“There’s always more security when we have an important visitor.” His voice was slightly clipped.

“Oh.” I opened and closed my hands to stretch them again as I looked around, not that there was anything to see.

“You’re Monsieur Bouchard’s niece?”

“Yes.”

“Your father is in the king’s cabinet,” he said and I couldn’t tell whether or not he meant that as a good thing.

“Yes.” I bit my tongue. Normally, I was proud of my father, but standing outside the villa where the prince my father was constantly questioning resided felt shameful.

“Don’t worry. You won’t be beheaded for having your own thoughts.” The guard chuckled quietly. “Not anymore anyway.”

“Thank God for progress.” I smiled.

“So you will be dropping these off every night?”

“I guess so. It’s part of my penance.”

“Penance for what?”

“It’s a long story, but trust me, I deserve worse than delivering heavy baskets to the future king.” I glanced up at him.

“I’d like to hear that story.” He smiled wide. It was a boyish smile, one that made me smile instantly.

“Maybe I’ll share it with you.”

“Over a pint?”

“Sure.” I shrugged a shoulder, feeling grateful that despite everything I could still sort of flirt. “When are you free?”

“When do you want me to be free?”

“Is that how this job works?” I laughed. “If so, sign me up.”

“I have two days off, but my line sounded better than saying that.”

I laughed again. Suddenly, the door beside us burst open and we both froze as if caught doing something wrong. I’d only ever seen Prince Elias smiling that charming, panty-dropping grin he liked to flash at photographers just as they snapped his photo, the one I’d seen yesterday when Etienne was with me, so the fact that he was standing before me, glaring, threw me for a loop. I blinked away from his eyes and it was then that I noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt. My eyes widened on his torso. There was no question that the prince worked out.

“Do you need something?” he snapped.

“Um. No.” I blinked rapidly at his tone, wondering why in the world it was directed toward me. “I was just dropping off a few things.”

“Do we have everything we need, Pierre?” His gaze swung to the guard.

“Yes, sir.”

“Please bring it inside.” He spoke to him in a direct yet polite tone. It was me he was saving the disdain for and that was perfectly clear when he looked at me again. “Thank you for bringing it. That will be all. I’ll be needing my things much earlier tomorrow.”

In response, I could only nod and blink. I couldn’t even say another word. Pierre followed the prince inside and the door was shut in my face. It was definitely not what I’d been expecting and not something I wanted to experience again.

Chapter 5

“I never want to go back there again,” I said.

“He’s notorious for his mood swings,” Etienne said.

“I felt so . . . small.”

“I’m sorry, Addie. That’s just him.” He sighed heavily into the phone line. “Just steer clear.”

“Oh, I am. I’m going to drop off his basket at five o’clock today and make sure I don’t call attention to myself at all. I can’t wait for this weekend to arrive already so I can leave.”

“So you are doing the Versailles event.”

“How do you know about it?”

“Mira told me.”

“How does Mira know about it?”

“I don’t know. How does Mira know anything? Gossip,” he said.

“Still. I would love to know who she heard it from.”

“Hold on.” Etienne sighed. “Mira, who’d you hear that Pirouette Events was doing Versailles from?” He was quiet for a moment. I could hear Mira talking in the background before Etienne said, “She heard it from Sarah who heard it from Rita who heard it from Francis who heard it from Princess Pilar.”

“Oh. I always forget how many connections Mira has.”

“She’s been a good ally for you right now, I’ll tell you that. The only people judging you for your mishap are the older ones who forgot what it was like to be young and make mistakes.”

“Well, thank her for that.” I could only imagine what Mira was saying to defend me. Out of all of Etienne’s girlfriends, she was definitely my favorite.

“I’m sorry Eli gave you a shitty time,” Etienne said, lowering his voice. “He’s known to be an asshole sometimes, but it doesn’t make it okay.”

“Thanks. I just wasn’t sure what I did to deserve that.”

“Nothing, Addie. You did nothing. Go about your day, go plan the hell out of the Versailles event, and forget all about him.”

“I will.” I nodded once in determination and smiled.

At five o’clock, I was walking toward Prince Elias’s villa delivering his basket. This time, I’d completely pushed aside any thoughts of the prince and the concept of him I had in my head from the first time we’d met. In doing so, I prepared for disappointment and I was okay with that. Better to be prepared for the bad than expect the good and have a harder time accepting the reality. The same security, Pierre, was at the front door.

Tags: Claire Contreras Naughty Royals Romance
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