A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (32 page)

I’m home, except it doesn’t feel like home anymore.
 
In the seven months that I had lived in Merveille, that had become home and in this gauche and over-done mansion I felt like a stranger in a strange land.
 
To be fair, though, I hadn’t lived on the estate since the moment that Daniel rescued me from the club.
 
Before I moved to Merveille, I had a cosy little apartment that wasn’t flash, but was enough for me.
 
I’d had to give it up when I left the country and now I had nowhere to live, unless I was going to move in with Bradley, and I had no plans to do that before it was absolutely necessary.

I unpacked despondently in the room that I had grown up in.
 
It was still full of the reminders of my other life; the posters on the walls, the makeup on the dresser, the closet full of clothes.
 
It was like stepping back in time and I slumped down on the bed, staggered by the depth of the change that had occurred in me since I was last in this room.
 
I had come a long way and I barely remembered or recognised the young woman who used to live here.

The door opened and Lily stuck her head in the room.

“Bradley wants to see you.”
 

She closed the door and I was left wondering if it had even happened.
 
Her voice was dull and her eyes barely even connected with mine.
 
What had happened to the bright and vivacious young woman that I had grown up with?
 

I pushed up to my feet, a heavy weariness weighing me down.
 
The flight had been long and I had dozed, but I couldn’t shut my brain down, I couldn’t stop remembering what I was leaving behind, what I was giving up.
 
It was my own fault, really, for thinking that I could actually have a fairytale ending.
 
Did I really think that there was a chance of a future with Freddie?
 
I shook my head as I exited the room, I had begun to believe my own press and that was a bad thing.
 
I needed to stay realistic, girls like me didn’t get the fairytale (or in my case, real) prince, girls like me had to settle and if I was going to settle with someone like Bradley, then at least my family would get something out of it.

I trudged down the stairs, noticing just how much the house had deteriorated since I had been gone.
 
In its hey-day, this old house was a work of art, now it looked tired and old.
 
There was dust coating the corners of the banister and cobwebs in the corners of the cornices.
 
The main thoroughfares were reasonably clean, but it was the less used areas that showed the lack of care and attention that the house had been getting.
 
This house was my inheritance, as set out in my grandfather’s will, but by the time my mother was finished with it, I’d be lucky if there was anything left standing.

The family and Bradley were seated around the large dining room table and the room looked like it hadn’t been used in years.
 
I doubted that my parents had much time or inclination for entertaining at home, they much preferred to mooch off other people and snoop around their ‘friend’s’ houses.
 
Besides, with the state of disrepair that this house was in, I’m pretty sure my mother wouldn’t want her circle of society ladies setting foot inside it.
 
It would be a dead giveaway to the state of their finances and that just wouldn’t do.

I took my seat at the table and looked at the gathered faces stoically.
 
These people had stolen everything from me, I’d be damned if they would see just how much they hurt me.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I said without preamble.
 
“We will speak to separate lawyers as soon as we can and have an agreement drawn up.
 
I want ten million dollars, five now and five at the conclusion of our five years.
 
I want another million dollars to be held in trust for each child I produce within that time.
 
And don’t think you will suddenly ‘go broke’ before the five years is up.
 
The second five million dollars will be put into a trust under my name at the commencement of our agreement and you will not have access to it.
 
The trust funds for the children will be set up on the day of their births and similarly, you will not have access to them.
 
You will honour the previous agreement that you have with my mother, but there will be a caveat added to the original agreement.
 
One that states that any further requests for money will be denied and any stunts or bad publicity that are designed to be used to blackmail or coerce more money out of either you or I will result in swift action.
 
This house and its estate that is being held in trust for me will immediately pass to me and the occupants will be evicted.”
 
I eyeballed my mother, “I am deadly serious about this and this is the only warning you will get, so spend that five million wisely.”
 
I turned back to Bradley.
 
“At the conclusion of the stipulated five years, you will grant me an uncontested divorce and I get custody of any children we produce.
 
I understand that you will probably stray during our contractual partnership, but if the press gets even the smallest whiff of scandal, our contract will be null and void and I walk away. We will sleep in separate bedrooms with one night a month designated as a ‘conjugal’ visit, and you must provide me with a clean bill of health from a recognised physician before you come anywhere near me.
 
You will give me free rein to work outside the home and any money I earn in my endeavours stays solely my property.”
 
I took a breath and looked at the stunned faces around the table.
 
