“That’s absurd. This is a joke, right? A cruel joke? Possibly some form of American hazing I’m unused to?”
“Nope. I knew nothing about this. She’s been holed up in her suite since we had lunch on Friday.” Then Kelsey leveled a fish-eye at Genny. One that clearly said why didn’t you tell me.
That had been a difficult decision. Albeit necessary. “I had to lay low,” Genny explained. “Trying to track down a mole, remember? Who knew which staff were in on it, if any? I love how open and expressive you are, Kelsey, but that means you don’t have much of a poker face. I couldn’t risk saying anything to you.”
“I can keep a secret with the best of them. But I am a crap liar.” Kelsey shrugged, crossing her arms. “You’re forgiven.”
Ambra’s eyes were wild, and even her nostrils flared wide. “Genevieve, this is preposterous. We’ve been friends for how long? I would never reveal your secrets.”
“That’s what I thought.” Ambra started to sit up. So Genny put a foot on her belly. And wished she was wearing her sharpest stilettos, instead of merely bright tangerine polish. “No, don’t get up. The floor is where snakes belong. And you are most definitely a snake in the grass.”
“Whoever told you that is a liar. There’s no other word for it.”
“Stop. Stop playing the victim.” Genny walked away, suddenly sickened. Because even though she’d rehearsed this, confronting her friend was hard. Luckily, the initial shock and sting had been rapidly replaced by rage. And it powered her now as she paced the outer borders of the padded mat. “Are you listening to me? We have proof. Oodles of proof. Checks and Paypal and Venmo records. Voicemails, texts, emails. Years of proof that you have leaked the personal, private secrets of myself, Christian, Papa, Aunt Mathilde over and over again. That you profited from selling our secrets. Not just enough proof to satisfy me. Enough proof to satisfy a judge. Clara is waiting outside with handcuffs to take you to jail.”
Voice low, hard, and ugly, Kelsey spat out, “You bitch.”
It was pretty great having her sister at her back. Way better than a shallow suck-up of a betraying best friend.
“Why?” Genevieve said in a near-whisper. “Tell me why—the real reason, not some trumped up version you think I want to hear—and I’ll let you leave via the servant’s entrance. Otherwise you’ll be marched out the front door, in front of the press, in handcuffs and workout gear.”
Sad that she knew the threat of embarrassment would be stronger leverage than appealing to Ambra’s conscience.
Ambra scrambled to her feet. “Fine. I did it. Because your family owed me.”
“For what?”
“My mother’s been lady in waiting to the Grand Duchess my entire life. It gives her access, but nothing more. No presents. No money. No boons.”
Kelsey snorted. “Boons? Didn’t they stop handing those out in the eighteenth century?”
Not that she’d brainstormed any good reasons for betrayal, but Genny certainly hadn’t expected this one. “Your mother performs a service. One with honor. One that many women in the kingdom would love to do. Are you saying she’s unhappy?”
“I’m saying that she’s gotten nothing out of it. Nothing that can be handed down to me. Nothing tangible, nothing significant. And even though she accompanies the old harpy everywhere, she’s still shut out. Agathe never asks her opinion.”
Genevieve was genuinely confused. “Your mother wants…a vote?”
“Power. That’s what she deserves, same as me. It looks like we’re in the inner circle, but we’re not.”
So…not friendship. Not a caring shoulder to turn to.
Power.
What a ridiculous notion. “Ambra, I don’t have any power. The Parliament and prime minister, they have it all.”
“You have status. That’s the real power.”
“So you sold our secrets because—”
“Every time I provided…information, it was to steer you back on course. When you wouldn’t listen to me. When you wouldn’t pass on my suggestions to your family. Maybe you’d all be embarrassed for a few days, but shining the spotlight on questionable behavior would steer you straight in the long run.”
“You looked at all of this as course corrections?”
“I got you to listen to me, one way or another. And then this…commoner moved into the palace. Somehow got your ear.”
