Viv showed up again with Caz on her arm. I felt Auggie stiffen at my side as the notorious bad boy once again kissed my hand in greeting. “Your Grace,” he smirked with a swagger I could only assume came from the knowledge rich women were willing to pay him to fuck them.
“Mr. Bixby,” I greeted formally.
Eloise showed up without Allan, which struck me as odd, but I was glad I didn’t have to play nice to at least one of the Byrne men.
I had to save everything up for the moment I came eye to eye with Cillian.
Like Caz, he bowed and reached for my hand, which I was forced by propriety to offer. His kiss lingered long enough for Auggie’s angry aura to engulf both of us. Cillian wore a satisfied smile as he rose to look Auggie in the eye. He offered only a slight tilt of the head his direction.
“Your Highness,” he greeted.
“Cillian,” Auggie managed to grit between clenched teeth. “Thank you for your sizable donation,” he added.
“Anything to help the cause,” Cillian replied. His eyes slid back to me. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
I tilted my chin. “Enjoy the party,” was all I could manage.
“I shall,” he promised softly. With one quick glance back at Auggie, to see how he was angrily processing the exchange, and he was on his way.
Like Auggie, he was dressed in all black with a jeweled mask, except his tie pin had the Byrne coat of arms.
Turned out, that was how all the noblemen dressed. Only the women could wear vibrant color, and many stuck to black or purple. Not only were these elegant Halloween colors, but they showed Aldaynean pride.
That was, in fact, what we were all there to do.
The only one who didn’t dress with any kind of flare at all was Riona Byrne. I wondered why she had even come at all, but I surmised that Caz and Viv had dragged her to the event, since she currently served as their third wheel.
By six o’clock, the festivities were officially ready to begin with my first appearance before the crowd on the north lawn, with Grandpa Charlie overseeing the proceedings. The guests had already made themselves quite at home with several of the activities set up to keep them occupied until the music portion of the evening was underway. There was a maze to navigate and face painting booths, along with a host of vendors who represented all four corners of Aldayne with goods specific to their region. Along with food, they sold commemorative goodies, such as capes and crowns for the children. As I looked out towards that sea of faces, I saw many little girls of all races and sizes wearing a replica of my wedding tiara.
They now knew for certain that one day they, too, could be queen, no matter what society had to say about it.
It made me stand a little straighter as I waited for my introduction.
The crowd went wild as Auggie stepped forward onto the stage, every bit as confident as any one of his concerts anywhere around the world. He lifted his hand to wave to them all. “Hello, Aldayne!” he bellowed in greeting.
The roar rose from the eager, festive crowd.
“Thank you for coming to our Halloween Ball. You all look amazing. Especially you,” he pointed to a little girl up front. “And you,” he gestured to a kindly old woman just behind her. “We are thrilled to be with you all today for this festive occasion. Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. I was excited when the Queen decided we could organize this event ourselves. I hope you enjoy all the events and activities we planned for you and your families.”
The crowd responded with loud appreciation.
“Of course, this isn’t just any Halloween for me or my family. As you might have heard, I got married recently.”
The audience cheered even more. Signs went up to celebrate their new princess and people began to chant “Peaches! Peaches!”
He let the fervor build with a self-satisfied smirk I’d seen many times before. “I know,” he nodded. “I feel the same way.” He waited for the crowd to die down. “When I started out this year, I had no intention of getting married. Many of you already know it was never on my agenda. I liked being a bad boy. But like many a bad boy before me, my plans were changed by a good girl.”
“Peaches! Peaches!” the crowd chanted in response.
“An amazing woman stepped into my life and I knew I had to act quickly and decisively to hold onto her. She is kind. Loving. Beautiful,” he added softly. “She was the kind of girl who could make my life an adventure. I knew it the very day we met. Three days later I took her into my arms to steal that very first kiss, and I haven’t let her go yet.”
I tingled a little bit, thinking how he knew to the day when he had kissed me. Of course, there was a strategic purpose in his telling this story, which put any official conception date within scant weeks of my regrettable night with Christopher, so any “early” birth could be excused.
Still, the way he told it was romantic. I let my heart process all the feels.
“Sometimes you just know,” he continued. “From that first kiss, I knew I had to make her mine. And the Duke of Mayhem always got what he wanted,” he said with that smirk that made the girls down in front scream. “What I didn’t know was that the fates had another adventure for us, one that involves our child, whom we are preparing to meet next month.”
References to the baby sent the crowd into a tizzy. More signs went up as people screamed so loud that I was sure Jack could hear every one of them.
“That’s the most beautiful thing about my love,” he confessed softly, wistfully. “She looks like she can offer you the moon, but she offers the sun and stars as well. She’s more than I ever thought I wanted, and I love her more than I ever expected. Are you ready to meet your new princess, Aldayne?”
The audience roared in response. Auggie turned to me and held out a hand. I walked towards him as thousands of people chanted my name.
I was sure at any moment I’d wake up in that North Hollywood apartment, realizing every single moment I ever spent with Auggie would prove to be a dream.