They hadn’t really had much to do with this side of me, but I knew the only way to survive the next five years was to wear my work armour.
 
“The wedding will be small and private and I will handle all the arrangements.
 
I will give you a date and time to show up.
 
There will be no press at the event, we will release a short statement after the fact.
 
Are we clear?”

I looked at each person sitting around the table, their eyes riveted on me.
 
No one said a word.
 
I stood from the table and left the room, if I was going to sell my life to those people, I was going to do it on my terms.

Meredith met me at the airport with a car.
 
I climbed in beside her and spoke to the driver, “Take me to the Palace.”

“No,” Meredith said, “We’re going home first and you will talk to mother.
 
You need her on your side and right now she is decidedly not.”

“Fine,” I said and slumped back in the seat as the driver pulled the car away from the tarmac.

“Have you found out anything about why she left?” Meredith asked.

“I thought you knew why she left?”

“I do,” she said, “I just mean, have you found out the real reason she left.”

I shook my head, “Not yet.
 
I’ve put a call through to my private detective to see if he can dig up anything on Kiki, but he hasn’t called me back yet.”

“I just don’t understand why she would do this,” Meredith said, her arms crossed and consternation on her face.

I raised an eyebrow at her.
 
“You don’t know Alex very well, do you,” I said.

“Of course I do,” she said, “She’s one of my best friends.”

“Then you don’t know her like I do,” I said, “Because I know exactly why she’s doing this.”

Meredith turned her head to look at me, “Why?”

“Because she cares about Alyssa and you and the whole of Merveille.
 
She knows that the story has potential to damage the reputation of the Queen and to set back all the plans Alyssa has for the new government.
 
She left to protect her.”

“And you,” Meredith whispered and then closed her eyes.
 
“Oh God, I am such an idiot.”

“What did you do?”

“I was so angry at her,” she said, “I was angry that she hadn’t told us the truth about her past, I was angry that it looked like she was only with you for your money and then after she explained it all and announced that she was resigning, I was angry at her for running away.
 
She must think I hate her.”

I put my arm around my sister and pulled her close.
 
“I’m sure she understands.
 
Alex is one of the few people I have ever known who can decipher the real motivation behind the words that people speak.
 
She would’ve understood that you were hurt and she wouldn’t have expected anything less than for you to be angry at her.”

“You really like her, don’t you?”

I paused and my heart squeezed.
 
“I’m in love with her,” I breathed and Meredith rested her head on my shoulder and squeezed my arm.

“We’ll get her back,” she said.

The car came to a stop in front of my parent’s home and Meredith and I got out.
 
Walking up the steps was like willingly walking into the lion’s den and I did so with much trepidation.
 
The story in the paper was just salacious enough to have tarnished Alex’s reputation in the eye’s of my mother and I knew that it would not be an easy sell getting her back in the good books.
 
But it didn’t matter, I didn’t care what my mother thought of her.
 
Alex was mine and I intended to have her, to hell with everyone else.

“Mother,” I said as I kissed her cheek.

She sniffed in response and I sighed as I took a seat and poured myself a cup of coffee.
 
I sat back in the sofa with the cup and saucer in my hand and took a sip, waiting for her to speak.

“I hope you have broken things off with that girl.”

“No,” I said, “I think she broke it off with me, but I’m yet to actually speak to her to confirm it.”

“Good,” she said, taking a sip of her tea, “I never really liked her anyway.”

I snorted, “What you don’t understand, mother, is that I don’t intend to end things with her.
 
As soon as I’m finished here, I will be flying to the States to get her back.”

“Don’t be daft, Frédéric,” she said, pronouncing my name with a French accent, “You are far better off without her.
 
She was only after you for your money.”

“You’re wrong,” I said to her, conversationally, “Alex was the best damned thing to ever happen to me and I would be a fool to let her go.”

“Hardly,” Lady Caroline Bingham scoffed.

“What you don’t seem to understand, mother dearest, is that I am in love with Alex and I intend to marry her.”

The Duchess of Monterey gasped and looked at me with wide eyes.
 
“Marry her?” she whispered in disbelief.

“Yes,” I said confidently. “And nothing you can say will deter me.
 
I am surprised at you mother,” I went on taking a moment to sip my coffee, “You know that that paper is nothing but trashy gossip.
 
Did you even stop to wonder just how much of the story was true or to find out the circumstances behind it?
 
You have known Alex for seven months and you have seen the way she conducts herself and the way she looks after Alyssa.”