Clad in another of his bespoke suits, he sent her pulse scattering. What was he doing here?
“Aleksandra.” The reporter turned her attention back to her. “Overnight you have become one of the country’s most eligible women. Are you single or in a relationship?”
“I’m single.”
“What are you looking for in a potential husband?”
“I’m not looking,” she countered. “I have enough on my plate at the moment. But if I were, integrity, intelligence and kindness would be high on the list.”
Aristos’s mouth kicked up at the corners. Heat flamed her chest, rising to her face. Diavole, but why was he here?
“It’s rumored the duke of Catharia is quite taken with you. Perhaps there’s potential for a romance there?”
Her eyes widened. The duke had been seated beside her at an official dinner two nights ago. He was charming and attentive, and she’d enjoyed his company, but since she’d been told to keep a low profile considering today’s announcement, she hadn’t given him any encouragement. Perhaps also because her head had kept going back to her encounter with Aristos in the gardens. Charming as he might be, proper like the duke, he was not.
“The duke is lovely,” she said, lifting her chin. “But nothing to report there.”
The press flung a dozen more questions at her, covering everything from her life in Stygos to her favorite color. When they had exhausted anything that could be considered remotely interesting, a reporter in the middle of the pack directed a question at Nikandros.
“What do you make of the fact that Carnelia has called its reservists up to active duty?”
Her heart jumped. It had? Nikandros moved to the mike. “I think we’re doing everything we need to be doing to ensure Akathinia’s safety, now and in the future.
“Are you anticipating an invasion by Carnelia?”
“We hope it won’t come to that.”
The media peppered the king with a series of questions on the Carnelian situation. Alex kept her gaze on the press corps rather than on the man making her feel utterly conspicuous. Naive and conspicuous.
The press conference thankfully came to an end. The PR liaison appeared to usher them back into the palace. Stella stopped to talk to a reporter she knew, while Alex continued on with her minder, anxious to get away from the frenzy.
Aristos appeared at her side, his long strides easily gaining him even with her as she walked toward the palace. “Well done,” he murmured. “You took the leap.”
His designer stubble was thicker than usual, giving him a wicked, pirate-like appearance. It kicked her insides into high gear despite her better sense. She gave him her best haughty princess look. “Surely you didn’t come just to laugh at me?”
“You’ve been busy,” he noted. “Taking my advice. A duke already... And no, angel, I didn’t come to see your performance. I have a meeting with the king.”
Oh. Her stomach dropped. And why was that? She needed to be staying away from him, not courting his attention.
“There is no duke. He was seated beside me at dinner. That’s all.”
“And you flashed those baby blues at him and he didn’t stand a chance.”
She turned to face him. “I was not flirting.”
“You don’t have to. You’re a natural.” He gave her a pained look. “But kindness, integrity and intelligence? Really, Alex? You might as well have posted a neon sign inviting all the Sebastiens of the world to come running. That was not what I meant when I said expand your horizons.”
She narrowed her gaze. “That is just...rude. Any woman would be lucky to have Sebastien.”
“Except you,” he pointed out. “You’re far too hot-blooded for that, Princess.”
“Oof.” She stuck her hands on her hips. “I tell you what. The next time I need dating advice I won’t come to you and your heartless reputation. I’ll figure it out myself.”
“Ouch.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “Heartless. That hurts.”
“I’m sure you are withering away inside.” Noting that Stella was directly behind them, she pressed her lips together and flung him a cool look. “Enjoy your meeting, Mr. Nicolades. Good afternoon.”
She turned on her heel and swished her way through the palace doors. Stella caught up with her in the hall. “What was that?”
“Nothing.” Absolutely nothing.
Alex headed to her meeting with her cultural adviser. A familiar anxiety worked its way through her as she sat through two hours of princess training. How was she ever going to get this all right? It all seemed unnecessarily complex and...antiquated.
She reminded herself why she was doing this. Stella and Nik were amazing. She hadn’t been able to resist the chance to get to know them better. And perhaps because Aristos had been right. She had been playing her life safe with a whole world out there to explore.
Which didn’t mean she had to pay attention to him and his condescending, provocative comments. If she was going to master this princess thing, she couldn’t allow Aristos Nicolades to distract her at every turn.
Firming her mouth, she gave her adviser her undivided attention.
* * *
Aristos was still smiling over his confrontation with the feisty Aleksandra when he walked into the king’s office. Nikandros’s personal aide ushered him into the inner sanctum without delay.
“Thank you for coming,” the king said, gesturing for him to take a seat in the sitting area by the windows. “I need a favor.”
Aristos’s always-opportunistic side perked up. The more goodwill he could bank with the king, the better. Construction on the casino on the shores of the Akathinian harbor would mean surprises—rude, expensive surprises a royal influence could help smooth out. Accelerate solutions for.
“Always,” he said, crossing one long leg over the other and sitting back in the chair. “What can I do?”
Nik sat down opposite him. “My sources say Idas may make a move on this country as soon as his armed forces are at full strength. As such, we need to shift to a high alert.”
