by Millie Adams
She wondered what sort of physical work he did. Or if it was from grueling workouts. He certainly had the body of somebody who liked to exact punishment on himself in the gym.
Music began to play in the room, an exacting instrumental piece with clear timing. And then she was moving.
Sophie gave instructions, but Violet felt as if her feet were flying, as if she had no control over the movements herself at all. It felt like magic. And she would have said she had no desire to dance like this, in an empty ballroom in a palace that she was being held in, by the man who was essentially her captor, but it was exhilarating.
She hadn’t lied to him when she said she had been given the opportunity to indulge in a great many things in life. She had turned away from most of them. They just hadn’t appealed.
But this...
Was this the evidence of being so spoiled that it took some sort of bizarre, singular experience to make her feel? No. She didn’t think that was it.
She looked up slightly and could see his mouth. There was something so enticing about the curve of it. Something fascinating about it. She spent a lot of time looking at people’s features. Using the natural planes and angles, dips and curves on people’s faces to think about ways that makeup might enhance them.
But she had never been entranced by a mouth in quite the way she was now.
She licked her own lips in response to the feeling created inside her when she looked up at him. And she felt him tense. The lines in his body going taut. And when she found the courage inside of herself to look all the way up to his eyes, the ice was completely burned away. And only fire remained.
But she didn’t feel threatened. And it wasn’t fear that tightened her insides. Wasn’t fear that made her feel like she might be burned, scorched from the inside out.
She took a breath and hoped that somehow the quick, decisive movement might cover up the intensity of her reaction to him. But the breath got hung up on a catch in her throat, and her chest locked, as she leaned forward. Her breasts brushed against the hardness of his chest and she felt like she was melting.
She swayed, and he seemed to think she was unsteady, because he locked his arm around her waist and braced her against his body. She felt weightless.
And she had the strangest sense of security. Of protection. She shouldn’t. This man was her enemy. After the way he had dismissed her suggestions for finding ways of not being forced into marriage, he was her sworn enemy.
But in his arms she was certain that he would never hurt her. And when she looked up into those eyes, she could easily see an image of him in her mind, holding a sword aloft and pressing her against his body, threatening anyone who might try to claim her. Anyone who might try to take her from him.
She was insane.
She had lost her mind.
She never reacted to men like this. Much less men who were just holding her in captivity until they could marry her off to their brothers.
But looking up into his eyes now, looking at that sculpted, handsome face, made it impossible for her to think of that. It made it impossible for her to think of anything. How isolated she was here. How her friends weren’t here, her family wasn’t here. She didn’t even have her phone. She hadn’t thought about her phone from the moment she had woken up this morning.
She had gotten up, scrubbed the makeup off her face, discarded her fake eyelashes and seized on the idea to play a ridiculous damsel in distress. Over eyeliner. And see where that got her. She hadn’t been able to stomach it. Because it was too ridiculous.
He might have believed it, but she found that her pride had to come into play somewhere.
So that had been her first waking thought. And then he had appeared.
There had been toast.
He had been handsome.
Now he was touching her.
And somewhere in there logic was turned upside down, twisted, then torn in half.
Because somehow she felt more connected, more present with this man, here in isolation, than she could remember feeling at home for a very long time.
But he’s not why you’re here.
The thought sent such a cold sliver of dread through her, and it acted like a bucket of icy water dropped over her head.
She was being ridiculous however you sliced it. But feeling... Physical responses to him were ludicrous. Not just because he had brought her here against her will, but because he wasn’t even the reason she had been brought here.
It was his brother. His brother who she hadn’t even met. She hadn’t even googled anything about him, because she didn’t have the means to do it.
She extricated herself from Javier’s hold, her heart thundering rapidly. “I think I got the hang of it,” she said.
“You are doing okay,” Sophie said. “I wouldn’t call it masterful.”
“Well, I’m jet-lagged,” Violet said. “Or did you not hear that I was forced onto a plane yesterday afternoon and flown from San Diego.”
Sophie looked from Violet to Javier. “I admit I didn’t know the whole story.”
“Forced,” Violet said. “I am being forced to marry King Whatever-his-name-is.”
“King Matteo,” Javier said.
“Are you?” Sophie’s face turned sharp.
“She’s fine,” Javier said. “Cold feet.”
“Oh yes, prewedding jitters are a real issue for kidnapped brides.”
“You’re clearly terrified for your life,” Javier said dryly. “You definitely treat me like I might kill you via lack of Wi-Fi at any moment.”
“I’m in withdrawal.”
“Leave us,” Javier said to Sophie.
