A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (30 page)

“That’s one of the reasons,” I said cautiously, not knowing how she had found out about it.

“What other reason is there?”

“Your family,” I said.

“What have they got to do with it?”

I sighed, “They’re broke,” I said, “We made a deal.
 
I would bail them out if they helped me get you to marry me.”

“They’re always broke,” she said in disgust, “No money is ever enough for them.”

“No,” I said, “This is worse, much worse.
 
The banks are threatening to foreclose on the estate.”

“They’ll be kicked out of the house?”

I nodded.

“How—“ she swallowed and looked away for a minute before turning back to me with determination in her eyes.
 
“How much?”

“Five million,” I replied, “The estate owes two mill, give or take a couple of hundred thousand, the rest was to be set up in a trust for them to live off.”

“Five million dollars?”
 
Her voice was breathy with disbelief or shock.
 
She definitely looked shocked.

“You’re an expensive wife,” I said, “But definitely worth it.”

She slapped my face then turned and fled.
 
I lifted my hand to my stinging cheek, she’d pay for that.

“Get out of bed!”

I jumped at the voice that had rudely awoken me.
 
I opened bleary eyes and looked towards the door of my bedroom to see Meredith standing there brandishing a newspaper, the look on her face mutinous.

“Get up, Alex, now!”

She turned and stormed from the room.
 
I flipped back the covers and swung out of the bed, slipping my feet into the slippers that sat in exactly the right spot.
 
I pulled on my robe as I walked out into the sitting room, not quite sure what I was walking into.

“What the hell is this?” Meredith yelled at me, lifting the newspaper and waving it around.

“Well, if you’d give me a moment to actually see what it is that you’re blathering on about, maybe I could tell you.”

She thrust the paper towards me, “This is not a time for levity.”

I took the paper from her hand and sunk down into the nearest sofa as my eyes registered my worst nightmare.
 
It was a photograph of me, dancing on a bar, a shot glass held high and wearing a dress that didn’t hide the thong I had been wearing at the time.
 
I was three sheets to the wind and feeling no pain and although I don’t remember that exact incident, I did remember the night it happened.

I swore… loudly.
 
How on earth had they gotten this picture?
 
Oh.
 
I knew.
 
It was my mother.

“I’m going to kill her,” I mumbled angrily as I read the story.
 
They had the basic facts right, but the picture they painted was far from the truth.

“Care to explain now?” Meredith asked, her arms crossed and her foot tapping.

I sighed and dropped my head into my hands.
 
“I should probably explain to everyone at the same time,” I said, “I’ll go and have a shower if you can gather everyone together.”

We went our separate ways and by the time I had showered and dressed, the Queen, Meredith and the Ladies in Waiting were seated around my dining table that was covered in a myriad of breakfast foods.
 
I sat down in the empty chair and poured myself a coffee… tea just would not cut it today.

“Okay,” I said after I took a fortifying sip, “The first thing you need to know is that picture was taken at my twenty-first birthday party.
 
Yes, I was drunk and probably high too.
 
I remember little about that night except that it was the last night I ever let myself go.”
 
The table was quiet as six pairs of eyes watched me.
 
“I probably should have told you about my past when you hired me,”
 
I directed this to Alyssa, “But I assumed you would have done background checks and would know more about that night than I do, obviously not.”

“Benjamin would’ve handled all that,” Alyssa said, not unkindly, “He only passed on to me the pertinent information.”

I nodded slowly.
 
“So, you know that I don’t have a great relationship with my mother and I suppose that this—” I indicated the picture,”—was some sort of cry for attention.
 
My parents are… indifferent… towards me unless I am doing something that will get them what they want.
 
My mother encouraged this kind of behaviour because she is of the belief that any publicity is good publicity.
 
She doesn’t care how we get our names in the paper, as long as they are in there.”

I fiddled with the handle of my cup before taking another mouthful of the bitter brew and continuing my story.
 
“I was a pageant baby, but never quite good enough to win the prize.
 
When I was too old for pageants, my mother would take me out to clubs and parties where all the rich people played.
 
I got caught up in the lifestyle and she encouraged it.
 
