by Malone, Nana
Tressel’s eyes went wide. “What do I have to apologize for?. All I’ve ever done is what’s best for her.”
I gripped the arms of the seat to keep from launching myself over the desk and beating his ass. “Is that what you call stealing from her? Making her destitute and effectively stranding her in a strange city?”
“She could have had her money back at any time. All she had to do was—”
“Give up a part of herself.” I finished for him. “I’m glad she’s stronger than you ever will be. You won’t ever be in a position to hurt her again.”
Tressel narrowed his gaze. “Was it you? Were you the one who put the money in her account?”
I was. But I didn’t want credit for it. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is you calling her and apologizing right now.”
Tressel’s gaze flitted to my brother. “And if I don’t?”
Sebastian shrugged. “Well, given that my baby brother is quite fond of your daughter and wants to put a ring on it…”
I nodded my agreement. “Yep, the king and I have been practicing our Single Ladies dance. Gonna put that shit up on YouTube.”
Seb’s lips twitched. “Like I was saying, because Bryna is your daughter, I will show leniency. So instead of rotting in prison, I’m going to exile you.”
“You have no right!” Tressel bellowed. “I sit on the Regents Council!”
“Sat.” Sebastian sat back in his chair. “We had a vote last night to remove you. Outside those doors are two emmisaries who will collect your voting ring and deliver your papers. It’s been a while since someone has been removed forcibly, so Ethan had to look up the law, but we found it.” Sebastian grinned at me. “And you have your nemesis to thank for the leniency. Because I’m pretty sure Lady Bryna would want you in jail and have zero qualms about it.”
“You cannot remove me. I have friends on the Council!”
“Do you mean Renard, Thomas and Everly? Yes, well, as soon as they saw the evidence, they were happy enough to vote you off the council. As a matter of fact, they voted for imprisonment. When it was all said and done, I didn’t even need to use my additional voting seats.”
I grinned at Tressel. The man who had tried to ruin me. “Looks like you're out of allies. Now, you can call your daughter, or you can go to jail. Seems like the crow you're about to eat should be more palatable than inmate dick, but hey, no judgement if that’s what you prefer.”
Seb snort-laughed then muttered. “You’re such a dick.”
I tried to school the grin playing on my lips. “I see what you did there. Punny.”
My brother couldn’t contain his laugh after that.
We both watched in silence as Tressel picked up his phone.
Epilogue
lucas
I finally had a family. A family of liars and cheats but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
“Penny, I love you like the sister I’ve never had, but you are bloody mafia.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “This said from the former grifter. I’m just a clumsy Royal Guard. Who in their right mind would believe I’m mafia?”
I cracked my neck. The way the game worked was I’d have to find somebody else to second my mafia conviction. If I could swing someone over to my side my beloved sister in law would be out.
My options were slim. It was me against the queen. Her father and mother were playing so they’d side with her. I had Bryna, but they had become besties. Ariel would always choose Penny. That’s just how they rolled. My choices were Michael, Penny’s brother, Jinx, Roone, and Sebastian. But Penny had Sebastian by the balls even if he wanted to side with me.
There I said it, the king was pussy whipped. The way he massaged his thigh and he shifted uncomfortably, I knew he would side with her. She was using sex to get what she wanted.
I lifted a brow at my brother who shrugged and said, “Sorry bro, she’s my wife and she can literally torture me any way she sees fit.”
Penny smiled sweetly at her husband. “That’s right sweetheart. Besides, I’d never lie to you.”
Sebastian barked out a laugh. “I’m not so sure about that.”
Those two were hopeless. Honestly, they probably should just excuse themselves to run off and bone. I’d already caught them twice in compromising-I-needed-to-wash-my-eyes-out positions around the palace.
So what if Bryna and I had been caught once in the gardens. I was the prince, it was my prerogative. He was the king, he should bloody well know better.
“Roone, mate, you with me?”
Roone shifted his glance back and forth between the two of us. Penny gave him the sweetest grin. That mother fucker was waffling. “I dunno. She is a pretty bad liar. And you got us all in the last round.”
“Why are you bringing up old shit?” Okay, so yes, I’d decimated the royal house in the last round of mafia. But honestly who was going to hold grudges? “Bryna? Baby. Are you really going to side with Penny?”
The love of my life laughed. “I was the first one you killed off in the last round!”
I stifled my chuckle. “But that was strategy darling. You can always call me on my bullshit. I had to take you out.”
“I’ll make it up to you later, but right now I’m siding with Penny.” She winked at me and my fucking dick wanted to follow her…right over to the enemy camp. Traitor.
In the end, my ally came from the most unlikely place. “I second Lucas’s mafia vote,” The dowager queen said with a laugh.
Penny’s mouth hung open. “But Mum!” She used the British phrasing to avoid confusion between the dowager queen and her own mother.
Queen Alexa smiled. “You know how much I love you darling, but your nose crinkles every time you fib. It’s been that way since you were little.”
