“Because of the scandal?” She shot me a sympathetic look when I nodded. “All of my friends have had a scandal. My brothers are the kings of scandals. I don’t think it’s as big a deal as you think it is.”
“Everyone says that, but it doesn’t make it any easier.” I shrugged and reached into the basket, picking up the mouthwash and handing it to her. She took it and opened it, reaching for a cup and rinsing her mouth.
“Is there anything in that basket that cures looking like absolute shit at the party of the year?”
“You look fine. Besides, we’re wearing masks.”
“Very true.” She smiled as she straightened and put the mouthwash back into the basket. “You really thought of everything.”
“I try.”
“I went to Danika’s wedding and by the end of the third song, I thought my feet were going to fall off, and then they announced that under the tables they’d provided flats. I wanted to make out with whoever came up with that idea. I heard it was you.”
“It was. I hate it when my feet hurt at a party but I really hate taking my shoes off, so I figured, why not provide a solution?”
“It was brilliant. And then Erika Max’s twenty-first birthday on the yacht? Oh my God. To die for,” she boasted. “And Renee’s engagement? Amazing. I can’t even wait to see how the wedding will turn out.”
“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful.” I smiled sadly. “They didn’t ask me to do it.”
“Not because of the scandal?” Pilar gasped.
“I lost a lot of clients.” I shrugged. “It was my fault.”
“I bet Thomas didn’t lose anything,” she said, frowning.
“It’s a man’s world.”
“Don’t I know it.” Her frown deepened. “This entire party is proof of that. I’m so annoyed with it all. All of my friends are here, throwing themselves at my brothers as if they didn’t grow up acting like they were like older brothers to them too. It’s gross and incestuous.”
“I’m sure there’s some real incest somewhere in your bloodline.”
“That’s disturbing,” she said, but laughed. “My mother actually says that to my father. It always gets a rise out of him.”
“He wasn’t able to come?”
“He made the trip, but not the party. He’s exhausted.” Her smile turned sad. “He’s not doing well. I know people want me to lie and say he’s fine, but he’s not and I’m tired of lying.”
“I won’t tell anyone.” I put the basket back where it was and set the mask on my face. “Tonight, you’re just a girl who wants to have fun. I’m sure you have at least one friend who’s not vying for your brothers’ attention.” We started walking outside. I looked at her. “What about Joss?”
“Joss.” She laughed. “She’s probably trying not to kill Aramis right now. She can’t stand him and she’s too stupid to see he’s been in love with her for like ever.”
“Aramis? In love? With Joss?” Each word that left my mouth sounded more incredulous than the last. “She’s never talked to me about him.”
“Because she truly doesn’t like him.” Pilar smiled. “She’s a good friend.”
If being a good friend meant not going after one of her brothers, I definitely wouldn’t tell Pilar about Elias and me. Not that there was anything to tell. We reached the Ballroom Grove again and I was glad to see the DJ had taken center stage and everyone was dancing. It looked hilariously out of place—the DJ playing this music with everyone wearing these gowns. It was a complete mindfuck. If any of the past kings would have climbed out of their graves and stumbled upon this scene, they would have been highly confused.
“And to think, someone in this garden will marry my brother in a couple of months.”
“A couple of months?” My voice was nearly a shrill, though I tried hard to play it cool.
Pilar nodded. “Father wants it to happen while he’s still alive.”
“That makes sense.” My heart pounded harder, as if to state its complaint on the matter.
“Nothing in our lives makes sense, but we go along with it anyway.” She had her eyes trained on the party—the DJ, the costumed dancers on stage, the fire-breathers, the acrobats, the people moving on the dance floor.
I was proud of the way things were going. I had only seen a couple of the potential brides walk in through their designated area, but everything from the entrances to the shows seemed to be moving along.
“Where is your brother?” I asked. “I haven’t seen him all night.”
“Around.” She waved a hand. “Eli hates parties.”
