Royal Watch

by Stacey Marie Brown

  “Parents that can have my head cut off.”

  “We don’t do that anymore.” He pulled me in.

  “Really?”

  “No, but we could lock you in the dungeon. There’s also talk of bringing stoning back.”

  “Shut up.” I snorted, my head falling into his chest.

  “Seriously, I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” He kissed the top of my head. “I promise when you meet my father, I will be by your side.”

  I took a deep breath. This was why I was doing this. For him. For us. A future that was already being planned out for me.

  “Theo. There you are,” a posh voice declared from the door. Her light, crystal voice demonstrated years of impeccable tutelage and wealth.

  “And I certainly won’t let you be unchaperoned when you meet my sister.” He chuckled, twisting his head to the intruder.

  I looked up at the girl standing in the door, my mouth parting in awe. She was even more stunning in person. Wearing a green dress, matching the trademark royal eyes, Princess Eloise was the spitting image of her mother, if not even more beautiful and perfect. Her long, glossy, dark hair cascaded over her shoulders in flawless waves. Standing with one hand on her hip, her gaze rolled over me.

  “I’m sorry.” Her brows crinkled, her hand motioning to me. “But did you pee yourself?”

  Seriously, fuck my life.

  Chapter 7

  “El.” Theo wagged his head in irritation, but a humored smile touched his mouth. “Can you at least try to be polite until she gets to know you?”

  “Pardon?” Eloise’s hand went to her chest, her eyes widening in horror. Even though I was raised with noble etiquette and proper speech, you could tell the difference between us like rain and sun. Every word was groomed and polished. “I’m appalled you would think I would not be nice.”

  “Because I’m the only one who knows the truth.” Theo chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

  Eloise stepped farther into the room, the door magically closing on its own, or maybe another guard stood on the other side.

  She strode to us with a self-assurance only the super privileged and beautiful could attain. Theo had the same swagger. Never understanding doubt or true struggle. Since birth, they had been handed everything. No one would tell them no; they had power and sway very few could comprehend. It didn’t mean they didn’t go through their own struggles and work hard, but they lived in a bubble of extreme privilege.

  She was every bit the princess I had seen on TV and from afar. Faultless, proper, gentle, polished. Doing and saying everything precisely and with impeccable aptness. The press could never find a thing wrong with her. And sadly, they tried, attempting to bring her down to the human level, but she seemed only to rise in the public’s esteem instead.

  “Spencer.” My name rolled smoothly off her tongue. She came up to me, about my height, her hand reaching for mine. “I’ve heard so much about you. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  “Drop the bullshite, El,” Theo cut in before I could get a word out. “It’s annoying.”

  She dropped her outstretched hand, peeking up at her brother. Slowly, a mischievous grin curled her mouth. “You’re no fun.”

  “And you are a pain in the arse.”

  A smile bloomed, her formal demeanor dropping away, and she hit her brother in the arm with a harsh strike. “Learned from you.”

  He grunted, grabbing for his injured arm. “Dammit, El. That hurt.”

  “Awww, poor baby.” She punched him again. “Getting beat up by your little sister.”

  He jabbed out his hand, cuffing her back in the arm.

  “Ow!” She yelped, rubbing her arm.

  “Accidents do happen.” He smirked, tapping her again, ruffling up her hair.

  “Oh, don’t start that game with me. I was a stupid kid. Now I’ll kick your arse.”

  “Oh, bring it on!” Theo opened his arms in a challenge.

  I stood there, my head whipping back and forth between them casually teasing and hitting each other. They were so… normal. It clashed against the image they portrayed in public with each other. They always talked highly of each other, very sweet and loving, but formal. As if royals didn’t fight like all the ordinary siblings in the world.

  “Look. We’ve scared her.” Eloise shoved her brother one last time before turning to me. “You’re so lucky you don’t have an annoying brother to deal with.”

  I blinked, taking in her altered manner. She was relaxed, her hair slightly messy, an impish glint in her eyes. “Seriously, it’s really nice meeting you. Theo used to talk about you all the time when you were in school together. I’m glad I finally get to meet you.”