Sebastian snorted. “Now you tell me…”
Penny’s mouth hung open. “But—”
I held up my hand. “Oh no you don’t. No talking your way out of this one. You’ve had a vote and a second. Show your card!”
Penny harrumphed and turned over her queen of diamonds card marked clearly with an ‘M’. “Fine, you win,” she sulked.
I jumped up with my arms pumping in triumph. “Ha! Told you!! She is MAFIA!”
Roone clutched his heart as if the idea that he could have been fooled by Penny truly wounded him. Most everyone else groaned.
Queen Alexa laughed when I picked her up and swung her around. Bryna wrapped her arms around me. “Congratulations Your Highness. I’m so sorry I sided with the enemy.” Then she lowered her voice so only I could hear. “Is this the part where you punish me for my treachery? I seem to recall something about handcuffs some time ago…and other toys?”
All the blood rushed straight to my dick. “Right, that’s us done. Goodnight family.”
Sebastian groaned. “But you can’t leave now. We’re just getting started.”
“Sorry big brother. My future princess is ready for bed. So I gotta go.”
From the corner Roone gagged. I flipped him off. To my surprise Queen Alexa snort laughed.
I kissed Bryna soundly on the lips, then surveyed my family. It wasn’t the family I’d always dreamed about. It was better. Infinitely better. I’d dreamed too small. They surpassed my wildest dreams. “Goodnight everyone. See you tomorrow.”
And for once I could say that with confidence. I didn’t have to be afraid to love them. They weren’t going to be ripped out of my grasp. Not now. Not ever.
I squeezed Bryna tighter and murmured, “I seem to remember a promise about the freakiest thing I could ever think of…I hope you're ready because I’ve been mulling it over.”
She gave me a wink and slight smile that nearly felled me. “Bring it on. Is this the time I mention that I’ve already gotten a hold of your toys and I know how to use them?”
Fuck I loved this woman. “Yes, this is the perfect time to mention that.”
The mission: Go undercover and protect my best friend’s little sister. It should have been
easy. Too bad she hated me on sight.
Find out what happens next in ROYAL TEASE!
FLIP THE PAGE FOR A SNEAK PREVIEW OF ROYAL TEASE————>
Sneak Preview of ROYAL TEASE
Roone
“Do you see what I see?”
From the corner of the bar, I shoved my glasses up the bridge of my nose. They were just for show, strictly part of the disguise. Right then, they were in my way.
I tapped my ear com. “Yeah, I see what you see.”
“Well, are you going to do something about it, or do I need to get up and do it?”
As it turned out Ariel was a ball buster. Though there wasn’t anyone else I’d rather watch my back, except maybe Penny. “Yeah, I got this.”
Jessa McLean was currently trying to break up a fight in a bar, all 5 foot 4 inches of her. Basically, a recipe for disaster.
Her company, Evans PR, worked crisis management. Their current roster included mostly corporate clients and a few A-list actors and musicians. Jessa was on the corporate side though, which was a relief, because faking an entertainment resume was next to impossible.
But at the moment, two of her clients were wasted and about to get in a fight.
“Come on, Romeo, do your thing, or this is going to get ugly.”
I sighed. I wasn’t too thrilled about the role I was about to play. I was supposed to go in as client, the last thing on earth I wanted. Evans Public Relations was my soon-to-be PR firm for a business I hadn’t even owned until Ariel got her hands on me. And the company was supposedly in the matchmaking business.
Ariel and I were playing a brother and sister team, so it was perfect, except Jessa McLean was fucking well fit. The kind of gorgeous you see in magazines. We’d been watching her for nearly two weeks to find our best angle of approach, and I could see why the two wankers were about to get in a fight over her.
Dark hair, wide hazel eyes, slender, but man was she stacked. Part of me couldn’t even believe she was Sebastian’s sister, but Ariel and I had done our due diligence. This was the little sister to my best mate. So, I really couldn’t be thinking about how stacked she was.
Get it together.
I downed the rest of my beer and pushed away from the table in the back corner. Stealthily, I sauntered over.
“Piss off mate. I was here first,” the dark-haired guy said.
“What are you? Mad? Clearly she was enjoying talking to me. She can make her own decisions.” The shorter blond guy shoved the taller, darker bloke in the shoulder. The darker bloke shoved right back, but the blond guy, despite being smaller, apparently knew how to handle himself. He evaded the shove and came back with a punch. All the while, Jessa was standing in the middle. “Oh my God, the two of you will be placed on probation if you cannot get your act…”
I wasn’t sure which one shoved her, but she went flying. I hadn’t moved that fast in a long time, but a spark of adrenaline fired in my veins. I was going to fucking murder those idiots.
I could hear Ariel cursing in my ear piece. The short blond guy, to his credit, did try and reach for Jessa, but the dark-haired guy was too far gone. He was paying zero attention. What I wanted to do was stop and remove their hands so they could never put them on her again. But, I had my directive.
