The Wicked Prince

“Joss tells me she paused the matchmaking,” David said from across the dinner table.

“It is paused,” I said, taking a sip of wine.

We’d already had dinner and were now finishing up the wine. Oscar had gone to bed early with his new nanny, the daughter of the cook here who needed a holiday job. She was young, but Oscar took an immediate liking to her, and so, when she offered to play with him and put him to bed so that I could enjoy dinner with my family, I agreed.

“Any particular reason?” David asked. “I have quite a few women I think would be suitable for you.”

“I’m not interested at the moment, but thank you. Besides, Joslyn has all of that sorted out for me. I don’t think she needs outside help.”

“Considering you’ve been at this for a year now and still haven’t found anyone, I would consider a little outside help.”

I looked at Joss, who was taking a big gulp of wine, clearly trying to hide her discomfort, and decided I definitely did not like David. Joss never held back her thoughts, not when I pushed her like this. Had I made that remark, Joss would have ripped my head off. Why was she giving this creep special treatment? I waited to see if she was going to say anything. Instead, she let him continue speaking.

“My offer stands. If you want my help, I’d be glad to provide it for you,” he said.

“For a price, I’m sure,” Elias added.

“A small fee if I match him with the right woman,” David said. “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.”

“You’re that confident that you can find someone for him?” Pilar asked.

I shot my sister a glare. Not only was she now more invested than ever in my finding a girlfriend, but she’d been the one to connect David with Joslyn. I loved my sister, but right now I was not her biggest fan.

“Maybe you should give it a shot,” Ben added beside her.

“I think Aramis has enough on his plate,” Adeline said and I’d never been more grateful for my sister-in-law.

“I do have enough on my plate.” I shot each of them a pointed look.

“You have free time.” Pilar shrugged a shoulder.

“I’ll tell you what, why don’t I invite someone over tonight?” David said, pulling out his phone. “I know the perfect person. She’s an aristocrat, is on holiday nearby, she’s smart, funny, and a knockout.”

“In that case, why don’t you have a go at her?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I’m satisfied at the moment,” he said, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

Joss blushed beside him. I shot her a glare. How dare she feel things for this asshole? I mean, really. I knew I was an asshole a lot of the time, but I wasn’t this. She would have been better off with one of my best friends from college than this guy. At least they’d grown up and realized their shit stank.

“What do you think, Joslyn?”

“Me?” She blinked, seemingly surprised that I’d ask her for her opinion at all. God, I’d messed up with this girl. “I think you might as well give it a shot.”

“Fine.”

“It’s settled. Does 9 p.m. work?” He looked at me, then at Elias, and back at me.

“9 p.m. is fine. Give me her details so we can inform the gatekeeper,” Elias said.

“9 p.m. is my bedtime, but now I have to try to stay up to at least catch a glimpse of this aristocratic beauty,” Adeline said.

“There is no one in the world as beautiful as you, my Queen.” Elias kissed the top of his wife’s head. “But I’m curious myself. We should know her if she’s from a prominent family.”

“She’s Greek,” David said. “She recently purchased a bungalow out here to get away.”

“You seem to know a lot about her.” Pilar’s eyes narrowed slightly. Finally, someone with a brain.

“Not intimately, if that’s what you’re assuming.” David chuckled.

And with that, we all finished our wine and decided to meet back in this room when our guest arrived.

Chapter Nine

Joslyn

Her name was Cassandra Mountbatten and she checked off every single box, not that David let me be the judge of that. Saying he was my boyfriend was a bit much, but we had gone on a handful of amazing dates, so the way he was acting here, in front of my friends, my bosses, was surprising to me. He’d completely hijacked my job over dinner and as if that wasn’t enough he’d been right about the woman. She was everything Aramis wanted. I wasn’t sure why I was so annoyed by all of it, but I was.

“You approve?” Aramis asked beside me.

“She checks off all the boxes.” I shrugged a shoulder.

“Yet you don’t like her.”

“What makes you say that?” I glanced up at him. The way he was looking at me made me feel like he could read every single one of my thoughts.