Cheeky Prince

by Nana Malone

  Cheeky Prince

  Nana Malone

  To my inner Little Prince…Thank You…

  I’ve got it from here…

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Cheeky Royal Exclusive….

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Thank You

  Nana Malone Reading List

  About Nana Malone

  Chapter 1

  Sebastian

  "What did you do with her? Where is she?" I shoved my cousin, Ashton, up against the wall in his bedroom. "I know you did something with her."

  I had never gotten into a physical fight before, at least not a real one, and my whole body was shaking. He’d done something to Penny, I knew he had.

  My cousin may have been a prince, but there was nothing princely about him. He was an ass. Deep down at the core of him, was a black kernel of just plain mean. We'd been playing with Penny earlier. Hide and seek. Ashton’s idea, of course.

  I'd been hiding for nearly thirty minutes before I went to go and find her and Ashton. That's when I found him playing in the garden. He said she'd given up and gone home. But there had been something about the way he said it; like he was far too happy about something.

  I could kick myself for believing him, but she hadn't come looking for us, so I'd taken him at his word. And now I regretted that. I hadn’t known to worry until I saw her father, Ethan, and he’d asked me if I’d seen her. She hadn’t come home for dinner.

  Then father was screaming orders at the Royal Guard to find her. At that moment, I’d known. My stomach tightened, and suddenly I felt all hot and weak like the time I’d had malaria. Ashton had done something to her, and instead of being a leader, like Dad always said, I’d ignored my instincts.

  This was my fault. I had to make sure she was okay.

  As soon as I’d seen how panicked the grownups had been, I’d broken away and gone straight for Ashton.

  "Relax, cousin, I told you. She was done playing and went home. I don't know where she went."

  I only had a few minutes before my father would come in and stop me from beating the answer out of him. So I had to work quickly. I grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him again. Ashton was my age. I was taller, but he was slightly bigger. So it was enough effort on my part to lift him. "You're lying. I know you. You're an asshole."

  "Tsk tsk, cousin. What kind of language is that? Our tutors would be pretty disappointed in the perfect prince." He sprayed my face with saliva when he said perfect prince.

  Me, Ashton, Aiden, their sister Analize, and our other cousin, Brix, all attended school together. Basically, we had a couple of tutors that came to the palace every day. We didn't go to a regular school, but that was soon changing. In three months, I'd be headed to the UK to go to Eton, to have actual friends that weren't part of the royal court, friends I could choose on my own. I would actually get away from my cousins.

  Brix was fine. He was a couple of years younger than I was. Aiden was actually pretty nice too, but he often got overshadowed by his asshole of a brother. And Analize, well, she was a pure princess. But hey, I couldn't exactly fault her for that. She liked pink things and obsessed about makeup and hair, but she was a girl. What else was I to expect? "Tell me now, or I'll have my father come in here." As threats went, it was a pretty good one because my father was already on his way. I was small, so I was able to slip through some of the narrow passages and get to Ashton's room faster, but I probably had only another couple of seconds.

  "I told you, I didn't do anything to her."

  I could tell by the smirk on his face that something was off. He had done something to Penny. What the hell was wrong with him? How was he my cousin? He just wasn't nice. Nothing about him was nice.

  My mother always drilled into me how I was a prince and it was my duty to be kind to others because the world had already given me so much. Had Penny somehow not gotten that memo?

  "I'm not scared of your Dad. Besides, he's only king because my Dad didn't want to be."

  Ah, there was always that.

  No one ever really talked about how Uncle Roland had stopped being king. Our grandfather had thought he was too old to rule, so he stepped aside and Uncle Roland became king. But then Uncle Roland said it was too much pressure for him. He was, in my mother's words, a sensitive soul. So he'd stepped down and my dad had taken over.

  But that was long before any of us had been born. Besides, that shouldn’t even matter to Ashton. Despite what happened with our parents, he was still a prince. What more could he want?

  It turns out, I didn't have as long as I thought before my father and Ethan showed up. When they ran into Ashton's room, Ethan was quick. He plucked me away from my cousin even with me kicking wildly. "He did something to her. It was him. He did something to Penny."

  My father wedged himself between the two of us. And Ethan, though he was probably worried about his daughter, sat me down and knelt in front of me, clutching my shoulders gently. "Sebastian, why do you think your cousin had anything to do with Penny vanishing?"

  I'd always liked Ethan. He was nice. He slipped me candies when Mom wasn't looking. He’d also patched me up and sometimes looked the other way when I got into mischief. When I was doing something really stupid or dangerous, he scolded me, but he didn't tell my father.

  He’d just always been there since I was a baby. He was like another parent. Sometimes his wife, Alayah, would make me cookies, and I'd sit at their counter like a normal kid and eat them with Penny and Michael. It was nice to feel normal occasionally. Sometimes I just didn't want to be in the palace. It was always too quite. Too sterile. Too fancy.

  "I can tell he's lying. We were playing with Penny, but then she never came to find us. He said that she'd run off to play by herself."

  My father knelt in front of Ashton. "Ashton, out with it. The truth."

