Risking the Crown

by Violet Paige

There wasn’t a playbook or a fix-it manual. It couldn’t be spun to fit into a headline, or managed into a schedule that worked for everyone else. Love never worked that way.

  Our baby was proof. Adaline was proof.

  Nic kissed me, tangling our tongues, sucking at the corners of my mouth. I sighed. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

  He smiled. “Not as glad as I am.”

  I moaned as his hands roamed my body.

  “Were you sad to leave Galona?” I whispered.

  He stared at me. “No. I wasn’t.”

  “Not even a little bit?”

  He traced my bottom lip with his thumb. “I’ll never be sad to leave the crown if I’m headed to you.”

  “That is incredibly sweet and sexy.”

  He pushed his thumb to my tongue and I began to suck and nibble.

  “Not as sexy as you,” he growled. He cupped my cheek. “I missed you Mrs. Sauvage.”

  I looked into his eyes. “Show me,” I taunted.

  He laughed. “Be patient my dirty princess. We’re just getting started.”

  He crashed his lips into mine and there was nothing in the world we wanted more than each other.

  Thank you so much for reading Risking the Crown!

  I have some special surprises for you with a few bonus books attached.

  xoxo,

  Violet

  Don’t Tell

  Copyright © 2017 by Violet Paige

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  1

  Kaitlyn

  “Miss, you need to turn off all of your electronic devices.” The flight attendant smiled while she shoved a tightly packed bag into the compartment over my head.

  I nodded. “All right.”

  I powered down my phone, and tucked it in the pocket of my bag before pushing it under the seat with my feet. The man next to me edged me off the armrest with his elbow. I sighed, realizing the three-hour flight to Houston from Raleigh was going to suck.

  This was not how I pictured the start of my vacation. I blamed Branch. “The asshole,” was how I referred to him now and forever.

  I ran my fingers through my hair. It was shorter now. Shorter than I had worn it the entire time I was in college.

  Ok, I admit it was a little rash to chop my hair into shaggy shoulder-length strands. Maybe I didn’t think through my options as carefully as I should have, but I knew Branch loved my long hair. He would tangle his fingers through it, and beg me to pull it down every time I pulled it in a ponytail. I lashed out at him with something I knew he would notice. I wasn’t going to cry over him. Or beg.

  I tugged on the ends now, forcing myself not to regret it. It would grow.

  The plane lifted off and I thought about the break up.

  “I think we’ve grown apart. We’re not the same people we were when we first started dating,” Branch stated, pressing his lips together.

  My suitcase was on the bed. I needed to pull some things together for our trip. I hadn’t packed a single thing, and we were supposed to leave in three days.

  He continued, speaking plainly. “I thought it was the right thing to do. You know, tell you now instead of trying to make it through a trip together. It’s time for us to end this.”

  “Is there someone else?” It was the only question I could put together. My brain tried to wade through the muck of Branch’s words.

  “Not exactly. You know, I just want to keep my options open.”

  Options open? I almost laughed in his face.

  He leaned over and patted me on the back as if I was one of his fraternity brothers. “You’ll get over this, Kaitlyn. You know we’ve run our course. It couldn’t last forever.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve gotta go. I’m meeting some of the guys back at the house.”

  I could have tried to stop him. I could have put up a fight. I could have given him a good reason to stay together. But I couldn’t think of one. Not a single reason the two of us should be together. I let him walk out of my room. It was clear there wasn’t anything left to fight for. I walked straight to my bathroom and picked up the scissors.

  “You from Texas?” the armrest hog asked

  “Uh. No. Visiting.” I shook the breakup from my mind.

  “What part?” He was leaning closer, which I didn’t think was possible with the proximity of our seats. I wished I had paid for an upgrade.

  “South Padre.” I wanted to retrieve my phone and pretend I was busy.

  He chuckled. “Yep, it’s that time of year. Let me guess… post-graduation vacation?”

  I didn’t like that he had guessed it. “Yeah. I’m meeting lots of friends there.” I paused. “And my boyfriend.” I had to force the last word from my mouth. There were no friends on the other end of this trip and certainly no boyfriend, but he didn’t need to know I was suddenly single.

  He reached for the in-flight magazine and flipped through the pages. “Well, have a good time. It’s a trip you’ll never forget.” He stopped on an article and his attention shifted away from me.

  I didn’t know what I expected from this trip. I’d never taken a vacation by myself. I never wanted to. But I wasn’t going to let Branch and his wishy-washy, keep-his-options-open plan stop me from having this vacation. I deserved it. I had earned it. I had let Branch take the reins for way too long.

  2

  Cole

  Sometimes I wished I could burn this hellhole down. The whole thing. I pictured it going up in flames. There’d be nothing left but piles of smoldering ash. The frame and some charred pink tiles would be the only recognizable parts of this piece of shit. I could finally fucking walk. I could turn my back on it.

  But that’s not the kind of man I was.

  I grabbed a cold beer and twisted off the cap. I slammed the office door behind me, walking past the pool that was still battling a green tint.

  I chugged the beer.

  I walked up the steps to the boardwalk. There was enough wind to make me forget how hot I had been all day.

