Playing the Royal Game

‘That’s extremely rude, Alessandro.’ The king looked up from his newspaper.

‘That call was urgent,’ Alessandro responded. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of someone for two weeks. Belinda was just letting me know that he has accepted an invitation to dinner tomorrow night.’

‘It could have waited,’ barked the king.

‘Somehow I don’t think His Royal Highness Sheikh Razim Abdullah likes to be kept waiting.’ Alex could out snob anyone, Allegra noted, even his own father. ‘Given he is considering buying my business, it seemed prudent to tell Belinda to let him know that tomorrow we would be delighted to join him.’

Allegra’s eyes shot to his as she heard the ‘we,’ but perhaps he realised his mistake, for he did not return her gaze. Instead he took great interest in a bowl of raw sugar cubes, selecting one and then another for his coffee.

‘How are your parents?’ Zoe must have felt the sudden drop in temperature because she moved the conversation on quickly.

‘They’re fine, thank you.’ Allegra could hardly breathe, but she did her best to be polite. ‘I spoke with my father yesterday.’ She turned and forced a smile at the queen. ‘He’s looking forward to seeing Alex when he’s over—’

‘I shall be working,’ Alex said.

‘He also asked after you, Your Highness.’

‘Oh.’

‘You mentioned you might be visiting London too....’ Allegra tried to recall the conversation she had had with the queen the other night.

‘Just a fleeting visit.’ Zoe gave a tight smile. ‘Formal.’

‘You could pop in for a cup of tea!’ The king thought this highly amusing and Allegra really couldn’t take it much more. She hated the lot of them.

‘Excuse me.’ She put down her napkin. ‘I need to get ready to speak with the next designer.’ She looked to Alessandro. ‘Could I have a quick word?’ She was very close to crying. ‘I’d like your opinion on something.’

She waited till they were in the bedroom and well out of earshot to pick up the conversation where she had left off.

‘Because heaven help me if I formed an opinion on my own!’

‘Allegra.’ He was completely bored with her. ‘I don’t have time for this. What did you want to speak with me about?’

‘Why are they so rude? What’s so bloody funny about my father inviting them over that your father can be so rude?’

He merely shrugged, and she moved on to the other thing that was killing her, the other thing she simply had to know. ‘You’re going out with Belinda tomorrow night.’ He had the audacity to roll his eyes. ‘And don’t even try saying it’s business.’

‘I told you and I have told my parents and I am sick of saying it—I don’t run a market stall, I don’t make a living from reality TV shows. I employ over two hundred people and if I don’t dispose of my business interests correctly then that is two hundred people who could be out of work. And yes, Belinda will be joining me for dinner, because it is a business dinner, because the sheikh will be bringing his assistant too.’

‘So you’ve never slept with her.’ Allegra knew that he had—she knew, just the way a woman did, from seeing how Belinda looked at him, from the little laughs that wafted over on Skype conversations, that she was so much more than just a PA. ‘You really expect me to believe—’

‘Of course I’ve slept with her.’ He didn’t seem to see what the problem was. ‘But I haven’t since our engagement—I have to keep up the happy little charade.’ He did nothing to soothe her, nothing to comfort her. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to my office. You carry on talking weddings....’

‘Screw you!’

‘Oh, but you won’t,’ Alex said. ‘Hell...’ he cussed out. ‘The one respite we could have during this torture, the one piece of pleasure we could share, and you’ve bolted your knees together.’ He saw her lips tighten and the two dots of colour burning on her cheeks. Then with a sob she fled.