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I knock on the glass partition that separates us, and he lowers it as he turns to face me. His salt-and-pepper hair lies in neat waves, and that square, rugged jaw is both attractive and reassuring. Somehow I know that whatever happens today, X is on my side. Still, I need to set the record straight.
“I get it,” I say. “I’m here to do a job. And I might not be entirely proud of what I need to do to earn a living right now, but I’m not ashamed of the way I look.” It’s a half-truth. Even if this wasn’t always me, I look and feel sexy in these clothes—in the boots. I just wish I was wearing it all for me and not as a means to an end.
His brows draw together, and his jaw tightens. When he looks at me, it is as if he wants to say many things but holds himself back. “If my comment elicited shame, miss, then again, my sincerest apologies. I am your ally. I do hope you see me as such.”
I swipe away a tear. “Thank you, X. And can we please cut it with the ‘miss’?”
He smiles. “Of course, Ruby. You remind me of Princess Kate.”
With that, he turns back to his steering wheel and leads us away from the palace grounds.
* * *
Belladonna Square is not unfamiliar to me. I’ve driven past it. Walked through it. But never have I stepped foot into one of the shops. It was nothing more than a tourist attraction the few times I’d been in these parts.
“You know,” I say as the car rolls to a stop, “even when things were good, they were never great. My father died when Jasper was fifteen and I was only twelve. Jasper grew up and found work doing research at the art museum and I—Well, there aren’t many jobs out there for a girl who likes to paint.” Especially when her résumé basically reads like a telenovela.
X nods.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” I add. “I guess I’m just a bit overwhelmed is all.”
He exits the vehicle and opens my door, offering a hand as I climb out. Then he holds out a black credit card.
“You’re not coming with me?” I ask, eyes wide.
He offers a soft smile and nods toward the closest boutique, a place called Cheri Cheri. “I called ahead and had them put aside all their Monique Mantissa pieces for you. Just go in and tell them who you are, and they will take care of you. This is your day, not mine. Go enjoy.”
I can’t help but grin, a giddy electricity pumping through my veins. I reach for my bag and realize in all the excitement that I forgot it in the cottage, so I slip the credit card into the cleavage of my bustier.
X chuckles, and I shrug.
“Here goes nothing!” I say and let my confidence buoy me in the direction of the store.
As I enter, my boot heels click on marble floors, and the place smells of jasmine. I close my eyes and inhale, a smile spreading across my face when I’m greeted by a soft, lilting voice.
“May I...help you?”
My eyes open, and there she is, a tall, lithe woman with a chic pixie cut, her ebony hair shining like satin.
“Everything in here is Monique Mantissa,” I say, stating the obvious.
She looks me up and down, her painted-on smile morphing into something more like a sneer.
“Are you lost, miss? The Mantissa knockoffs are on Market Street. This is Belladonna Square.”
Heat seeps into my veins.
“I know where I am,” I insist, trying to still the tremble in my voice. “I’m here to shop.” I pull the credit card from my top and brandish it at her. “See?” I say, the volume of my voice escalating. “I have money to spend. On...on Mantissa. On whatever the hell I want.”
She backs toward a marble counter, which must be where the transactions take place. “Miss, you have fifteen seconds to leave before I press the security button. After that, you’ll have just as long before the Edenvale Police arrive.”
My eyes widen. “You’re serious. Aren’t you?” I ask incredulously.
She snakes behind the counter. “You’re down to five seconds, miss.” Her eyes narrow. “Four...three...”
I stumble back through the door and bolt to where X dropped me off, pulling at the handle of the door. It’s locked. Tears stream down my face as I yank at the door again and again until I feel strong hands grip my shoulders.
I scream as X spins me to face him.
He is my ally. He is my ally. He is my ally.
“I’m done shopping,” I gasp between sobs. “I want to go home.”
He nods and unlocks the door, helping me inside. When he is back behind the driver’s seat, he speaks in a calm, soothing voice.
“When you’re ready, Ruby, I want you to tell me what happened.”
But I shake my head.
“I will fix this,” he adds, and then he picks up a mobile phone. He doesn’t close the partition between us, so I hear every word.
“Your Highness, something unexpected has occurred.” Pause. “Yes, I did exactly as we’d discussed.” Pause. “No, she is too upset to speak. But I know how to make things right. Miss Mantissa owes me a favor. If she is in town, I can have her bring over a collection of samples.” Another pause. “Yes, Highness. To the cottage this evening. It shall be done.”
