The Sinful King: By New York Times Bestselling Author

by Contreras, Claire

“Nana, I didn’t bring her here for you to interview her,” I said.

  “I don’t mind.” Addie smiled at me. “How long were you Eli’s nanny?”

  “From the time he was born until he turned seventeen.” Nana raised an eyebrow. “He was a good kid most of the time. Aramis on the other hand . . . ” She shook her head. “My heart goes out to Patty for having to deal with that one.”

  “I can see that,” Addie said, laughing. “Do you still visit?”

  “Not really. They come and visit me once in a while when they remember I exist.” She winked.

  “I always visit you.” I frowned. “I just have more responsibilities now.”

  “I’m joking. I know. How is it going for you?”

  “Good. I think good. I’ve met with the cabinet a few times. There are two members I trust implicitly and already ran my idea by. I’m hoping to tell the rest of them at the end of the month.”

  “What idea?” Addie asked.

  “My Parliament idea.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Already?”

  “I figure it’ll take us a long time to perfect it, so we better start now.”

  “And people will vote for the people in Parliament?”

  “Yes.”

  “So you do like the way the English do things.” She grinned.

  “Don’t tell anyone.” I poked her.

  “Your secret is safe with me.” She laughed.

  “I’d still have enough of a say in things, of course, but it would be a lot more democratic than it is now.”

  “My father will be thrilled,” she mumbled, looking less than thrilled.

  “Maybe he’ll think his daughter was the brains behind all of this.”

  “I don’t care.” She shrugged and looked at Nana. “My father stopped talking to me for a mistake I made in the past and this whole thing hasn’t helped.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, love. That must be difficult.”

  “You know, surprisingly, it’s not,” Addie said. “I feel kind of . . . free. That’s horrible, isn’t it?” Her shoulders dropped slightly.

  “It’s not horrible. It’s human.” I set my hand over her knee.

  She smiled at me.

  “You two look beautiful together,” Nana said. “Your children will be the most gorgeous little angels.”

  “Not so fast, Nan.” I chuckled, unsure what reaction Addie would have, but when I looked at her, she was still smiling, and that made me a lot more comfortable.

  We stayed the entire afternoon at Nana’s, just talking, like normal people, like all the commoners my father had looked down upon all those years and taught me to do the same, and I felt . . . free.

  Chapter 39

  Adeline

  I’d officially been living in Paris for a month and as Elias promised, I hadn’t been the least bit bored. I was still commuting to and from London, which as my mother warned, wasn’t great. It was exhausting and would definitely get old soon, but I enjoyed helping Elias with things for the Crown and seeing him whenever I had a chance. He’d been so busy setting things up for Parliament and a more democratic government that he barely had time to sleep, let alone travel to London to see me. Joslyn and Pilar had been keeping me company when I was in town and he was holed up in his office or holding cabinet meetings in Versailles.

  I’d gotten into town yesterday, went straight to a shelter for abused women, and had tea with them on behalf of the Crown. It was part of Elias’s newly established outreach, where each one of us—Elias himself, Aramis, Pilar, and I would back causes and build foundations. He was definitely taking a playbook from the English, and I was here to root him on along the way. Today, I had to fly back to London for a meeting, and after that, I promised my uncle I’d go to Marbella to attend the grand opening of his bookstore. I’d be back in Paris on Tuesday, then back in London on Thursday, and back in Paris next Sunday. It was definitely a lot, but for Elias, I’d shoulder the burden for now.

  When we were together, we discussed everything before getting lost in each other’s arms. In the morning, we woke up and shared breakfast before going about our days. Today was no different. I’d just finished packing a small overnight bag for my trip; since I had everything I needed here and in London, I didn’t really need much. Now all I had to do was wait for Elias to finish up the meeting he was holding in his office so that he could drop me off at the airport. For now, I’d be flying in a private jet owned by the Crown and used by them and their staff. I didn’t want to, but I also didn’t want to be followed by frenzied cameramen asking questions about an impending engagement. According to the tabloids and all of the news channels in France, everyone was rooting for us to be married and start a family.

  I was walking by his office when I noticed the door slightly ajar and slowed down. Maybe he was done with his meeting. When I heard voices, I stopped walking and waited just outside the door.

  “Well, I have to say, making her your girlfriend definitely helped you with the press,” the man said.

  “It was a leap of faith,” Elias stated.

  “All because of a commoner,” the man said. I couldn’t see him, but I could hear the awe in his voice. “You have to keep her around until after Parliament is complete.”

  “I will,” Elias said. “She’s also taking up some responsibility on behalf of the Crown.”

  “That will boost morale through the roof,” the man said. “Incredible.”

  “It is incredible indeed.”

  “I wanted to understand what would lead you to break things off with my daughter, and I guess I understand. Your father was always a very traditional man, but he’d lost his touch.”

  “The people lost faith in him,” Elias said. “Probably because he held tradition a little too closely.”

  “I understand,” the man said. “The throne always comes first.”

  “It does.”