  “He talked about me?” I looked at him and back to her.

  “El…” he warned.

  “All the time.” She smiled wickedly.

  Eloise and Theo were only a year and three months apart. She was in the grade lower than him but attended a boarding school up north. For security reasons, they couldn’t have both royal children attending the same school in case something happened. Our country wasn’t high on the list of terrorist targets, but we still had enemies inside and out. What a perfect coup if you took out both royal children in line for the throne. Separating them made this less likely.

  “You sound nothing like the stuck-up prince chasers he liked before.” Her posh accent went against the words coming out of her mouth. “I instantly knew I’d like you.” She wrapped her arm around mine, tugging me forward. “I’m sorry, but you must change. That will never do for tonight.”

  “Absolutely not.” Theo put out his arms, stopping us. “Let her settle in before you really frighten her, Ellie.”

  “Wait. What?” My heels dug into the rug, breaking Eloise’s hold on me. I twisted to Theo, realizing something the queen had said was still bothering me. “What do you mean settle in?”

  “Ohhhh,” Eloise snickered. “You didn’t tell her?”

  “I was going to—”

  “Theo!” she chastised.

  “Tell me what?” But I had a deep sinking feeling I already knew what.

  “You love me, right?” He cocked one eyebrow.

  “Not sure right now,” I grumbled. “Especially when you start out like that.”

  “I have duties now. Here. A lot of my time will be taken… and I don’t want to just see you once a week or month.”

  “Theo…” I folded my arms.

  “It would be a four-hour trip there and back to see you or for you to come here.” He took my hands in his, rushing out his defense quickly. “We are making this official. The public will expect to see us together. There will be a lot of events we will be doing together so it’s silly for you to stay at Wentworth House.” His fingers tightened around mine. “Kelly, the head of my PR, thinks it would be best if you stay here. And Chloe, the head of the palace PR, agrees.”

  “I’m so glad all the PR groups agree on it.” I ripped my hands out of his grip, rubbing my throbbing head. I knew the royal family each had their own PR, plus the overall palace PR group, promoting and glossing everything in their favor, but it still was strange to hear. Especially in regards to something I hadn’t been privy to. “But it would’ve been nice, Theo, if you asked me first. It is my life you are delegating.”

  “I know. I know. Again, I am sorry. I just knew you were already so overwhelmed when we talked on the phone.”

  “Better to ambush me here?”

  “That’s not what I meant to do.”

  “Yes, it was.” I dropped my shoulders, licking my lips. “Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

  “Spence.” He pulled me back into him. “Seriously, I am so sorry. If you don’t want to stay, you don’t have to. I’m not going to force you into anything.”

  Exhaling, I pressed my face into his warm chest. It wasn’t that I didn’t agree with the assessment. It would be ridiculous to go back and forth like that. We’d end up never seeing each other, spending more t
ime in the car… Okay, let’s be honest, I would be the one in the car all the time. But I didn’t like being taken by surprise.

  “Next time, let me in on the plan. I mean, I didn’t even pack anything,” I demanded, staring up at his face.

  “Mother had someone find out your size and filled the guest room closet with clothes.”

  My teeth crunched together, and I pulled away from him again. I hated that he sprang this on me, almost not giving me a choice. My parents thought I was leaving for the afternoon, not for good. Though, I knew when I called, they would be thrilled, probably move me into the palace themselves. Uncle Fredrick almost threw me a parade, the whole family over the moon that Theo and I were back together. More accurately, that I was dating the Prince of Great Victoria.

  Prestige, money, title. The ultimate catch to help us gain back respect.

  “Sorry. Not the point,” he exhaled. “Again.”

  “Bloody hell, Theo, you are just crashing and burning here.” Eloise leaned against the sofa, trying to hide her grin.

  “Not. Helping,” he barked at her.

