Corrupted by the Prince (A is for Alpha Book 5) (8 page)

His father and brother had not been spared.

“We were in the chapel attending the wedding of your second cousin,” she said softly.

The chapel was as old as the castle—over four centuries. It had survived earthquakes before, but never one of this magnitude. Kostas was informed during the briefing that part of the chapel near the front had collapsed and nineteen people had been killed, including the king and the prince.

His heart began a slow thundering. He shook his head, already knowing what would come next.

When his mother’s gaze finally lifted to meet his, the naked grief was barely restrained behind a steely determination. “Kostas, you are the new king of Mykorini.”

He clenched his jaw. “Mama—”

“Leave us,” she ordered the handful of people in the room. “I will have a moment alone with my son.”

The room emptied out quickly.

“It should be
you
who takes the throne,” he argued.

“I am the Queen Consort. I may have shared the king’s social rank, Kostas, but that is all.” She gave a small, sad smile. “I only became royal through marriage. You’ve always known this scenario was a possibility. Quite early in life you were taught the responsibility on your shoulders.”

“But not like this. I never thought we would lose both of them at once,” he rasped brokenly.

Grief flared fresh in her eyes. “Nor did I.”

“You must know I am no king, Mama.”

“You will become one,” she replied without hesitation. “Your coronation will be one month from today.”

He wanted to curse the unfairness of it all. To let a yell of anguish that ripped through the stone walls that surrounded him. His mother must’ve recognized the sorrow in him. The frustration.

Her expression gentled as she continued. “The people of Mykorini will take time to mourn not only their loved ones, but the deaths of the king and prince. We are not allowed that luxury.”

No, they were not. There was far too much to be done. Their people looked to them for reassurance about the future of Mykorini.

There would be no public grieving, besides a highly publicized funeral, but he would allow this moment between them. He pulled his mother into his arms and kissed her forehead.

“I’m so sorry, Mama.”

For the deaths of her husband and her son. And that the one man who should’ve never been crowned king would now take the thrown.

His mother gave a ragged sigh. “You must stay out of trouble from now on.”

Kostas nodded, his head now pounding in time with his heart as the reality of the situation began to settle in.

“We will begin the immediate search for an appropriate wife for you. With a new king, the people will want a queen. It is one way you can offer stability to our people. To show you have changed.”

A wife who would be his queen.

The image of Eva in his bed last night flickered in his mind. Her eyes awash with passion and pleasure.

He’d left without waking her to say goodbye, functioning in a state of shock and urgency.

She would now be just another love affair. His final one it seemed. At one point that wouldn’t have bothered him.

Fortunately, he didn’t have time to analyze why this time it did. It was time to become a new man and leave the past behind him.

He was a king now, and he’d damn well start act liking one.

“Wait a minute, let me get this straight.” Annalise waved her hands and shook her head. “You lost your virginity last night?”

Eva closed her eyes to block out the disbelief and eagerness in her oldest sister’s gaze.

“Yes.”

And then she’d woken up alone the next morning. And what bothered her most was not Kostas’s actions, but her reaction to them.

It cut deep, and she hadn’t expected it to. She’d braced for the possibility that it would be a one-night stand. She just hadn’t prepared for him to flee his own home like it was a crime scene.

“I’m only telling you because I needed to talk to someone about it.” And even though she and Annalise were like night and day, they were close friends as well as sisters.

Though Eva drew the line with confessing just
whom
she’d slept with.

“The whole night was incredible,” she said softly, “and yet I hate myself this morning. Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, Anna.”

“Discretion is my middle name.” Annalise cleared her throat. “Ugh, most the time.”

Eva’s lips twitched into a reluctant smile. “When you’re not on a gossip blog with your nipple popping out.”

“Total accident when a wave caught me off guard. I can’t help it if some tourist caught it on camera and sold it to that trashy blogger.”

Eva had to laugh, but it turned into sigh as reality sunk in.