  “Any chance you’ll go back to my daughter once everything works out? Maybe you’ll need to add a little flair to this love story and keep the people on their toes. Take the spotlight away from Parliament for a second while you finalize that,” the man said with a hearty laugh.

  “Maybe.” Elias laughed. “You never know what might happen.”

  My heart sank. I pressed my back to the wall behind me.

  Maybe?

  Had all of this been to better his public image? Using me, a commoner. As I stood there, letting that sink in, it all started to make sense. It wasn’t possible. Was it? I thought about what Aramis had told me. We’re actors, Adeline. We pretend a lot for the public. Had he been pretending when he said he broke things off with Emily? Was he still seeing her while I was away? I felt sick. Clutching my stomach, I ran to the guest bathroom nearby and locked myself in it, dropping my duffel bag and holding onto the sink. It had to be a mistake. All of this was obviously a misunderstanding. I heard footsteps and doors open and close and when I was ready, I took a nice deep breath and let it out. I grabbed my bag and walked back to the office. The doors were closed, so I pushed one of them open, but it was empty.

  Chapter 40

  “Adeline.” It was Pierre. I turned to face him. He handed me a folded piece of paper. “We were looking for you. Elias had to run down to Versailles to handle some things. He left you this note and said he tried calling you but couldn’t reach you.”

  “Oh. My phone must still be off from last night.” I shoved the note inside the side pocket of my bag and focused on not thinking about the conversation I’d overheard. “Are you taking me to the airport?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s go then. I don’t want to be late.” I brushed past him and walked out.

  “Are you okay?” Pierre asked in the elevator. “You’re shaking.”

  “Just . . . a lot on my mind.” I glanced away from him.

  Pierre got on a phone call as we stepped out of the elevator and continued to talk as we were on our way to the airport. I took my phone out and turned it back on and saw a text message fr
om Elias, one from Etienne, and another from my mother. My mother. She’d have a ball with this if I told her, so I decided I wouldn’t. I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions until I spoke to Elias directly. When Pierre hung up the phone, he exhaled heavily. I didn’t look up from my phone, but I felt his eyes on me.

  “Do you think you’ll be able to handle this forever?” he asked. I set my phone in my bag and met his gaze.

  “The traveling back and forth?”

  “Well, you’d have to stop traveling back and forth this often at some point.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. He hasn’t proposed or anything.” I shrugged a shoulder. And according to his conversation with Emily’s father, it wasn’t his intention.

  “He’d be an idiot not to.”

  “Why? Because things are going so well?”

  “I’ve never seen him this happy.”

  “Do you think that’s because of me or because he feels like a good king now?” I asked as the driver parked the car. My door was opened by one of the security detail, but I remained seated, looking at Pierre.

  “I don’t understand the question.”

  “You’re his personal secretary, right? His confidant. The person he runs everything by.” I grabbed the handle of my bag.

  “Yes.”

  “Was the reason he broke things off with Emily and asked me to be his girlfriend because he knew it would help his reputation?”

  “Adeline.” Pierre looked shocked, and it was the only reaction I needed from him to confirm my worst fear.

  “So it’s true.” I shook my head, trying to fight the tears I felt coming. “He used me.”

  “No. He loves you.”

  “Does he though?” I blinked, wiping a tear. “Who else knew about this?”

  “There isn’t anything to know, Addie.”

  “Who else knew, Pierre?”

  “The queen. That’s it.”

  “Of course.” I laughed, getting out of the car. “God, I feel so stupid.”

  “Wait.” Pierre ran after me. “Adeline, you can’t just leave like this. He’ll want to talk to you.”

  “For what?”

  “To explain.”

  “Explain what?” I yelled.

  “Wait.” Pierre pushed a button on his phone. “Eli. Yes, I know, but there’s been...” He paused. “I know.” He paused again. “Adeline needs to speak to you.” He paused again, then frowned as he looked at his phone. When he looked up, I knew Elias had hung up on him.

  “Wow.” I shook my head again.

  “He’s in a meeting with the Pope. He can’t just—”

  “He shouldn’t have answered the call then,” I said. “You said I needed to speak to him and he hung up.”

  “It’s the Pope, Addie.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope the Pope has time to listen to Elias repent for his sins.” I walked toward the plane. “And let it be known that the only reason I’m still taking this flight is because I refuse to pay for a ticket right now. Let the Crown pay for their newest employee.”

  Pierre didn’t follow me on the plane, but there was a security detail waiting for me. A woman named Mayra. I’d met her previously. Today, I didn’t even wave at her. I just walked to the last seat, sat, and started to cry.

  Chapter 41

  Elias

  “How could you let her get on that flight?” I paced the Hall of Mirrors, pinching the bridge of my nose.

  “What was I supposed to do?”

  “I don’t know. Stop her and bring her here where I could speak to her.” I dropped my hand and looked at him as I paced in his direction. “What did she say? How did she look?”

  “She was upset.”

  “Jesus.” I sighed.

  “Why didn’t you just tell her from the beginning?” That was my brother, who was standing by a window looking out into the gardens. “It’s not like you were using her. Not really anyway. You love her and wanted to be with her. This was a good way to deal with both.”