  “If I agree to this? Two conditions.” I ran my hand through my styled hair, no longer caring how long it took Nara to do. “One. I will have my own flat.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t live here, Theo.” I motioned around. “Like this isn’t going to be enough pressure on me. But to live here? I could never relax. I can’t…”

  “Fine.” He nodded, pulling his arms over his chest. “I’ll ask Chloe if we can work that out. What’s the second?”

  “Don’t ever, ever ambush me again.” I pointed his chest. “I’m scrambling as it is right now. I will not be treated like a doll, moved around and dressed without my say. I will not be a fool.”

  “All right.” He flinched, his neck bobbing again. “Again, I am so sorry.”

  I stepped up to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Just don’t forget… we’re in this together. A team. You and me. Don’t forget… me.”

  He grinned down, his palms cupping my face, his mouth grazing mine. “Never.”

  “All right.” Eloise threw out her hands. “I don’t want to watch my brother make out with his girlfriend.”

  “Like I haven’t been subjected to seeing you with all your boy toys, their tongue down your throat?”

  Boy toys? Holy crap, how good was the PR firm here? Eloise came across as a saint. The press only caught her having coffee with one boy off campus, and they did nothing more than drink coffee. The gossip mill went around for weeks trying to figure out who he was.

  “So, can we have some fun now?” Eloise’s mouth curved up like the Cheshire cat. “The queen and king are out all evening, and when the lions are out, the cubs can play. You up for it, Spencer?”

  “I think so?” I responded skeptically, watching Theo shake his head in the negative.

  “Please, Theo. She’s not that fragile.” Eloise rolled her eyes, grabbing my arm again, walking us to the door. “I’ve never seen anyone put my brother in his place like that. I think you and I are going to be great friends.” Her heels clicked on the stone, and the guards, somehow knowing she was exiting, opened the doors for us, and we seamlessly flowed into the corridor, turning farther into the palace. “However, this pink-pee dress has got to go.”

  “Should I ask where we are going?”

  Her expression filled with pure wickedness. “Now what would be the fun in that?”

  The purposefully torn jeans were practically painted on my body, and they dug into my hips, my spiked heel booties clicking on the metal stairs as we descended into the dark club.

  None of the outfits the queen had filled my closet with met Eloise’s approval. They were beautiful, the finest quality, but were very classy dresses, looking more ready for a garden party than a nightclub. Eloise promised she and I would go shopping later to find me more “going out” clothes. Until then, I was stuffing my slightly curvier frame into her outfits. Dressing me in skintight jeans with strategically placed rips down the legs, a silky black backless tank, jewelry, perfect smoky eyes, the heeled boots I wobbled on, with my hair in waves down my back, I finally passed her evaluation.

  I knew I looked good, probably better than I ever had, but still, it was hard to stand next to Eloise. She was so beautiful it was hard not to cry a little inside. She was decked out in tight leather pants, a sheer red top over a jeweled bra, metal spiked heels, her hair straight and sleek. Her makeup was club perfection, making her green eyes pop.

  “Wow. Hot.” Theo’s eyes widened when we stepped out, his gaze running over my body. Of course, he only had to change into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt to look hot. “You look so sexy.”

  “Thank you.” I grinned, taking his hand as he led me into the car already filled with several people. A woman I didn’t recognize was behind the wheel, but I stiffened when I saw Lennox sitting in the SUV. He peered in my direction but looked around me, his jaw twitching with disgust.

  What the hell was his problem? Did he have a thing for Theo or something? Is that why he hated me? It usually took people a little longer to find out I was an odd duck.

  “Spencer, this is Peter.” Eloise patted the shoulder of the bodyguard sitting in the passenger seat. “He adores me so much that he can’t bear to have me out of his sight.”

  The man ignored her, talking into his earpiece, clearly used to Eloise’s manner, which I still couldn’t wrap my head around. Sitting, I couldn’t exactly tell, but he appeared to be a few inches shorter than Lennox, in his late thirties with short dark blond hair. He was one of those guys who could blend into the background, neither handsome nor homely. Pleasant, but you’d forget the moment you looked away. He wore all black like Lennox, but that was where the similarity stopped.