  “Daddy!”

  I turned just in time to see Grayson running toward me. His chubby hands outstretched.

  “Hey.” I reached down, scooping him up in a hug. “What are you doing here, little man?”

  He pointed at a seagull overhead. “Bird.”

  “Yeah. That’s a seagull.” I looked around. And then I saw her walking toward us. “Amber.” I tried to hide the bitterness in my voice in front of Grayson.

  “Grayson wanted to say hi before we head out of town.” She smiled.

  “Out of town?” I placed him on the ground so he could chase the birds on the beach.

  “It’s my week with him,” she snapped.

  “I know it’s your week, but where are you going?”

  I hated this shit. I hated how we argued. I hated that I shared custody of my two-year old son with my ex. I hated that she was unreliable and changed her mind every other damn second.

  She shrugged. “It’s getting hot. I thought we might go somewhere we could avoid the sun.”

  “This is Texas. That doesn’t exist.”

  I watched Grayson face plant on the sand. He hopped up and kept going.

  Amber rolled her eyes, brushing her auburn bangs to the side. “I’ll text you. Ok?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t like not knowing where you’re going to be.”

  “I said I’ll let you know. I didn’t even have to bring Grayson by. You could try saying thank you.”

  I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t taking her bait. I wasn’t going to get pulled in. She did this every time. She wanted me to fight and it wasn’t happening.

  “Fine. I’m glad I could see him.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “I’ll drop him off next week, unless you’re too busy
here.” She eyed the motel.

  “No. I’m never too busy for him. Never.” I stared at her.

  She laughed. “Right. And that’s why you spend all your time at this dump.”

  I glared. “I inherited this property and it’s how I support my son. It’s a business. It’s my job. You know that.”

  “Whatever. You choose to spend your time here. It’s useless.” She walked past me. “Grayson, come on. Let’s go,” she called.

  He made another circle in the sand and ran toward us. His hair clung to his forehead. Even with the sun going down, he was sweaty. I bent down, wrapping my arms around him.

  “Have fun on your trip. I’ll see you next week.”

  He rubbed his nose over mine. I laughed. I hadn’t letting him out of my arms. It never got easier.

  I rose and faced Amber. “Text me.”

  She sighed. “I will.” She reached her hand out. “Come on, let’s get you buckled in your car seat.”

  He ran next to her. Five minutes later they were gone. Although, I had no idea where my son was going.

  3

  Kaitlyn

  Once we landed in Houston, I pulled my bag from underneath the seat and turned my phone on. I had three missed calls from Branch. I didn’t want to talk to him. My anger toward him suffocated any creeping curiosity about why he was calling after three days of utter silence.

  I still had one puddle jumper flight to Brownsville. From there, I would hop on the resort shuttle that would take me to South Padre.

  “You be careful, young lady. Those Padre vacations can get a little out of control,” the man next to me warned. He had not taken any of my subtle hints.

  I smiled, scooted down the aisle, and walked off the plane.

  I had enough time between my flights to call Mary Ellen, my roommate for the past four years. She was like the sister I never had. I tapped her name on my screen and waited for her to answer.

  “Hey. How is Texas? Are you there?”

  “Yes.I’m in Houston, waiting for my next flight.” I observed the passengers walking past me. I had never seen so many cowboy boots worn in one place. Everyone had them on.

  “We just checked into the hotel and we’re headed to happy hour. You doing ok?”

  “Happy hour?”

  “There are graduation parties everywhere,” she explained. “I think it’s happy hour all the time this week. How are you doing? Have you heard from Branch?”

  I didn’t want to talk about Branch, but Mary Ellen was worried and I knew she would keep pestering me about him until I said something. If the roles were reversed, I would do exactly the same thing.

  “He called three times when I was in the air, but I haven’t talked to him. I don’t want to.”

  “I get that but, what if you run into him in Padre? Don’t you two need to talk?” I could hear girls screaming in the background.

  “There’s nothing to talk about.”

  “I know you’re being strong, but you don’t have to pretend for me. You’ve got to be worried about seeing him. Admit that at least.”

  I wasn’t willing to admit anything. My emotions seesawed between numbness and anger. Mary Ellen had tried to talk me out of the trip, but it didn’t work. I needed to focus on something to keep me from thinking about what Branch had said. Packing, boarding a flight, and making my way to this vacation kept me from fixating on what happened between us.

  “I’m fine. Stop worrying about me. South Padre is going to be the perfect vacay to get over the asshole. I couldn’t dream up a better way to forget him.” I smiled into the phone.

  “He is the asshole. Do I need to write a list for you of all the stuff he did? It might be just what you need. I read in a Cosmo article somewhere that if you make a list of all the bad things in your relationship it will help with closure. If you need me to start it, I’d put how he backed out as your plus one for your cousin’s wedding right at the last minute as number one. He was probably the worst boyfriend.”

  Mary Ellen always had my back whether or not she liked my relationship with Branch. “Thanks for the offer, but I have the memories, unfortunately.”

  “I bet you could still change your flight. Why don’t you fly back and we’ll spend our this week together—like we should have planned all along before Branch hijacked it. It’s just not the same without you here.”

