by Casey, Ember
Sophia’s birthday isn’t the passcode. Neither is the birthday of any of her family members. I’m shocked to see that she has four older brothers—four! Fuck me, maybe it’s a good thing she ran off. I’d hate to learn if those guys are overly protective of her or something. I’d like to keep my balls.
I try some random other strings of numbers, but nothing works. Finally, frustrated, I toss her phone aside. I should have known that guessing a stranger’s passcode would be next to impossible. And that’s what she is, despite the fact that we’ve had sex—a fucking stranger. I hardly know a damned thing about her. For fuck’s sake, I’m not even sure I knew her country existed before today.
I click on an encyclopedic website page talking about Montovia. From what I can tell, it’s a teeny-tiny place. Somewhere in the middle of Europe. With a very long history. My eyes glaze over as I skim the page. I’ve never been one for history lessons.
Something catches my eye, though—a date. The official “founding” date of the country.
It’s a long shot, but I have to try. I plug the month and date into the cell phone I found.
Nothing.
Next I try the year.
Still nothing.
I’m about to toss the phone aside again, but then I remember something—here in the U.S., we list the month and then the day when writing out dates. But over in Europe, the order is reversed—day first, then month.
Energy restored, I pull up the list of royal birthdays again. I go through each of them one by one, but they’re still wrong. Finally, I’m left with nothing but the founding date. I type it in again, day before month, and hold my breath, praying for some sort of lucky break.
And the phone unlocks.
Holy fuck. I did it. I can’t fucking believe it. I guess that’s proof that this is Sophia’s phone after all.
Grinning, I thumb through her home screens. I’m about to have some fun.
Sophia
That might have been the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. But I can still smell him on my clothes, still feel him on my skin. I close my eyes and lean into the back seat of the taxi. If I let myself think about it, I can still feel him inside me.
God, I have to let this go, even if my body is begging me to ask the driver to turn around and go back to his apartment.
We finally arrive at the hotel, and my only objective now is to make it to my room without bumping into Victoria. At least my phone has stopped buzzing—Andrew must have taken the hint.
As soon as I arrive on my floor, though, I see Victoria sitting on a sofa just outside the elevator.
She’s looking at her phone, and for a moment I think I might be able to sneak past her.
But she lets out a sigh, her gaze flicking up at me as I exit the sliding doors. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
I roll my eyes and glide past her toward my room without a word.
She’s following closely behind, and when we arrive at my door, I turn to her. “I’m not a child, you know.”
“I know. But I promised to protect you—”
“You promised nothing of the sort.” I slide my key into the lock and open the door to my suite. “If I recall, you brought me along to protect you.”
She frowns, following me inside, closing the door behind her. “And if I’d known you were planning to hook up with Pax Donovan, I wouldn’t have brought you at all. I mean—”
“Who says I hooked up with him?” Even as I say the words, my body begins to come alive at the memory of doing just that. “I’m a grown woman, Victoria.”
“And I realize that.” Her shoulders sag. “We should have talked about this on the flight over. I should have warned you—”
“Warned me of what, exactly?” I sit on the edge of my bed, kicking my shoes off. “It isn’t as though I don’t know how to handle myself.”
“I never said you couldn’t. But the first rule of journalism is to never get personally involved in the story. You can’t stay objective if you do.”
“Well.” I shake my head. “You don’t have to worry about that. I never—”
“Sophia, your blouse is torn. Your hair…” She presses her lips together. “It doesn’t take a detective to know what you’ve been up to while you were gone.”
Fuck. I might be decent at telling a fib, but she has me there. I should have taken a little more care to cover up the evidence of my little tryst. “Well, no matter what I do with my personal life, it isn’t as though I’ve committed any crimes. It isn’t as though it matters at all.”
“Except now you’re part of the story. Believe me, Pax Donovan and Princess Sophia as an item is a story that would sell millions of copies, especially for the magazine that first publishes it. You’ve put me in a really tough spot.”
I shrug. “It isn’t tough at all from where I stand. You promised your husband you’d never mention our family in any of your stories. I’m part of the family, so you really don’t have a choice.”
She shakes her head. “But this is what I’m talking about. This is really…immature of you, Sophia.”
“What do you want me to say to you, Victoria?” I stand, crossing the room to the bureau. I take out a nightshirt and turn away from my brother’s wife, pulling off my torn shirt before I put on the new one. I turn back to her. “Besides, nothing happened.”
“Nothing? You’re telling me you tore your shirt doing something other than…?”
“Having sex?” I sigh. “He played his album for me. That’s all that happened.”
“He…did?” She tilts her head. “He let you listen to it?”
I nod. “He did. And it was fantastic—probably the best American music I’ve heard in my life. Does that make you happy?”
She crosses her arms in front of her, and it looks like she’s lost in thought, staring at the wall behind me. “I could…I could quote you as an unnamed source. As long as I don’t say who—”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort.” I sit on the edge of my bed again, facing her. “I don’t give you permission to quote anything.”