  I sort of understood why Lennox made a perfect bodyguard. He looked like part of our group. He was young and gorgeous, wearing dark jeans and a black T-shirt snug against his beefed-up chest. With his scruffy jaw and bored expression, anyone would think he was a friend of Theo’s, not his bodyguard. I couldn’t deny the man was hot. Like uncomfortably hot, where you couldn’t quite look at him, but his arrogance and painfully awful personality dropped him quite a bit in my book. Not that girls would care about that when he walked by, but he was someone who made me happy that Theo was holding my hand. I hated men who thought they were too good for everyone, looking down at you for even trying to talk to someone like him.

  I originally thought Theo was that way but was so happy he proved me wrong. Instead of dating the cliché and picking a girl of high rank, he chose awkward me.

  “Stay close to me in here, okay?” Theo whispered in my ear, bringing me back to the present, my hand in his as we hit the underground club.

  I cocked an eyebrow at him, the dim light in the space barely enough to make out his face. It made a perfect place for royalty to escape. No one would probably even know they were here.

  “This is not a normal club…” Theo paused, licking his bottom lip. “There’s a little more you don’t know about my sister.”

  “What?”

  “Theo!” His name rang out, and a guy strolled up to us, his arms open in greeting, taking our attention to him. Charlie’s smile beamed across his face as he walked toward his friend, looking like he just stepped off a plane from a tropical island, his skin deeply tanned, setting off glowing blue eyes and overly white teeth. Hazel and Ben followed him.

  “Hey!” Theo surged for his buddies, bubbling with excitement, the guys giving each other the backslapping man hugs, but he grabbed Hazel, pulling her into a deep bear hug. “Shite, I’ve missed you guys.”

  “Missed your pompous arse too!” Ben’s hand pushed back his longer “bedroom messy” hair.

  “Eloise!” Hazel gave Theo’s sister a hug. As usual, she looked like she just stepped off a runway in Milan, radiant in a short rawhide skirt, five-inch heeled booties, and a barely there tank. Her golden blonde hair was perfectly wild, accenting her bright red lip
s.

  “Ellie!” Charlie swooped her up, twirling her around. “Good to see you!”

  “Funny, I feel quite the opposite.” She winked as he set her down.

  “You break my heart.” He clutched his chest, looking overdramatic.

  “You don’t have one.”

  “Right! Never mind.” He dropped his hands, snapping his fingers. “That’s why I’m such a dick!”

  She shook her head, laughing, but stopped the moment she glanced over at Ben, her lips pursing. They both nodded to each other awkwardly, looking quickly away. In that brief exchange, I could feel intimate history clot the air, telling me there was no way something hadn’t happened between them.

  “Spencer,” Hazel greeted me, her upper-class accent curling around my name, leaning in to air-kiss my cheeks. “So good to see you.” She was one I actually thought meant it, unlike so many I ran into at school when I was dating Theo. She was so secure with who she was; she didn’t need to put anyone down to make herself better. I loved she wasn’t the stereotypical mean girl.

  “Who wants a bloody drink?” Charlie clapped his hands, nodding back at the bar against the far wall. The guys sprang forward, locked on the bartender, letting us girls trail after.

  The club was vast, dark, and very plain. A few sofas lined the walls, but most of the middle seemed to be left open for what I figured was a dance floor. It wasn’t the cool, hip lounges or cozy pubs we had usually gone to. This was the opposite of classy or sexy. There was even an overlying smell of dried sweat and bodies, but the room filled with every passing minute, its occupants ranging in ages and types. The club was apparently popular with this diverse crowd, but it seemed an odd place for the Prince and Princess of Great Victoria to hang out.

  “Bloody hell.” Hazel blinked, her mouth parting, peering over my shoulder. “Who is that incredible specimen of a man?”

  Following her gaze, I already knew who she was looking at.

  “That’s Lennox.” I frowned. “Theo’s new bodyguard.”

  “Fuck. Me,” she whispered, her pale cheeks flaming red. “He is gor-geous.”