Royal Wrecker: Barnes Family Romances Book 4

by Alleman, Normandie

  “I don't know. Part of me does, but part of me is worried it will blow my entire family apart, and I don't want to do that.”

  “I understand.” I rested my head on his chest. “It's a lot to think about.”

  “It sure is, and I've been thinking about it for over a year now.”

  I held him close, and he hugged me back.

  “I'm sorry. That’s a pretty big secret to carry around. Thanks for telling me.”

  “Hey, thanks for listening. Sorry, I didn't mean to unload on you like that. It's tough when you have no one to talk to about something like that. I usually talk to my sister, but she's just not the right person.”

  “Well, you've got me now.” As I looked at his handsome face, my heart went out to him, and it hit me. As much as I’d tried to avoid it, I couldn’t deny it anymore—I was falling in love with him. With a gulp, I said, “I think I'm the right person.”

  “The perfect person.” And with that, his lips melded to mine, and he wedged his knee between my thighs.

  I sensed his need, which only reflected my own. Boldly, I said, “Help me take off this sweater.”

  Without hesitation, he lifted me up and slipped my sweater over my head, and pulled my pants off me, including my underwear.

  Highlighted in the brilliant colored light, I watched him stand next to the bed and strip off all his clothes. As I unhooked my bra and threw it on the floor, I marveled at his incredible body, rippling with muscles and accented by a perfectly rounded ass.

  He climbed on the bed, poised on top of me, a hungry look in his eye.

  With a slight shiver of anticipation, I spread my legs apart, offering him everything I knew how to give.

  “God, I’m so happy to be here with you,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss my neck, his stubble pricking my cheek.

  “Me too,” I said, wrapping my arms and legs around him. I felt a deep chasm of need that could only be filled by him.

  With one powerful thrust, his turgid flesh invaded my slick channel. My hips tilted to meet him, and I reveled in the carnal meshing of our body parts.

  I cried out, but his mouth silenced my moans.

  With strong arching movements, his cock thrummed inside me, kindling a passion that raged on as we gasped and strained, and the tension built and built to heights I’d never experienced before.

  I clung to him as he loved me hard. His long, persistent strokes owned my body, and I called out his name just until we erupted in a simultaneous release.

  A delicious, intoxicating sensation overwhelmed me, and I held him tight, loving the way his cock pulsed, spilling his essence inside me.

  It felt heavenly, being with Leo like this. Living as man and wife. And for the rest of the night, we forgot about the rest of the world, and I pretended that things between us would always be that way.

  18

  Leo

  Due to scheduling conflicts, we had to take a four-day break between our trips to Iceland and St. Lucia.

  Honoré had the choice of going home to Martinovia, or going with me and the rest of the production crew back to L.A.

  I was pleased when she chose to come with us to California.

  She’d been there once on a formal state visit, but I was looking forward to bringing her to our home and showing her California the way I knew it.

  But after our discussion about my paternity the night before, the only thing on my mind was my mother.

  The more I thought about it, the more I realized Honoré was right.

  She had to have slept with more than one man during a twenty-four-hour period. When she found out she was pregnant, she had to have known it was a possibility the father could have been the other man besides Ziggy.

  And I prayed there wasn’t a long list of possibilities.

  During my lifetime my mother was always single, her attention focused solely on her children. But biographers, media, historians—they all painted a different picture of my mother. She was always portrayed as an attractive, passionate woman who never said no to love. Before she met my father, she’d been the mistress of a famous painter in Paris.

  Sleeping with two men in a short time sounded consistent with the version of her I’d read about.

  The whole thing was giving me a freaking headache.

  “Would you like some champagne?” Honoré asked. We often drank the bubbly on our flights. It was kinda our thing.

  “No, thanks, though. I’m going to see if Arnold has some aspirin. My head is pounding.”

  “Poor thing. I’ll see if they have an ice pack.”

  Honoré got up to check with our flight attendant.

  Once I popped the meds and covered my head with an icy eye mask, I crashed.

  I woke up when we landed.

  When I looked over, I found Honoré staring worriedly at me with those beautiful, big brown eyes. “Feeling any better?”

  I took a deep breath and considered. “I think so.”

  She reached across the aisle and took my hand. “Thanks for opening up to me the way you did. It means a lot to me that you chose to confide in me like that.”

  I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “No problem. I trust you. You're my wife.”

  After we landed, our team helped load all our bags into the limo.

  During the ride from the airport to the Barnes family compound, Honoré admitted she was nervous.

  “Your mother is kind of a force.”

  “So are you,” I told her.

  That made her smile.

  “You have a lot of brothers and sisters, and sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law and/or almost brothers-in-law and nieces and nephews, and it's just a lot. My family's small. I’m not really used to a lot of people like that.”

  “It's okay. They will all love you. In fact, they already do. You met everybody at the wedding already.”

  “You're right. It's just that I'm hoping I can find things in common with them, you know.”

  “Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. It's going to be fine.”

  I gave her a wink, and we pulled into the driveway.

  19

  Honoré

  When we arrived, Lucinda practically smothered me and Leo with hugs.