“Should I?” Sophie asked Violet.
“I’m not afraid of him,” Violet said, tilting her chin upward.
Sophie inclined her head and left the room, doing what Javier told her. “You have my employees questioning me.”
“Good. Maybe we’ll start a revolution.”
“I would advise against that.”
“If you hear the people sing, you might want to make a run for it. And make sure you don’t have any guillotines lying around.”
“If revolution were that simple, I would have engaged in one a long time ago.”
“The history books make it look simple enough.”
“And full of casualties. My brother and I did our best to work behind the scenes to keep this country from falling apart. We prevented civil war.”
“Good for you,” Violet said, but she felt somewhat shamefaced now for making light of something that was apparently a very real issue here. And she shouldn’t feel guilty, because she was being held here against her will. There was no place for her to be feeling guilty. He should feel guilty. But of course he wouldn’t.
“I have work to do,” he said.
“I thought you were going to take me into the city,” she called after him.
“I have no desire to spend any more time with a spoiled brat.”
“Oh, how awful of me. Do I have a bad attitude about being your prisoner?”
“This is bigger than you. Can’t you understand that?”
He really thought that she should be able to take that on board. That she should just be willing to throw her life away because he was convinced that his brother thought she would be the best Queen for the country.
The longer she stood there staring at him, the longer she felt the burn of his conviction going through her skin, the more she realized they might as well be from different planets.
It wasn’t a language barrier. It was... An everything barrier.
He had sacrificed all his life for the greater good. He could not understand why it didn’t make sense to her. Why it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to abandon her expectations about her life and simply throw herself on the pyre of the good of many.
> “Javier,” she said.
His expression became haughty. “You know people don’t simply address me by my first name.”
“What do they call you?”
“His Royal Highness, Prince Javier of Monte Blanco.”
“That’s a mouthful. I’m going to stick with Javier.”
“Did I give you permission?”
Tension rolled between them, but it was an irritation. She had a terrible feeling she knew what it was. That maybe he had felt the same thing she had when they had been close earlier.
She chose to ignore it.
She chose to poke at him.
“No. But then, did you ask me if I cared to get it?”
“What is it you want, Violet?”
Her throat went dry, and she almost lost her nerve to ask him what she had intended to.
“Do you do anything for yourself?” She decided that since she was already acting against what would be most people’s better judgment, she might as well go ahead and keep doing it.
“No,” he said. Then a smile curved the edges of his lips. “One thing. But I keep it separate. In general, no. Because that kind of selfishness leads to the sort of disaster my brother and I just saved our nation from.”
“But you know that’s not the way the rest of the world works.”
“The rest of the world is not responsible for the fates of millions of people. I am. My brother is.”
“We just don’t expect that, growing up in Southern California.”
“That isn’t true. Because you’re here.”
“Because of my business,” she said.
“And your father,” he said. “Because whatever you think, you feel an obligation toward something other than yourself. Toward your father. Your family. You know what it is to live for those that you love more than you love your own self. Magnify that. That is having a country to protect.”
Then he turned and left her standing there, and she found that she had been holding her breath. She hadn’t even been aware of that.
She looked around the room. She was now left to her own devices. And that meant... That she would be able to find a computer. She was sure of that. And once she had the internet at her disposal, she would be able to figure out some things that she needed to know.
It occurred to her that she could contact home. If her brother had any idea what had happened to her...
She could also contact the media.
But something had her pushing that thought out of her mind. If she needed to. If she needed to, she could make an international incident. But for some reason she believed everything that Javier told her. And since she did, she truly believed that things in their country had been dire, and that he and his brother were working to make them better.
She didn’t want to undo that.
So she supposed he was right. She did have some sense of broader responsibility.
But that was why she needed a better idea of what she was dealing with. Of who she was dealing with. And that meant she was going exploring.
CHAPTER SIX
JAVIER IMMEDIATELY WENT to the gym. He needed to punish his body. Needed to destroy the fire that had ignited in his veins when he had touched Violet King. It was an aberration. He knew he had to turn his desires on and off like a switch.
In his life, it had been a necessity. Sometimes he had to go months without the touch of a woman, when he and Matteo were deep in trying to redirect one of his father’s plans from behind the scenes, or when they were actively harboring refugees, helping wrongly convicted citizens escape from prison... Well, sometimes there was no time for sex. When he wanted a woman, he went and found one.
Weekends in Monaco. Paris. Women who had appetites that matched his own. Voracious. Experience to match the darkness that lived inside of him.
And never, ever a woman who was meant for his brother.
He had far too much self-control for this.
Perhaps the issue was he had been too long without a woman.
