Claiming the Royal Innocent (Kingdoms & Crowns)

by Jennifer Hayward

  Silence fell over the table. “This is all a great deal for Aleksandra to take in,” Nik interjected smoothly. “Of course we hope she stays. She is family.”

  Her stomach tightened at the warmth in her brother’s gaze. It was as if he’d been withholding emotion until it was safe to express it. It unraveled something inside her, an almost unbearably bittersweet swell consuming her chest. She picked up her water glass and drank, giving in to the impossibility of eating.

  By the time the meal mercifully came to an end, she felt raw in her skin.

  Nik headed off to a meeting in his palace office, Sofía upstairs to bathe Theo, Stella out for a drink with a friend. After a call home, an emotional conversation in which her infinitely wise mother told her she needed to do what was right for her, her voice breaking as she did, Alex curled up in the library to think. Process.

  But when even that peaceful setting felt too stifling to think, she headed for the magnificent palace gardens instead. If she was going to find a clear head, it would be there.

  * * *

  Aristos emerged from his second visit to the palace in under a week with a strong sense of foreboding that Akathinia had yet to see its most trying times. The king had requested the unusual after-dinner meeting to inform him he’d called all his troops up for active duty after Carnelia had summoned its own reservists, signaling a possible imminent aggression by Akathinia’s sister island.

  Nikandros had requested he release the rest of the financial commitment he had made to the armed forces to enable the country to protect itself, to which he had agreed.

  His head mired in what this would mean for his casino, a potentially devastating delay in breaking ground next month looming, he headed for the front doors of the palace. He was almost there when he saw an undeniably eye-catching female in a white dress headed across the foyer in the opposite direction. Aleksandra. He would have recognized that sweet derriere anywhere.

  He couldn’t deny he’d been wondering how she was. The apprehension in her eyes when he’d walked out of the library the night of the ball had been playing on his mind. Why that was, why he felt in any way protective toward her, was a mystery to him. Out of sight, out of mind wasn’t a cliché in his world; it was how he lived his life.

  If you didn’t invest in people, it was impossible for them to disappoint you. For you to disappoint them.

  His step faltered on the gleaming marble floor. Don’t do it, Aristos. You already crossed the line with her once. You have far too much on your plate already. If the $2.5 billion Akathinian hotel and casino didn’t get off the ground, his personal investment went down the drain with it, a loss that could threaten his company’s existence.

  Why he then found himself changing direction and heading toward the back of the palace was anyone’s guess. Aleksandra had been headed toward the gardens. He chose the path toward the spectacular fountains and pool at the center of the sprawling botanical extravaganza and found her perched on the wide lip of the fountain, looking like something out of an Impressionist painting.

  Wearing a simple white summer dress that left her tanned legs bare, her silky dark hair caught up in a high ponytail, her full mouth pursed as she contemplated what appeared to be a significant issue, she looked good enough to eat. Undeniably edible to his far-too-jaded palate. And yes, this, he decided, had been a big mistake.

  Too late, however, as she looked up at him, blue eyes widening. “Aristos.”

  “Sit,” he said as she scrambled to her feet, brushing off the back of her dress. Dumping his jacket on the edge of the fountain, he sat down beside her. Noted the distance she put between them as she returned to her perch with an amused pull of his mouth.

  She slid him a wary look from beneath dark lashes. “Overseeing your security again?”

  “Meeting with the king. I saw you on the way out. I thought I’d check to see how you’re doing.”

  “You who hunted me down, seduced me to find out what I was up to, then threatened to put me in handcuffs?”

  His amusement intensified. She was embarrassed about what had happened between them. About the undeniable chemistry they shared...

  “Let’s get one thing straight,” he drawled. “I kissed you because you are one hundred percent my type, angel. Petite brunettes with insane curves do it for me. Seducing you would have required more privacy than we had. Although I am not against a bit of voyeurism to add some spice to a sexual encounter, a palace party would not have been the occasion I’d have chosen.”

  Her mouth went slack. “You would not have had the chance, regardless.”

  He raked his gaze over her pink cheeks, ramrod-straight spine, the faint dip of cleavage the neckline of her dress revealed. The flush staining her chest. The thin material did little to hide the peaks of her breasts thrusting against the material, hard delectable buttons he knew would be a rosy slice of heaven. All signs of a very obvious sexual attraction between them.

  “No?” he challenged silkily. “When was the last time you let a man put his hands on you like that?”

  She shut her mouth and kept it shut this time. He reached out and ran the pad of his thumb down her cheek, her silky soft skin hot to the touch. “Just for the record, I am disappointed, Princess. Your little bombshell that’s rocking the country has put you on the endangered species list. Not to be touched under any circumstance. Unfortunate, when that kiss proved just how spectacular we would be together.”

  * * *

  Alex hauled in a breath, her insides collapsing into a pool of molten heat. She knew she should be saying something smart back to this unholy man who appeared to say and do anything he deigned, but she was too busy imagining what it would be like to be seduced by him in the true sense of the word. Hot, forbidden, unbearably exciting.

  He was insufferable, had done a job on her sister, who refused to admit it, and still, she couldn’t deny she was disappointed, too.

