The Sinful King: By New York Times Bestselling Author

by Contreras, Claire

  “Addie?”

  “Huh? What?” I blinked and looked at Etienne, who was staring at me with a raised eyebrow. “Sorry. I zoned out.”

  “I was telling Elias that if he needs anything you’re right next door.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Right next door.” I jutted my thumb in the direction of my villa.

  “Your family owns that villa?” he asked.

  “Yep.” I watched him to see if he gave away any kind of hint that he might remember. He didn’t.

  He’d asked me the exact same question the night we hooked up and I’d gotten no reaction out of him just now. Was I that unforgettable? I took a breath. I wanted to be unforgettable. I wanted to be invisible. I didn’t want him to remember me at all. Wasn’t that what I wanted? It didn’t matter. That was the reality.

  “So, I guess I’ll be seeing you around,” he said.

  “I guess so.” I smiled again. “Actually, I’m only available after five on weekdays.”

  “But if you need anything, she can pause what she’s doing,” Etienne said.

  “My uncle asked me to fix up the bookstore,” I responded as way of explanation.

  “That isn’t your . . . ” Etienne exhaled heavily, shaking his head.

  I already knew exactly what he was going to say. It was the same thing he’d been saying to me since he arrived four days ago. The bookstore wasn’t my job. If I was going to take time away from my actual career planning events, the least I could do was actually decompress and relax. Blah, blah, blah. But I had already promised my uncle I would help out and I was going to make good on that promise. He was alone out here all of the time. He hadn’t taken a vacation in over ten years before I came along, so yes, I would help.

  “I won’t bother you before five,” Prince Elias, or Eli, as Etienne referred to him, said.

  “It’s not a bother,” I said quickly. “I mean, the cellphones don’t work anyway so I’m not sure how you’d get ahold of me.”

  “Landlines,” Etienne suggested. He was speaking to me like I was five. I glared at him, hoping he understood I’d slap him if he continued. He seemed to understand it, because his attention shifted back to the prince. “So, any big parties I need to come back for?”

  “If I decide to host one, you’ll be on the invite list.”

  “Right. Well, I guess I’ll see you around then.” Etienne bumped his fist against the prince’s and I gave a little weak wave, unwilling to touch him even with my fist out of fear of what I might feel.

  When we got outside and the door was shut behind us by the security guy, I punched Etienne in the shoulder.

  “Ow. What the hell, Addie?”

  “What the hell you! What was that in there?”

  “You were fidgeting and talking too much and then zoning out in the middle of conversations. Telling the prince you wouldn’t be at his beck and call. You needed to get your shit together.”

  “I won’t be at his beck and call. My job is to make and deliver him baskets and help my uncle with his bookstore. That’s it.”

  “Well, you looked like an idiot back there,” he said, and then started laughing.

  “You’re an idiot.” I unlocked the door and let us in. “Go pack your bag for your stupid trip.”

  “I’ll be done quickly.” He shook his head as he walked down the hall and disappeared into the guest room. “You really need to get a grip before you take that next basket.”

  I walked toward the guest room he was in. Even though my parents hadn’t been here in a while and never rented it out, they set it up ready for rent. The only thing they left that was ours were some family photographs on the wall by the entrance, and I was sure my uncle would take those down if they ever decided to rent this out to anyone. Everything else was new. Absolutely no memory of my childhood or adolescence was left in here aside from whatever was stored in my brain.

  “Why does he need so many baskets anyway?” I asked. “And so much champagne?”

  “Maybe he’s having guests over.”

  “Maybe.”

  “So I guess it is true what they say about your first time.”

  “I knew you were going to say that.” I groaned, covering my face with my hands. “I was over there acting like an idiot and he doesn’t even remember me.”

  “Oh, he definitely remembers you.”

  “What? No he doesn’t.” I sat on the bed as he continued packing the suitcase. “He didn’t act like he did.”

  “Trust me, he remembers.”