“I find that so funny considering he’s always hosting one.”
“Like I said, nothing in our lives makes sense.” She smiled, looking over at me. “Thanks for helping me out earlier. When it comes time to plan my engagement and wedding, I’m calling you.”
“I’ll be there.” I smiled wide.
She walked away and disappeared into the sea of people in costume. I made my way back to one of the tents to make sure things were still running smoothly in there. I was surprised to find it pretty empty when I stepped inside, though there was a group of people congregating around the ice sculptures. I walked over to the food tables to make sure the trays were still filled. Once the caterers showed me they were, I walked back out of the tent and started making my way toward the other, checking the drinks next. As I walked out of that one, my foot caught on a rock, and I stumbled but kept myself upright. When I took a step again, I realized I’d lost one of my heels. I sighed heavily and closed my eyes to the sky. Of course I did. The cottages were nearby, close enough that I could change my shoes and come right back. I headed in that direction. My phone vibrated in the pocket of my skirt as soon as I stepped out of view from the party. I swore under my breath. It was as if my mother had a tracker on me. I answered the phone quickly.
“I’m changing my shoes and coming right back,” I said upon answering.
“Oh, dear. What happened?” My mother’s concern melted my annoyance away.
“Tripped over a rock. You know, the usual thing that happens when you’re hoping the biggest event of your life goes off without a hitch.”
Mom laughed lightly. “Well, Madame Rose is looking for you. She wants to introduce us to the queen, but I’ll let her know you’ll be back shortly.”
“The queen?” I whisper-shouted. “Why?”
“I suppose she wants to thank us.”
“Oh my God. I don’t want to meet her.”
“She’s the queen, Adeline. Of course you want to meet her.”
“I guess.” I walked faster, hating the hop in my step each time I took one. “I’ll look for you when I get back.”
I slowed down as I reached the cottages. There was a couple going into one of the guest rooms. Not a couple. Prince Elias and a woman. It could have been his brother—they were both similar heights and builds, and wearing the same masks—but I knew it was him. Prince Elias was the man of the hour. His outfit was all gold, with gold stitching on the jacket and an ivory shirt underneath with frilly lace at the neck, that made it look even more lavish. He wasn’t wearing a wig, so his dark hair was slicked back, and he looked more regal than any king I’d ever seen. My heart skipped a beat as he disappeared into the cottage with the woman. It wasn’t his cottage. It wasn’t his brother’s either. It must have been hers.
I picked up the pace again and walked inside of my cottage quickly, taking off my shoes as I went over to the desk, to look at the layout again. It was where the Princess of Austria was staying. I wasn’t sure why that bothered me so much. Why have this party at all if he’d already chosen his bride though? Why make us go through the hassle? I reminded myself that I was being paid a lot of money to plan this event, but that thought only silenced my annoyance for a second. I swiped the desk, letting the papers fall to the floor, and turned to the closet. The shoes I’d been wearing were very Victorian and matched the dress perfectly. Thankfully, I’d had it in mind to take silly pictures whi
le here and packed what I liked to call my Mary Poppins shoes. I’d worn them for a costume party a couple of years ago, but they were sensible and cute, and I took them everywhere. I slipped them on, fixed my hair and makeup, and put the mask over my face again. If I was going to meet the queen, I needed to make sure I looked presentable. I walked back out of my cottage and was locking the door when the door to the cottage I’d seen Elias disappear into opened. The woman, who I assumed was the Princess of Austria, walked out first. She seemed to be fixing her hair and mask, as if she’d just had a quickie with the prince. My hate for her grew.
I stood quietly, waiting for them to leave. She walked away. He didn’t. I waited. And waited. And finally, I decided I didn’t care. I didn’t care if he saw me or knew I’d seen him. We had one date. One date, and it hadn’t been life-changing. He didn’t even remember we’d had sex before and that had definitely changed me in a way, so no, he didn’t deserve me obsessing over him or what he did. His face turned as I walked toward him. He nodded slightly, in greeting, and I continued walking. The beauty of the costume was that he had no way of knowing it was me.
