given each other?
He pushed his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t try to remind her.
“The announcements will be made tomorrow. I’ll step down, and Sofia will be recognized as the rightful ruler. My coronation ceremony was scheduled to happen before our parliament sits in the autumn. It will be revised for her, but she’s taking control immediately. Let the dust settle on some of this before you assume you’ll take the fall for it.”
She snorted, despondent, and turned her back on him. She looked like a tree that had been stripped bare. She was a hollow trunk swaying in the dying winds of a storm.
Was she hiding tears?
His guts fell into his shoes and his heart was upside down in his chest. He wanted to take her in his arms, hold her and warm her and swear this would be okay. Come to my room. He kept the words in his throat, but they formed a knot that locked up his lungs so his whole torso ached.
“When can I go back online? Bea and Clare are probably frantic.” Her voice was a broken husk.
“My people have provided them with a statement.”
That had her whirling around to face him, eyes shooting fires of disbelief that were quickly soaked by her welling tears. “You don’t speak for me, Luca. You don’t get to tell your side without giving me a chance to tell mine!”
“It’s only a standard ‘not enough information to comment—’”
No use. She disappeared into the bedroom and slammed the door on him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AMY TOSSED AND TURNED and finally quit fighting her tears. When she let go, she cried until her eyes were swollen and scratchy, then rose and set a cool, wet cloth over them. Her stomach panged so hard with hunger, she dug up cold leftovers the maid had left in the fridge.
It was almost two in the morning. She didn’t know if the guard was still in the garden and didn’t check. Her one brief thought about trying to run away was stymied by exhaustion.
She crawled back into bed and didn’t wake until midmorning when her phone came alive with alerts and notifications. Her internet access had been restored.
Tempted as she was to post I’m being held against my will, she was quickly caught up in reading all the news updates, emails and texts along with listening to her voice mail.
She brought her knees up to her chest, cringing as her mother’s message began with an appalled “For God’s sake, Amy.”
Beyond the bedroom door, she heard the maid enter the suite, but kept listening to her mother harangue her for making international headlines “behaving like a trollop.”
It wasn’t the maid. Her heart lurched as Luca walked into the bedroom with a tray. He was creaseless and stern, emanating the scent of a fresh shower and shave.
Amy was nestled in the pillows she’d piled against the headboard, blankets gathered around her. She clicked off her phone mid maternal diatribe and dropped the device.
“You really have been demoted, haven’t you?”
He stilled as he absorbed the remark, then gave her a nod of appreciation. “Nice to have you back. I was worried. Especially when I was told you didn’t eat a single bite yesterday. That changes now.” He touched something on the tray and legs came down with a snick.
“Your spies don’t know what I do when no one is around.” She was dying for coffee, though, so she straightened her legs, allowing him to set the tray across her lap.
“They’re spies, Amy. Of course, they do.” He sat down next to her knees and poured coffee from the carafe into the two cups on the tray.
“Are you really having me watched?” She scowled toward the ceiling corners in search of hidden cameras.
“No.” His mouth twitched. “But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to concern over how you might be handling the restoration of your internet connection. You were very angry last night.” He sipped his coffee. “Anything we should know about?”
She followed his gaze to her phone, facedown and turned to silent, but vibrating with incoming messages.
“I’ve been reading, not responding. My social feeds are on fire. In times like this, you find out very quickly who your real friends are.” A handful of clients were ready to die on a hill defending her. Others were asking about terminating their contracts. “Bea and Clare have asked me to call when I can. They won’t judge, but I don’t know what to tell them. The rest of the office is used to being left in the dark with certain clients or actions we take on their behalf. They’re reaching out with thoughts and prayers, but I can tell they’re dying of curiosity, wondering if this is a stunt or if I’m really this stupid.” Her hand shook as she dolloped cream into her coffee. “Our competitors are reveling in my hypocrisy, of course, crossing professional lines when I’m usually defending victims of such things. They’ll dine on this forever, using it to tarnish London Connection’s integrity and my competence.”
“London Connection won’t be impacted.” Luca’s expression darkened. “I’ve set up the transfer. That will keep things afloat until you’re able to right the ship.”
“I told you not to pay me.” She clattered her cup back into the saucer, spilling more coffee than she’d tasted. “I won’t accept it. Taking money for this makes me feel cheap and dirty and stupid. Don’t make me refuse it again, Luca.”
He set his own cup down with a firm clink while he spat out a string of curses and rose to pace restlessly. “You did what I hired you to do,” he reminded Amy as he rounded on her. “I want to compensate you.”
“I ruined myself. I ruined my friends’ livelihood.”
“Quit being so hard on yourself.”
“Quit being so obtuse! Just because I don’t run a country doesn’t mean my actions don’t have consequences.” She snatched up her phone and tapped to play her mother’s message from the beginning, increasing the volume so Luca got the full benefit of her mother’s appalled disgust.
“For God’s sake, Amy. You’ve really done it this time, behaving like the worst sort of trollop. Neville is putting me on a plane back to London. He doesn’t want to be associated with me. I’ve had your father on the phone, too. How can I tell him you’re reliable enough to take control of your trust when you do things like this? You really never learn, do you?”
Amy clicked it off so they didn’t have to hear the rest.
“I thought you were already disinherited.”
“My father has control of a trust fund that was set up for me when I was born. I was supposed to start receiving income from it ten years ago, but I was expelled from school.” She didn’t tell him why. “They decided I wasn’t responsible enough. I was supposed to assume full control at twenty-five, but my career promoting high-society parties online wasn’t deemed serious enough. Daddy moved the date to my thirtieth birthday, eighteen months from now. Apparently, that’s now off, as well.” She threw her phone back into the blankets.
Luca swore again, this time with less heat, more remorse.
“I don’t care.” It was mostly
true. “I’ve learned to live without their financial support. But when I took your contract, I had a fantasy of finally telling them to shove it. I wanted to prove I’d made my fortune my own way, which was pure pride on my part. Looks like I’ve got more time to make that dream come true. Problem solved,” she said with facetious cheer while bitterness and failure swirled through her chest.
Why was life such a game of chutes and ladders? Why did she always hit the long slide back to zero?
“I had no idea.” He came back to sit on the bed.
“Why would you?” She wrapped her cold hands around the hot cup of coffee, ignoring that it was wet down one side. She couldn’t help fearing her earlier mistake with Avery Mason would emerge. It had been covered up, and all the key players had more reason to hide it than expose it, but it was still there, lurking like a venomous snake in the grass.
His firm hand gripped her calf through the blankets. “You have to let me help you, Amy.”
“Luca.” She jerked her leg away. “If you offer me that money one more time, you’re going to get a cup of hot coffee in the face. It will turn into a whole thing with your bodyguards, and I’ll wind up Tasered and rotting in jail. Not the best path to saving my reputation so leave it alone.”
He didn’t back off one iota. He found her leg again and gave it a squeeze. “Are you really prone to arson and violence?”
“No,” she admitted dourly. “But after my own parents left me fending for myself at eighteen, I’ve become hideously independent. The worst thing you could have done yesterday was leave me alone like this, helpless to solve my problem.”
“Because it’s not your problem,” he insisted. “That’s why I didn’t ask you to solve it.” He shifted so he was looking at the wall, elbows on his knees, hands linked between them. He sighed. “I didn’t see how much damage this would do to you. I want to help you fix it, Amy. Tell me what I can do.”
She sank heavily into the pillows. “If I had a clue how to fix it, I would have busted out of here and done it already.”