  “I really don’t think so.” I bit my lip. “I mean, maybe it’s best that he doesn’t.”

  “It won’t erase the fact that it happened.” Etienne looked up from the suitcase he was packing. “But I know him. Eli has the memory of an elephant.”

  “I guess he couldn’t very well say ‘Oh, hey, you’re that girl I fucked once’ in front of you.” I crossed my arms, fighting a shiver. “God, I just want the earth to swallow me whole and spit me back out in a few months.”

  “You can just leave.” Etienne zipped up his suitcase and placed it on the floor. “You can go back home. I’m sure it’s blown over by now.”

  “I’m not ready to do that. I’d rather deal with this embarrassment than that one.”

  “You built a company, Addie. You’re missing out on all the events you dreamed of putting together because you’re scared of a little gossip.”

  “It’s not a little gossip when everyone’s seen your vagina, Etienne.”

  “So? Everyone saw Thomas’s penis.”

  “Yeah, and celebrated its size. My vagina, unfortunately, wasn’t even talked about. The only thing people have said is what a whore I am.” I sighed. “I know I have to go back and deal with it, but I’m not ready.”

  “Well, don’t hide out too long.” He started walking out of the room, rolling the suitcase along with him. I stood and followed. “Has Thomas been in touch?”

  “Yeah. He feels bad.”

  “You need to move past it.” He stopped walking and put a hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s easier said than done, but I’ve known you since you were born and I’ve never seen anything get you down like this. Not even those high school photos of you smoking out of that bong.”

  “Oh, God.” I laughed weakly. “That’s because I was fully clothed.”

  “Well, for what it’s worth, all of my friends think you look great naked.”

  “Etienne!” I pushed him away as he laughed and shrugged before walking past me, to the front door.

  “This too shall pass, Addie. This too shall pass.”

  I said those words to myself as I drove back from the airport after dropping him off. This too shall pass. Maybe if I said it enough, I’d believe it. It wasn’t only the tabloids and having my business out there that bothered me. It was also the fact that I couldn’t look my father in the face after the fact. It was that every single man he knew had probably watched the sex tape and also judged him for it, even though he had nothing to do with his daughter’s poor decisions. My father was a proud man.

  He’d moved mountains and went from anchor in the nightly news to part of the king’s cabinet. And then my ex-boyfriend and I became the news and I ran away from the problem, but where was he supposed to hide? If I was being honest with myself, my father was the reason I decided to take a break until everything blew over. I figured creating distance between us might help him move on from it and allow people to forget all about it.

  Out of everything the scandal had done, the way it affected my loved ones was what bothered me most. Etienne hid his anger under humor because he wanted me to feel better, but I knew he’d lost his cool in front of his friends more than a few times. My assistant, Joss, who had become one of my closest friends, hated what the tabloids had printed about me. I’d been called a gold digger and prostitute more times than I could count at this point and just when another headline took over and ours was buried, Thomas went out for a night on the town and brought the naked photos of us back to the surface. I
t was just a matter of time and either this too would pass or I’d have to trample over it and take my life back, but right now I was perfectly content working at my uncle’s bookstore and providing baskets to the guests for the time being.

  Chapter 3

  I’d spent my morning on the phone with a book distributor, making sure they got the boxes I sent back to them. My uncle had entirely too many boring books in the store. Books that had been here for over ten years and not sold, but he’d been hesitant to send back. He said it was because he didn’t want them to destroy them. I told him he was destroying himself by keeping them here. It was no wonder in the week I’d been here only two people had walked in. I glanced over to the front door. I needed to do something about the storefront as well. I’d called a couple that flipped houses here to see if they could help me with this and they were due here any minute. I didn’t have a ton of money to spend on my uncle’s behalf, but I had enough saved up to hopefully make a difference around here. When the door opened, I stood and set the books in my hand down, passing my hands over my sundress to make sure it fell into place. The house-flipping couple came into view and I moved forward to greet them.

  “Hi. I’m Adeline. Thank you so much for coming.” I smiled, shaking each of their hands.

