The King (Gentlemen Rogues 2)

LACHLAN

I hadno idea how in the world we were going to leave with the queen. But it seemed she and Ariel had a plan of their own.

Over the course of the last hour, the queen had been getting steadily and steadily louder. And finally, at one point, she and Ariel stumbled into each other. Then the queen murmured to Ariel that she'd had too much to drink. Ariel countered with she was the one who'd had too much to drink. Then they started to squabble.

If we weren’t in real danger, I would have found this hilarious.

The queen looked regal and normal all at the same time with her dark skin, updo and mermaid style dress.

Since Massimo hadn't allowed any cameras in the party, there was no danger that there would be some tabloid report about the queen's behavior. I recognized that they were playing their roles well. Ariel turned and leaned on Saff then. "Can you take me home? Some best friend she is."

My eyes went wide, because just as she leaned into Saff, Penny shoved her. Ariel turned as if to shove the queen, and then a hulking brood of a man came out of nowhere. "Princess Ariel, it's time to go."

She shook her head. “I'm not going."

Penny just laughed. “You're being escorted out."

Ariel shrieked. “You're the one who's being escorted out."

And suddenly, another hulking man came forward. "Ladies, time to go. The king calls."

Ariel shook her head. “I'm not going anywhere without my new best friend."

Saff's eyes went wide when Ariel's arm wrapped around her waist and dug in. "Oh, um…"

Massimo looked irritated. Graciella's face, while attempting to remain neutral, held sort of a secret smile as if this was something she wanted. Massimo tried to call one of his men forward. "They'll escort you, make sure that you get back safely, Your Highness."

Penny shook her head. “I have my own men. I'm also making sure she gets home safely."

Ariel snorted. “I'm not going. Not without my new bestie."

The more Massimo's men tried to advance, the louder Ariel got. And finally, Penny just shoved her, making Ariel stumble two feet, almost taking Saff with her. Saff saved them both. "Okay, we'll make this easy. I'll come and make sure you both get home safe and sound."

Ariel grinned at her. "See? I knew we were going to be besties."

“I'm already your bestie," muttered Penny.

They were doing their drunken best friends out on the town act so well. I would have almost believed that they were two girls in their twenties who'd had way too much to drink at a party.

When we were outside, Graciella stopped me just outside the door. "We’d love to take you to lunch since you won't be able to stay for the rest of the party."

“Yeah, I think you have Saff's number. Just give her a call and we'll arrange it."

She nodded. "And please, tell her I’m sorry if Massimo made her uncomfortable on the balcony. Sometimes he gets ideas in his head, and she didn't do anything wrong."

“Give her a call. Arrange that lunch." And then I followed my wife and her new best friend to the waiting car.

Once we were in the limo with the privacy partition up, Ariel and Penny high-fived. "Oh God, it's been a minute since we've done the drunken-girl-fight thing," Ariel said, laughing.

Penny giggled. “In case you haven't noticed, we've done this before."

Saff just laughed. “For a moment there, I almost believed you two were having a legitimate squabble."

Ariel snorted. "She's so bossy, right? I should get a new best friend."

Penny just laughed. “Good luck. You're stuck with me. Besides, we're also sort of family now, so you know how that goes."

Ariel rolled her eyes. "Can't get rid of family, can you?"