  She pulled her gaze away from the dark vortex it was sinking into. Lifted her chin. “Stella isn’t petite and curvy.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Exchanging notes, you two?”

  “She saw us.”

  “We were like oil and water.” He lifted a shoulder. “It was a mutual decision.”

  She gave him a long look. “Is there a woman on earth you haven’t taken to bed?”

  “Dozens,” he drawled. “Too bad you’ll be one of them.”

  She blinked. “Wow. Just wow.”

  He threw her the most charming of smiles. “I did come out here to see how the meeting with your father went.”

  She considered him. He looked sincere. “It was...fine.”

  “Fine?”

  “I wasn’t expecting an outpouring of affection.”

  “So what did you get?”

  She hesitated, unsure if she should be sharing this with him. He spread his hands wide. “The king trusts me with his military secrets...”

  “He was aloof,” she said. “Abrupt. He said he cared for my mother but never loved her. That there is no room for love when you are married to the state.”

  “It’s a tough job,” Aristos offered. “Your life can’t be your own.”

  She was sure that was true. “My mother painted me a rosy picture,” she said in response to his continued study. “She led me to believe she and my father were very much in love, to protect me I know, but I think I would have preferred the truth.”

  “Love is a concept we’ve all been trained to believe in. It gives us false expectations of our relationships, convinces us monogamy, a lifelong, eternal love, is the norm, when in fact it isn’t. Human biology, the study of other animals, tells us that. And yet we continue to aspire to it because we think it’s the right thing to do. The golden ideal.”

  She absorbed the depth of his cynicism. “So you don’t believe love exists?”

  “No, I don’t. I think love is actually sexual attraction disguised as something deeper. When that fades, as it always does as evolutionary history has proven, people d
rift apart.”

  She didn’t want to believe that was true. Didn’t want to let go of her idealism so easily. For if the king of England was willing to abdicate for Wallis Simpson, didn’t true love have to exist? If Scarlett and Rhett’s passion could survive a civil war and two marriages, wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime bond possible? If it wasn’t, if it was only the stuff of fiction, then all her daydreaming during her stolen moments with a book had been an exercise in foolish fantasy.

  She wasn’t letting him burst yet another bubble, she decided. Not at this particular moment when she needed some illusions to hang on to.

  “So what happens now?” he prompted.

  “I have to decide whether I want to be a princess.”

  “There’s a decision there? I thought every woman wanted to be a princess.”

  “Not me. I love my life in Stygos.”

  “So you’re going to spend the rest of your life living in a tiny coastal village when you could be exploring the world?’

  “Lots of people would give their right hand to live in Stygos.” She couldn’t help the defensive note in her voice. “What’s wrong with a quiet life?”

  “Nothing if you’re fifty. What do you do there?”

  “I run my family’s hotel with my mother.”

  “And when you’re not working?”

  “I see friends or I...read.” Her chin rose at his mocking look. “The hotel business is a 24/7 occupation.”

  “I know that, Alex. I run several of them. I also know what hard work it is if you own a small property and have to do everything yourself. You could leave that behind. Hire someone to work with your mother.”

  She shook her head. “My mother and I made a pact when my uncle turned the hotel over to her to run. We promised we would always be a team, that we would do this together. To leave her seems like a betrayal.”

  “But these are extraordinary circumstances. Are there other family members who can help?”

  “My cousin, yes. Much of my extended family is involved in the business.”

  “Then you shouldn’t worry about it.”

  “But I love it. I love getting to know people. I love making them happy for a week or two out of their year. I love being busy. If a person has a calling, this is mine.”

  “Because you don’t know any differently.” He eyed her. “I think it’s wonderful you and your mother are so close. But someday you’re going to have to break free of that bond.”

  She bit her lip. “You think it’s a crutch for me?”

  “Your words... What I’m saying is that life is about living. Having the freedom to live. When was the last time you went out on a date?”

  A long time.

  “That long, huh?”

  “A year. Since my boyfriend and I broke up.”

  “And he was?”

  “Sebastien Soukis. He’s the butcher from the next village.”

  An amused glint entered his eyes. “Don’t tell me... He knows how to handle a woman.”

  Her mouth tightened. “It’s a very respectable profession. Whereas yours is questionable.”

  “Right.” He nodded. “I steal unsuspecting people’s money.”

  “I didn’t quite put it like that.”

  “Yes, you did. So what happened between you and Soukis?”

  “I—” She waved a hand at him. “We decided to split.”

  “You were bored.”

  “He asked me to marry him.”

  “And you said no because?”

  “It didn’t seem right. I couldn’t...envision it.”

  “Because it would have been too limited a life for you. You are young, Aleksandra. If you accept this opportunity, you’ll have a life, experiences few people will ever have. A life most people would give their right arm for. What’s the hesitation?”

  “The fear of the unknown.” The anxiety that had been plaguing her all day tipped over into an honesty she couldn’t contain. “I’m happy with my life. What if I do this and I’m terrible at it? What if I give up everything and find out it was a big mistake?”