But those faces looking up at me were very real. I gulped as I reached Auggie, who bent to steal yet another kiss, a lingering peck that only served to work up the crowd even more. He turned to them finally and said, “May I present, Her Royal Highness, Princess Peaches McPhee Quinn Agassi.”
He backed up a step so I could absorb all their adoration in full. I stared out over their faces, smiling at them, trying to mirror their energy, but quite simply overcome by their instant and fervent affection. I cleared my throat slightly before speaking into the microphone. “Hello,” was all I could manage.
It was enough. They screamed and chanted for what felt like minutes. “Thank you,” I said repeatedly, waiting for the noise to die out. Finally, they allowed me to speak. “You humble me, Aldayne. Thank you.” They waited expectantly. “Unlike Auggie, I had no idea what an adventure we would embark upon that fateful night of our first kiss. I entered his life to tell his story. Instead, he changed mine. Because of him, I have seen the world. I was treated like royalty way before I held any title. Still, there has been nowhere quite as beautiful and no welcome quite as sweet as what I have experienced here in Aldayne.”
They liked the sound of that.
“Both Auggie and I know that we have some very big shoes to fill. We approach this responsibility with the care and dedication it demands. We will spend these next two years learning and growing to become the King and Queen the good people of Aldayne deserve. Though an outsider I might be, my dedication to all of you will be as strong and passionate as my dedication to my husband and my child, both of whom proud Aldayneans. To them, to you, to Aldayne, my heart beats true.”
With that cue, the band launched into the Aldaynean anthem, which we all sang in unison.
Afterwards I introduced the flame-haired local celebrity Frida Beck, a popular broadcaster from the nightly national news who would serve as the mistress of ceremonies. Her specialty had always been the royal family, so she jumped at the chance
to be part of this historic event.
I knew that was strategic as well because it was all the queen’s doing. If we made friends with the media, we could participate in the messaging.
It was nearly 6:30 p.m. by the time we went back into the castle to address our VIP guests, who got to watch the introduction on one of the many televisions set up around the castle for the simultaneous broadcast going out to all the citizens in the country who couldn’t be there with us for the live festivities.
I was a little unnerved to find Cillian sitting so close next to Dash and Giz, particularly knowing what their family felt about people like Dash and Giz. But I kept such emotions under wraps as best as possible. Thanks to Princess Fiona, who had given me a crash course in royal etiquette, stoicism was highly prized among the monarchy.
Again, Auggie stepped back so that I could have my moment addressing the crowd that had come to receive me. “Because of your generosity, we have earned over $273,000 for the Sofie Agassi Cancer Centers. With your help, fewer children will grow up without their mothers dying to this horrible disease,” I added, sweet little Oliver directly in my line of sight.
Auggie likewise squeezed my hand.
Jorge Navarro ran the show inside the castle as he greeted group after group in various large drawing rooms to give them instructions for the scavenger hunt. While the third floor was off limits, because that was our private quarters, they pretty much had the run of the first two floors, including the dungeon. In the meantime, we would go from room to room to mingle with our incredibly special guests. Kelly was on hand to give us the details as people approached, so that we could thank them personally for their donations. She also kept those interactions brief and moving along at a brisk pace so that we could speak to anyone who wanted to speak to us, which was pretty much everybody.
It felt like a wedding reception all over again, except this time we were wearing capes and masks. It may have started as a party, but it was all work as we did what was expected of us.
My back hurt despite the low-heeled shoes I wore. I was relieved to sit once we made it to the ballroom almost two hours later. I wilted at one of the tables where Liam Tover sat with his boyfriend, Noble Prescott-Leery.
“I’d offer you a drink, but that might be bad form given your condition,” Liam grinned.
I chuckled. I was happy to spend a few minutes in his company. We didn’t know each other very well and we probably should, given he was Sean’s son. “Hit me up in a few weeks,” I replied, with an envious glance at his full glass.
“Don’t think I won’t,” he shot back in good humor. Unlike his father, who was taller with striking green eyes, Liam was a bit shorter, stouter, with darker coloring. I could only assume he took after his mother. His smile was easy, and his wit was sharp; things I learned because also unlike his stoic father, he was a little more agreeable to polite conversation. Those warm eyes softened. “Are you okay? You look a little tired.”
“I’m very tired,” I admitted with forbidden candor. But I figured if you couldn’t tell your bodyguard’s son how you are doing, who could you tell?’
“Thankfully, you have a few weeks to recover before the baby gets here,” Noble said. “You’re going to need it.”
“Do you have kids?” I asked. He shook his head.
“Just the kids in my classes. That’s generally enough.”
Liam chuckled. “Yes, please don’t get him started on the demands of parenting. I’ll never get him to the altar at that rate.”
“Is that something you can do here?” I asked, a little ashamed that I didn’t know.
“Oh, yes,” he answered quickly. “Since it was never formally forbidden, it was always informally allowed, one of the first countries to recognize legal marriage between same-sex spouses. Legal discrimination is tantamount to bondage. The Quinns would never allow it. That’s why you’ll find more LGBT+ people in Aldayne than any other part of the world.”
