A Royal Secret: Book 1 (Bad Boy Princes of Malvidence)

by V Vee

  Meanwhile, Algerone felt a bit like a ship with a rudder. He loved to party, but he mostly did it to annoy his parents, and to make his own money, independent of his family’s wealth. It was why he also invested in different startup businesses, ventures, and had the friends that he did.

  As Algerone watched Valerie walk towards him, he wondered if that was why she seemed so fascinating to him. Was it truly because of her compelling beauty, or was it because he saw an opportunity to invest in her as an artist, and make a profit? Or was it something a little more sinister at play?

  If I showed up to the palace with her on my arm as my princess, my parents would shit kittens, he thought. He quickly shook the image away. He knew Valerie was the one for him, he’d felt it before, and that connection hadn’t gone away, and yet, that tiny part of him, that was always looking for a way to rebel, was trying to twist the beautiful, pure connection, the twisting and interlocking of their collective souls into something dark.

  He would have to watch himself and be sure that if he did decide to court and woo Valerie and they did, in fact, wind up married, he would tell his parents only when he could be sure his motives were pure.

  “Hey, sorry about that,” Valerie smiled at him as she walked up to him. “Apparently selling all of your art at a gallery showing means you’re a big deal and you have to do interviews with journalists with magazines, bloggers, news reporters, and radio hosts.” There was a delightful red flush of pleasure that shone beneath her brown skin and Algerone’s hands tingled with the need to caress her cheek.

  “I completely understand,” he told her. “You should bask in your moment. I hope I’m not keeping you from anything?”

  Valerie waved her hand. “Oh no! I’m done. Besides, if I wasn’t, my friend Helen would never have allowed me to walk away.”

  Algerone chuckled. “A bit of a pit bull is she?”

  “You have no idea.” Valerie shrugged. “But I love her and I’m so grateful to her. We took a few art classes together in college. You know, art history, art appreciation, sketching, Picasso, Michelangelo, The Impressionists, things like that? And she saw something in me. Really encouraged me to pursue art as a career.”

  “What were you planning to do before that?” Algerone asked, completely engaged, and leaning forward slightly.

  Valerie laughed. “I was going to be a kindergarten teacher.”

  Algerone raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

  Valerie placed her hand on Algerone’s forearm and he felt a jolt of electricity shoot through his body and settle low in his groin. He barely stifled the groan that threatened. He’d never been so affected and had to push away the image of himself lifting Valerie into his arms and pressing her into the nearest wall, and pressing his cock deep into her tight center.

  “I know! How ridiculous is that? I mean, I love children and I would love to have my own someday, and I even love teaching children all about art, you know doing arts & crafts with them? But teaching a bunch of kids day in and day out? Kids that are not my own? No. I think people who do that are saints. Saints I tell you! They are like…” Valerie sighed, “Walking, breathing, living angels.”

  Algerone smiled at her affectionately. “You really feel passionately about that don’t you?”

  He watched as she blushed prettily. “Well, I have a few teachers in my family. They use a lot of their own salary to buy supplies, to buy lunches for kids who can’t afford food, to even buy bookbags, clothes, or to help feed families during the holidays, or during the summer. It’s really amazing. And they don’t get paid nearly as much as they should.” She shrugged. “And there are a lot of these kids who are so smart. I mean certified geniuses, but no one would ever know it, because they come from the poorer neighborhoods. So they go to the schools that are lacking funding, and they excel, but they can’t afford to go to college, or they have to take out loans to attend, then they have to drop out halfway, and they go home to take care of their families, or help out, and it’s just…” She bit her lip.

  Algerone reached up to tug on her chin and pulled her bottom lip free. “What?” he asked her.

  “I didn’t mean to preach to you about the problems of the poor and wax poetic about the lower class and the children who suffer from poverty. It’s a habit.”

  Algerone shook his head. “No, no. I enjoy hearing about the things that you’re passionate about. Will you allow me to take you to dinner and you can… wax poetic some more?”