  Ashton's gaze flickered between me, my father, and Ethan. He scowled at Ethan, although I had no idea why. Ethan had never done anything to him. Although, there was one time… Ashton had been stealing. Just knickknacks, but he’d blamed one of the maids.

  There had been a whole inquiry. It turned out that Ashton hadn’t known that there were cameras everywhere, especially in the newer part of the palace. In the older part, not so much, but in the newer part where most of the residences were, they were wired to see everything. Ashton turned his gaze back on my father. "I told Sebastian already. I didn't do anything to her. She wanted to go play by herself."

  My father frowned at that. Penny, if she had a choice, never wanted to play by herself. She was always chasing after me or her brother Michael, though not so much Ashton, or Analize for that matter. The two girls were like oil and water. After Analize had brushed her hair once, making her look like a little brown poodle, Penny had sworn off from playing with Analize.

  Ethan knelt next to my father in front of Ashton. He didn't say anything at first, but watched my cousin closely. "That's not the truth. Ashton, we will stay here until we get it. Tell us what happened."

  Ashton's eyes went wide then. "I didn't do anything!” He yelled. “I don't want to play with your stupid daughter anyway. She's not even a royal. She shouldn't be allowed to play with us."

  I had seen my father angry before, or rather annoyed, mostly, like when I’d broken something or had been horsing around where I shouldn't have. But I had never seen him with that glint in his eye before, like he could actually do someone harm.

  At that moment, he picked Ashton up by
his shirt, and his voice was so quiet I almost didn't hear him. "You are nothing but a spoiled brat. You will tell me, or the punishment I will lay before you will be so severe you'll regret you were ever born, my nephew. Now tell me where she is."

  I wish I could say that Ashton looked scared, but he didn't. He just shrugged. My father looked like he was going to shake him, but Ethan put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. It took my father three whole seconds before he put Ashton back down on his feet. "Let me make it very clear. All privileges you have by being royal are hereby suspended. The trip to America and Disneyland? Gone. You won't be meeting any of the actors you had planned for your birthday. You'll be having a birthday on the island, like every other child here. And, instead of getting to go to Eton with your cousin, you'll continue to attend school on the island as well."

  Ashton's jaw unhinged. "You can't do that. You're not my father."

  My father nodded. "Yes, thank God for that. But you're my blood, and I am your king, so you'll do as you're told." And then he turned to Ethan. "Let's check the cameras. Sebastian, lead us to whereabouts you were playing and where you last saw her."

  I shook a little. I'd never seen my father like that, not once. "Aye, we were playing in the old part of the castle with all the tunnels, and I don't—“ I started to shake.

  It was Ethan who took my hand. "Easy son, breathe. Just relax. Tell us where you last saw her and we'll go and look together, okay?"

  I nodded. "Yeah, I'll show you."

  After that Ethan got on the radio with his men, and I led them to the older part of the castle where we'd been playing. There were so many hallways and tunnels and rooms to hide in, but he had everyone fan out.

  I showed them where I'd been hiding and the garden where I’d found Ashton playing. The garden was around the corner from the side I'd been hiding in. Maybe she was somewhere in that quarter. Either way, we started looking and retraced all my steps. In the interest of time and speed, my father gave me a walkie-talkie and sent me down one of the inner corridors.

  Everything was fully lit, so it wasn't scary. But I was scared for her. My heart thumped against my ribs, and I worried what would happen if we couldn’t find her. What if Ashton had hurt her? Could I forgive myself then?

  No, she's not hurt. You can find her.

  It took merely ten minutes of searching down the hallways and marking the ones I’d already searched with the little blue stickers Ethan had given me, and then I heard it—quiet crying—and I stopped. I strained to listen to my right. There were several doors and closets, and I knew there were at least three hidden passages in this hallway. I called out. "Penny?"

  Then I heard it, the faint question mark, the faint, "Hello?"

  I ran right to her, to the closet. Oh God, it was locked. I unlocked it, twisting the knob frantically, and out tumbled this little bundle of curls and tears and hugging.

  She clung to me. She wrapped her little arms around me and squeezed me tight, burying her face in my chest. I don't know what it was. I wasn't usually down for all the hugging stuff, but I squeezed her back tightly, a flood of relief and weakness washing through my muscles.

  Oh my God, she was fine. She was safe. I held back a little. "Are you hurt? Did Ashton hurt you?"

  She shook her head into my chest. "N—no. I just—I was in here. I was counting, and then I heard someone click the lock, and I was screaming and screaming, and—“ She rubbed her hand over her throat. "It hurts to talk. I stopped screaming because that hurt too much."

  I kept her head tucked under my chin and hugged her again. "It's okay. I have you."

  I pulled the walkie-talkie out of my back pocket and hit the side button. "I found her. She's fine. South wing. Lookout tower. I found her." I knew the adults would be coming. I knew it probably wasn't appropriate for her to be hugging royalty. Our teacher was always drilling into me the appropriate protocol.