  “Oooh my goodness! It’s so great to see you all. I’m dying to hear every little detail about the honeymoon. Dying!”

  She served up a pitcher of sangria, and we all sat around catching up on what everyone had been doing since the wedding.

  Ivy and Dynassy were there too.

  Nick was on the road playing ball, and his wife, Eden, was home with their kids.

  Eduardo and Chloe had a prior engagement, and Bridger was out of the country, doing logistical research for his, Dynassy’s, and Eduardo’s charitable work.

  I mostly let Leo tell them about our trip. He seemed more refreshed after his nap on the plane, while I found sleep elusive and watched movies the whole time.

  Ivy started talking about the details of her latest music video, and to my horror, I began to yawn.

  Not wanting her to get the impression I thought she was boring, I looked away so she wouldn’t see my massive intake of air.

  “We’re still on for the Veronique’s Secret fashion show, aren’t we, bro?” Ivy asked Leo.

  He waffled. “I don’t know. When is it?”

  I wanted to laugh, thinking about how unencumbered by schedules Leo liked to be. But the idea of him performing at a fashion show for underwear models parading around in diamond pasties with G-strings up their bums made me uneasy.

  At first I couldn’t put my finger on the emotion gripping me.

  It felt like anger but with a sick twist in the stomach as well.

  With a gulp, I realized what it was—jealousy.

  I’d never had much cause to feel jealous before, because I’d never cared for a man the way I cared for Leo.

  But there was nothing I could do about it. I had no standing, and no cause really, to ask him to refrain from cavorting with half-nak
ed models in the name of work.

  Suddenly, I wanted to be alone where I could process these new feelings in private.

  When dinner was over, Lucinda asked who wanted a game night.

  “I’ve got somewhere to be,” Ivy chirped.

  No one else seemed very enthusiastic. Instead, we all slowly got up from our chairs and wandered away from the table.

  In the hall, Leo told me he wanted to confront his mother.

  “Do you mind?” he asked.

  “No. I’m exhausted. So I’ll just make my excuses and head up to my room.”

  Just then Lucinda and Ivy came around the corner into the hall where Leo and I stood talking.

  “Are you up for a game, Honoré?” Lucinda asked.

  “I’m sorry, I’m not. The trip today took a lot out of me. If you don’t mind, I’m going to run off to bed.”

  “Oh all right, dear. Lorenzo has fixed you a room just down the hall from Leo. Ivy, would you show it to her?”

  Ivy nodded, and I proffered a weak smile.

  Leo gave me a hug and a quick kiss goodnight, which Lucinda and Ivy seemed to take in stride.

  “Goodnight,” I said and followed Ivy up the stairs.

  Her hair was a disconcerting orange color, and her outfit was so flamboyant it reminded me of a clown.

  Of all the Barneses it was Ivy who made me the most nervous.

  Originally, I expected it would be Leo’s mother, but, as complex as she was, I had an odd sort of understanding of his mother. She was the kind of woman who knew what she wanted, and she went for it. My own mother wasn’t that different. Lucinda Barnes might be more shameless and extreme about it, but both our mothers could be manipulative.

  Not uncommon for rulers, and while my mother ruled a country, Lucina Barnes ruled a business empire.

  No, it was Ivy I feared.

  Because I didn’t relate to her at all.

  And the man I loved was bonded with her in a way that intimidated me.

  If I thought I could become besties with Ivy, the twin connection wouldn’t bother me.

  It was the fact that I was afraid I’d never be close with Ivy, and that might impact my relationship with Leo—that was what bothered me.

  When we got to the room at the end of the hall, Ivy opened the door, and I passed through.

  My luggage was lined up neatly in a corner. One suitcase thoughtfully placed on a portable luggage rack.

  “Thank you so much, Ivy. It’s good to see you,” I said, using my voice for wrapping up a conversation.

  Instead of catching the hint, telling me goodnight, and leaving me in peace, Ivy flopped onto her stomach atop the luxurious queen-sized coverlet on my bed. Kicking her feet up behind her, she fiddled with her phone.

  “OMG, did you see the insta posts from Shanita?”

  “No. Who’s that?”

  “Some ho who’s been after my brother for years. In fact, I think she was after my brother Nick before she came after Leo now that I think about it.”

  “Oh.” Something inside me snapped, and I wanted to jerk Ivy’s phone out of her hand and throw it at the wall. I refrained, but barely.

  Completely unaware she was upsetting me, Ivy didn’t even look up. “I mean, the least she could do is wait a couple of months for you guys to break up.”

  Ivy made air quotes for the words “break up.”

  Her words stung, even though I knew they shouldn’t.

  Ivy had no idea that Leo and I had gotten close.

  She didn’t know that I was in love with him. Hell, he didn’t know that. But things were different between us than they’d been before.

  She stopped scrolling through her phone and glanced up at me. “So, are you guys having fun? I’ve never been to Iceland. Is it amazeballs?”

  I nodded. I was never going to connect with this orange-haired alien, and it gave me a gnawing feeling in my gut.