Wow. Talk about pushing exactly the wrong button. “How dare you address a princess of the blood in that manner? Princess Kelsey is a hundred times the woman, the human, that you will ever be.”
“She knows nothing of this life,” Ambra snarled. “She can’t be a good sister to you.” Rushing to Genny, Ambra clutched at her arm. “I am. I’ve always been there for you. But then she interloped. And you completely lost your head over Theo. I was worried I’d lose access. Due to a man who was all wrong. Who hated the monarchy, hated you. I had to break the two of you up, for your own good.”
Genny stepped back. Thought about all the times Ambra had been there for her. Thought about how much bitterness had to run in her veins, just below the surface. And decided this would be the last thought she’d waste on this woman.
“This is for my own good.” She hauled back and slapped Ambra as hard as she could across the face. Backhanded.
It wasn’t something she did—or had practiced—so her aim wasn’t great. It got her cheek. But mostly crashed her knuckles against Ambra’s nose. Blood started gushing out.
Red was definitely not her color.
But it would look amazing in the photographs.
Genny opened the door. “Clara, please take Lady Ambra away. Out the front entrance, if you please. Take your time. Perhaps have Lathan radio ahead to give the paparazzi a heads-up that they should be ready.”
“You lied to me!” Ambra screamed over the snick of the handcuffs locking.
“Indeed. Now you know how it feels.”
As the door closed behind her, Kelsey grabbed their shoes. “I’m so proud of you for standing up to her. That was epic.”
“It was, wasn’t it?” Genny relished the moment. Let it burn off some of her anger. And realized how badly she wanted to tell Theo.
“Come on. You definitely just earned yourself a plate of nachos. I won’t take no for an answer.” She ushered Genny out into the hallway.
Genny paused to look at the woman who looked so much like her but was so very different on the inside. How had she done without that irrepressible, joyous spirit in her life for so long? “I love you, Kelsey. I’m very glad that you’re back.”
Her sister hip-checked her. “I love you, too, you big badass.”
It was that love that gave her the strength to speak her deep fear. “Do you think Theo still loves me? Or did I ruin everything by not having faith in him? By not giving him the courtesy of the chance to explain?”
“I think if he really loves you, he’ll do anything to get you back. Any other reaction means he isn’t the right one for you.”
Huh. Full-blown honesty wasn’t the salve for which Genny had hoped. “That’s…pragmatic. Not entirely comforting, though.”
“That’s what the nachos are for.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Theo craned his neck up and around, taking in the peaceful view. The mid-August blue sky was dotted with puffy white clouds. Colorful sails zig-zagged all the way out of the harbor to the horizon. The salt-tinged breeze off the ocean kept him cool enough as he sat on a wooden piling. “Picturesque” didn’t begin to do justice to the busy marina, dotted with laughing couples and groups and families.
It might as well have been lemon juice in a cut to Theo. The beauty grated at him, taunting him with everyone else’s happiness. A sunny spotlight that highlighted his freaking misery. But he had to stay put.
Because this was what his life had been reduced to—hanging
out on a pier, stalking the heir to the throne of Moncriano. With his palace credentials revoked, it seemed the most surefire way to get a hold of the prince. And the fastest.
Time was of the essence. For multiple reasons.
Due to the fact that the prime minister had expected his report to hit her desk yesterday. Simon had stalled, blaming a frozen laptop. Chances were good that pretty soon Skaggit might send her own IT guy over to fix it once she got fed up with waiting.
Oh, and because Theo was more than a little…apprehensive…that he’d change his mind about this freaking drastic step.
It’d be far easier to give in to years of ingrained habit and not put the well-being of the House of Villani above his own interests. Not to mention far less risky to his career.
Mostly, though, because Theo needed to make things right with Genevieve as soon as humanly possible.
