by Madison Faye
I swore as I got up from the table, storming to the bar cart and grabbing a bottle of whiskey and a glass before I sat back down and poured myself a healthy double.
“Have you told any of your friends yet?” She sighed as I shook my head. “Cole, the men you call friends are powerful allies. I mean King Sven holds some serious sway with the courts, if you asked him—”
“I’m not bringing my friends into this,” I spat. “Period. This is my fight, and I’ll deal with it my way.”
She pursed her lips before she turned to my mostly silent advisors. “Could we have the room please?”
I glanced over and nodded at the silent suits, and they quickly grabbed their stuff and left.
Marissa cleared her throat. “I need to know something, right now.”
I shrugged, swallowing a huge gulp of the bourbon. “Shoot.”
She looked at me sharply.
“Is there anything else I should know about with you these days?”
“You mean aside from three assholes trying to set me up so they can try and take a piece of my kingdom? No, Marissa, I think that about covers it.”
Her face stayed stony. Yeah, she rarely found my outbursts amusing.
“I mean beyond that, Cole.”
“Nothing of note,” I lied. To my lawyer.
“No other entanglements?”
She looked at me sharply — sharp enough that I got the hunch this wasn’t a blind question.
“Got something you want to ask me directly, counselor?” I muttered, pouring another glass.
“Do I need to say it out loud?”
“Apparently.”
She sighed, taking her glasses off again. “Let’s talk about Princess Faith.”
Fuck. My jaw tightened, as did my hand on the glass of bourbon.
“Careful, Marissa.”
But she held my eye unblinking. “As your legal defense, you know it’s my job to protect you, and to see potential problems coming before they happen.” She raised a brow. “And you remember after the Baron of Ortuga tried to have you imprisoned for stealing his motorcycle—”
“Which I won from him in a poker game,” I spat. “It’s not my fault gambling is illegal in Ortuga and he couldn’t just man up and admit that he’d lost it doing something he shouldn’t have been doing.”
Marissa cracked a half smile. “Well, after that, if you remember, we went ahead and hired that security detail.”
I frowned. “I have a security detail.”
“The hidden one. The men that were supposed to follow you without you knowing they were there.”
I took a slow sip of my drink.
“You had me followed?”
“You had you followed, Cole,” she snapped. “You okayed every single part of this.”
Shit. I did remember that. Apparently the guys watching my back were so good I really had forgotten they were there.
“So they squealed?”
“They reported,” Marissa shot back. “To me, like they were supposed to. Like you agreed to when we set up that whole thing.”
She was right. You get fucked with by enough people who think they see an easy target for extortion because of your tabloid stories, and you start to get smart.
“So, you know,” I muttered, tapping the edge of the glass.
“That I do.” She whistled lowly. “King Alphonse’s daughter? For fuck’s sake, Cole, was this some sort of way getting him back—”
“NO.”
My voice boomed through the conference room. Marissa raised a brow.
“Then what?”
“She’s not some revenge scheme, for fuck’s sake,” I hissed. “I didn’t even know who she was before I met her.”
“But you did before you married her.”
I said nothing as I pounded back another shot of whiskey. Marissa eyed me.
“You really like this girl, don’t you?”
I looked away.
“Cole.”
“She’s everything, okay?” I growled. “She is everything.”
“And she’s legally your wife.”
“Yes.”
“You’re married to the daughter of the man trying to unseat your throne and carve out a piece of your kingdom.”
“Yes,” I spat.
“Annul it.”
My jaw twitched, and my eyes narrowed at her.
“We’re done here.”
“Damnit, Cole.” She pointed a finger at me. “You know why I work for this family? For you?”
“Because I pay very well.”
“Fuck you.”
I deserved that, and we both knew it.
“I work for you, because I worked for your father. I work for you because I care about how you do in this world, especially when it comes time for your mother to retire.” She sighed. “Look, I know you’ve got feelings for Faith. But I’m telling you this with every ounce of my professional expertise. If you want to survive this, and have a prayer of beating these guys? You have to let her go.”
“Not happening.”
“Alphonse will see it as a personal attack and he’ll come at you even harder. And she’ll get hurt because of it.”
“It’s not happening, Marissa.”
“You fuck her yet?”
My chair crashed to the floor as I stood violently, seething.
“You know they’re going to ask,” she said quietly. “And they’re going to use it as character evidence with the bullshit testimonies from Kelly and Phantasia and Jemma. C’mon, you can see that. Another young, innocent princess who gets swept away with the infamous Prince Cole?”
I swore quietly as I looked away.
“You know I hate this part of the job, right?”
I nodded. I could hear Marissa stand behind me and gather her things.
“Think about it tonight, that’s all I’m saying.”
I turned back to her and nodded silently.
“I’m sorry, Cole.” She gave me a wry smile. “I can tell you really love her.”
“Yeah…” I gritted my teeth as I looked away. “Yeah, I do.”
Marissa left, but I didn’t. Actually, I didn’t leave that room until the bottle I’d grabbed was empty.