  “Iceland was great. We got to see the Northern Lights.”

  “I heard. That is so cool! Definitely bucket list material. So what’s next, Aruba or something?”

  “St. Lucia.”

  “Good, because Aruba is where that supermodel Leo is always flirting with is from, and if she’s there, that would not be good for y’all’s honeymoon. You know? I mean for the show. The tabloids, all that. That bitch is bound to show up and make a scene.”

  I nodded mutely.

  There was so much I didn’t know about Leo.

  Mountains of things.

  The more Ivy talked, the more real life hit me.

  Right between the eyes.

  Leo was one of the most famous rock stars in the entire world, and he had no intention of settling down.

  We had made an arrangement, an agreement. One that ended in a matter of months.

  How had I let this silly infatuation turn into something I was taking seriously?

  My stomach whirled as I thought about how close I’d felt to him only the night before.

  It felt real in the moment, but we had just been biding time and making the best out of a bad situation.

  There was no way I could expect Leo to remain married to me.

  We hardly knew each other anyway.

  We came from completely different backgrounds.

  Who knew what kind of life he wanted for himself or whether we were really compatible?

  Sure, we had had a wonderful time together.

  We connected on a number of levels, but wasn't that something that he did with lots of girls?

  I was the perfect example of just another hook-up. How many of these did he have each day? Each week was there a different girl? One for every stop on the tour, or was it every night?

  An unlimited supply of girls was certainly available to him.

  What would stop him from wanting to continue having a new girl every place he went?

  I tried to keep a pleasant look plastered on my face as I answered Ivy’s questions with yes or no answers, but inside I felt sick and finally had to excuse myself.

  “I'm sorry, Ivy. Something I ate isn’t agreeing with my stomach. I’m just going to go…” I pointed at the bathroom.

  This got her attention, and she hopped up off the bed. “Oh, I’m sorry. Okay. Leo’s room is two doors down across the hall to the left if you feel better and want to see him. I’ll tell him you’re under the weather. Can I get you anything?”

  “No, no. I’ll be fine, thanks.” I slipped into the bathroom until I heard her go out into the hall and close the door behind her.

  Then I came back into the bedroom and sank onto the bed.

  If I had any questions about the state of my marriage, all I had to do was look at the fact that I’d been given a bedroom separate from my husband’s in his own house.

  20

  Leo

  Dinner went pretty well for our first night home.

  I babbled most of the time, and I could tell Honoré was trying really hard to get along with Ivy.

  She and Ivy were really different, but they’d get there.

  Maybe since she was a princess, she’d been taught to try hard with everyone, but I flattered myself and pretended that Honoré made a special effort with Ivy for my sake.

  Lucinda talked about our show, and Honoré said all the right things.

  But as the meal progressed, I found myself getting more and more spooled up.

  Talking to Honoré about my paternity questions only brought them to the forefront of my mind, and seeing my mother just pissed me off.

  I needed to get to the bottom of this. I’d been holding this back for over a year now, and I didn't really see what the point of keeping quiet was anymore. I thought I’d been trying to protect my mother, because I knew a confrontation with her was going to suck.

  Normally, I wasn’t a fan of confrontation.

  But I’d grown up a lot in the past year.

  Hell, I got married.

  I had taken responsibility for my actions and taken the step I needed to gain my freedom
from Lucinda once and for all.

  So as we sat there eating our orange duck prepared by Lucinda's new chef, all I could think about was calling her out.

  After dinner I caught Honoré in the hallway. “Hey, was dinner okay?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Not as bad as I anticipated.”

  I nudged her lightly. “See? Told you they would like you.”

  She nudged me back. “So what are we gonna do now? Lucinda said something about game night?”

  “Notice how immediately after she said that Ivy told her she had somewhere to be? Actually, that was what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “What's that?”

  “I can't get the shit with Lucinda off my mind. With Ivy gone tonight if you don't mind, I really want to take an opportunity to ask my mother about it.”

  Honoré's eyes grew wide. She gulped. “If that's what you want to do, I will support you. I'll be here if you need me.”

  “Yeah, I think she'll respond a lot better if we don’t have an audience, so if you don't mind, can you entertain yourself for a while, and I'll come find you later?”

  Honoré looked taken aback. “Sure. But I’m an adult. I don't need you to entertain me the whole time.”

  I touched her arm. “If you’re sure…”

  She placed her hand on mine, reassuring me. “Don't worry about me. I'm fine.”

  I pulled her in for a hug and kissed her hair. “What did I do to get so lucky as to have you?”

  She giggled. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

  I laughed too. “Maybe another time you could remind me.”

  Then my mother and Ivy came ’round the corner, and Ivy set off to show Honoré her room.

  It occurred to me the way my mother had me and Honoré in separate rooms that they didn’t realize she and I were actually living as man and wife. But right now, I had a much bigger issue with my mother than where Honoré was supposed to sleep.

  Once I heard Ivy and Honoré’s footsteps on the stairs, I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself for battle. My mother was a formidable woman, and if she had kept a secret like this all these years, she sure as hell did not want it to come out now.