Her gaze snaps to mine. “And you didn’t sleep with him?”
“No,” I lie.
“Because if you did, I could attribute it to an unnamed lover. If that—”
“I said that I didn’t.” I narrow my gaze. “I only listened to his music. Nothing more.”
“I can’t believe he played that for you. He’s been so secretive about it—the whole band has.” She looks up at the ceiling, lost in thought again. It doesn’t even sound like she’s talking to me but more like she’s thinking out loud. “If he figured out who you were…somehow realized he could use this to his advantage…”
“No one was using anyone.” I glare at her, even though she isn’t really paying any attention to me. “I didn’t do anything. I swear to you—I did nothing I wouldn’t tell Father about in great detail. We ate macaroni and cheese and listened to his album. And then I came back here. That was all.”
I’m not even certain why I’m lying—I almost seem to be trying to convince myself more than I’m trying to convince her. It might be easier for me to pretend nothing at all happened. I suppose that way I won’t be disappointed that whatever it was between us is over before it really began.
“I believe you.” She smiles over at me. “But you’re right, you’re a grown woman. You can do whatever you want. I just…I’m supposed to be watching out for you. This city…” She shakes her head. “It’s a lot more cutthroat than you’re used to.”
“Why is it that no one is concerned about me if I go to Paris or New York on a shopping trip, but I come to Los Angeles and…” I give her a mock gasp. “Sophia can’t handle herself here. There are celebrities here. Have I not spent the better part of my life as one myself?”
She almost winces. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I’m…I’m sorry. I really am. I should have trusted you.”
I nod. “You certainly should have. And you certainly shouldn’t have gotten
Andrew involved.” I motion to my bag. “And if you could ask him to stop calling—tell him I’m fine—I would certainly appreciate it.”
She nods, pulling her phone from her pocket. “I will. I’ll do it now—” She stops speaking suddenly, her eyebrows drawing together as her mouth falls open. She looks up at me a moment later. “Uh, Sophia?”
I tilt my head. “Yes?”
She lets out a sharp breath, turning her phone to me. “Why is there a text from you on my phone?” She shakes her head. “And why does it say Pax Donovan was the best lay of your life?”
Pax
I lounge on my sofa, boots up on the coffee table. A bowl of mac and cheese sits on my chest—it’s still the best shit I’ve ever tasted, even an hour after it’s gone cold—while I scroll through Sophia’s phone.
I was curious to see what a princess’s cell would look like. Turns out, it’s just like anyone else’s—a bunch of random apps and stuff. I’ve already lost ten minutes playing a game where the purpose seems to be to collect little animated cats.
Victoria still hasn’t responded to my text. Maybe I went a little too far…but let’s be real, that’s exactly the sort of thing a woman would text to her friend after a little fun with me.
But it still doesn’t get you any closer to seeing Sophia again, I think, clicking back over to her contacts and scrolling through them again. Maybe I should just be responsible and let someone know that I have her phone.
The cell buzzes again, another call coming in. That makes four since I found the phone, all from Andrew. I decided it was better not to answer them, at least not until I figured out a plan.
Remind me never to cross paths with that guy, I think. Any brother who calls his sister this many times in one night is the kind of guy who’d kick my ass for even looking at her, let alone literally tearing her clothes off her body.
Of course, I could always have a little fun with him, too… And maybe I’ll send something to her other brothers while I’m at it. All in good fun, of course.
I’m halfway through writing a text when there’s a knock on my door. I look up, wondering if Molly found her way back here for some reason, but it’s not my sister’s voice I hear call through the door.
“Pax!” yells Sophia as she pounds her hand on the door. “Give me my phone back! I know you have it!”
Grinning, I set the bowl of mac and cheese aside and leap up. I tuck her phone into my pocket before opening the door.
“I knew you’d be back,” I say, leaning against the doorframe with a grin.
Sophia crosses her arms. “Where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“My phone.” She extends her hand, palm open. “You have exactly ten seconds to give it to me.”
“Or what, Princess?” My grin widens. “What sort of punishment do I get if I refuse?”
With a sound of exasperation, she shoves pass me, into my apartment. She heads into the dining room first, looking under the table and chairs. Then she spins around and heads into the living room, searching beneath the pillows on the sofa.
“Where is it?” she asks me finally. “I know you have it.”
I shrug. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re—”
I’m cut off by a very loud buzzing coming from my pocket. She lunges toward me, but I’m faster than her. I whip the phone out of my pocket and hold it above my head.
“Give it back!” she says, reaching for it. She’s almost a foot too short, and she only ends up leaning against my body as she tries to grab it.
I could do this all night, I think keeping the cell well out of her reach.
She seems to realize I’m enjoying myself a little too much. She steps back, dropping her arm.
“That’s my phone,” she says. “And you’re acting like a child.”
“I wonder what your brother would say about that,” I tease. “Maybe I should answer this call and ask him.”
