by Geneva Lee
A printed schedule of activities rested on my pillow, and I rolled my eyes as I realized someone had planned every moment of my stay here. Right now I was supposed to be in the Billiard Room for cocktails. Tomorrow I had brunch with the Queen Mother.
“But when will I find time to kill myself?” I asked the empty room.
Play the game, I ordered myself.
Ten minutes later, I happened upon Alexander in the hall. He’d changed into a three-piece suit as jet black as his hair. The result seethed with heart-stopping sexiness. I wanted to clench my fingers in that silky hair and feel him through those perfectly tailored slacks.
“Poppet?” It was more than a question, it was an invitation. A smooth, seductive smile carved across his face as if he had read my mind.
I sighed with longing and shook my head. It wasn’t fair that he had this effect on me.
Alexander pressed his index finger to my lips. “Save those for me.”
“I’m not allowed to sigh?”
“Oh, I insist that you sigh,” he whispered, leaning in to nuzzle my neck, “and whimper and moan when I’m fucking you. I demand it. I’m a selfish man and those noises belong to me.”
“I’d be happy to comply,” I purred, running my hand down his chest, catching my fingers on the button of his jacket.
He drew away and adjusted his cuffs. “Don’t tempt me or we’ll never make it to our scheduled appearance.”
“So I’m not the only one with a printed itinerary?”
“Unfortunately not.” He crooked his arm. “To the Billiard Room?”
“Yes. I was lost,” I admitted as he offered me his arm.
“I would have found you,” he promised, but the accompanying smile was tight-lipped. He had been on edge when we left London, and I watched as the tension settled back over him.
The Billiard Room was steeped in the stifling tradition of the past—oak-paneled walls decorated with mounted stag heads and stuffed pheasants. Jonathan occupied the bar, his sleeves rolled up and his attention focused on plying his companions with drinks. The women he was tending to swiveled to watch me. I recognized the redhead from the ball: Amelia. But the other girl was unfamiliar. Both their faces remained impassive, regarding me with cool indifference.
I’d dressed down for the evening in a sleeveless, navy-blue maxi dress and, upon entering, immediately wished I hadn’t. Alexander stepped through the door without hesitation, grabbing my hand as he passed, and led me into the dimly lit room.
“An hour,” Alexander promised me. “Do you want a drink?”
I shook my head. The last thing I needed was to lose my head around this group of friends. My only solace was the absence of Alexander’s father and grandmother. I hadn’t been formally introduced to everyone in the room yet, but as far as I knew, only Pepper truly had it out for me.
A man dressed in livery appeared at the door, his gaze sweeping across the group before landing on Alexander. He crossed to him, speaking in a low voice that was lost in the clamor of conversations around us.
Alexander gripped my arm. “I need to attend to something. Edward will look after you.”
He was gone before I could protest. I stared dumbly around the room, noticing the wicked glances the girls at the bar were sharing at Alexander’s sudden departure.
“Come over here,” Amelia called, waving me over. The invitation was coated in sugar, much too friendly to be genuine, but I couldn’t spend the whole weekend hiding from them.
Jonathan slid an empty tumbler onto the bar. Between the careless wave of his blond hair and his blue pinstriped vest, he looked as if he’d stepped out of an old movie. And when he spoke, his words dripped with the golden boy charisma that ensured him a constant supply of new bedfellows. “What’s your poison?”
My thoughts flashed to Alexander. He’d asked me the same question at Brimstone, and my answer was still the same.
“Oh wow, you’ve got it bad,” Amelia said, sneering at my dreamy expression. “Give her a gin and tonic. Clara, allow me to introduce my sister Priscilla.”
Priscilla flashed me a smile with too much teeth. She had the same red hair as Amelia, but her fair skin was covered in a veil of freckles. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
She didn’t bother to hide the implication in her voice, but I forced a grim smile. “Don’t believe everything you read.”
“Oh, I don’t bother with tabloids,” she said, “but Pepper has been talking about you for weeks. Alexander tells her absolutely everything.”
“I doubt that,” I said serenely. She was trying to bait me, but I wasn’t about to bite.
Priscilla shrugged her thin shoulders and sipped her drink. “Oh, Jonathan, use diet tonic. Clara watches her weight.”
I wasn’t certain if there was a punishment for slapping a princess, but I felt like I’d be doing a public service. Someone caught my wrist before I’d even realized I’d raised my hand to actually do it.
“I’ll take that,” David said, releasing my hand and reaching for my drink. Without a word, he maneuvered me away from the vipers’ nest. “That was a close one.”
He handed me my cocktail, and I took a deep swig of it, too angry to speak. When I was finally calm enough to regain my faculties, I turned to him. “How did you know I was going to hit her?”
David cracked a grin. It spread across his elegant, chocolate skin up to his coal-black eyes. It was a genuine smile, and I relaxed a little more. “I spend most of my time trying not to hit them myself. I guess I’ve developed radar.”
“So tell me, David, are you some type of masochist?” I asked, laughing when his eyes widened at my bold question. “Why else would you choose to spend time with these people? They’re like the Royal Brat Pack.”