Yes, of course, he missed her like crazy. What was more important, though, was that the princess had to be hurting. That thought was worse than his own suffering. Christian and Elias were his ticket to stopping her pain. Or at the very least, they were his way back into the palace to ask Genevieve to listen to him for five freaking minutes.
So he’d sat here for two hours waiting for the Navy vessel to dock, not taking any chance on missing it.
His ass was numb. His mood was…brutally desperate? Theo didn’t know how he’d get Christian to talk to him. He just knew he wouldn’t let the prince out of his sight until he did.
“Ahoy, troublemaker!” Christian shouted as he loped off the end of the gangplank. A duffel bag was slung over the shoulder of his gray camo fatigues. No dress whites for this officer.
That was, uh, easy.
Theo waved. Turned it into a semi-bow. “Your Highness.”
Two Royal Protection Officers rushed past him to flank the prince. It’d been all over the news how the prince hadn’t allowed anyone but Elias—also on the ship’s duty roster for the tour—to accompany him on board. Christian insisted that thirty-seven fellow sailors were all the protection both he and his country needed.
Elias tossed his own duffel bag to the nearest bodyguard. He sported the same six-day scruff as Christian. “Yeah, guys, relax—he made it back in one piece. So how about a little breathing room while the prince and I talk to our friend?”
“Out here? In the open?” The guard shot Elias a hard you’re fucking pulling my leg stare.
“Yes. Here,” Christian said deliberately after looking at Theo with a raised eyebrow. “I want to get my land legs back, walk along the pier for a bit.” The prince turned his back on the guards without waiting to see their reaction. He motioned for Theo to come closer. “I’m guessing it isn’t random coincidence you’re planted like a mushroom right where my ship docked?”
“No, sir.” On the one hand, he’d worried about tipping his hand and being seen with the prince until everything resolved. But with his stripped access, well, there wasn’t a better option.
“The other sailors get girlfriends and kisses to greet them,” Elias complained. “I knew Kelsey wouldn’t be allowed down here to meet me. But I’m still feeling like you’re a massive downgrade.”
Theo reared sideways, away from him. “No kisses in the offing, I guarantee. What if somebody took a picture? I’d be in an even dicier situation.”
“About that.” The prince led him along the harbor’s edge, with Elias one step behind and security trailing one step behind him. “Sorry about the mess you landed in because of me with that photo bullshit. Our maneuvers kept us under strict radio silence. I couldn’t do anything to help, not even after I got the whole story.”
“I understand, Your Highness.”
He’d known before Kelsey’s party began that the two men were shipping out straight from it. So while Theo’s frustration at being unable to reach them had been at Defcon Five levels, he did understand.
It hadn’t stopped him from swearing about it for seven minutes straight that first night.
“I’m headed right to the palace to clear the air with Genevieve on the whole matter. We’re even skipping the traditional back-on-land drinks with the crew.”
“We?” Elias asked archly. “You go sort things out with your sister. I’ll stay with the men and drink for you.”
Christian shook his head. “You’re a witness. To how Theo here did no wrong. You have to come along to back up my story.”
“The princess would never doubt your word. You have FOMO.”
Theo burst out laughing. Christian just looked confused. “What’s that?”
“A new American acronym Kelsey taught me.” Elias looked smug with the knowledge. “Fear Of Missing Out. You don’t want me to have all the fun at the bar while you’re stuck trying to get through to your sobbing sister.”
Theo didn’t think there’d be drinks anytime soon for either of them after his news. “As much as I appreciate your willingness to clear my name, that’s not the only reason I waited for you. There’s something—well, not more important than the situation with Genevieve, but more urgent.”
Elias let out a low whistle. “Uh-oh. Sounds like you need to go back into Prince mode, Christian.”
“I’m afraid so, Your Highness.”
“No.” The prince said it flatly. “I’m not ready. I’m officially off the royal roster and on the Naval duty roster for six more hours. What could be so important that I can’t have a few more hours of peace? You’re crunching my sister’s shoe budget, for Christ’s sake!”
