A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (31 page)

I stepped into the airport with a heavy heart and made my way to the gate to wait.
 
Bradley was there and I saw his smile as I walked up to him.

“You came,” he said.

“I didn’t really have much choice, did I,” I said.

“It’s only five years, Alex,” he said.

“I don’t want to discuss it now,” I replied, “I want to speak to a lawyer and have some papers drawn up.
 
We’ll discuss the particulars then.”

“As you wish,” he said.

It wasn’t long before my family arrived.
 
I didn’t know whether they had always planned to be on this flight or whether my being here was the reason.
 
Whichever it was, it didn’t make me happy.
 
I wasn’t quite ready to face my mother, but as always, she was forcing the issue.

“I knew you would come to your senses eventually,” she said to me as she took the seat beside me.

“You backed me into a corner,” I replied, not looking at her, “Happy?”

“I am,” she said, “It’s for the best.
 
Those people would eat you alive if you married that Bingham boy.
 
This is the best thing for you.”

“No, mother,” I said, “This is the best thing for you.
 
Don’t delude yourself into thinking that you are somehow doing me a favour.
 
My well-being, my feelings didn’t play a part in any of your machinations.
 
But I am putting you on notice.
 
This is the last time.
 
The money you’re getting from Bradley?
 
The five mil?
 
That’s it.
 
I will not be giving you another red cent, so you better make it last or look for a job, because I will not be bailing you out again.
 
And if you go to Bradley and try and get more money out of him, or pull another stunt like you did today, I will take ownership of the estate and I will evict you on your ear.
 
Enough is enough, I refuse to let you manipulate me anymore.”

I didn’t wait for her to answer, I stood and walked away.
 
The desire to have her love me, to say that she was proud of me, had driven me to do some crazy, stupid things and it was about time all that ended.
 
I suppose it’s only natural for a kid to want their parents to notice them, to love for just because of who they are, but after all these years it had become apparently clear to me that I would never know that unconditional love.
 
Nothing about my mother’s love was unconditional and my father was far too wrapped around her little finger to even give me a passing glance.
 
My sisters were in their own vortex of one-upping each other in order to get mummy’s attention, so I was nothing to them, in fact they were probably glad to have me out of the way - less competition.
 
But I was drawing a line in the sand and standing up for myself, just like Daniel had taught me all those years ago.
 
It was just a shame that it had taken so long for me to get the hint.

The flight was called and I boarded ahead of my family.
 
Thankfully I was seated next to a stranger and as I settled in, I took out my headphones and eye mask.
 
It was a ten hour flight back to Boston and I intended to ignore everyone for the entire journey, I would have five years of living with them, so I was keen to grab the last few hours to myself.
 
I chose my music and after the safety demonstration and takeoff, I turned it up loud, lowered my mask and lost myself in the melody, steadfastly refusing to think about Freddie and everything I was sacrificing for a family who didn’t give a damn about me.

“Where the hell are you Freddie?” Meredith’s voice screamed at me through my cell.

“Paris,” I replied, “On business, why?”

“You need to come home,” she said, “Now.”

“I can’t come home now,” I said, trying not to let my voice betray my frustration.
 
“I’m in the middle of a business deal.”

“Have you seen the Calanais Chronicle by chance?”

“I don’t read that trash,” I scoffed, “It’s a piece of garbage that sensationalises stories to sell newspapers.”

“Well you may want to grab yourself a copy of today’s,” she said, “And be prepared for a phone call from mother dearest.”

She hung up without explaining and I slipped my phone into my pocket with a shake of my head.
 
Why on earth would I need to see today’s paper, especially such a low-brow one as the Chronicle?
 
I couldn’t dwell on it now, though, I had a meeting to go to which would hopefully finalise the plans for Avonlea and then I could put all my efforts into Monticorp.

I felt the vibration of my phone in my pocket as I stepped into the elevator, but ignored it knowing it was probably mother and I really didn’t want to talk to her right now.
 
Whatever she had to say to me could wait.
 
Dayne met me as I stepped out of the lift and handed me his phone.

“It’s your mother,” he said in explanation.

“I don’t want to talk to her now,” I said.

“I think you should—“

“No,” I said, “There is too much riding on this meeting to be distracted by whatever salacious gossip she wants to rant to me about.
 
It can wait, but those men in there can’t.”

Dayne nodded and took the phone back, slipping away to relay my message to my mother.
 