The wilder I was, the better.
 
I slept all day and partied all night, drinking to excess and getting high whenever I could.
 
That night, my mother and I had had a big fight, she’d organised for some sleazy television producer to be at the party and she wanted me to seduce him.”

There were a few stifled gasps.

“I didn’t do it.
 
She wanted a reality television deal and I wanted no part in that.
 
So instead, I drank myself stupid and very nearly got myself into a bad situation with a guy who had slipped something into one of my drinks.
 
Daniel rescued me.”

“Daniel?” Savannah asked.

“Daniel Harmon,” I replied, “My old boss.
 
He was at the club, saw the guy drop a tablet into my drink, but I’d swallowed it before he could stop me.
 
He got me away from the other guy, took me home, sobered me up and offered me a job.
 
I’d like to say it was all free sailing from that point on, but it wasn’t.
 
It was hard work and at times I nearly left and went back to the lifestyle, but Daniel taught me that the end results would be far greater than the short term comfort of reverting back to my old self.”

“The paper says that you had an affair with him, that you were more than just one of his office workers.”
 
Meredith’s voice was hard and her eyes glinted with anger.

“It’s a lie,” I said, “Daniel let me stay in his apartment until I could afford one on my own, but we were never romantically involved.
 
He was already in love with someone else and by the time I left his employment, they were married.”

“The story paints you as a gold digger,” Meredith spoke again, unconvinced.
 
“It says that when Daniel married someone else, you went after Bradley.”

I sighed and looked her in the eye.
 
“If Daniel hadn’t rescued me that night,” I said, “I would not be sitting here right now.
 
He gave me a future, he taught me to respect myself.
 
He was the first person to ever believe in me and I will always be grateful to him for that.
 
What they’re saying isn’t true, not about me, anyway.
 
Yes, I had a major crush on Daniel, but I knew he was so completely in love with someone else that there was no hope for me to ever turn his head, so I left.
 
I couldn’t work for him with the way I felt about him.
 
I had met Bradley through Daniel, some function or other that I had attended.
 
Bradley pursued me, he made the first move.
 
It wasn’t a love match, but I liked him well enough.
 
It was more of a business transaction for both of us.
 
I wanted to be married, to start a family and he needed a wife who would look good to his board members and investors.
 
He had enough money to ensure that this story — my past — wouldn’t come out.”

“So why now?”
 
This from Alyssa.
 
“Why has the story been leaked now?”

“Because my mother wants me to marry Bradley and this is her way of forcing my hand.”
 
I turned to Meredith.
 
“Freddie won’t want to have a bar of me now after this and even if he still liked me, your parents would never approve.”
 
I turned to Alyssa.
 
“You will have to let me go.
 
This scandal is the last thing the Crown needs as you try to restore Parliament.
 
Which plays perfectly into my mother’s plans.
 
I have no job and no place to live, there’s nothing else for me here.”

I couldn’t tell them the rest.
 
I couldn’t tell them that my family was practically bankrupt and Bradley was offering them a way out of their debt if I married him.

“I’m not going to fire you,” Alyssa said, stating it as if it were the most ridiculous thing on earth.

“Then I will resign,” I said, “I’m leaving today and hopefully with me out of the country, the story will die.”

“You can’t leave,” Alyssa said, “I need you.”

I smiled fondly at her, “I am so thankful for everything.
 
I have loved working for you and I am so deeply sorry for the way this all turned out.
 
But I can’t stay.”

“What about Freddie?” Meredith asked.

Tears, unbidden, leaked out of my eyes and rolled down my face.
 
“He won’t want me now, not after reading this.”

“But don’t you love him?”

“I do,” I said, knowing it was the truth, “But that’s why I have to go.
 
I love him too much to let this mud stick to him”

The rest of the day was a blur as I packed and handed over my official duties to Meredith.
 
She would barely speak to me and the waves of hurt and anger rolled off her almost palpably.
 
I refused to take any calls from anybody, I just kept my head down and did what I had to do before finally slipping out of the Palace and into a taxi bound for the airport.
 
I had one suitcase and a carry-on with me and Margaret had promised to send the rest of my things when I got settled.