  He was right. I should have just have been honest with her. At least then, I could have explained the timing but reassured her that no matter what I would always choose her.

  “I need to go to London.” I leaned into the mirrored wall, placing my forehead against it and closing my eyes.

  “You have back-to-back meetings this week. You’re meeting with the cabinet in fifteen minutes,” Pierre said. I straightened and turned so that my back was against the glass.

  “Meaning, her father,” Aramis stated.

  “Yes, I’m well aware that I’m meeting with her fucking father, Aramis. Thanks for the update.”

  “Just call her,” he suggested.

  “I don’t think a phone call will fix this,” Pierre said.

  I glared at him. He didn’t cower and I didn’t expect him to. I glared at him, screamed at him, used him as a literal punching bag at times, which I wasn’t proud of, and the man never backed down. It was what I liked about him. It was what made him stand out and why he’d gone from being my security to being my personal secretary. None of those things made me not want to kill him right now. He should have known not to let her go. He should have known not to answer questions that would be misconstrued. I said that last thought aloud.

  My brother laughed. “No offense, but how did she misconstrue the fact that you broke things off with Emily and started dating her because you needed to appeal to the people?”

  I turned my glare in his direction. He also didn’t cower. Much. He did, however, have enough sense to leave the room without another word.

  “He’s right, you know,” Pierre said. “It would have been impossible for her to believe anything other than the fact that she was being used.”

  “Why would you say that? Why would she think that? She knows me. Really knows me. She has to know I would never do that to her.”

  “She’s always had her reservations about you.”

  “About me?” I frowned. “I’ve never given her reason to have reservations about me.”

  “Her father hates what you stand for and her mother doesn’t trust you. Her friends, who know your family, warned her against you. How could she not have reservations?”

  “Her friends like me. Her mother likes me.” My frown deepened. “And Adeline is her own person.”

  “Do you remember what you said on the broadcast? When you told the world you left Emily for another woman?”

  “Yes, that I’d been in love with another woman for some time.”

  “You never used the word love. You said you’d been seeing another woman for some time.”

  “No I didn’t.”

  “I have the entire speech written down.” He waved the stupid clipboard he was always walking around with. “You said...” He flipped papers and read from the page. “I’ve been seeing another woman for quite some time. She doesn’t come from a long line of royal blood or a family of knights. She’s a hard worker, some would say, a commoner, but there’s nothing common about her, as I’m sure there’s nothing common about you.”

  “You wrote that down?” I walked over to him and yanked the clipboard from his hand, reading the paper.

  “I figured it would be good to write your speeches down from now on if you’re going to continue to do broadcasts. You know, so you won’t repeat yourself often.” Pierre stared at me. “What do you think?”

  “I think your penmanship is shit.” I was brooding. I knew I was. I couldn’t help it. “So you’re saying because I focused on describing her like this . . . she thought I was using her? She liked this speech. She told me that herself.”

  “What is she supposed to say, Your Majesty?”

  “I hate you.”

  “I agree. She should have said that, but she’s too in love with you to think that.”

  “No, I mean I hate you for pointing this shit out now.” I shoved the clipboard on his chest. “I’m meeting with the cabinet and then I’m going to London. I don’t care what else I have lined up.”

  * * *
>
  Walking up to the King’s Apartments and into the room, where the four members of my cabinet were sitting around the round table we had set up there, was testing. The last person I wanted to see was Adeline’s father. I hadn’t seen him since the night of the coronation celebration here and that hadn’t ended well. It wasn’t like I was hiding from him. If anything, it was the other way around. He hadn’t attended our last two meetings. The rumor was that he was putting together more parades and riots. If that was the case, I meant to get to the bottom of it today. The time for rioting was over. It should have been over when Adeline and I visited some of the families who took the biggest impact from the failed economy. The last thing I had time for was a bratty man and I fully intended to put him in his place if he stepped out of line. So far, they’d only seen the compliant king. Today, they’d see a ruthless one.

  As I stepped inside, the four of them stood and bowed. I walked over to my seat at the head of the table.

  “Gentlemen.” I sat down. They followed suit.

  “This is new.” Monsieur Gaston tapped the wooden table twice. He was one of the two members I got along with best. One of the loyalists, if you may.

  “I was tired of sitting down and being looked down upon when the four of you spoke,” I said.

  “It served a better purpose,” Monsieur Bouchard said.

  “Funny you should bring that up, because I’m finding it incredibly difficult to find what purpose you serve on this cabinet,” I said. The four of them sat up straighter, their eyes widening. Good. “Do you have a reason for missing our last two meetings?”

  “I’m in the middle of a divorce,” he said. “I figured you’d know that being that you’re my daughter’s supposed boyfriend, though I will say, I like the new tabloid stories. The ones calling the entire relationship a sham.”

  “Similar to the rumors of you planning riots all over the city.”

  “Those aren’t rumors.” He smiled, a cynical smile. “The people do not like that they have no say in their government.”