“But he left me alone this morning. I should’ve known this was going to happen. I mean he had something called an Elaine Elaine candle burning before we even got in the room. His bodyguard lit it ahead of time.”

“He had a
ylang-ylang
candle burning?” Her sister pursed her lips. “That scent is a well-known aphrodisiac. Did he have expensive champagne at the ready too? Sexy music?”

“Umm, yes.” Heat burned Eva’s cheeks.

“Oh, sweetie. That man had one purpose in mind when he brought you home.”

“I know. And I knew it when I went with him. I don’t know why I’m so upset about this now.”

“Because you let him into your heart a little.” Annalise grabbed her hand. “And hey, maybe he just freaked out at the virgin part.”

“It didn’t exactly come up at the time.”

Her sister gave a harrumph. “Clearly something else came up first?”

Eva wanted to laugh, but she was a little too depressed.

“Who is he?” Annalise gave her a look of curiosity. “Do I know him? Do you think you’ll see him again?”

“It doesn’t matter who he is, because no. I don’t think I’ll see him again.” Or she hoped not. In the future she’d have to make sure she was out of town when he came here on vacation.

And that was the crux of it, she reminded herself later that night. She’d known that when she slept with him Kostas was never going to be more than the one-night stand.

He was one of the most handsome, sought-after bachelors in the world. Add that to the fact that he was a bona fide prince and their ending up together was as likely as world peace.

So she’d move on with her life and take it for what it was. An incredible night with a sinfully handsome prince who’d shown her passion and pleasure for her first time. End of story.

Or it would’ve been if she hadn’t found herself staring down the positive end of a pregnancy test two weeks later.

“Here are the profiles of women in the running.”

In the running. As if this were some form of a game show.

Kostas held back a sigh as his mother dropped a stack of manila folders on the desk that had formerly belonged to the king.

It had been nearly three weeks since the earthquake and his days were filled to the brim. The funerals of his father and brother. Addressing his people. Addressing the media. Holding meetings with the necessary people to discuss the damage and rebuilding of Mykorini after the quake. At the moment, his least important problem—at least in his head—was meeting potential wives.

Kostas was reluctant to pick up any of the folders. Each held photos and detailed biographies of women who lived all over the world. One represented the woman who would likely hold the position of his wife within the next couple of months.

Position
. As cold as it seemed, that’s what the situation amounted to. There was nothing romantic about the process of selecting a suitable wife.

“Why do you scowl, my son?” His mother sat down in the chair across from him. “Surely one of them is suitable.”

Suitable, yes. They all were, which was why he had to make a choice fairly soon.

“You know why I scowl.”

His mother sighed. “If you were hoping to marry for love—”

“I am not. I have never loved a woman and am not convinced I ever will.” He offered her a small smile. “You, Mama, are the exception.”

Her lips thinned and she shook her head. “You relish in your playboy reputation. This marriage will be good for you. Perhaps you should choose Saina.”

Saina. The local woman whose father was a wealthy shipping tycoon. The woman who had briefly been engaged to Petros, and whom Kostas had slept with.

“No.” His response was low and unsteady.

“Denes, the royal publicist, has already created a statement that is believable. You have always loved her, and the night together—”

“No.” His voice was icier now. “And I will ask that you not speak her name again.”

When he glanced over at his mother, he caught the fleeting look of exhaustion and disappointment on her face before her expression was once again calm and unreadable.

“I need to clear my head,” he muttered, pushing back his chair and rising to his feet.

“Where are you going?”

“To prepare myself breakfast.”

“We have people to do that for you.”

“I realize that.” He squeezed her shoulder gently, trying to diffuse his sharp words, before he made his way out of the office.

Her heeled footsteps behind him showed that she wasn’t ready to abandon this conversation.

The staff in the kitchen looked alarmed to find the king strolling through without notice.