I walked between the cottages to take a short cut, and felt someone grab my arm and pull me back. I yelped, turning around to face them. My eyes grew wide when I realized it was Elias. He didn’t know it was me. Did he just grab at random women? My scowl deepened. He probably did. I yanked my arm from his grasp. He let me go. I could barely see his eyes in the darkness and his mask was covering half of his face anyway.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said.
“How do you know it’s me?”
“I know your cottage.” He leaned closer. I backed away and hit the side of the cottage beside me. “I know your hair and your walk. Your mouth. I’ve been trying to locate you since the night of our date.”
“Stop.” My words were shaky. “It was one date. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“It wasn’t nothing,” he said, his face closer still. He brought a hand up to my neck, pressing it against the side as if to check my pulse. “Even in a room full of people, I can’t seem to take my mind off you.”
“You didn’t seem to have me on your mind when you were in her room.”
“Who says you weren’t on my mind?” he ran his hand higher, to my jaw, his thumb just over my bottom lip. “Who says you weren’t the reason I stopped anything from happening?”
“Did you?” I swallowed.
He licked his lips. “Would it matter to you?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” I whispered. “It shouldn’t.”
“Tell me, Adeline.” He ran the tip of his nose along my cheek until he reached my ear. I forgot how to breathe. “Why do I want you this much? Why would I leave my own party and go into town just to find you? Why would one date with you, one we didn’t even fuck in, make me think about you every waking moment of my life?”
“Is any of that true?”
“Would you kiss me if it was?” He pulled back and his eyes searched mine. “Would you let me touch you underneath that dress?”
“Maybe.” I licked my lips, tilting my face higher, hoping he’d press his lips against mine.
“Maybe?” The side of his mouth pulled up. He brought his other hand over the valleys of my breasts and stroked with his long fingers, over the hump of my right, dipping in between them and pulling it out slowly, and over the hump of my left. “Would you let me pull down your bodice and put my mouth on you?”
“Are you going to do it or just stand here and talk about it?” I was panting, needy, as I pushed myself onto him.
“What good would it be?” He leaned back in, pressing his lips against my neck. “To start something we don’t have time to finish?”
“Is that what you told the Princess of Austria when you went back to her cottage with her?” I pushed him away and ducked to the side. “We can’t do this.” I shook my head as I tried to catch the breath he stole from me. “We had our date. We can’t do this again.”
This time, when I turned around and walked away, he didn’t follow.
Chapter 16
Because of everything I’d heard about this royal family, I always assumed the queen would be uptight. I hadn’t expected her warm, radiant smile, or the way she shook my hand while holding my arm with the other as if to almost hug me as I stood from my curtsy.
“You’ve outdone yourself,” she said. “This is exactly what I picture when I think of the Versailles in eighteenth-century France.”
“Minus the toilet problem,” I said.
“Minus the toilet problem.” She laughed and glanced over at Joss, who was standing beside her. “Why haven’t you brought her over for Sunday dinner?” She looked back at me. “You must come to Sunday dinner. It’s friends and family and we love welcoming new faces.”
“Yes! I agree with Mother.” The excited voice was Princess Pilar’s. She pranced over with a wide smile on her face, looking a lot better than she did when I left her. “You must come to Sunday dinner.”
“Pilar.” The queen said in a voice full of warning. “Pipe down.”
“I’m fine, Mother.” Her eye roll wasn’t obvious on her face, but dripping all over her words. “So, you’ll come this Sunday, Addie? May I call you Addie?”
“Pilar.” The queen warned.
“You may definitely call me Addie.” I smiled.
“So, it’s settled. We’ll see you Sunday,” the queen said. “Will you join, Madame Perla?”