The call ends, and X pulls away from Belladonna Square, his eyes focused on the road.
“They treated you poorly in the store, yes?” Rage is clear in his voice.
I sniffle. “Yes.”
“You told them I had called ahead, that you were on official palace business?”
“She didn’t give me a chance.” My tone is biting. “Maybe you didn’t mean to shame me, X. But she did. I had money to spend, and her only intention was to make me feel worthless.”
His jaw tightens. The muscle flexes at some deep, hidden emotion.
“I am deeply sorry, Ruby. You of all people did not deserve such treatment. I did not think...” He sighs. “Prince Benedict will join you this evening in the cottage for a private shopping spree of sorts.”
I force a smile at this while wondering what he means by me of all people.
“It’s okay,” I say. “If she’s not in town or whatever. I have other clothes back at my place...” My voice trails off. Because I was looking forward to this, to being a princess for a day.
But it took only seconds for that woman to remind me that she saw me as nothing more than a whore.
“You deserve better than what happened just now,” X says in his mysterious tone.
I used to think that, too, but it’s getting harder and harder to believe.
CHAPTER FOUR (#u250c2914-1d63-56ae-be19-a470a0eeda66)
Benedict
THE LAST RAYS of the sun blaze across the western horizon as I pad across the palace grounds, ignoring the royal pond with the swan-shaped pleasure boats, the marble fountains filled with ancient Greek and Roman statuary, and the lush hedges clipped into geometric shapes.
Earlier, X filled me in on Ruby’s disastrous visit to Belladonna Square, and I’m still pissed. She was judged on an excursion meant to bring her innocent pleasure.
Acid gnaws at my core from my hypocrisy. After all, she’s an escort on my payroll, which makes no part of our relationship innocent even if my motives are pure.
The first star appears as I enter the maze. Left. Left. Straight. Right. My footsteps are unerring, the result of a childhood spent chasing Nikolai through these twists and turns, and later both of us running from our youngest brother, Damien, who hurled himself forward, always intent on keeping up, even if it resulted in trip after trip to the infirmary for broken bones.
Damien.
Reckless. Impatient. Unstoppable. A force of nature. Nikolai and I had loved him, perhaps getting him into more trouble than befitting a much younger brother, but always getting him out of it again.
His birth ended our mother’s life, yet no one could look upon our youngest brother’s face and fail to see the arrogant, brutal features of my father, the king. My Damien may be many things, but no one would ever call him a bastard.
Unlike me...
These days, however, we see him only in paparazzi photos. After he bedded our stepsister—also Nikolai’s first betrothed—he was banished from Edenvale. His portraits were removed from the halls. The press has a field day with his wild exploits. His fistfights in high-end nightclubs. His drinking binges. His tumultuous romantic affairs. His devotion to fast cars and racing.
My frown deepens as a shadow ahead takes shape, merging into the form of a man.
“Your Highness.” X dips his head in his curt version of a bow. No obsequious gestures for him.
“Jesus.” I am startled into taking the Lord’s name in vain. “Where did you materialize from, thin air?”
A smug smile serves as his response. “Miss Ruby anticipates your arrival. You will find Monique has treated her well. And I will see to it that the saleswoman who mistreated your guest is aware of the commission she lost.”
The cobblestone gardener’s cottage rises behind his broad shoulder, a scene from a storybook come to life, a dwelling that would look at home in one of Grimm’s very own fairy tales. Every light is ablaze inside the small round windows. My Adam’s apple bobs. What will I confront inside? Scraps of lace? Strategically placed silk? Leather?
It takes all my self-control to walk with a steady, measured pace. A young but capable-looking guard stands watch at his post. I recognize him as Gideon from the front gate watchtower, the one with the large strawberry birthmark on one cheek. Good. I’d ordered X to make sure Ruby remains protected during her sojourn, mostly from curious interlopers as our grounds are well fortified. Gideon’s inquiring gaze veers in my direction as I rap on the door.
It swings open in an instant. An older woman, raven hair styled in an intricate chignon, sweeps into a curtsy. Monique Mantissa. “Miss Ruby is ready for your inspection.” She sidles past me and out into the maze with a throaty giggle. “I believe that you will be most pleased with her selections.”