Her eyes widen. “Don’t you dare.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not an idiot. But it’s fun to watch you squirm.” The buzzing stops—we’ve missed Andrew’s call again. “Admit it, Sophia—you’re glad for the excuse to see me again.”
“I just want to get my mobile and leave,” she says.
“Really? Then why did you come alone?”
She crosses her arms again. “Victoria’s waiting in a cab downstairs.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.”
I lower my arm slightly. “I’m feeling generous tonight because I just had some fucking amazing sex. So I’ll cut you a deal.” I step toward her. “I’ll give you your phone…if you let me bend you over the sofa first.”
Her eyebrow rises. “This isn’t that sort of negotiation.”
“Isn’t it? Am I mistaken, or did you reapply your lipstick before you walked in here? I’m pretty sure there wasn’t any left on your lips after our little romp in the stairwell. I found some smeared on my cheek when I got back here.” My gaze slides down her body. “And I see you changed your shirt—shame. I liked the changes we made to the old one. This one looks harder to tear off.” I take another step. “Then again, maybe we don’t need to worry about your shirt at all—I can just twist you around, bend you over the back of the couch, and pull up your skirt.”
“I just want my phone,” she says, but she sounds less sure of herself this time.
“Just your phone?”
She nods, but now there’s no more distance between us. She’s forced to look up at me. “Just…”
My mouth pauses just above hers, waiting. “Just…?”
She responds by standing up on her toes and pressing her lips to mine. Hard.
With a groan I throw my arms around her, yanking her against my body. Her hands tangle in my hair, and I grind my hips against her, pushing her toward the couch. When we reach it, I twist her around, pushing her forward over the back just as promised. I lean down, kissing the back of her neck as I try to push up her skirt. It’s a little awkward, considering I still have her cell phone in one of my hands.
And then, suddenly, I don’t—she grabs it right out of my fingers. Before I can stop her, she twists out of my grip, and I nearly fall over the back of the sofa.
“Thanks for my phone,” she says cheerfully. “Good luck with your new album.”
“Wait,” I say, scrambling to regain my feet. But she’s already at the door.
“Goodbye, Pax,” she says.
And then she’s gone. For a split second, I consider running after her, but I already know how that’ll end.
Give it time, I tell myself. I bet she calls you tomorrow, eager to finish what you’ve started. I took the liberty of adding my number to her list of contacts.
And if she doesn’t call? Well, I have a plan for that, too.
Sophia
If Victoria hadn’t been waiting for me downstairs, I probably would have spent the night.
I still can’t understand what’s come over me. Something about this man makes my brain melt. I’ve dated a few guys—none seriously, of course. I think most men are too afraid of my older brothers to do anything more than see me in secret.
I suppose I could have had a secret fling with Pax, but he screwed that up when he texted Victoria and let her know about our little tryst. And she hasn’t said a word to me since we first got into the taxi.
As I take the seat next to her, she glances over at me. When she sees my phone in my hand, she looks out the window, still silent.
“It isn’t as though I committed a crime, you know.” I can’t really understand why she’s being so petty about this. “I didn’t do anything any other woman wouldn’t have done.”
“I wouldn’t have done that.” She doesn’t even turn to face me.
“Well, I’m glad you’re the pious one. Perfect for my eldest brother after all.” I roll my eyes and look out my own window. It isn’t like me to be nasty, but I can’t help but feel judged.
“I’ve already explained it to you, Sop
hia. You really muddied the waters. You’ve made it almost impossible for me to do my job.”
“I’m so glad that we’ve settled that it’s all about you, Victoria.”
She whips her head around to face me. “And what am I supposed to tell Andrew?”
“I don’t really care.” I motion at her with my phone in my hand. “I suppose you could start with telling him to stop calling me. I have seventeen missed calls from him.”
She presses her lips together, and her nostrils flare. “We came here to do a job.”
“And you’ve done your job, haven’t you? Look, I just had a bit of fun. It isn’t as though I robbed a bank or murdered someone. You’re acting as if—”
“Do you know how long I had to work to build the reputation I have in this town? Do you even have a clue—?”
“But you don’t work in this town anymore, do you? You work for my family. You are my family. I just don’t understand what the big deal is.”
My phone begins to buzz again in my hand, and I don’t need to look at it to know who it is.
She grabs it from me, and slides the button on the screen to answer. “She’s fine. She lost her phone for a little while. We’re having a conversation—”
Victoria stops speaking suddenly, and I strain to try to hear what my brother is saying to her.
“Fine.” She presses a button on the phone and hands it back to me. Her cheeks are flushed, and she’s gritting her teeth. “He wants us back on the first flight tomorrow morning. Apparently, there are photos of you and Pax on the internet already.” She shakes her head. “You didn’t tell me you were seen with him in public. We might have been able to make this go away—”
I shove my phone in my bag. “I’m not going anywhere. I think I like it here. I might stay for a while and have some fun—”
“You’ve had your fun.” She shakes her head again. “I should have known better. I shouldn’t have brought you here—”