  Valerie frowned. “Why?”

  Algerone shrugged. “I find myself not only fascinated by you, but extremely attracted to you. Not only physically, but by your talent, your intelligence, your compassion, your big heart, your courageousness, and your empathy. I would like to get to know you better.”

  “Oh,” Valerie whispered. She gave him a small smile, then licked her lips. Algerone couldn’t squelch the groan this time and coughed silently in order to cover it up. When Valerie smirked he knew he’d been unsuccessful. “I think that would be nice. I would love to go out to dinner with you.”

  “Excellent.” Algerone swept an arm outward and gave a courtly bow. “My lady?”

  “Thank you, kind sir.”

  That night Algerone had learned so much about Valerie, her family, her friends, her likes, dislikes, her plans for the future, and he’d found himself telling her all about how he’d felt a bit like he had no purpose. When she’d pointed out that he’d seemed to have a head for business, numbers, art, and philanthropy, Algerone had blinked at her in surprise. He wasn’t sure why neither he, his parents, nor any of his siblings had seen it, but this beautiful woman, whom he’d just met, had seen it so easily. It had only made him want her more.

  Which was why it hadn’t surprised him at all, that when he’d gone to drop her off at her hotel and she’d invited him upstairs, he’d graciously accepted and didn’t leave her side for the rest of the summer. Even proposing to her after four weeks when he realized he’d fallen hopelessly in love with her.

  Present Day

  Algerone sighed. He knew how lucky he was to have Valerie and their children. He could only hope she hadn’t given up on him. He loved her too much to just let her go. He would fight for her if he had to. But the kingdom of Malvidence needed him as well. His parents had been hinting and pressuring him to settle down. He knew the time had come to introduce them to Valerie and his children, but he wasn’t sure if it was that they weren’t ready, or if he was enjoying having a life away from the restrictions of the crown and duty that made him hesitate. Whatever it was, he felt the noose of time tightening around his throat, and he felt as if he were in danger of choking.

  “Your Highness, we will be landing in Manchester, New Hampshire within fifteen minutes. You should prepare yourself,” the stewardess said, giving him a flirtatious smile.

  “Thank you, Taylor,” Algerone said coolly. He wasn’t sure why she insisted on persisting with him. He had denied her more than once. However, she was always touching him, leaning over directly in his eyesight, allowing her hand to linger on his arm. He’d told her he was uninterested, but while he could see where many would consider her attractive with her blonde hair, brown eyes, long legs, full breasts, pouty lips, pert nose, and slim waist, he found her lacking in every way. She was not Valerie whose skin was such an alluring contrast to his own. Whose full lips, and voluptuous frame set his blood aflame. Valerie’s whose dark brown eyes shined with intelligence, humor, sympathy, compassion, love, and an inner strength that he’d yet to find in any other woman he’d come across. Valerie who after giving birth to five children, didn’t have a slender waist anymore, but was still the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen.

  Algerone was suddenly anxious for the plane to land so he could get into the black SUV waiting for him and get home to his wife and kids.

  When he realized Taylor was still standing in the aisle, he quirked an eyebrow at her.

  “Was there something else, Taylor?” he asked impatiently.

  “O
h! N-no, Your Highness,” she squeaked out, her face flushing bright red, before all of the color leached out of her pale skin. “I-I’ll just go.”

  “Yes. Do that.” He nodded and turned his gaze away. He reached into the inner pocket of black Armani suit jacket and pulled out his ring box. Opening it, he smiled at his most cherished piece of jewelry: his wedding ring. Removing it, he pushed it onto the third finger of his left hand and clenched his hand, as it settled comfortably onto his finger.

  Back where it belongs, he thought to himself.

  Feeling as if he were finally himself. Algerone snapped the ring box closed, and returned the box back to his jacket pocket and settled in for the landing.

  Chapter Four

  T he doorbell ringing caused Valerie’s heart to pound.