“Allow me to entertain you while the prince makes his examination?” X’s voice betrays no hint of innuendo, and yet the fashion designer’s breathless sigh is audible as the door snicks shut.
My eyes adjust to the light. The air is rich with perfume: roses, jasmine and lilac penetrate my senses. A floorboard squeaks in the next room. I step forward, steeling myself for sin incarnate.
A fire roars in the hearth, the same color as her shimmering golden silk and lustrous hair. Out of all the possible sights, I never imagined to discover Ruby dressed in a formal gown, looking every ounce as regal as any queen in Europe.
She truly is a jewel.
Ruby
Heat warms my cheeks as the prince drinks me in with his eyes.
“It’s too much,” I say. “I told them it was too much. I’m not meant to wear—”
“That gown was made for you and you alone,” he says, no hint of irony in his tone. No condescension or judgment. I’m not entirely sure what to do with that.
“Is there no pretense with you, Your Highness?” His dark brows furrow, the reaction endearing. “You say what you mean, mean what you say. You don’t let any of the bullshit get in the way.” I gasp and cover my mouth. “My apologies, Father.”
He smiles and shakes his head. “That won’t be necessary. Ruby, this is your home for the next month. I want you to feel safe to be yourself here.”
No big deal. Just be myself and find some painting for the Madam. I try to tell myself this isn’t a betrayal of my new benefactor but rather a step closer to saving Jasper. It’s not as if I’m going to do anything to the portrait. I just have to let the Madam know it’s here and where it is. What happens then is beyond me.
I give the prince a once-over—my whole preposterous situation rolling out before me—and then burst out laughing. And there he goes again with the crinkled brow, completely disarming me and making me forget, at least for now, how I ended up here in the first place.
Damn this man for looking so beautiful when he’s befuddled.
“It would already be a tall order to ask me to be myself while residing among royalty. But I’m meant to spend the majority of my time here with not only a prince but one who—though not yet a man of the cloth—dresses like he’s forever on a pulpit about to give a sermon.”
I’m still giggling when he does something so out of character that it stops my laughter and catches my breath all at once.
He smiles.
The whole kingdom—and the entire world for that matter—has been known to swoon for the king’s firstborn, Prince Nikolai. They loved him when he was a tabloid playboy, and now that he’s proved himself worthy of ruling Edenvale, as well as worthy of his future queen, the public swoons for him even more, myself included. Nikolai Lorentz is a beautiful man who will do great things. But before me stands the man who has always lived in his shadow—who keeps himself there by hiding behind a collar before it is truly his.
And he’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.
“You’re wrong, Ruby. This,” he says, pointing to the white collar, “is my pretense.” He unfastens it and pulls it free.
I smooth out a nonexistent wrinkle in the buttery-soft silk of my gown. “When you take your final vows—” something twists in my gut at the thought “—do you have to wear it all the time?”
Again he grins, though this time the expression is laced with a wistfulness I don’t understand.
“No,” he says. “Giving my life to the church is my duty. But presiding over the church is also my livelihood. When I’m not performing clerical duties, I’m free to dress as I please.” He glances at his attire and then shrugs. “I guess this is easier.”
Then he unbuttons his black shirt and removes it. I gasp until I realize that beneath it he wears a white cotton T.
“There,” he says, hanging the garment over a high-back leather chair that faces the fire. “No more pretense.” He then strolls to a tall oak cabinet against the wall. With wide eyes, I watch the sculpted muscles in his arms flex as he retrieves a decanter of red wine and two crystal goblets. The prince nods toward a small game table, ignoring the clothes strewn about the sofa.
“You can...drink?” I ask, and he laughs, a rich, deep sound that sends an unexpected shiver through me, goose bumps dotting my flesh.
He sets the items on the table and pulls out my chair for me.
“There are many things I can still do once I am a priest,” he says. “But, of course—some I cannot.”
His eyes darken before they dip to the table as he seats himself across from me. When he looks up again, he forces a smile, but I know the spell is broken, and it’s time to get to work. I reach behind and start to lower my zipper.
“Stop,” he says. “Not yet.”
Because he is my prince and also my employer, I obey.
He pours two goblets of wine and hands one to me.
“Ruby.” His voice is gentle. “I’m sorry for what happened in the Square this morning. That was unacceptable.”
I press my lips together and shrug. “I didn’t belong there,” I say matter-of-factly.