His stomach plummeted. It was the worst-case scenario he’d hoped would not come to pass. What would his investors think of such an uncertain environment? A war that could destabilize the region? Would they jump ship? Let their nerves get the better of them?
A knot formed in his gut. He had doubled down on this one. Put the better part of his personal fortune up to back this casino. If it failed, he failed.
Your ambition will be the thing that fells you, Aristos, unless you learn to control it.
“Aristos?” Nik was frowning at him.
He shook his mentor’s words out of his head. “Sorry, yes?”
“I want both princesses off the island. Stella has a good friend she can stay with in Athens. I need you to take Aleksandra to Larikos.”
He blinked. The king wanted him to take his stunningly beautiful, unwittingly sexy, very innocent half sister to his private island in the Aegean Sea for safekeeping?
“Of course I’m happy to do whatever you require,” he said carefully, “but of all people, Nik, you must know I am not a babysitter.”
The king fixed his laser-sharp blue gaze on him. “I’m not asking you to babysit Aleksandra. I’m asking you to provide a safe place for an heir to the throne until this is settled. The security on Larikos is impenetrable.”
Because he had a casino there where some of the richest men in the world came to play...in a few weeks, actually. “She would be better off with Stella,” he suggested. “Wouldn’t that be more reassuring for her?”
“Akathinian law says I can’t have two heirs to the throne, however distant, together in a situation like this.”
He firmed his mouth. “I’m not the man for the job, Nik. I am scheduled to be all over the globe the next few weeks. I’ll ask friends to host her.”
Nik pinned his gaze on him. “That you are precisely not the man for the job is exactly why I want her with you. It’s the last place anyone would thin
k to look for her.”
It was not a request. It was a command if he valued the casino license he’d spent the past five years chasing.
“All right. When?”
“Friday.”
“Friday?”
“Friday,” the king said firmly. “And, Aristos?” Nikandros shot him a deadly look. “I don’t think I have to say that Aleksandra is off-limits.”
Aristos absorbed the underlying message. The insinuation he wasn’t good enough to fraternize with a royal. It had been this way, too, when rumors of his and Stella’s brief liaison were circulating. He would have hoped with all the respect he and Nik had gained for each other over the past year working together, the king’s opinion of him might have changed. Yet clearly, Nikandros still considered him beneath his family’s blue blood.
His jaw hardened, his fingers tightening around the arms of the chair. He’d made an art of not caring what anyone thought of him. It had been a necessity in the life he’d led, in the business he operated in, with the checkered past he carried with him that was always in danger of resurfacing. The tightness in his chest suggested he hadn’t quite perfected it.
“Consider it done,” he said curtly, rolling to his feet. He had bigger fish to fry than a princess, including a flock of investors whose hands needed holding. A plan B to execute he’d hoped he’d never have to use.
His ambition wasn’t the problem. It was the universe and how it was unfolding that was messing him up. Fortunately, he’d never met a calamity he couldn’t conquer.
This casino would happen. His business would not fail. He was never going back to where he’d come from. Ever.
* * *
Alex and Stella were summoned to Nik’s office after dinner, an unusual request given that the king had been burying himself there of late, forbidding interruptions. Alex rose from her chair, darting a look at Stella. “Do you know what this is about?”
Stella shook her head. “No idea. Could be Carnelia.”
The worried look in her sister’s eyes had her worrying. She followed Stella down the hall to Nik’s office, where her brother waved them into chairs.
“You heard the speculation today about Carnelia calling up its reservists,” he began, without preamble. “We have confirmed this is true. We have no idea whether Idas is bluffing or planning to make a move on Akathinia.”
Her heart dropped.
“He wouldn’t dare,” Stella exclaimed. “He knows the world is against him.”
“I’m not sure he is in his right mind. Regardless, I think it’s prudent to remove both of you from the island for the next little while until we can determine the situation.”
“And Sofía and Theo?” Stella asked.
“They stay. Sofía refuses to leave.”
“Then I’m staying, too,” Stella said. “I’m not leaving you.”
Nik’s gaze softened. “I appreciate the show of solidarity, but I can’t have the three heirs to the throne here. Nor do I have the energy to fight with you. My wife is making it hard enough.”
“He won’t do it,” Stella said. “He’s bluffing. Why doesn’t Kostas talk some sense into his father? What is wrong with him?”
“The crown prince remains noticeably absent. Do what I ask. Please. We are well defended, Stella. It’s just a precaution.”
Stella clamped her jaw shut. Nodded. “We can stay with Cynthia, then.”
“You can. Aleksandra will stay on Larikos with Aristos. It is written in our laws the heirs must be separated in a time of war.”
“Aristos?” The sisters said the word in unison. Stella’s jaw dropped. “Why?”
“Because his casino is impenetrable. She’ll be better protected there than anywhere else.”
“I’ll go home,” Alex interjected.
“I’m afraid that’s impossible. You would be too vulnerable there.”
She bit her lip. “What about my family? I can’t leave them unprotected.”
“I will make sure they are looked after.”
Her head spun. This was madness. “I really don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Why?” Nik threw the question at her with the look of a man who’d just about reached his limit.
She exchanged a meaningful look with Stella. “I just...don’t.”