  “Mommy? Who is it?” Chikere asked.

  “I don’t know, honey,” Valerie said. “Let’s go see.” She put down the canister of glitter that she’d been helping Dahni and Chiamaka use, and stood, brushing her palms against the apron she wore on top of her clothes. Leaving her children out back with their art projects, the boys making various crafts: planes, cars, or homes built out of popsicle sticks, and the girls painting, sketching, or rather, using glue and dumping various amounts of glitter on top of it; and the guards who patrolled the grounds and discreetly watched over them, Valerie made her way inside the house to the front door.

  She stopped when she heard a key being placed in the lock, her breath coming in short, sharp bursts. She felt her palms becoming sweaty, and though she tried to contain it, a wide grin began to spread across her face. Was it Algerone? Had he actually arrived?

  Looking at the clock that hung on the wall, Valerie counted backwards to the time she’d received the last text message from him, wondering if that was enough time for him to have arrived from Malvidence. She’d received his last text message at around six thirty that morning, and it was almost six o’clock now. A full twelve hours had almost passed. Dinner was almost ready, it was why she was keeping the kids busy outside while the baked chicken alfredo cooked in one oven, and the banana pudding baked in the other. She knew her children, she had to have the salad, bread, and meal all on the table in front of them simultaneously, with the dessert in their eyesight, in order to get them to eat it all. And their drinks had to be far enough away from them that they didn’t fill up on liquids.

  As the door pushed open, Valerie gasped, and tears filled her eyes as she saw the broad shoulders filling the doorway.

  “Algie?” she whispered.

  A wide smile spread across his tanned face and Valerie watched as his shoulders dropped slightly as if a weight had been lifted from them. “Zul ruga,” he groaned, dropping his luggage at the door and rushing forward to lift her body against his own. He held her tightly, crushing her as his arms were like steel bands around her upper back and around her waist. Valerie moaned as she felt his hand fist in her thick, black hair. She breathed in the slightly sweaty, but inherently masculine scent of her husband, her man, and her entire body shivered.

  Dear god, how she’d missed him. She felt a shiver ripple through her body, and cursed her heart’s visceral reaction to his nearness. It had always been this way. No matter how angry she was at him, he had to only hold her, or she need only to smell him and all traces of rage were gone. It made arguing with him extremely difficult.

  Valerie’s arms came up and curled around his shoulders as she buried her head in his chest, feeling her eyes burn with unshed tears. It wasn’t until she heard him whispering words of comfort, his hands moving up and down her back, and her body shuddering with sobs, that she recognized that she was crying.

  So much for the unshed tears.

  However, when she heard her children’s cries of: “Kothrar!” she released him, stepped away, and tried to discreetly wipe away her tears so her children wouldn’t know just how much she’d been affected by their father’s return. While the younger children would be only mildly curious as to why “Mommy” or “Kuthrar” was crying, since they seemed to speak Malvidencian more often when Algerone was home, Valerie was quite sure that her two oldest: AJ and Beaumont would attribute her emotion and tears to their father’s return and would resent him even farther. While she would tell them it was because she was happy, she was prematurely aware of the fact that her sons would not believe her. They had not been the only ones who had been acting out in a way at Algerone’s absence in their lives.

  Valerie had been painting more than usual, leaving her children in the more than capable hands of her parents and siblings, as she shut herself away in her art studio. She’d painted, sculpted, photographed, sketched, and designed, masterpiece after masterpiece, but there had been a common theme among them all. Loneliness. Heartbreak. Desolation. Anger. Everyone who’d seen them, bought them, or heard about them, had remarked upon the turn her art had taken. Many had asked about it. It had been debated about on different forums, blogs, radio shows, magazines, and articles had been written about it. Everyone wanting to know: “Who Broke the Heart of ValHal?”

