The Princess and the Player

Now that all the small talk was out of the way... “Dad, James and I are going to be a couple. You have to retract the engagement story or we’re going to have a scandal on our hands. I don’t want that for Gabriel or the Montoro family as a whole.”

“All of which would have been avoided if you’d simply gotten with the program,” Rafael insisted. “We’re all making sacrifices for Gabriel—”

“Hold on a minute.” The future king threw up his hands with a frown. “Don’t drag me into this. I never asked Bella to marry Will Rowling and frankly, an arranged marriage is ridiculous in this day and age. I’ve never understood the reasoning.”

“You need the alignment with Rowling Energy,” her father sputtered and might have gone on if Gabriel hadn’t interrupted again.

“Yes. I do. But Bella is asking us to find another way. What kind of king would I be if I didn’t at least try to take her wishes into account?” Gabriel asked rhetorically, his regal voice echoing with sincerity in the grand foyer. “Dad, I think you should consider the retraction, especially if Bella and James’s relationship is what they say it is.”

Gabriel shot Bella a look that said he’d taken one look at her dopey face and made all kinds of assumptions about the nature of her relationship with James. But then, bringing James with her to the showdown had probably tipped her brother off to that the moment they’d crossed the threshold. “I don’t kiss and tell, so you can forget any juicy details, if that’s what you’re after.”

Gabriel mimed putting his fingers in his ears and shook his head with a shudder.

Clearing his throat in his no-nonsense way, Rafael put on his best disappointed-father face. “It’s not just the alignment with Rowling Energy that’s at stake here, Isabella. You have a tendency to be flighty. Irresponsible. Marriage will be good for you, if you choose someone who settles you. Will is as steady as they come.”

The unvoiced and pointed barb directed at James was: and the man you waltzed in here with is the opposite of steady. The sting of hearing her father’s unvarnished opinion of her was totally eclipsed by the negativity directed toward James, who was nothing like what her father assumed.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Dad. Will might be good at holding a company together, but James is good at holding me together. He settles me in a way I’ve never felt before. I’d rather spend an evening with him washing windows than at a party.”

The words were out of her mouth before she consciously planned to say them, but once they took root in her heart, she recognized the truth. She didn’t have any desire to be the party girl she’d been in Miami. Her boredom at Will Rowling’s party hadn’t had anything to do with the difference in party styles across the ocean, but in the subtle changes already happening inside her.

“By the way,” she threw in. “You haven’t asked, but in case you’re wondering, your irresponsible daughter has spent the past few days restoring the old farmhouse near Aldeia Dormer that’s part of the Montoro holdings. It looks really amazing so far and I couldn’t have done it without James’s help. I’ve also spent almost one hundred percent of that time with him, yet I dare you to find one illicit photograph of the two of us.”

“What’s this about a farmhouse?” Gabriel’s eyebrows drew together as he homed in on her.

“I’ll fill you in later,” she promised. “Can you try to be happy for me, Dad? If you can’t do that, I’ll settle for that retraction. I do have a strong sense of my royal obligations. I’d just like you to respect the fact that I feel differently about what they are than you do.”

“I’ll issue the retraction but only to avoid the potential scandal. I cannot condone this relationship. I would prefer that you do not continue seeing him.” Her father’s sidelong glance at James spoke volumes. There was no doubt he still considered the wrong Rowling a terrible influence.

“I can’t do that, Dad. And I’m disappointed that you still can’t see the value James brings to my life.” Her voice cracked and she cursed herself once again for caring. Regardless, she was getting the retraction she asked for, and she’d take it.

“You’re right, I can’t. I fully expect that once the thrill wears off, you’ll be back to your former ways, Isabella.” With that vote of no confidence ringing in her ears, her father motioned to James. “And if you’re not, he will be. This is a disaster in the making. Will it do any good for me to warn you to keep your brother’s reign at the forefront of your thoughts?”