The Wicked Prince

“Maman wants to meet you.”

“Me?” I stood up, eyes wide.

“She says she wants to see who I’ve been spending time with,” he said. “Papa says you should meet.”

“Okay. I’ll follow you then.”

Oscar turned and grabbed my hand, escorting me down the hall. My heart pounded with each step. I hadn’t bothered to ask what exactly went wrong with Esmée after the great fall or what exactly she’d been standing on that caused it. I’d merely kept quiet each time she was brought up, and when it was Oscar speaking about her, I smiled, because with the way his eyes lit up at the mention of her, I had no choice but to. I knew when we reached the door to the room she was in, because he squeezed my hand and gave a little excited squeal as he pushed open the door. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but not high on that list was not catching a glimpse of Aramis standing over a woman’s bed and fluffing her pillow whilst she gazed up lovingly at him. He didn’t even budge when he caught me by the door. She didn’t even look my way at all, just continued to stare up at this literal Prince who was obviously here to save her, or at least help her. When he finally, slowly, separated himself from her bed, Esmée glanced over at me with a soft, kind smile on her face.

“Please, come in,” she said. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

My heart was hammering too loudly—in my throat, in my ears, through my veins—for me to respond, so I tried as hard as I could to collect myself and smile with a small nod instead. What could I say? I instantly hated her. Before, I hadn’t been jealous. I’d made it a point not to think about her at all, but now she was here and she was real and she had his attention and was linked to him for life and I hated her. Hated that she’d been the only one he hadn’t used protection with, or so he claimed. Hated that he was so adamant in using it with me, which was an absolute shit thought, considering I wouldn’t have let him go without it, but it was the principle of it all. I stood at the foot of the bed as Oscar let go of my hand and climbed on it, sitting by her feet.

“This is Joslyn. She takes care of me and gave me all the toys I showed you. She plans weddings. Big ones like the Princess had last night.”

“Hello, Joslyn.” She smiled. “I’m Esmée. Thank you for taking care of my son. He’s told me a lot about you.”

“It’s been great to get to know him.” I looked at Oscar and suddenly my smile wasn’t forced. “How are you feeling? I heard you had a pretty big fall.”

“Big is one way to put it.” She laughed lightly. “I fractured my skull, broke my arm, sprained an ankle. I’m just grateful to be alive.”

“We’re all grateful you’re alive,” Aramis added and my eyes gravitated toward him.

He was serious. It wasn’t one of his fabricated comments he used in front of most people. I was taken aback by all of it. Too taken aback to begin to process why I even cared this much.

“I’m going to get my Hulk toy.” Oscar hopped off the bed and ran out.

“He’s so full of energy,” I said with a smile, looking at the door.

“So, I heard you’re in a pretend relationship with Aramis. How is that going so far?”

I blinked, my head whipping in her direction as my mouth dropped, but recovered quickly, shrugging a shoulder and taking a painful swallow of my emotions. He’d told her it was fake? We were hiding this from my family, his brother, his sister, his sister-in-law, both of whom were my best friends, and he’d told his mother and now Esmée? His mother, I understood. I set that one aside while I was in the sitting area, knowing how meddlesome the Queen Mother could be with her children, but Esmée? What was the purpose of him telling her?

“Joss.” That was Aramis, shooting me a puzzled look. “How is it going so far?”

“Pretending? Fine. Easy. I mean, Aramis and I are practically brother and sister at this point.” I smiled wide enough to show all my teeth. A grin, or grimace, I wasn’t sure.

“Yes, he tells me you’ve known each other most of your lives.”

“We have.” I kept smiling. He’d told her a lot of things it seemed. “It’s nice to see you two getting along after not being in each other’s lives for so long.”

“It has been nice.” Esmée glanced over at Aramis. I could feel his eyes on me, but didn’t dare look at him out of fear that I’d punch him. “He calls every day, visits every other day, spends hours here talking about life. It really has been amazing.”