  “I’m Lenora, this is Pedro.”

  “So nice to meet you both.” I took my hand back and waved it around the store. “Well, this is the place. As you can see, it’s not very big, but it looks much smaller than it is. I’ve been trying to somewhat fix the clutter.”

  “It’s cute,” Lenora said, looking around.

  “The outside has potential,” Pedro added. “I know you said you wanted to stay within a very small budget.”

  “Yes.” I gave them a small smile. “I want to help, but I don’t have a ton of money to put into it.”

  “Let me see what we can do,” Pedro said, taking his tape measurer out and heading outside.

  Lenora walked around, her eyes on everything. “Like Pedro said, it has a lot of potential. The inside just needs to be reduced. There are books everywhere.” She glanced to the second floor. “What’s up there?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “He uses it for storage. He can totally turn it into a small café.”

  “That’s a brilliant idea.” She smiled at me. “How long do we have?”

  “He comes back in a month. He’s traveling all over Europe with his wife right now. On what she’s calling their second honeymoon. They don’t get out much.”

  “One month.” Her brows hiked up. “He must have some kind of money.”

  “He does. My family owned a lot of the land here. They used to farm cattle and sell milk to everyone within a twenty-five-mile radius, but that dried up, quite literally, and they sold the land. Most of it anyway. We still own the beachside and most of the villas around here.”

  “Ah, you’re a Bouchard! I’ve never seen you around.” She studied me closer. “I went to school with a cousin of yours.”

  “Sylvia?”

  “Yes! How is she?”

  “She’s doing well. We’re not close, but I hear about her whereabouts from my mother and aunt. She’s living in Barcelona with her husband and two children.”

  “That’s so nice. Is she still painting?”

  “She is. It’s going very well for her.” I smiled.

  “So great.” She smiled back. “She was a very good friend to me in school. I’ll have to give you a friends and family discount.” She winked.

  “I appreciate it. My uncle isn’t paying for any of this. He loves this store and refuses to sell it, but he’s in over his head and he doesn’t understand change. I’m kind of doing this as a surprise.”

  “Oh. Well, he’ll be surprised.” Lenora laughed. “We’ll do everything to make sure the store can stay open while we work. Aside from that spot upstairs, I don’t think we’d have to do much construction in here. I may send a guy or two to come help you move some of these heavy bookshelves.”

  “That would be so helpful,” I breathed. “And you really think we can stay under budget? I know I’m not really willing to spend much.”

  “It should be fine. It doesn’t need much, but let’s wait to see what Pedro says.”

  As if on cue, Pedro walked in. “We should be able to knock this out in a weekend.”

  “A weekend?”

  “We have enough people and it’s really not much. It needs paint and new landscaping. It’s small enough that it’ll be a quick job.”

  “Wow. A weekend would be incredible.” I smiled wide. “Let me know what you need from me and when you can get started.”

  We agreed on the upcoming weekend, since things were slow for them right now, which meant that if everything went well, they’d be finished by Monday and I would have time to figure out how to set up a coffee shop upstairs. As soon as Lenora and Pedro left, the phone rang, and the caller ID said it was my mother. I answered quickly and updated her on what was happening with the bookstore. She listened quietly, which was never a good thing when it came to my mother. When she liked an idea, she was either speaking over you or pitching in every five seconds. When she hated an idea, she was as quiet as a mouse.

  “Mum?”

  “I’m here, Adeline. Just trying to figure out where all of this fits into your already hectic schedule,” she said. “I know you’re taking a break from London society, but we just got hired to do the biggest party of the summer and I don’t want you to drop the ball on behalf of your uncle’s dwindling bookstore.”

  “What party?” I sat up quickly.

  “The royal family is having a masquerade ball in Versailles in honor of the prince’s impending engagement.”

  “Oh.” I blinked. “Versailles? Which prince?”

  “The only one who’s required to be married, silly. Prince Elias.”