Nik’s gaze moved between the two of them. “If you have something to say, spit it out.”
I can’t be marooned with Aristos on his private island for Lord knows how long when I am clearly, inadvisably attracted to him.
Unfortunately, the next day, she was packing to do exactly that.
CHAPTER FIVE
LARIKOS, ARISTOS NICOLADES’S private island in the heart of the Aegean Sea, sat to the east of Greece. Surrounded by sparkling cerulean-blue water, it comprised seventy acres of priceless real estate upon which Aristos’s much-buzzed-about, invitation-only high-roller casino was situated, as well as his private estate and guest residences.
“The famous Great House.” Aristos’s pilot pointed at a massive, sprawling thatch-roofed structure that sat perched on a hill overlooking the sea. He listed off names of celebrities, politicians and royals who’d stayed in the €10,000-a-night suites. “The villas,” the pilot said, “for those who wish for more privacy, are the structures scattered down the hill.”
Alex absorbed the spectacular aerial view, then sat back in her seat, fingers clutching the armrests. Having never been on a plane before in her life, let alone a helicopter, she had been torn between terror and exhilaration as they’d made the trip from Akathinia to the place she would call her home for the foreseeable future.
She had, of course, not been about to tell Nik about her disreputable behavior with Aristos the night of Stella’s party, thus the inevitable conclusion of her conversation with the king. There had been time only to call her mother to assure her she would be taken care of before she and Stella were whisked away from the palace for safekeeping.
Safekeeping. Her stomach dropped as the helicopter dipped and made its way toward the landing pad near the Great House. She was worried about her family. Worried about what Idas would do. Sure she should be there by their sides and not here hidden away with the man she’d practically thrown herself at the other night.
Being uprooted again, separated from everything she knew under the most worrying of circumstances when she’d only just begun to settle into her new life, had been disconcerting. Unnerving. As if she were frozen midjump.
She wanted to know she’d done the right thing in abandoning the life she’d loved, to know everything would fall into place. Instead she’d been handed complete uncertainty.
Her fingernails sank deeper into the leather as the pilot set the helicopter down on the landing pad. A tall, dark male stood waiting, his shorts and T-shirt whipping in the wind. Aristos. Her stomach did a flip-flop of a whole other kind. She’d thought maybe he’d send one of his staff to greet her, hadn’t even known if he would be here. Just because he was hiding her away didn’t mean he had to play host.
Aristos pulled the door of the helicopter open and greeted the pilot. It gave her an opportunity to inspect him in casual clothes during the short exchange that followed.
The show began with the close-fitting T-shirt that stretched taut over his broad shoulders and cut abs, not an excess centimeter of flesh in sight, and ended with the most impressive set of powerfully built thighs and calves she’d ever seen. Pure masculine perfection that hinted at the fact that the rest of him she couldn’t see was just as mouthwatering as what was on display.
He eyed her as he lifted her down to the ground. “You okay? You look a bit green.”
“Fine,” she managed past a churning stomach. “I’ve never flown before. It was an adventure.”
He kept his hands on her waist. He smelled like earthy sexy male today, with a hint of sandalwood as opposed to his usual spicy urbane sophistication. Little pinpricks of heat flared beneath her skin as he studied her face, multiplying with unnerving speed until she was
drowning in her awareness of him.
“You mean you haven’t flown in a helicopter before,” he corrected.
“No. I haven’t flown, period.”
His eyes widened. “Surely you’ve been outside of Akathinia?”
“Only to the Greek islands. Perfectly accessible by boat and automobile.”
He looked at her as if she were a creature from Mars. She stepped back, pressing her palms to her flaming cheeks. “There’s been no opportunity. You said it yourself. Running a small business means you have no personal time. Every time we hired someone we thought was reliable enough to take part of the workload on, we found we couldn’t trust them.”
“Staff will always be your biggest headache and asset. Has your cousin stepped in to help your mother?”
She nodded, a throb filling her chest. Taken her place was how she saw it.
“How did your mother take the news?”
“Not well.” Her mother had been trying to mask her feelings, but she knew she was devastated by her decision, feeling the loss of their bond as much as Alex was.
His gaze softened. “No one said taking the untraveled road was easy.”
Brutally hard was more like it. She was getting the sense this new life of hers was going to be a one-challenge-a-day kind of affair.
Aristos picked up her suitcase and headed toward the Great House. She trotted along behind him, half running to keep up.
“I’ll show you to your room. Get you settled. Yolande, my manager, is going to give you a tour of the island this afternoon. She’ll be your point person for anything you need while you’re here.”
Because she was a pain in the neck to him. Because having her here was a huge inconvenience, likely the last thing he needed with a potential war delaying his casino.
“Thank you for opening your home to me,” she said, drawing alongside him. “But please, don’t feel like you have to play host. I’m sure you have a million things to do.”
His dark gaze glittered in the sun. “Unfortunately, you and I are stuck together, angel. I am your official babysitter for however long it takes Carnelia to realize Akathinia can’t be taken.”
Claiming the Royal Innocent (Kingdoms & Crowns) Page 5
