A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (12 page)

“Don’t be ridiculous Alex,” I said, “What kind of person do you think I am?”

“Oh God.
 
This is awful.”
 
Alex sunk back down on her chair, her hand covering her mouth, her eyes wide and her face pale.

“Out!” I cried, “Everybody out.”
 
I ushered Dayne and the maid and the footman who brought my coffee out of the room and closed the door, flicking the lock to keep them out.
 
I took a breath and turned back to Alex who was sitting, frozen, on her chair and looked like she was going to pass out at any moment.

I knelt beside her chair and took her hand in mine.

“Alex, it’s okay.
 
Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”

Her frightened eyes looked at me and I had the desire to wrap her in my arms and hold her close.
 
I stood up and tugged her up with me and pulled her into a hug.

“Shh, it’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not,” she said, “It’s going to be a mess and I’m going to have to clean it up and the Queen will probably want me to resign and I’ll be disgraced and never be able to get another job and I’ll go broke and end up living on the streets and begging for money so I can support my alcoholism.”

I chuckle softly, “No, sweetheart, none of that is going to happen.
 
We are going to tell everyone we are dating.
 
The Queen will be overjoyed because you know I’m her favourite, Bradley will go back to the States with his tail between his legs and eventually the publicity will die down and everything will go back to normal.”

“Your sister warned me about you, you know,” she said, “She told me not to trust you.”

“She did, did she?
 
Well, I’ll just have to prove her wrong.”

We stood like that for a while and I felt the tension slowly leaking from her body as her anxiety calmed.
 
Neither of us was in any hurry to break the contact and then the door opened.

“Would someone like to explain to me how my Personal Assistant and my Chief Advisor happen to be in a relationship and I knew nothing about it?”

We both turned to find the Queen and Meredith staring at us with a crowd of body guards, maids and footmen behind them.

Oh God, this was a nightmare.
 
Here I am, standing in Freddie’s arms, pictures of me in the paper and the Queen walks in.
 
Oh.
 
I’m still standing in Freddie’s arms.
 
I jump back quickly, moving out of his reach and I don’t dare look at him.

“Alyssa,” Freddie said with a genuine smile, “Isn’t it wonderful news!
 
I’ve been begging Alex for months to go out with me.”

I couldn’t look at either of them, although I felt both of their eyes on me.
 
I would have to lie to the Queen, my boss.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Alyssa said, and I looked up at her.

“What?” I’m shocked.

She smiled at me like she was in on some grand secret.
 
“The way you two peacock around each other, the flirting, the looks.
 
We’ve all seen it.”

My face burned and I’m sure I must be flushed bright scarlet.
 
I snuck a look at Freddie to see him staring at me with a smug smile and a soft look in his eyes.

“Yes, well,” I said, trying to regain the control I’m so famous for.
 
“It was meant to be a little less public.”

Meredith snorted.
 
“Nothing Freddie does is private for long.”

“Now, now sister dear.
 
Those photos were run without my knowledge or consent.
 
I would never do anything to upset Alexandra.”
 
His arm was suddenly around me and he was pulling me close into his side.
 
“But what’s done is done and we will need to make a statement.”

I looked up at him, my eyes pleading.
 
“Do we have to?”

He brushed the back of his hand down my cheek as he looked into my eyes.
 
“We do,” he said, softly, kindly, “If we don’t, we will be hounded by paparazzi and everything the Queen does this week will be relegated to page three.
 
We need to come out publicly and then they will leave us alone.”

“This is a disaster,” I said, pulling away from him again and pacing the room, “We need to find a way to gag my family.
 
This is exactly the kind of thing they would take great delight in.”

“Your family are here, in Calanais?” Meredith asked.

I nodded, “For the coronation.”

She nodded, “Of course.”

I looked at Alyssa, who seemed delighted with this turn of events and I felt terrible for lying to her, but what else could I do?

“Your Highness,” I said looking at her with regret, “I need to apologise for this mess and if you need me to resign—”

“What?
 
You’re not resigning, why would you?” She stepped up and slung an arm around Freddie.
 
“I love Freddie and I think the two of you make a wonderful couple and if you’re here, it means that he has to stay here too.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Freddie said, but his eyes were on me.

“No, you don’t understand.
 
My family—”

“Your family will be fine,” she said waving my comment away.

“No,” I said, shaking my head vehemently, “You don’t know what they’re like.
 
They love a good scandal, especially if they can be in the middle of it.
 
They will talk to the press, they will tell them everything.”

“Everything?” Alyssa said, “What’s there to tell.”