  She hadn’t necessarily felt brokenhearted. Not really. Just frustrated and angry. That is, before Algerone had shown up. As soon as she’d seen him again, and had taken that first breath in his presence, breathed in his scent again, felt their souls reconnect, she’d realized he’d broken her heart. Broken her. Broken their children. And in essence, broken them. She wasn’t sure if she could forgive him for that.

  “How long are you here for, Kothrar?” Chikere asked almost immediately.

  No one spoke, and Valerie realized she was holding her breath.

  “Only for two weeks, buddy. Sorry. I have to get back to the palace. I left way too soon after just getting back, but I couldn’t stay away from you guys and your mom for too much longer,” Algerone said, a smile and regret evident in his tone.

  Valerie turned, pasting a smile on her face as she regarded her children, even as she felt her spirit plummet to her toes.

  “Well, kids, do you want to finish your projects, or go help Daddy unpack?” she gave them the option, already knowing which one they would pick.

  “Daddy!” they all yelled, all except AJ.

  “I’ll come help you clean up, Kuthrar,” he said, his voice angry.

  Valerie blinked in surprise, then glanced over at Algerone who gave the same look of shock to their oldest.

  “Um… okay. Well, you guys go help, Kothrar, okay?” Valerie stated with a shooing message.

  The four younger kids let out a whoop of excitement, before rushing off upstairs, Algerone hot on their heels, his luggage in his hands. Valerie waited until the hallway was clear before turning to AJ. She quirked an eyebrow at her eldest, and crossed her arms against her chest. When he merely stared at her, she tapped her foot on the floor and continued staring at him silently.

  AJ tossed his arms up in the air. “What, Mom?” he asked in dramatic fashion.

  Got ‘im, Valerie thought to herself. Gosh, kids are so easy.

  “Why didn’t you go with your brothers and sisters to help your father to unpack? You could have had a little time with him to ask him questions, tell him about school, stuff like that, you know, complain about me? Everything you kids like to do when I’m not around?” She smiled at him to let him know that she was aware the kids did those things and she wasn’t bothered by it. “So why didn’t you join them?”

  AJ merely shrugged and turned his face away from her, his face pulled down into a mulish expression. Valerie sighed and walked towards her son. Tugging him gently into her arms, she kissed his forehead, even though she knew he hated it. When he didn’t immediately push away from her and wipe his skin, she knew he was experiencing a maelstrom of feelings he couldn’t express and probably didn’t understand.

  “What’s going on AJ?” she asked him.

  He mumbled underneath his breath and Valerie squatted down to get closer to his lips.

  “Say that again?”

  “I said, I hate him! He’s
never here! He only comes around every so often, he doesn’t stay for long, my friends don’t think he’s real, even my teachers think I’m lying about having a dad. They call you bad names. They say you’re some man’s mistress or his s-slut and that’s why he’s never around where people can see him. And they call us all bastards! I hate him! It’s his fault! I don’t want him here. I want him to go away and never come back!” AJ yelled.

  Valerie gasped and stood up straight, covering her mouth with her hand. Her eyes filled with tears. She knew her children had been being teased, and she knew people in town had said some not so nice things about her. She’d heard them. Hell, they’d been said directly to her. But never in her wildest dreams had she’d expected for her children to be bullied or to have had those things said to their faces.

  “AJ! He is your father. Don’t say those things. You need to respect him. He’s here as much as he’s able,” Valerie stated, trying to comfort her son, even as her mind scrambled with a solution.

  “No he’s not. You’re our father. He’s just a man who comes and visits every so often.”

  A small cough behind her, alerted Valerie to the fact that they weren’t alone, she turned and saw Algerone standing in the doorway, with their other four children surrounding them. She opened her mouth, to say what, she had no idea, but before she could utter anything, AJ, turned and ran for the front door. She heard it open and slam behind him.

  “AJ!” she screamed after him. She headed in his direction but stopped when Algerone held up his hand.

  “Let him go,” he told her.

  “Let him go?” she repeated in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about? That’s our son!”

  “I know, and he needs some time to himself, to blow off some steam.”