Playing the Royal Game

‘He was drunk,’ Alex pointed out. ‘He said—and forgive me if I misquote—but if I remember rightly, he was thrilled that you’d done so well for yourself.’

‘At least he tried,’ Allegra said.

‘Tried?’ Alex could not believe what he was hearing. ‘He couldn’t even make it back to his hotel—he’s sleeping it off in a guest room! I’ve got a driver going over there to pack a night bag for him. And you think he tried?’

‘That’s my dad,’ Allegra attempted, for how could she even begin to explain to this cold, arrogant man the irreverence that made her father so appealing—at least, it did back home. ‘At least he didn’t just peer down his nose and...’ She couldn’t finish; if she did she’d make a fool of herself and start crying. The whole night had been wretched. Her whole time on Santina had been wretched—almost the second they had landed he’d turned into one of them. What had happened to the man she had met in London?

‘You’ve changed.’ She said it accusingly but it just served to irritate him.

‘Of course I have—here I am Crown Prince...’

Didn’t she know it!

He was as cold and aloof as his father. Even tonight as she’d been presented to the king, shy, nervous—petrified, in fact—he’d barely passed comment on her transformation. Dressed in a lavish deep red gown, her hair smoothed and gleaming, still she clearly hadn’t passed. She’d seen the slight sniff from his father, the disapproving looks from his family, and she could have put up with that, with just a few words of encouragement from Alex. If it had been real, if they had been in love, it would have been unbearable to be made to feel so second rate.

If they had been in love.

‘Well—’ she caught up as he marched off ‘—you got what you wanted.’

He wanted the conversation left there; he had something rather difficult to tell Allegra, a rather unexpected turn of events that she wasn’t going to take too well and he certainly didn’t want to say it here, didn’t want to be seen in a corridor rowing—they were, after all, supposed to be in love. But her words confused him, demanded closer inspection, and maybe some of Bobby’s inhibitions had rubbed off on him, maybe one night with the Jackson clan and he was starting to act like them, for he momentarily forget his station, forgot that he must always be one step removed from any conversation. Even though he had taken her wrist and started walking, Alessandro found himself stopping again.

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘You planned it.’

He would not row here, so instead he opened a door, any door, and went to drag her in, but he was greeted by the sight of a couple—well, the arms and legs of a couple—and they were too far gone to even notice they’d been invaded.

‘Good God!’ He closed the door and stood in the corridor; the palace had been turned into a seedy nightclub. As he turned, expecting to see her look of horror, he was less than amused when she rolled her eyes and gave a wry grin.

‘You think that’s funny?’

‘At least they’re enjoying themselves.’

‘Doesn’t it abhor you?’

‘I think it’s lovely.’ She didn’t actually, Allegra just wanted to shock him now, wanted at least some reaction. ‘At least they know how to have a good time.’

He refused to be drawn. Instead, as the corridor was empty, he asked for clarification to the statement that had incensed him. ‘What do you mean I planned it?’ He could not believe what he was hearing. ‘I’m making sure the events manager is fired in the morning! No one would plan for this!’

‘You made sure there were photographers...’ Allegra pointed out.

‘To show that we’re madly in love.’ Sarcastic though his response he stopped himself, actually gave a brief shake of his head, for he was not going to be drawn.

‘It was your plan to shame my family...to make sure that tomorrow there’d be no question that I wasn’t suitable.’

‘Your family took care of that all by themselves,’ Alex said, but that knot of guilt tightened. ‘Come on.’ He took her hand to lead her, but she was not about to be dismissed. At the end of the hall they would turn off, would separate, him to his royal suite, she to her guest room, and there was just too much to be said to leave things here.