“The reason I came to Merveille,” I replied.

“Can we have the room please,” Freddie said, shooing out all the gawkers for the second time today until only he, the Queen and Meredith remained.
 
“Alex, sweetheart, sit down and let me pour you some tea.”

I allowed him to usher me into a chair and the Queen and Meredith joined me.
 
He poured us tea and then took a seat himself, sipping his, now, cold coffee.
 
I fiddled with my cup wishing to be anywhere else but here.

“I was engaged,” I mumbled, “To a man named Bradley Corsair.
 
He was the eldest son of a very wealthy family, old money, back in the States.”
 
I took a breath and rushed on, “I left him at the altar to come here.”

“Like, broke off the engagement and then came here?” Meredith asked, her eyes wide.

I shook my head, “No, I mean, I was standing in my wedding dress on the day of my wedding and I was looking in the mirror and realised I couldn’t go through with it.
 
I got undressed, snuck out and took the first plane out of there.”

“Oh wow,” Alyssa said, “That’s really out of character for you Alex.”
 
She said it with a smile to soften it, but she was right.

“I know,” I said, “You think my spreadsheets are bad now, you should’ve seen the one I had for my wedding.” She chuckled and I saw Freddie hide a smile behind his hand.
 
“Anyway, he’s here.”

“Who’s here?” Alyssa asked, and I shot a look at Meredith, who avoided my gaze.
 
She knew he was here, Alyssa’s whole security team would know he was here.

“Bradley,” I said, “He arrived on coronation day—”

“I intercepted him,” Freddie said, coming to my rescue, “And he is currently staying at my parent’s estate.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Meredith looked away and her lips thinned.

“You knew,” Alyssa said to Meredith.

“He made his way through security and into the Palace,” she said, “Freddie let Benjamin know.
 
We didn’t think you needed to know, especially not with everything else going on.
 
I didn’t know who he was or why he was here.”

“I’ve asked him to leave,” I said, He wants me to go back to the States with him, he still wants me to marry him.”

Alyssa gasped, “You can’t go,” she said, reaching across the table to grasp my hand, “I need you.”

I smiled at her.
 
“I’m not going,” I said, “I’ve told him I have no interest in marrying him.”

“Well, now that yours and Freddie’s relationship is out in the open, he’ll have to leave.”

“Well, now, see, there’s a problem with that.
 
Bradley will take it as a challenge,” I said, “And if the press get a hold of my family, they will spill the whole sordid tale.
 
You don’t need this the first week of your ascension.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Alex,” Alyssa said, “It will blow over.
 
We’ve weathered worse than this.
 
Do as Freddie suggested, make a statement.
 
It will be a story for a day or two and then they’ll lose interest.”

I nodded, but I didn’t believe her.
 
The media would scent the blood in the water and I knew that before this was over there would be a feeding frenzy to rival Jaws.

We left Alex so she could finish getting ready for work and after everyone else was dismissed Meredith dragged me by the arm into an unused room.
 
Her grip on my arm was not friendly and her eyes were fierce.
 
When we were alone, she let me have it.

“What the hell are you doing Freddie?” she asked, “Alex is my friend, not to mention important to Alyssa.”

“I know that,” I said, straightening my cuff, “She’s important to me too.”

Meredith snorted.
 
“Did you leak this story?
 
Did you let the photographers know where you would be so they could take those photos?”

“I’m hurt, Mer, that you would think so lowly of me.
 
Of course I didn’t, I would never do anything like that.”

“You haven’t exactly been discreet in the past—”

“Now hold on there,” I said, “I’ve never once leaked a story to the press about my private life—”

“All those stories—”

“All those stories came from the women I have dated.
 
It may surprise you to learn that I don’t exactly love having my personal life splashed all over the front page of the paper.
 
Besides the fact that it was for this very reason that Alex had kept rebuffing me, why would I jeopardise that by tipping off the paps?”

She was silent as she regarded me.
 
“I have nothing to feel guilty for, I didn’t do this, I would never do this, especially to Alex.”

“You really like her.”
 
It wasn’t a question.

Something inside me softened and I exhaled.
 
“I really do,” I said, truthfully.

“Then don’t you dare hurt her,” she said, her voice fierce once again. “Or I will hunt you down and hurt you.”

I had no doubt she would.
 
Meredith was part of the Queen’s security detail and had been trained since she was a teenager in hand to hand combat.
 
I was good, but no-where near as good as she was.
 
I slung an arm around her and pulled her into a one-armed hug.

“I promise.
 
I will do everything in my power to protect her.
 
I don’t want to see her hurt either.”