“Morning sunshine.”
Fuck.
My head throbbed, the lasting punches from my “drowning it in the bottle” moment from the night before. Well, not “moment.” More like bender. I’d ended up catching a midnight helicopter ride, bottle-in-hand, over to Milton’s palace in Robling, and I was sitting in the palace breakfast hall when the voice sliced through my hangover.
I glanced up from my coffee to see my friend Xavier, the Duke of Bandiff, strolling towards me.
“Hey, man.” I managed a small grin. It wasn’t just the hangover either, it was the shit Marissa had dumped on me the night before, about Faith. I knew she wasn’t wrong in her surgical way of looking at it, but I knew that day what I’d known the night before.
…Walking away from Faith was never going to happen.
“Rough night?”
I frowned into my coffee. “Something like that. Sorry, by the way. I was gonna let you know when I got in last night—”
“Don’t worry about it.” Xavier shrugged, looking like he didn’t have a fucking care in the world. He looked downright giddy, actually, and that gave me pause. One of the reasons he and I were close friends, even with him being twenty-something years older than me, was that neither of us, like our friends Hayden and Sven, fit the mold of “royal.” We had dark pasts. We had tattoos. We usually weren’t invited to “prestigious” events, because we had a way of not giving a shit about them. Actually, the only reason any of us were at King Milton’s sham of a wedding was because no one liked that guy, and so he’d just invited half the world’s royalty.
Suffice to say, I knew my friend pretty damn well, and I had never seen him “giddy”. Something was up.
“So what the hell did you get up to last night?”
I shook my
head. “Long story.”
“I’ve got time.”
I chuckled. “Later. When I can fucking think straight after I coffee away this hangover.”
My fingers slid through my hair as I sighed, reaching for my coffee with the other hand when Xavier’s eyes dropped to my arm.
“You got some new ink I see.”
I froze, studying his face for a second before I let my shoulders relax.
“Oh, yeah. You know how it is. I just keep finding space for ‘em.”
Xavier eyed me with a little suspicion, which was odd, but he finally just shrugged.
“So, where’s your usual harem that follows you around?”
“Hey, how about you take pity on a hungover friend and we leave off with the tabloid jokes, alright? That’s all gossip magazine bullshit rumors and you know it.”
Xavier grinned, like I’d just stepped right into a trap. “Rumors are typically born from reality.”
Fuck. I had.
“Yeah? Which rumors are those?”
“The ones involving Princess LaFleur having the same rose tattoo.”
Now where the fuck did he hear that?
I growled lowly, my eyes narrowing at him as my hand curled into a fist.
“Watch it,” I snapped. “I’m not the only one with rumors swirling around them.”
He bristled. “Such as?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Yeah, he knew. None of us ever went there with him, but I’d noticed how things had changed in the last year with him and his ward, Princess Lola. Lola who he’d taken in after her father turned out to be a treasonous piece of shit, since he and her old man had once been friends. But, he’d been looking at Lola a lot differently lately. And shit, I’d noticed her looks at him changing too if we’re being honest.
Suddenly, I got the impression I might know how he’d learned about Faith’s ink: Lola.
“Careful,” he growled.
“You and Lola?”
Xavier’s face darkened as he leaned across the table and pointed a menacing finger at me.
“You need to—”
“I need to what? Be blind?”
Fuck it. He’d taken it here, so I was going to give it back to him.
“C’mon, dude. You come in here trying to hang me on some rumor and we both know you’ve got your own skeletons. I see how—”
Xavier started to stand, and I shook my head.
“Hey, chill. C’mon, sit, man. I’m not fucking judging, and you know it. I’m just saying I’ve noticed, uh, changes with you two.
My friend was silent, but I could see the wheels turning in his head as he drank some coffee.
“I’m not wrong, am I?”
He just looked at me without a word, but I knew.
“Fuck me, so I’m right. I guess I don’t have to tell you that people will talk.”
“Fuck people.”
I laughed, raising my coffee cup in a toast. “And that is why we’re such good friends, old man.”
“Oh, now you’re just asking to get your ass kicked.”
Chapter 13
Faith
“This way, dear.” My mother’s grip on my arm tightened, pulling me through the crowded ballroom. This room and basically every room I’d seen so far in King Milton’s palace were decorated to the nines in white flower garlands, silvery baubles, and twinkling lights. I mean, for a scummy sham wedding, Milton — or his staff at least — had gone all out.
I had to admit, Callie was doing insanely well given the circumstances. I’d arrived the night before to spend some time with her, Lola, and Riley before the big day, where we’d basically just binged on pizza and movies. This wasn’t a normal wedding, and we weren’t doing the normal duties of normal bridesmaids. I guess when the bride to be is basically being forced to marry a troll of a king, your duties as bridesmaid changes from helping to celebrate and share in “the joy of the day” to just basically triage.
With Callie, my friends and I were basically there to help her cope.
Cole had been busy with some sort of business thing the day before, but when I’d arrived at Milton’s palace the night before, I’d walked into no less than ten dozen red roses waiting in my guest quarters. That and a little black box with a note attached to it.