  “Oh.” I sat down, placing an elbow on the table, to counteract the sinking feeling in my belly. “And they hired us? How did they hear about us?”

  “Evidentially, Joss is friends with Princess Pilar and she attended the wedding you planned for the Princess of Spain last summer and told her mother, the queen, about it, and here we are.” She was quiet for a second, waiting for me to react; when I didn’t, she continued, “This is the event of your dreams, Addie. You get to go above and beyond and wow them. Who knows, maybe they’ll even hire you for his wedding.”

  “For his wedding,” I said blandly. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

  “Adeline! What is the matter with you? I thought you’d be jumping and shouting over this. Don’t tell me this has to do with Thomas Evans.”

  “No. No, why would it have anything to do with Thomas?”

  “I don’t like how distracted you sound. This is the event you’ve been waiting for your entire career,” she said. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to pass up being there on account of the leaked video.”

  “I’ll be there, Mother.” I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.

  “Good. Can you meet Joss and me in Versailles this upcoming weekend?”

  “Sure.”

  “Splendid,” she said and I could tell she was smiling wide. “I’m so incredibly excited about this and you should be too. Your hard work has paid off and that nonsensical video didn’t deter them from hiring you.”

  “They probably didn’t hear about it.”

  “Trust me, the Crown hears about everything.”

  My stomach coiled. Did that mean Prince Elias had heard about it? And if so, why did I care? He didn’t even remember me. I finished talking to my mother and tried to sound as enthusiastic as I could about the entire thing, but part of me really didn’t want to have any part in an event like that. What did impending engagement even mean? Would he propose at the party? If so, to whom? And again, why did I care?

  Chapter 4

  I paused, exhaling heavily as I leaned over to set the basket down and catch my breath. I wasn’t used to carrying heavy things and this wicker basket filled with everythi
ng from fresh white towels to bath salts and champagne was definitely amongst the heaviest I’d carried. I opened and closed my hands to stretch out my red fingers. My grandmother, who lived her entire life in the service of families, carrying things, washing clothes, and cleaning houses, would have been disappointed in me. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and took in the soothing scent and sound of the beach, and opened my eyes as I crouched and lifted the basket once more to continue my trek. The golf cart I normally used was being replaced and therefore, I had no choice but to walk across the lawn and deliver the basket by hand.

  When I arrived here, I knew I’d be serving penance for my sins, and I was ready to do whatever my uncle assigned to me as a job. As far as jobs went, delivering this basket should have been the easiest thing I had to do, but ever since yesterday’s experience I’d been trying to figure out a way to hand the job to someone else. My uncle only asked me for two things: a few hours at the bookstore each week and help with the rental villas on the property. He was very specific on one rule—I could not speak to the prince. Too late, but I couldn’t tell my uncle that. I’d planned to make good on that promise from here on out though. The last thing I wanted was to drag the prince into an unnecessary scandal, and if we were seen talking to each other, people could easily make up rumors.

  It wouldn’t look good if we were caught appearing friendly. Not with who my father was and how he was notorious to speak out about the injustices of the Crown. His way of thought was the reason people started to question the monarchy and the purpose it served. The fact that the king no longer killed those who spoke up against him was huge and something everyone had come to respect, but some people felt the monarchy was antiquated. Those people thought Prince Elias should not acquire The Crown once his father passed away.

  I was on the fence about the whole thing. Probably because unlike a lot of those people, I had not been directly impacted by the economy. As the old saying goes, the poor stay poor and the rich keep getting richer. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to see people thrive though. I just wasn’t vocal about things like that. I was raised in the States most of my life and later, moved to a neighboring country with another set of royals, so it wasn’t my place to speak out on things. I left that to my parents. I finally got near the villa and slowed down at the sight of the security guards around the premises. They were dressed in all black, from the hats on their heads with brims that covered their eyes, to the boots on their feet. The one near the door, a tall, GI Joe figure-looking one, with a fit physique and rigid stance, nodded at me in approval to approach.