It had been several months while he and Matteo worked to right the balance of Monte Blanco. And though he did not think they had been entirely celibate—either of them—since his brother had taken the throne, it had left little time for them to pursue personal pleasure.
Javier was feeling it now.
He growled and did another pull-up before dropping down to the floor, his breath coming hard and fast.
And he could still feel the impression of her softness in his arms. He had been in the gym for hours now, and it had not dissipated.
He would find a woman. He would have one flown in.
At this point, he felt deeply uncomfortable finding his pleasure with women in his own country. The power imbalance was too great.
And he was wary of being like his father.
So you’re more comfortable lusting after the woman you’re holding captive?
No, he was not comfortable with it. It was why he was here.
Because she was in his care, if one could say that of a captive. And he could so easily... Crush her.
He had harmed people before in the service of his father. A blot on his soul he would never scrub out.
“Oh.”
He whirled around and he saw the object of his torment standing there, her mouth dropped open, her eyes wide.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
“I asked around. They said that you might be in the gym. And I had found a computer, so I found an internal schematic for the palace and... Anyway. I found my way down here.”
“A computer?”
“Yes,” she said. “You see, conveniently, your staff doesn’t know that I’m a prisoner. They all think that I’m here of my own accord. So of course there is nothing wrong setting me up with a computer that has internet. Really. You need to watch me more closely.”
He crossed his arms over his bare chest. “I hear no helicopters. So I assume you did not call in the cavalry?”
“No. I figured I would wait for that.”
Her eyes skittered down from his face, landed on his chest and held. Color mounted in her face.
He gritted his teeth. It was a dangerous game she was playing. Whether she knew it or not.
“If you have something to say,” he said, his temper coming to an end point, “say it. I’m busy.”
“I can see that,” she said. “Do you suppose you could find a... You don’t have a shirt on hand, do you?”
He didn’t particularly care if she was uncomfortable. Not given the state of his own physical comfort over the last several hours. “No. And I’m in the middle of a workout. So I won’t be needing a shirt after you leave. It would be wasted effort. Continue.”
It was only then that he noticed she was clutching a portfolio in her hand.
She was still wearing the simple outfit that had been provided for her by the staff earlier in the day. Her hair was still loose, her face still free of makeup.
It was unconscionable, how attractive he found that.
He was a busy man. And consequently, his needs were simple. When he pursued a woman for a physical relationship, he liked her to be clearly sophisticated.
A very specific, sleek sort of look with glossy makeup, tight dresses and high-heeled shoes.
Obvious.
Because when you were short on time, obvious was the easiest thing.
Violet was anything but, particularly now, and yet she still made his blood boil.
Perhaps this was it. The taint of his father’s blood coming to the fore. Bubbling up the moment there was a woman in proximity who was forbidden. Who was forbidden to him? No one and nothing. And so what had he done?
What had he done? He had made the forbidden the most attractive thing.
And that was it. It had to be his body creating this situation. Because
there was nothing truly special about her.
Except that tongue of hers.
Razor-sharp and quick.
Her bravery in the face of an uncertain future.
He gritted his teeth again. None of those things mattered to him. A woman’s personality meant nothing. She would serve his brother well when it came to a choice of bride, provided Matteo could handle the sharper edges of her, that was. But those things, Javier presumed, would make her a good queen.
When it came to a bedmate... No. It wasn’t desirable at all. A construct. A fabrication.
Brought to him by the less desirable parts of him.
He and his brother had always known those things lurked inside of them.
How could they be of their father and consider themselves immune to such things? They didn’t. They couldn’t.
And so, Javier had to be realistic about it now.
“I have put together a portfolio. Everything I learned about your country. And the ways in which I think I could help by bringing my business here.”
“What do you mean?”
“You used to have manufacturing here. You don’t anymore. I do most of my manufacturing in the United States, but with products coming to Europe... I don’t see why I couldn’t have some of it manufactured here. In fact, I think it would be a good thing. It would allow me to keep costs down. And it would bring a substantial amount of employment to your country.”
“We are not impoverished.”
“No. But particularly the women here are underemployed. Child marriages are still happening in the more rural villages. I know your father looked the other way...”
“Yes,” he said, his teeth gritted. “We fought to stop that. We did not look the other way.”
“I know. And I know you’re still fighting for it. Again. I did a lot of reading today. I feel like I understand... More of what you’re trying to do here. Well. I believe in it. And you’re right. It doesn’t do us any good to live a life to serve only ourselves. And that has never been my goal. Don’t you know I have a charity with my sister, for women who are abused?”