  I didn’t really care about protocols. I just wanted to be normal. And at that moment, it felt like the most normal thing in the world to hug Penny Marsh and keep her safe. "I'm so sorry this happened, Penny." This is my fault. Just know that as long as I'm around, I will make sure that Ashton never bothers you again. That's a promise, okay?"

  She nodded into my chest and just held on to me tighter. Yes, Penny was a girl. And yes, she was a little annoying when she tagged along all the time. But right then, I didn't mind at all. I’d found my friend. And I was going to keep her safe forever.

  Chapter 2

  Sebastian…

  "Laila, are you here?"

  The moment I hit my quarters, I started peeling off my clothes from the polo match. I expected Laila to be there, but she wasn’t. I went from room to room, stripping down as I went.

  "Laila, where were you? I expect that after missing my match you're going to make it up to me. And in case you don’t know what I mean, I’m being dirty." I chuckled to myself. I’d never thought I’d actually be happy about getting married. I was only twenty-four. And normally, I’d have been less than thrilled about my parents attempt at matchmaking.

  But Laila was exactly my type. Gorgeous. And we had a lot in common. Things were easy between us. For once I went with the flow and it paid off. Not that I intended to do that more often. There were things I wanted in life, and I still planned to fight for them. But this time, going with the flow had worked out in my favor.

  Where was she? She'd always been at my games. I’d been surprised when I looked up in the stands and she hadn’t been there showing off that insane ten carat diamond, with her hat and her perfect polo wife attire. She got a kick out of all of that.

  I didn't care so much about the pomp and circumstance. I just loved to play. But as long as she was happy, that was all that really mattered. As long as everyone had what they needed. I was happy on the field, but I was happiest with my camera. And Laila was essentially my ever-pleasant muse. Lately, I'd been taking more and more shots of her. I should probably do something with them, exhibit them somewhere, even though that would certainly piss off my father.

  Where the hell was my damn muse?

  She’d been off lately, distant. I had no idea what was going on with her, but I chalked it up to nerves. Wedding plans were in full swing, and our mothers had completely taken over. Again, I got left out of most of that, so lucky me. Unfortunately, I think she got included in most of it, so poor her.

  To think, I first had been resistant. My parents had been pushing me to start meeting young, eligible women; the right kind of women, with the right kind of pedigree. They went to the right schools and were born into the right families, so they all had ties to royalty.

  I’d fought the notion for most of my life. But one look at Laila and I pretty much forgot to fight so hard. She was beautiful. But there was something different about her, something a little distant... as if she was well above all of it, like none of it mattered to her. I liked that about her.

  She cared, but if things didn't turn out exactly how she wanted, she wasn't going to stress about it. She was just going to do something else that suited her better. As it turned out, we were the perfect match. And I didn't need to be on all the time around her. We didn't always need to be talking. She didn't mind my ‘brooding, artistic mood’ as she called it.

  As I went from room to room, I still didn't find her. The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention and I frowned. I went back into the sitting area of my quarters and snatched out my phone to send her a text.

  Sebastian: Hey, where are you? Everything okay?

  And then I headed for the shower, figuring I’d find her after I cleaned up. She'd probably gotten dragged into some wedding shenanigans. Maybe I'd go give her a rescue, spend the rest of the day with her, take the helicopter and head down to the southern Island for a picnic, pictures, and some relaxation, of all things.

  After my shower, I headed back into the bedroom to check if she'd texted me back. I tossed my towel in the laundry shoot as I passed by it. Then something caught my e
ye on her bedside table. It was just a piece of paper, but still, there went the hairs at the nape of my neck again, and this time my gut twisted. I went and lifted the little sticky note off the oak table, and underneath was the 10 carat diamond I had given her.

  Oh shit.

  The note had one line of script… 'I tried.'

  No.

  Hell no.

  No, no, no.

  This was not happening. I grabbed a T-shirt and jeans and tugged them on. Then I grabbed my flip flops and ran, only pausing to scoop up my phone on the way. My first call was to Roone. "Hey." I didn't even wait for him to respond. "I’ve got trouble. Laila's gone."

  "Seb, yeah, I'm actually on my way to your quarters. Listen—“

  "No. I'll meet you at the car. I know where maybe she might have gone, so—“

  "Seb, listen to me!"

  Alarmed by the tone of his voice, I stopped. My best friend never raised his voice. He was fun and jovial, even-tempered and not easily upset. But he sounded worried now. "What's wrong?"

  "Listen Seb, I'm on my way to you. Where are you?"

  "Just outside of my quarters headed to the north wing. I'm just under the Rose Tower, I guess."

  "All right. I’ll meet you in the Rose Garden, okay?"

  "Oh, okay, we’ll take your car."

  The Rose Garden was nearest to the Royal Guard parking structure. I had anticipated that we’d take my car because, well, it was probably faster than Roone's. Although, Roone had spent a lot of time messing with his engine, so maybe his was faster.

  "Um, okay, I'll just meet you there."

  Instead of heading straight toward the main palace, I took a left, went into the Rose Garden, and then paced impatiently as I waited for my best mate.