  “Then you go home,” he said softly. “But don’t shy away from this opportunity because you’re scared. It’s harder to run from your fears than face them. Trust me.”

  She took in his ultra-confident, ever-so-self-assured persona. “That’s easy for you to say.”

  “Why? Because I’m a powerful man? It wasn’t always that way. I’ve had my own conflicts. Two different roads I could have taken. It would have been easy for me to take the simpler one, the one I was drifting toward at the time, but it wouldn’t have been the right one. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone is the most powerful thing you can do.”

  That intrigued her. “What were they? The two roads?”

  “Ancient history.” He tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. “My point is you should take the jump, Princess. Privilege is a powerful thing. Use it wisely and it’ll be worth the reward.”

  His touch sent an electric impulse firing through her. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip as a shiver of reaction chased up her spine. If she’d been hoping her visceral response to him was a product of the champagne that night, she’d been sadly mistaken. She hadn’t touched but two sips of her wine before dinner, and still she was so aware of him she wanted to jump out of her skin.

  His dark, sinful gaze commanded hers. Dragging his thumb along her lower lip, he nudged the tender flesh free of the bruising grip her teeth had taken of it. “Stop fretting,” he murmured, “and make the decision.”

  She got all tangled up in him. In the intimate claim he was staking on her mouth, the pad of his thumb stroking the vulnerable curve of her lower lip. Her stomach went into free fall as heat built between them, wrapped itself around her like an invisible force she was helpless to resist.

  Her mouth went dry, anticipating, willing the kiss she knew would be worth the insanity of allowing it.

  He brought his lips to her ear, his warm breath playing across her skin like an intimate caress. “That would be breaking the rules. I have a great deal of incentive not to do that, angel.”

  Rolling to his feet, he picked up his jacket. She hauled in a breath, attempting to corral her racing pulse.

  He tossed his jacket over his shoulder, his gaze on her. “The woman who sashayed her way into the royal ball insisting on speaking to the king would see this for the opportunity it is. Guess you have to decide which one you are.”

  Turning on his heel, he sauntered off into the night. She watched him go, head spinning. Inhaling a long, steadying breath, she digested the encounter. Attempted to determine the veracity of what he’d said.

  Had she been missing out on the world in Stygos? Would she regret it if she stayed there? It had been easy to work most of her waking hours, to devote herself to the family business in the pursuit of a better life for her and her mother. To satisfy her need to know the world by burying her nose in a book, lost to the adventures she’d found there. Safe.

  She thought about everything that had happened since her mother revealed her shocking news. How it had seemed as if the world had shifted beneath her feet. How everything she’d thought she’d known seemed like an illusion, and everything she hadn’t, her earth-shattering new reality.

  She had a choice. To take back control of her life or have it control her. Because one thing was for sure; Nik had been right. Her life would never be the same no matter what she decided. She was a royal. A princess.

  Perhaps it was not duty that would inform her decision, but a desire to truly know herself. To expose herself to the world and see what it reflected back at her. To stop living her life on the pages of a book and instead experience it for real.

  Did she have the courage to take another huge leap? To leave everything she knew behind? If she did, what would she find when she got there?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “HOW DOES IT FEEL to be a princess, Aleksandra?”

  Terrifying. Bewildering. Like I have no idea what I am doing.r />
  Alex swallowed hard, her knees knocking together as she looked out at the sea of reporters crowding the palace gardens for the official announcement of her appointment as Her Royal Highness, Aleksandra, Princess of Akathinia. Packed into the center of the labyrinth of neatly trimmed hedges in the Versailles-style gardens, there were hundreds of them toting cameras of all varieties, the buzz in the air palpable as they waited to grill the new royal.

  It was the largest showing of a press contingent since the king and queen’s wedding the year before, a showing Alex had been well prepped for since making her decision to take her place as a Constantinides. And still her tongue was cleaved to the roof of her mouth, a rivulet of perspiration running down her back under the handpicked designer dress she wore.

  Stella gave her an encouraging look from her position beside her, Nikandros flanking her other side. Taking a deep breath, Alex addressed the reporter in the front row.

  “I’m still getting my feet wet. Perhaps you can ask me that again in a few months and I’ll have a better idea.”

  “What is your role going to be?” the reporter followed up. “Do you have any causes you currently support?”

  She was still trying to figure that out. It was her number one point of anxiety, in fact, since getting the hotel in the black had been her “cause” to date.

  “I’m working through that,” she said. “More to come.”

  “Why hasn’t the world known about you before now, Aleksandra?” another reporter called out. “Is it true your mother kept your birthright a secret?”

  “That’s a personal matter I won’t comment on.”

  “What about your father’s affairs? Is it possible there are more of you out there?”

  “Again,” she said, “I won’t comment on my family’s personal affairs.”

  “How do you anticipate handling the glare of the spotlight?”

  “Day by day. Like any new job, I will have to learn my role. Luckily,” she added, nodding at her siblings, “I have my brother and sister by my side.”

  A reporter directed a question at Stella about her new sister. Alex took the opportunity to breathe. A tall figure leaning against a tree behind the reporter claimed her attention. Aristos.