by S. E. Rose
A Wise Prince
A Poisoned Pawn Book
S.E. Rose
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Books by S.E. Rose
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Copyright
Copyright © 2020 S. E. Rose
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
www.seroseauthor.com
Cover design © Arijana Karčić, Cover It! Designs
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This book contains descriptions of adult relationships and violence as well as derogatory language. If such things offend you, this book is not for you. The book is intended for mature readers.
Previously released as part of the e-book, Romantically Ever After: A Limited Edition Collection of Contemporary Romance Novels. This book contains a bonus scene previously not published.
Dedication
To anyone who ever felt like they were not seen by others. You are important. You are special. You are the lead character of your own story.
Prologue
For folly, that he wisely shows is fit,
But wise men, folly-fall’n, quite taint their wit
~Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
I kick the garden wall. “Stupid,” I curse. I’m home from school for a break. It’s the first time that I’ve been home since Mom died. I was supposed to “act appropriately” in front of the cameras, but I couldn’t help sticking my tongue out when the paparazzi ribbed my new haircut. Heck, Dad’s lucky that I didn’t flip them the bird, those motherfuckers.
I continue to curse as I take my anger out on the three-hundred-year-old wall.
“Auggie?”
I stop mid-kick at the sound of my little sister’s voice. There’s not much I care about in my life, but Susanna, well, I’d die for her. And now, more than ever, I feel like I need to protect her.
“What’s up?” I ask her as I turn to see her standing in front of me. Her little hands on her hips.
“You shouldn’t do that. Dad will be mad,” she scolds. It’s hard to take a lecture seriously from a little girl, especially one in pigtails and a frilly dress.
I sigh. “What?” I ask again, probably a little harsher than I should.
I see a look of hurt flash over her eyes and she glances down. “Chris won’t play with me, will you?” she asks quietly, her eyes remaining focused on the divot her foot is making in the gravel of the garden pathway.
I take a breath. “Sure. What shall we play?” I don’t know why I bother asking, she always wants to play the same game, hide-and-go-seek.
She looks up at me and grins. “Hide-and-go-seek?” she asks, her little voice so hopeful.
I shake my head, and I see her start to frown. “OK.”
“Yay!” she squeals and claps her hands. “I hide first!” Of course, because she always hides first. I roll my eyes and start counting. We have the same rules, always. No hiding in the parts of the castle that are forbidden. No hiding in the tunnels. No hiding in the pool house. No hiding in Dad’s office or the kitchen.
I count to one hundred and start to look for Anna. I’d go get Chris to help me, but he’s been mister mopey pants since Mom died. He’s also super into a girl and wants to spend all day talking to her on the phone. I don’t get it.
I look in all the normal spots first. We haven’t played in a while, but apparently, Anna has upped her game. I wonder if our nanny, Tessa, has been playing with her. Anna’s school is near the palace. So, while Chris and I have been away, she’s been home, having the run of the place, I’m sure.
An hour later, I’m still looking for her, and now I’m starting to get concerned. I wrack my brain for where she could have gone. I even ask Chris who shrugs and goes back to his video game. It’s then an idea hits me…the vault. Two levels below the ground is a very secured room. We technically aren’t supposed to go in it, but we haven’t been expressly forbidden there. I head down the stairs and another set of stairs and past the guards. I press my hand to a scanner, and the door opens. I see Anna, she’s leaning against the glass case that once held my mother’s favorite tiara, the one that went missing the night she was killed. The police haven’t found it, and it’s unlikely that they ever will, or at least that’s what I heard Dad say to someone on the phone last week.
“Gotcha!” I say.
“Took you long enough,” she says, not bothering to turn to face me.
“What are you doing here, Anna? You really shouldn’t be here.”
She shrugs. “Just wondering.”
I place a hand on her shoulder, the game is forgotten. My mom’s crown, as she calls it, is the one thing that Anna hasn’t been able to let go of since Mom died. She asks about it constantly.
“Anna, you’ve got to let it go,” I urge her, while also trying to make myself feel better.
She finally turns to me. “I don’t want to.” She has a pouty determined look on her face.
“Auggie, will you help me look for it?” she asks, her eyes look so hopeful.
I crouch down to her eye level. “Anna, it’s gone. If I knew where to find it, I promise you, I’d have found it.”
Her eyes tear up for a moment. “It was her favorite.”
“I know. Come on, let’s go play checkers,” I say, guiding her toward the door. I look back as we leave, wondering where the crown is and if anyone will ever find it. “Let it go,” I think to myself.