“I have my reasons,” he said with a shrug, not offering to elaborate on what they were. “And they need me to up their cool factor. Somewhere along the line, they got the idea that hanging out with a black guy meant they weren’t just entitled wankers.”
“Is that right?” I snorted as I swirled my straw in the clear liquid.
“It’s what they believe.”
“So why are you really here?” I asked. Maybe David had a nihilist streak, but I couldn’t see anyone putting themselves through the torment of spending time with these people without a damn good reason. And I was dying to know what it was.
“Hasn’t he told you?” Pepper slithered over and draped herself over the back of my chair. Her golden curls bounced free, brushing over my neck. “Don’t be shy, David. Maybe Clara can give you tips on finally nailing down a prince.”
I looked at David quizzically, but his eyes were trained on the venomous blonde. “Don’t try to be witty. It clashes with your stupidity, Pepper.”
“At least I’m not a—”
David stood abruptly, knocking my drink onto my lap. “My apologies. Excuse me.”
I swiped at the ice-cold liquor, brushing it from my skirt before it could soak completely through.
“Shame about your dress,” Pepper said. “At least it was hideous.”
I glared at her but clamped my mouth shut. It might be smart to keep my enemies close, but it was even better to keep my mouth shut around them. I had no doubt every word I uttered to her would be distorted and used against me. Edward watched from across the room. Despite the concern written on his face, he didn’t put down his billiard cue.
This evening was turning into a nightmare, and if I was going to survive the entire weekend, I needed to pace myself on the drama. Exiting the room quickly, I realized I had no clue how to find my room again. I would have to track down Alexander and pull him away from his urgent business.
My footsteps echoed in the empty hallway. Not even a sliver of light seeped from the closed doors that lined the corridor. Passing each, I listened for Alexander, pausing when I finally heard low, angry voices. I crept toward them, concealing myself in the shadows. It wasn’t that I wanted to eavesdrop, but I suspected that my intrusion wouldn’t b
e welcomed.
It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the room’s darkness, and when they finally did, I realized that it wasn’t Alexander and his father. It was Edward and David. Not wanting to interrupt their argument, I turned to leave just as Edward lunged forward, grabbing David’s face and crushing his mouth to his own. My confusion froze me to the spot even as comprehension dawned on me.
I pressed myself to the doorway to stay out of view. How had I not seen it? My mind replayed David and Pepper’s nasty exchange, and Edward’s reaction to his departure. I’d wondered why David had stayed around when he clearly loathed most of his companions. Now I knew: he was as stuck as I was.
David pulled away from Edward. “Enough! I’m tired of this game.”
“This isn’t a game,” Edward said, taking a step toward him.
David backed away, shaking his head. “You’re flirting with those sniveling bitches and running around pretending to be a playboy. You may not think you’re playing a game, Edward, but you are—and from now on, you’re playing alone.”
“David, wait!” Edward called, catching up to him and grabbing his arm.
“Take your hands off me,” David warned.
“I’m sorry that it has to be like this.” Edward released his arm. “I wish it were different. I love you.”
David ran a hand over his closely cropped hair. “That won’t work this time. It’s not enough anymore. Wishing gets you nowhere. If you want things to be different, then change them.”
“You know what I’m dealing with. If Alexander—”
“Waiting around for your brother to solve your problems isn’t changing things,” David said harshly. “At least, it isn’t changing things with me.”
Edward brushed a finger down David’s cheek and shook his head sadly. “Tell me what to say.”
A rustling noise behind me drew my attention away, and I whirled around in time to catch Jonathan and Priscilla approaching. I stepped into the doorway, blocking them from entering the room. David and Edward would see me, but something told me that their relationship wasn’t common knowledge. I knew what it was like to be under the scrutiny of the Royal Brat Pack. Whatever was happening with them, they deserved to work through it privately.
Priscilla swayed on her feet, clutching on to Jonathan as she giggled. The two stopped as soon as they saw me.
“Excuse us,” Priscilla hissed. She attempted to push past me but lost her balance. Jonathan caught her waist and held her upright.
“What’s going on, Clara?” Jonathan waited for me to explain why I wouldn’t let them past. His gaze darted from me to the door, his pupils as black as a snake’s in the dark.
I had to think of something quickly, but my mind stuttered to a halt. “Do you…have you…seen Alexander?”
“She’s like a lost puppy,” Priscilla said with a snigger.
“Hush, Pris,” Jonathan admonished her. He smiled apologetically, but his eyes remained cold. “I’m sorry to say we haven’t.”
I’d delayed them long enough to buy Edward time, and I could only hope he had used it, because I wasn’t sticking around to deal with the drunken tart. Breezing past them, I offered a simple goodnight. Behind me I heard Pris whisper, “Off to bottom Alexander.”
A smug grin carved across my lips. I knew I wasn’t imagining the edge of jealousy in her tone.
But as soon as I was free of them, I was left to ponder what I’d stumbled upon. Did Alexander know? Did anyone? I understood why David was angry, but I think I knew why Edward had kept their relationship a secret. The gossip. The tabloids. The assumptions. I was all too familiar with what it was like to be linked to a Prince of England. Still, Alexander had claimed me as his, not hiding our relationship. How would I feel if I was still his dirty secret?