I dove for her, managing to catch her and drag her to my body just before she hit the ground.
Startled, she whipped her head around, hair cascading behind her. “Oh my God.”
“Are you all right?”
Behind us, I could hear the chaos. In my ear piece, Ariel was giving me the blow by blow. Punches flying, remove the target.
Jessa’s eyes were wide, pinned to some spot behind me. I didn’t really have time for this shit. “Are you okay?”
She nodded absently and tried to scurry around me, heading right back for the fight. “Are you mad? Those two numbnuts are throwing blows, and the rest of this place is about to go off like a powder keg, and you’re running back into the fight?”
She glared at me like I was crazy, her hazel eyes flashing fire at me. “Those two assholes have managed not to have any negative publicity for six months. Considering they hate each other, do you understand how much work I put into that?”
First, her accent surprised me. It was American. Second, she wasn’t intimidated by me in the least. I was six foot three, I was well aware that I looked intimidating. But it seemed Jessa McLean didn’t give two shits and thought she could handle it all herself.
I forced myself to strip the aggression out of my voice. Remember the cover, you eejit. Roone Scott wouldn’t go caveman. The pseudonym would take getting used to. But Roone Ainsley was too traceable. A quick internet search and she’d find out I’d played rugby at Eton and that I knew the king. Ariel was good, but it was risky trying to fully erase me from the internet. “I understand, but you can’t go back into that fight.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist and gently pulled her back when she tried to run around me. “Are you insane? I have to stop this, or those idiots are going to undo my six months of hard work.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” Added to the list of things I couldn’t tell her: Your brother, the King of the Winston Isles, and also my best mate, would like me to keep you safe.
Jessa struggled in my arms, and I did the only thing I could think of in that moment. I leaned down, picked her up, fireman style, and headed for the door, just as a few other assholes in the bar started to weigh in on the fight.
Jessa, as it turned out, was a fighter, though an ineffectual one because her fists were tiny. However, that didn’t stop her from whacking me on the back several times as I carried her through the crowd, out the door, and into the parking area.
When I gently set her down back on her feet, she laid into me. “What in the world? Are you insane? Are you some kind of psycho? I have a job to do.”
“Does your job involve getting hurt because two assholes are too drunk to talk their shit out like normal people?”
“My job involves babysitting and making sure they don’t act like assholes.”
“Then I’m sorry to say, you are very bad at your job, and I’m seriously reconsidering.”
She whipped on me then. “I will have you know, I am excellent at my job. I am the best publicist at Evans Public Relations. I can turn the bitterest of rivals into best friends for both of their benefits. You just interrupted before I could stop those two idiots.”
I couldn’t help it, my lips twitched. She was spunky. And to be fair, I couldn’t be blamed, because her tits were legitimately bouncing right in front of me. I fought to keep my gaze on her eyes. “I admire your determination, but I honestly don’t think I can hire a publicist who doesn’t know when she’s beaten.”
She blinked up at me. “What the hell do you mean, hire?”
I sighed and reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my card. “I’m Roone Scott. My sister and I own Only You Dating Service. Rick Evans invited me to the event tonight to come and watch you work. I have to tell you, so far, I’m not impressed.”
Instead of being cowed, or even acting concerned, she just planted a hand on her hip and let her gaze flip all over me. Then her chin went up. “Only You, huh? Funny, I thought you’d be more handsome. Now if you don’t mind, I have a job to do.” Then I had no choice but to watch as the girl I was supposed to be protecting walked into the middle of the fight as I stood there, completely dumbfounded.
After a moment, Ariel joined me in the parking lot. “Smooth. Real smooth. All said and done, I think you made one hell of an impression.”
I slid her a glance and muttered, “Shut up.” Then I pulled my phone out of my pocket and made a call. When Sebastian answered with a terse hello, I said, “Contact made. We’re going dark.” I hung up to find Ariel smirking at me.
“I see that look on your face.” Ariel said.
“There’s no look. That’s my determined face.” I scoffed.
She laughed. “Oh yeah? That also l
ooks a lot like your, ‘I’m thinking about boning her’ look. Let me just remind you, this girl has lived in the shadows most of her life. Her father has changed her name three times and has gone so far as to give her a little plastic surgery. She’s hard to get to and difficult to get to know, so you are not scaring her off. Do you understand?”
You better keep that in check because that is not why you’re here. You’re here to protect her.
Yeah, but who was going to protect her from me?
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Thank You
Thank you for reading BASTARD PRINCE! I hope you enjoyed this installment from the ROYALS UNDONE Series.
Reviews help other readers find books. I appreciate all reviews. Please leave a review on your retailer’s site or on Goodreads to help other readers discover my books.
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Don’t miss the other books in the Royals series in reading order
ROYALS UNDERCOVER
Cheeky Prince
Cheeky Royal
Cheeky King
ROYALS UNDONE
Royal Bastard
Bastard Prince
ROYALS UNITED
Royal Tease
Teasing the Princess
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