Chapter One
Fifteen years later…
August
I wipe the sweat from my brow with a towel as I finish the last mile of my run on the treadmill. Gerard, my trainer, tosses me a bottled water.
“Thanks, man,” I say as I nod to him and head to the shower in the gym. The six jets spray my body, running down the perfect muscles that I spend hours working on each day. There are many perks to being a prince and access to a state-of-the-art gym is just one of them. I’m a lucky fucker, and I know it.
I wrap a towel around my waist and walk over to a mirror. My phone buzzes with an incoming call. Ugh. That could only mean one thing: someone I don’t want to speak with. My friends, flings, and siblings would text me.
I press a button on a wall and answer.
“Yes?”
“Your Highness,” my secretary, Paolo, says. I roll my eyes at his formality.
“What?”
&nbs
p; “You are late for your morning meeting,” he informs me. I roll my eyes as I look at the time. Shit.
“I’m coming.”
“Very good, sir. I will inform your father.”
I press the button and throw on a suit. Time to go see what punishment I’ve earned this time.
I make my way down the hall toward my father’s office. His new assistant, Frida, stands to greet me. I do my best to refrain my eye roll. Frida is sweet and eager to please, but she goes over the top on protocol. I motion for her to sit.
“I’ll show myself in,” I mutter as I walk toward the door. I can see her blush from across the room. My cock perks up at the thought of what naughty things I could do with her bent over her desk. I clear my throat and try to settle down my thoughts as I knock and enter my father’s office chamber.
My father is at his desk and Chris, the kiss-ass he is, is already seated across from him. Chris is my older brother and the golden boy heir. I’m just the spare.
“Glad you could join us,” my father states, not bothering to look up from his computer.
I ignore his comment and sit in the chair next to my brother. There’s a third chair, which is normally reserved for our little sister, Susanna or Anna as we call her, but she is visiting her husband’s home country of Montelandia.
“Parliament has their annual joint meeting next week. I’d like you both to attend,” my father begins. I half listen as he drones on about our duties for this week and next. Chris listens attentively. Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother, but he’s a bit of a pompous ass at times, and he’s also a do-gooder. Where I get caught with my pants down every other week…literally, not figuratively…he is off saving third world countries from environmental disasters.
“Is that a yes, then, August?” my father asks. He only uses my given name when I’m in trouble.
I glance up at him. “Sorry, I missed that?”
My father sighs. “Kate, the daughter of the president of the United States, is attending our Regents Ball on Sunday. She needs an escort. Chris will be in Montelandia at meetings that day. So, you will escort her.” His tone tells me that this is not optional. I wrack my brain for information about Kate…she’s younger than me, not ugly but not a supermodel, she always looks super nerdy and not in a good way, oh and she doesn’t date, like ever, at least that’s what I hear. So, my chances of making Sunday a booty call are…zero. FML.
“Fine,” I say through gritted teeth.
My father nods. “And please, be a gentleman, for once,” he adds with a sigh.
I can no longer hold back my eye roll. Chris jabs my arm with his elbow as my father clears his throat. “Sorry, I will be a perfect gentleman,” I mutter.
“That is all,” my father says, essentially dismissing us.
I follow Chris out of the room. We make it all the way to the main hall before he turns around and glares at me.
“Auggie, you need to grow the fuck up! Seriously, it wouldn’t kill you to actually take interest in the royal duties for once,” he growls.
“Chris, back the fuck off. I do what I’m told, don’t I?” I throw back at him, because I do, barely and without enthusiasm, but I do it.
Chris growls and spins around nearly running smack into Mia, his secretary, who has just rounded the corner. “Whoa,” he says, grabbing her so she doesn’t fall. I smirk. Mia and Chris are most definitely hooking up and the fact that they still keep this hidden from everyone cracks me up. There is no way that they aren’t shacking up nightly.
I walk past them and head toward the west wing and my apartment. I need to get away from my duties. The moment that I’m inside my room, my phone pings. I see that it’s Paolo. I groan, not bothering to check his message.
I need to get away. I walk to my closet and head into the tunnel system in the palace. I meander for a while before I find myself outside in the gardens. It’s a nice day out. I stop by Mom’s grave and sit. I haven’t been here in a while. I normally don’t come here. I know Chris and Anna come here all the time, but…I just…it’s too real, too somber for me.
I sit on a bench and lean my head back, soaking in the sun. I could use another jaunt down to the south of France. My brother-in-law’s family has a place there, I’m sure he’d let me visit again…then I remember the last visit and grimace. Maybe not. I may have had a party, and there may have been some social damage.