My stomach flipped at the thought, and I realized I had my answer. As difficult as things sometimes were, I wouldn’t have been able to cope with it.
It was an impossible situation: being torn between love and reality.

I finally found Alexander in the library with his father. Hesitating at the door, I tried to decide if it was better to knock or wait for them to finish. Alexander had disappeared to speak with him over an hour ago, and from the sound of their discussion, he wouldn’t be finished any time soon. Alexander’s grandmother Mary watched the exchange stoically, hands folded serenely in her lap. I had no doubt that she was analyzing each of Alexander’s statements for later dissection.
“You have responsibilities,” Albert lectured him. “Clara is very pretty, but you can’t make life decisions based on what your dick wants.”
Alexander folded his arms over his chest. “This is the twenty-first century. Clara is well-bred—”
“She’s American.” Mary said the word American as though it tasted rancid on her tongue.
Alexander glared at her, his lips thinned, and she shrank back under his primal stare.
Albert continued, ignoring the exchange between his mother and son. “You need to be prepared to assume my role—”
“Are you planning to retire?” Alexander asked dryly.
“I do not approve of your flippancy,” Mary chided. Her nose tipped up as she spoke.
Albert rubbed his temples, his voice growing somber. “There are situations that you need to be briefed on, and yet you’re busy screwing that—”
“Choose your words very carefully,” Alexander warned him, rising from his seat with clenched fists. “She is precious to me.”
I’d spent enough time lurking in the shadows tonight, and I was tired of it. I rapped once on the door and stepped inside.
“I’m going to bed,” I told Alexander, ignoring his family. I thought of David as I spoke. I was tired of the games too, but I wasn’t ready to walk away.
“I’m coming with you.” Alexander crossed the room and took my hand. The light contact crackled with suppressed electricity. We’d both spent the evening defending ourselves against attack, and I knew that the bond we shared had seen us through it. I longed for his hands on my body, for the reassurance of his demanding, but attentive, touch. Judging from the protective way he stood between me and his father, he felt the same need.
“We are not finished speaking,” Albert said.
“This conversation is over,” Alexander said in a firm voice. “I’m not debating this with you any longer. I’ve made my decision.”
Albert’s eyes slid over me as if estimating how challenging of a problem I was to him. A chill cascaded down my neck, turning my blood to ice under his unflinching stare. But in the end, he only said, “Goodnight.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
My fingers twisted together as I hesitated in the hall. Alexander had headed to his room to change this morning, and I was surprised by how nervous I was about brunch without him. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, awareness sliding over my body, and I turned to find Alexander watching me from a doorway.
“Have you decided to run?” he asked.
I looked at him, confusion swirling through me. After last night I’d considered it, but Alexander had persuaded me to stay with methods that were likely illegal in several countries. No, I had decided to weather this weekend. It would be over soon, but I knew that there were going to be issues to deal with when we got back to London. For now though, I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head.
“This—” he ran his fingers down my silk, garden skirt “—needs to come off later.”
I’d chosen a simple white blouse and skirt because they looked appropriate for brunch, but I’d deliberately worn the pale green skirt for the way it billowed as I walked. That, combined with its shortness, was sure to catch Alexander’s attention.
“Cancel the hunt and you can take it off now,” I promised in a husky voice.
“I’ll only be gone for two or three hours,” he said, running a hand down my bare arm reassuringly.
“That’s long enough for them to eat me alive,” I pointed out. I tugged at
the hem of my skirt.
“I’m told they’re serving sandwiches,” he said, “but I’ll remind them that they have to answer to me if anyone upsets you.”
I nodded, not reminding him that I could take care of myself. He probably just wouldn’t like the consequences.
“You’ve got that wicked gleam in your eyes, Clara,” Alexander said softly. “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing.” I stroked a hand down his chest, leaning in for a kiss. But he pulled back.
“Something tells me that you’re going to be fine.” He sighed and took my hand, pulling me toward the dining room. “Try not to be charged with treason.”
I wasn’t making any promises.
The men going on the hunt had gathered, and as soon as they saw Alexander, the teasing began. Jonathan clamped a hand on his friend’s shoulder and shook his head. “You’re going to let that fox get away, Alexander.” Jonathan’s gaze swiveled to me and he grinned. “Although it doesn’t look like you’re hurting for tail.”
I shot him a thin-lipped smile. He might not remember what he did to Belle, but I did, and he wasn’t going to charm me into forgetting, especially not with locker-room humor.
Pepper entered the dining room. Her hair was up in a demure bun, and while her electric yellow dress hugged her willowy figure, it still fell just below her knees. Her gaze slid up and down me. She didn’t bother to hide her smug dismissal of me as the Queen Mother appeared behind her in a loosely fitted, linen pantsuit. Her appearance distracted Pepper, who began to immediately kiss ass.
I stifled a gag over the obvious and false flattery. Did Pepper really think she could get to Alexander through his grandmother? That just proved that she didn’t know him at all.
Alexander caught me around the waist, pressing a kiss behind my ear that sent a ripple of excitement tingling through me. “I will see you soon, poppet.”