  Mary Ellen’s words struck a guilty nerve. She was right. I shouldn’t have planned a post-graduation vacation with my boyfriend. I should be with my best friend.

  I sighed. “I have to go. My flight is boarding for Brownsville. I just wanted to see if you made it to Myrtle Beach. Tell the girls I said, hey.”

  “Ok, but call me when you get to the resort. And good luck.” She hung up, and I stood facing the gate, realizing for the first time that the flight was full.

  While I was on the phone with Mary Ellen, the small waiting area had accumulated college students from all over the country, with only one thing on their minds: a weeklong party.

  I found an open seat and waited for the desk attendant to call my row. I only needed to make it through this one little flight, and then I’d be on my way to the resort. I could sort things out there. The beach, sun, and a fruity drink were calling my name.

  “Passengers waiting to board flight two-two-eight-one with nonstop service to Brownsville, we apologize for the inconvenience, but the flight has been overbooked.” The murmurs around me were almost loud enough to drown out the rest of the announcement.

  “If we call your name, please step up to the podium and we’ll help you make arrangements to reach your final destination.”

  I reached for my ticket and clutched it in anticipation for the list of bumped passengers.

  “Alex Bishop, Jodie Phillips, and Jorge Ramon please approach the ticket desk.”

  Relieved, I tucked my ticket back into my bag.

  They weren’t finished. “And passenger Kaitlyn Sinclair. We need you to check in as well.”

  Shit. I had been sorted onto the short list of bumped passengers. I gathered my carry on and approached the desk.

  “Hi. I’m Kaitlyn Sinclair. You called my name.”

  “Yes. You’ve been reassigned to another flight to Brownsville,” the woman at the counter reported.

  “Ok. When does that flight leave?”

  She typed furiously on the keyboard. “You’re in luck. Since it’s a heavy vacation time, it’s basically like a shuttle service to Brownsville. There is another flight in ninety minutes.”

  That didn’t seem too bad. “All right.” I didn’t have much choice.

  “And we have a food voucher for you.” She beamed at me. “It’s five dollars and you can use it anywhere in the airport.”

  That wouldn’t even cover the cost of a muffin at the food court. I took my new boarding pass and the not-so-generous voucher, and returned to my seat.

  I had to remind myself that even if Branch hadn’t dumped me, I would still be traveling to South Padre by myself. He had bought his airline ticket a month before I did. Maybe I should have realized then that he didn’t care whether I was on this trip. He always liked his independence. If we had a date, he’d ask me to meet him there. He was the kind of guy who would rather go to a movie without me, than wait two hours for me to get out of class.

  “Attention passengers traveling to Brownsville. We will begin boarding in twenty minutes. Please have your boarding passes ready.” The loud speaker crackled overhead.

  Finally.

  4

  Kaitlyn

  When the plane came to a complete stop, I wasn’t expecting to disembark down a flight of stairs and onto the concourse. The Brownsville airport was small—extremely small. I slung my bag on my left shoulder and descended the stairs. I inhaled the warm Texas air. Ok, maybe salt breezes weren’t that far away.

  The flip-flop girls from my flight giggled as we crossed the tarmac. I thought I overheard them discussing cocktails and something about body shots.

&nbs
p; “Ladies, wait up!” The flask guys pushed past me, sending one of the cola bottles in the air.

  “Hey!” I yelled as the lid slipped off and the pungent concoction washed down the front of my jeans.

  If they were trying to stifle their laughter, they failed. “Dude, you just spilled your drink all over that girl.”

  “Hey, I’m sorry.” The offender barely uttered the words before he plunged into the crowd and disappeared.

  I looked down at my jeans and the stain that had bled from my thigh to the mid-point of my shin. At least I was entering baggage claim where I could retrieve my bag and change clothes. Only, the carousel circled several times, the flip-flop girls were on their way with their luggage and mine was missing.

  I trudged over to the baggage desk. “Excuse me. My luggage didn’t arrive from Raleigh.”

  “Fill out this form.” The man behind the counter didn’t even bother to look at me. He typed something with one hand and tossed a pen with the other.

  “But, I’m supposed to catch a shuttle to my hotel. Can you try to track it first? I was bumped from my last flight and maybe it arrived before I did. I have my baggage claim ticket right here.” I held up the small barcode stapled to my boarding pass.

  “Like I said, fill out the form.”

  I took the pen and inserted all the necessary information into the blanks.

  “Do you think you can tell me where it is?” I asked sweetly, hoping he would take pity on me.

  The man glanced over the sheet on the clipboard and resumed his typing. “We’ll call you when we locate your bag.”

  There was a line forming behind me. I wasn’t the only one who had an issue with traveling today.

  “Ok. Thank you.” I didn’t want to thank the man. He hadn’t done anything and he wasn’t the least bit helpful, but the fate of my suitcase was in his hands.

  I thought back to the pictures on the website of the resort. When I checked in, I could take a hot steamy shower and curl up in one of those fluffy robes while I waited for my luggage. I smiled. A twenty-minute shuttle ride was all that separated me from resort luxury.