I rub my forehead and wrack my brain for something that will get me out of here for a while. I’ve been home for four straight months now, and it’s driving me crazy. But after the tabloid-sized fiasco on my last trip, and I swear I didn’t know those girls were escorts and I certainly didn’t know people were snorting lines of cocaine in the bathroom, my father has essentially grounded me.
My phone pings with more messages. I’m supposed to go visit a hospital today, some charity thing my mother used to run, and I get to be the fill-in for Anna, who normally goes. Yep, that’s me, just the extra one, here to fill in for the more important children.
Chapter Two
I plaster my fake smile on as I slide from the car and enter the children’s hospital. It’s world-renowned for its work on childhood cancers. I don’t mind coming here, but it’s totally fucking depressing. I always want to yell to the kids to go enjoy what little life they have left, but even I know that would be a dick thing to do. My heart breaks for each one of them. Sure, some of them overcome it, but many do not. It’s a sobering place to be.
The hospital director greets me at the door and ushers my entourage to the cancer ward. I visit patients as I’m debriefed on the latest and greatest the hospital has to offer. I take selfies with sick kids and their families. I shake hands and give hugs and play the part of the goofy, social prince because I’m fucking brilliant at it.
“Bathroom?” I finally ask my security. I’m shown to a private bathroom for the medical staff. It’s across the hall from a room with six little tables and art supplies. There’s a young woman sitting next to a little boy who is coloring a picture. She laughs and wraps an arm around him as she points at something in his picture. He gives her a half-smile and goes back to his task. Something about her intrigues me, so after I relieve myself, I head into the room and tell my security guards to wait outside.
The woman and child look up as I enter. I can see both of their eyes widen a bit, particularly the little boy’s.
“Hello there,” I say as I make my way to the table and sit down across from them.
“H-hi,” the little boy stammers. “Y-your Highness,” he adds.
The woman’s brows furrow a bit, but then she seems to regain herself. She nods politely at me.
“Hello, Your Highness,” she says. I’m surprised by her American accent.
I examine them both. The boy’s hair is growing back from what I assume is chemo treatments. He looks young, maybe six or seven. He’s thin, making his eyes appear larger than normal.
The woman is in her early to mid-twenties. She has long blonde hair and giant blue eyes. Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun, a few curly wisps hang down around her face. She’s wearing a sundress that is pretty bland, but it fails to hide her voluptuous curves.
I glance down at the drawing. It’s of a beach. It’s not half bad for the boy’s age.
“That’s pretty good,” I say, nodding to the boy’s artwork.
“Thank you, Your Highness,” he says. His hand shakes slightly.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Andrew,” he says quietly, looking down at his art.
“Well, you are very talented, Andrew.”
I look toward the woman. “Are you his sister?” I ask coyly.
I see something flash over her eyes. “No,” she answers.
I see someone is going to make me guess. “His mother?”
Andrew giggles. The woman rolls her eyes.
“His grandmother, then?” I continue. Andrew bursts into laughter.
“Your Highness—” he starts. I hold up a han
d to stop him.
“Please, call me Auggie. Your Highness makes me feel like my dad.”
The little boy grins at me. “She’s not old enough to be my grandmother,” he says as though I must be the dumbest man alive. I grin at him and wink.
“So, she’s your twin, then.”
Andrew’s giggles are pretty fucking adorable. I don’t normally feel drawn to kids, but I like this one. He’s not like the others, trying to get selfies with me, and I respect that.
“No, this is Miss—”
“Kathryn. Miss Kathryn,” the woman interjects. The little boy gives her a strange look but says nothing.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kathryn. And how are you related to Andrew?”
“I’m not,” she says. “Andrew and I are just good friends, right?” she asks him. He nods enthusiastically.
“Oh, so Miss Kathryn’s your girlfriend, then?”
Andrew giggles again. “No, that’s silly,” he answers. “She’s way too old to be my girlfriend.”
I laugh at that as Kathryn nudges him in the arm. “Thanks,” she says sarcastically.
“Well, it’s true,” he says as though it’s the most important fact ever. I have to admit, the kid is cool.
I ask the little boy about his time here. He talks about his favorite nurses and doctors. I put their names away in my head so that I can have Paolo send them accolades later. Everyone might think I can’t be a prince, but I have mad royalty skills when I need them. I find out that Andrew has been here for three months, receiving treatment. I also find out that he loves horses and ninjas. I can sense my entourage at the door. I don’t want Andrew to be stifled by photo ops, so I cut short our conversation.