“Oh, I would, but I don’t think it’s appropriate, all things considered.” My mother gave her a small smile.
“Nonsense,” the queen said. “Leave the politics to the men. It’s their shiny little annoyance to deal with.”
“I really shouldn’t,” Mother said. “Neither should Adeline. It may look bad.”
“No one will know,” the queen said. “Do you know how many people come over that the press doesn’t have a clue about?”
“She’s been under a lot of scrutiny lately,” my mother added. The shame of my past tainted my vision with unshed tears. I blinked them away and composed myself, but stood quietly as I waited. If the queen no longer wanted to invite me over because of my scandal, I would understand.
“All of us are under scrutiny,” the queen said. “If I let the tabloids dictate who was allowed in my house, I would never have anyone over.”
“I respect that,” my mother said.
I smiled. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Oh! The dance. We have to make sure all of the ladies are lined up for Elias,” the queen said.
“I’ll get to it,” Joss said, squeezing my arm as she walked by. Princess Pilar followed her, leaving my mother and me standing there.
“You shouldn’t go.”
“You heard the queen. I can’t just not go if she invited me.”
“Make something up. Go to London.”
“I’m not going to turn down an invitation from the queen because my father doesn’t know where to draw the line and back down,” I whisper-shouted.
“Your father has worked his entire life for one cause. You already put his reputation in peril once. Do you really want to do that again?” she asked. “Remember who paid for your schooling. Remember who helped you get approved for loans when you decided to start this business. You’d be nothing without him.” She turned to walk away. “Tomorrow, you’ll leave before everyone else does, go back to the villa, and pack up and return to London. In their court, you’re nothing but a jester, someone for them to befriend and then discard. Don’t forget that.”
I ran for the nearest restroom. I needed to be alone for a moment. The event was running smoothly without me anyway. Those were the perks of hiring trusted people to entertain. When I reached the bathroom, I went into a stall and locked it, letting out a breath as I leaned against the door. The main door opened and I listened as two women giggled and walked to the stalls beside me.
“Personally, I don’t know why anyone would want to marry him,” one of th
em said. “My friend Fergie had sex with him and he didn’t even go down on her.”
“I’ve heard that about him,” the other replied. “Such a waste.”
Both toilets flushed at the same time and the doors opened. They walked over to the sinks.
“He is good-looking though,” one of them said.
“I prefer Aramis. He’s so hot.”
“Elias seems so angry all the time.”
“Aramis seems like such a good time.”
They both laughed at that and walked out of the bathroom. It was kind of refreshing to hear that not everyone here was in love with Elias. I thought about what they said and thought about my first time with him. He most certainly did go down on women. He’d done it to me and he didn’t even know me, so they were wrong on that account. My eyes slammed shut as the memories flooded my brain. It had been so long, you’d think they’d be grainy at best, but the feel of his lips against my skin was as clear as if it were happening this instant. My heart pounded as I stood there. Earlier, he would have kissed me. He would have touched me, teased me. I had no doubt. The best thing I did was put an end to it. I opened my eyes and walked out of the stall, washing my hands and drying them before walking out.
By the time I made it back to the party, the dance was in full swing. Elias had one of the ladies in his arms as they danced across the makeshift ballroom floor we’d had set up. The music was soft and the lights were dimmed to a soft blue hue, just as Madame Rose had requested. It looked beautiful. Fit for a king. As I watched, I felt something akin to jealousy growing inside me. I’d never wished for much. I’d always been the kind of person who went along with whatever life threw at her. I tried my best to make life easier for my parents, the sex tape being the only slip ever despite it being a pretty destructive one. In that moment, I wished to be one of those women, because at least they had a shot in the dark at the prince. It was something I would never have. I felt someone stand beside me and smiled when I realized it was Pierre.
“Did you have fun?” I asked. He nodded once and looked at the scene ahead. “It’s quite something, isn’t it?”
The Sinful King: By New York Times Bestselling Author Page 10