This time, it’s not keys. I want to find this used when I see you tomorrow.
I’d shivered as I’d pulled open the little velvet box, and when I’d seen what was inside, a pulse of heat had trembled through me.
…A little, silver, vibrator, with a rose engraved on it.
“I want to find this used.”
I’d been wet instantly. I mean the man had sent me a sex toy, but then, something had changed in me since him. The old me might have been scandalized, or squeamish, or incensed. The new me though? Well, the new me just started to let her mind wander to all of the things we’d done. Holding that little toy, and feeling my skin start to tingle and my panties start to grow warmer, it was almost like he was right there with me, making my body react the way he always made did.
And needless to say, after a couple of drinks and some movies and pizza with my friends, I came back to my room and opened that little box again…
“Come along, dear, we’ll be late.”
I blinked out of my thoughts as my mother dragged me through the crowds, my father striding ahead of us.
“Where are we—”
“To give you a solid foundation for your future, Faith,” my father said with a thin smile, turning to raise a brow at me. “This is us making sure you’re on the right path for your station and for this family’s future.
“Okay, I actually have a lot to do right now. Can this wait?”
I mean, seriously. It was the day of one of my best friend’s wedding, and it being a sham wedding or not, I had things I had to do. Like make sure she was okay.
But then, I knew that wasn’t the whole truth. Yes, being there for my friend on this terrible day was something I needed to do, but there was another thing pulling my mind and tugging at my heart.
…Finding Cole. I knew some of his friends were already there — Duke Xavier, Lola’s guardian, had also arrived early the night before, and I knew I’d spotted King Hayden and King Sven, two other guys I knew Cole was friendly with at the wedding. Actually, earlier, we’d been teasing Riley about King Sven, since apparently, Lola had stumbled into the two of them quite close alone in the palace gardens together.
“Your future can not wait, no,” my father grumbled as we moved through the crowded ballroom towards one of the large outdoor terraces.
“And honestly, Faith,” my mother made a tut-tut sound. “Long sleeves? At an event like this? It’s a spring wedding, dear, not a convent.”
“Okay can you please just tell me what the hell we’re—”
“Language,” my father growled, turning again. He narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously, like he was trying to suss something out. “You’ve never been one to swear, Faith.”
“I have a lot going on right now, Dad, and a lot of responsibilities to Callie today—”
“So it’s not that you’ve been spending time with anyone unsavory.”
I swallowed, willing my face not to turn red. “I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean,” I bristled.
“I’ve warned you once and I’ll warn you again,” my father muttered. “Cole McCabe is not anyone you should be concerning yourself with. Is that clear?”
“Dad, I’m not—”
“No, Faith, I will not hear it! I’m not a senile old man. I know he’s been spotted around our palace walls, and in our capital. And I know you had a large number of flowers sent to you the other day that you directed Mrs. Kenning in the mail room to bring directly to your quarters.”
A shiver tickled down my spine as the color drained from my face.
“I—”
“No,Faith,” my father shook his head. “I don’t want to hear it. Now, I’m going to assume tha
t you’re smart enough not to fall for that man’s bullshit, but today, your mother and I are hedging our bets.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I muttered.
His eyes darted to my mother, who sighed heavily, before he brought them back to me and narrowed his gaze.
“It means in order to help you, we’ve gone out of our way to arrange this introduction for you.”
We stepped out onto a more private terrace off the ballroom to find a young man in a handsome suit standing by the balcony, smiling at us.
“Faith,” my father cleared his throat. “Allow me to introduce Prince Thomas Maneford, of Puname. He’s King Milton’s nephew, and he’s very interested in getting to know you.”
“Pleasure, Your Highness,” Prince Thomas beamed at me, bowing curtly as he took my hand. He was handsome, for sure, but in that sort of plastic Ken-doll way — his skin too smooth, his smile too practiced. His hair too perfect.
“Prince Thomas.” I forced a smile back.
“And you are so much lovelier in the flesh, I must say.” The prince beamed, and I felt my mother squeeze my arm.
“I met Prince Thomas through some of my business dealings a month or so back, and, well—” my father turned to smile broadly at me. “I think the two of you will find you have a lot in common!”
Something started to tug at me inside — something about this whole little meeting that was rubbing me the wrong way.
“I’ve been eager to meet you ever since your father told me about you, Faith.”
“Well, that’s…” I forced a smile. “And, uh, same?”
Prince Thomas laughed this hearty but totally fake and plastic sounding laugh that was basically the polar opposite of Cole’s warm, natural chuckle that always had this edge of something naughty in it.
“Well, we’ll just leave you two alone now won’t we?” my mother said eagerly.
I frowned. “Oh, I, uh. I actually need to get back to Callie for—”
I started as Prince Thomas took my hands in his, glancing quickly at my parents to see them beaming away before they turned and scurried away.
What the hell was going on here?
“You know, Princess, I think a wedding is a fine place for our first meeting, don’t you?”