He waved his hand, trying to put them at ease. “Continue as you were, I’m simply here for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

He’d discovered the peculiar comfort food after spending an evening at a frat party in America, and he’d been keen on the sandwiches ever since.

“How do you eat that disgusting stuff,” his mother grumbled from behind him. “And we must continue—”

“Yes, we must continue.” He turned and gave her a firm look that silently warned her that this conversation would not continue within range of ears that might gossip.

His mother gave a swift nod and looked away. He was about to turn to open a cabinet when his gaze landed elsewhere.

A chef, clearly on his lunch break, was staring at an open laptop. It was the image on the screen that froze Kostas’s blood.

He abandoned the sandwich idea and moved toward the chef instead. “What is that you’re reading?”

The man’s eyes widened. “I apologize, Your Majesty. I’m on my lunch and didn’t mean to—”

“Nothing to apologize for,” he said absently and crouched down to look closer at the image. “What website is this?”

“Just a trashy gossip site, Your Majesty. It’s all nonsense really.”

There were two photos, one a professional photograph of a large, clearly wealthy and influential family, and Eva was in it. The second photo was an image of her alone. A headshot that you’d find a business woman using.

If the images alone hadn’t drawn his attention, the headline would have. His heart dropped to the floor and he struggled to breathe.

Evelynn Fairchild is pregnant! But who’s the father?

“A scandal among the Fairchild girls is hardly news.”

The droll statement from his mother had him stiffening and swinging his hard gaze to her.

“You know this family?”

Surprise flickered in her eyes. “Of course. They are hard to miss.”

“Who are they?” he ground out.

Pregnant
. The article was claiming Eva was pregnant.

His mother pursed her lips. “Well, I consider them to be like a mashup of the Kennedys and Kardashians. They’re old money and quite well known in New York. The father is a senator, the mother a socialite, and the daughters are notorious for misbehaving.”

“Oh, but not this one, Your Highness,” the chef protested quickly with animation. “Evelynn is never in the limelight; she’s got an impeccable reputation. Which is why I clicked on the article, because I cannot believe it.”

Kostas was having a hard time believing anything at this moment.

Eva was not just some weekend beach bunny partying in the Hamptons—she was Evelynn Fairchild. The Fairchild name was beginning to register in his memory a bit more.

Pregnant
.

He couldn’t think about how she had deliberately hidden her identity from him. There was another, larger concern. Was it possible that their one-night together had resulted in a pregnancy? Could the child be his?

His mother touched his shoulder. “Kostas, do you know this girl?”

He ignored the question and tried to scroll down through the story. “Does the article say how far along she is? Or if the pregnancy has even been confirmed?”

The chef shook his head. “No, Your Majesty.”

“Oh my god,” his mother whispered. “Kostas, you
didn’t
.”

“Sorry, Mama, but on the chance that I
did,
I’ll need to fly to New York immediately.” He spun on his heels, his blood pounding and his muscles taut as he strode back out of the kitchen. “Prepare my private jet.”

“Oh God. Why would you do this, Lilly?” Eva shut her laptop and pressed her fingertips to her throbbing temple. She sat cross-legged on her bed with her sister hovering nearby. “Why would you ever think it was a good idea to leak my pregnancy to the media? It hasn’t even been a week since
I
found out.”

Lilly shook her head, looking only slightly chagrined. “Because I knew you wouldn’t tell the prince—sorry, he’s the king now—about the baby, and I hoped by leaking it he’d see the story.”

Eva’s chest tightened as the panic swelled into full-blown alarm. While she’d confessed to her family about the pregnancy, she’d refused to name the father. She hadn’t told anyone except Annalise about sleeping with the prince, and her sister had sworn to keep that a secret.

“The king?” Eva asked slowly, trying to stay calm. “What about him?”

“The game’s up, sis. I heard you and Anna talking, and I suspected you hooked up with Kostas after you two left the party together.” Lilly gave her an overly confident look that befitted her eighteen-year-old self.