She would fume, but I really didn’t care.
 
Everything we had been working on for the past twelve months was coming to the pointy end in that room and I needed a clear head in order to deal with it.

I stepped into the room and my phone buzzed in my pocket again.
 
I grit my teeth, but ignored it as I greeted the men in attendance.
 
Brooks gave me an odd look, but said nothing as we all sat down.
 
My phone buzzed again and in frustration I took it out of my pocket and turned it off.
 
Why couldn’t the woman just take no for an answer?

The meeting proceeded smoothly, now that my phone had been dealt with and by the end of the two hours, we had hammered out a deal that would benefit not only the shareholders, but the board of directors as well.
 
Brooks stayed back as we farewelled the other men and when we were finally alone, he spoke.

“You did well.
 
I wasn’t sure you’d be able to go through with it today.”

I looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, “Why on earth not?”

He shrugged, “What with that story coming out.
 
I was sure you’d want to be on the next plane back to Calanais to deal with it.”

“What story?”

“The one in the Chronicle?” At my confused looked, his brow furrowed, “You mean you haven’t read it?”

I shook my head.
 
“The Chronicle isn’t known for it’s hard hitting journalism or it’s financial expertise.”

“None of your people gave you the heads up?”

I started to shake my head slowly, “My sister rang me earlier and demanded I come home and my mother has tried to call a few times, but this deal was too important, so I blew them off.”

“Yeah, well, you need to read that paper, now.”

He walked out into the office space beyond the conference rooms and brought Dayne back with him holding the paper.

“It’s bad,” Dayne said as he handed it over.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
 
That was my Alex, dancing on a bar and looking like she did not need to swallow that shot she held in her hand.
 
I skimmed the story and my panic grew.
 
It couldn’t be true, surely not my Alex.
 
I read the byline, it was the same reporter who had ambushed us on the television interview.
 
Alex must be freaking out.

“Get Alex on the phone,” I barked at Dayne.

He dialled and I paced.

“No answer,” he said.

“Try the Palace then.”

He dialled again as I paced.

“She’s not available,” he said.

“Not available?
 
What the hell does that mean?
 
Get my sister on the phone.”

He dialled again and then he was handing the phone over to me.

“Meredith, where’s Alex?
 
I need to speak to her.”

“Freddie you’re such an idiot!
 
She’s gone, you’re too late.”

“What gone?
 
How? Why?”
 
I understood the words she was saying but I wasn’t comprehending them.

“She resigned and flew out this afternoon back to the States, with Bradley.”

“What!” The walls shook with my yell.
 
“That little weasel.
 
We had a deal.”

“You had a deal with Bradley Corsair”
 
Meredith asked at the same time that Brooks gave me a raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” I said, frustrated, “I paid him twelve million dollars to walk away from Alex.”

There was dead silence on the other end of the phone and in the conference room where I stood.
 
No one dared to even breathe after my announcement.

“It was the only way to get rid of him.”

“Well, it got rid of him, all right, but it didn’t stop her mother from leaking the story.”

“Kiki leaked the story?”

“And added her own embellishments to it, although in all fairness that could have been the reporter taking creative liberties.
 
Alex explained the whole thing to Alyssa this morning and then handed in her resignation.”

“Why did Alyssa accept it?”

“Because Alex made a compelling argument and now she is gone.
 
Mother is going ballistic by the way, I hope you have something up your sleeve to deal with her.”

“I need to get to Alex,” I said, tugging at my hair in frustration.
 
It was just like Alex to do this.
 
Sacrificing herself so that others wouldn’t suffer.
 
I could almost hear her train of thought and I knew why she left, to protect me, to protect the Queen.
 
Why she felt she had to marry Bradley was still a mystery, but one I intended to find out the answer to.
 
And then there was the whole thing with her mother leaking the story, why would she do that?
 
What was in it for her?

“No,” Meredith said, “You need to come home first and we need to make a plan.
 
If you go storming after her now, you will never get her back.
 
You need to find out what’s going on because I would bet my last dollar that we are missing something.”

“You’re right,” I said, although it cost me to do so.

“I do love hearing that,” she said with a sigh, “Now get your butt on a plane and get back here.
 
Alyssa is just about going insane over this whole thing and you and Alex are the only two who know how to calm her.”

“Get Will on it,” I said, “And I’ll be home in a couple of hours.”