If only that was all it was. Theo leaned in a little. “I believe the prime minister is taking steps to bring about the downfall of the monarchy.”
Christian stopped walking. He stared out over the blue water, crisscrossed with the thick white wakes of speedboats. At his side, his fist clenched and unclenched.
When he finally spoke, his voice was a low growl. “Goddamnit.”
“You always said you didn’t like her,” Elias pointed out.
“I don’t like her. But I never picked up on her wanting to bring us down.” Abruptly, he spun on his heel. “Come with me. And look happy about it.” He threw his arms around Elias and Theo’s shoulders and hustled them down two piers.
“What are we doing? Damn it, Christian, you’re strong-arming me in the opposite direction of the beer.”
“Theo’s instinct was right to not meet in the palace. But we’re still too out in the open.”
“Well, it wasn’t just instinct,” Theo was compelled to admit. “Your sister revoked my credentials. She’s, ah, significantly pissed at me.”
Laughing for real, Christian said, “Not surprising. If I hadn’t been there to know why that woman was straddling you, I probably would’ve run you through with a rapier.”
“Ignore him,” Elias instructed, rubbing a hand over his close-cropped dark hair. “He’s got a sword in his office that he enjoys using for empty threats.”
“We’ll fix everything with Genny. Don’t worry about that, Theo.”
If only it was medieval times and Christian could just command his sister to forgive. “I’m not so sure. We were already on shaky ground after those yacht pictures came out. Genevieve might decide she doesn’t need the hassle of someone like me.”
“An outspoken critic of the royal family, you mean?”
“Yes.” He’d own it—to the prince’s face. Theo didn’t still harbor most of those criticisms, but he’d believed them at the time and didn’t regret being vocal with his opinions. It was important to stand by your own words.
“Bullshit.” Christian fake-coughed out the word. “Didn’t you see what happened to the Romanovs? All that inbreeding gave them hemophilia and produced weak, crap rulers who ended up on the losing end of a revolution.”
“That was a century ago.”
“Doesn’t make my point any less valid.”
“
Pretty sure your point slipped overboard about twenty nautical miles ago,” Elias joked.
Thumping his chest, Christian said, “We need fresh blood. New ideas. People to poke at us when our heads get too big. You don’t grow unless you’re challenged.”
“All right. You reeled that one back in,” Elias conceded.
Christian hopped into a shiny red cigar boat. “Before you ask, this is my friend Hector’s boat. He lives in Argentina but keeps a boat here for his visits. He’s said over and over again that I can borrow it any time.”
“But where’s the key?” Because, in the midst of all his layers of personal turmoil, Theo wasn’t really about to be an accessory to nautical grand theft? Was he?
“Don’t need one,” the prince said as he squatted to reach beneath the dashboard. “Elias and I taught ourselves to hotwire them back in high school. Once we mastered cars, boats were the next natural step.”
Today had taken a hard turn to the surreal. “I’m sorry, Your Highness—you did say you want to be challenged—but did you just admit to stealing a bunch of boats?”
“Never a one. We only borrow from the royal fleet. The odd friend here or there.”
Elias clapped him on the shoulder. Whether it was meant to be reassuring or a warning to Theo to keep his mouth shut was yet to be determined. “We always return it with the gas topped off.”
“This is the royal version of a wild streak?” Theo asked, metaphorically and literally throwing up his hands.
Because he got it. He’d spent years scoffing and pushing at the restrictions and traditions of royalty. Christian living it had to be brutally hard.
The prince jerked one shoulder in acknowledgment. “It’s been a while. But every so often the walls close in, and I need to push back a little.”
The boat purred to life. Elias high-fived the prince as he gunned it out of the marina. Their reckless joy was contagious.
Until Theo tried to picture if Genevieve had ever pushed at her boundaries. Probably not. More likely that she’d bent over backward making sure nobody noticed when Christian pulled a runner.
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