“For now, anyway,” Noble muttered as he took a drink.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Liam slid his boyfriend a glance before he answered. “Until Auggie returned and declared intent to become king, there was some discussion on challenging the legality of same-sex anything. Mostly from the Byrne family.”
“Of course,” I clipped.
“But it’s not just them,” Noble said. “Despite how many of us you’ll find here in Aldayne, we’re still in the minority of the population. If the Freedom Party ever gets a foothold, who knows what might happen?”
“Wouldn’t a Freedom Party want, you know, freedom?”
“With democracy comes compromise,” Liam shrugged. “And when has a population been on complete agreement about anything?”
I supposed he was right. I had seen that work out in my own country.
“But I suppose we don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Liam said. “As long as Auggie becomes the new king, things shouldn’t change too much.”
“I’ll believe it when he’s crowned,” Noble said. Though he was a big, burly bear of a man, I suspected that he had been feeling particularly vulnerable given the circumstances.
It gave me a lot to think about as I let my gaze travel across the crowded dance floor. I shot straight up in my chair as I spotted Caz dancing with none other than Princess Giselle.
“Excuse me,” I said to Liam and Noble before I trotted my happy pregnant ass towards the dancefloor. As I got closer, I could tell Caz was trying to turn on the charm, but I knew immediately that Giz was merely humoring him.
Still, I didn’t care for the way he was holding her to his body. She was a princess, for fuck’s sake. “May I cut in?” I asked, drilling my gaze into his.
“Of course,” Giz conceded gratefully and quickly. “Thanks, Pea,” she said as she darted gratefully away.
Caz turned those tawny eyes on me. “This is an unexpected pleasure, Pea,” he grinned.
“I believe the accepted greeting is ‘Your Grace’,” I informed him as I tipped my chin.
He bowed respectfully. “Your Grace,” he said. “Let’s cha-cha.”
He pulled me into his arms with surprising authority, given he had just bowed to me. I let him guide me around the floor until Giz was safely out of earshot.
“What’s your agenda with Princess Giselle?” I asked, point blank.
He chuckled. “No agenda. I just wanted to dance with a beautiful woman.”
I side-eyed him. “Your date is a beautiful woman. You should dance with her.”
He spun me around. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“I want you to leave Giselle alone,” I told him.
“Is that a royal decree?” he asked.
“Does it need to be?” I countered.
He chuckled. God, such swagger. “I generally let the woman decide. Far be it from me to send the women’s movement back several decades by making those decisions for her.”
“Give me a break,” I sneered. “You don’t care about her.”
His eyebrow lifted. “I don’t?”
“You’re looking for another customer,” I hissed under my breath. Again, he laughed. “What’s so funny?”
“The protective sister routine is adorable, but it’s misplaced. I’m not after the precious family jewels, Princess.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Vivienne paid me $20,000,” he answered without one iota of shame.
“But why?”
He leaned close and whispered in my ear. “Because I’m amazing in bed.”
I shuddered to spite myself. “That’s disgusting.”
He shrugged. “Simple truth. I’d offer to show you, but I have a strict no third-trimester policy.”
“You’re repulsive,” I hissed under my breath. “Taking advantage of vulnerable women for money.”
He laughed out loud. “Vulnerable? Have you met Viv?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is the point, Highness?” h
e asked.
“I told you. I want you to leave Princess Giselle alone.”
“Princess Giselle isn’t the one you need to worry about.”
I turned back to face him, however reluctantly. “What does that mean?”
“Giz, as you call her, is a firebrand and a little spitfire. She was about five seconds from kneeing me in the groin for getting too personal.”
“Smart girl,” I muttered.
“Exactly,” he responded. “The girl you should be protecting is the one who doesn’t have the same self-confidence. Those are the girls who can be persuaded to act against their self-interest. They’re so starved for affection that they’ll give up everything just for a crumb.”
My eyes narrowed. “For example…?” I prodded.
He laughed as he glanced behind me, instantly changing his mind regarding our dance. He pulled apart and kissed me on the hand. “You’re a smart girl, Highness. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” With that he turned and stalked away.
A strong hand turned me around, where I faced my angry husband. He kept it just under the surface, though. “Room on that dance card for me?”
“Of course,” I said, pulling him close.
“What the hell was that?” he asked angrily under his breath as he bent close.
“He was dancing with Giz,” I explained.
“Funny. From where I was standing, it looked like he was dancing with you.”
“I cut in,” I gritted.
“And?”
“And nothing. He was disgusting but he swore he wasn’t after Giz and that’s that.”
“That’s that?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
We locked eyes for a long moment. His gaze drifted to my lips. “If I didn’t know better, I would think my loving wife is a little flushed. I guess a bad boy is pretty hard to resist.”
“The only bad boy I need is you,” I assured him.
The Duke Takes a Bride (The Rocking Royal Trilogy Book 2) Page 14
