by Wood, Vivian
“All right. Get your stuff together. I want to leave in thirty minutes.” He heads out of the door, leaving it wide open.
I wallow in bed for another minute, inhaling the smell of our scents mixed together. It’s funny; if none of this had happened, I could’ve really liked Margot.
Not that it would have done either of us much good… I’m still going to be saddled with some long-faced dullard from my grandmother’s list. This little event will actually only speed up the process, I fear.
Going to the closet, I start pulling down the suits and jeans hanging inside, my core filling with dread.
Chapter Forty-Two
Margot
I unbolt the door of my tiny Bushwick apartment, opening the door. Instantly there are camera flashes and reporters shouting my name.
“Margot! Margot! Are you and Prince Stellan an item?”
“Do you plan to move into one of his castles?”
“Margot!”
I see a flash of red hair. Pippa edges through the crowd, throwing a few elbows. “Move, please! Move!” Her British accent makes her sound more polite, but I can tell from her expression that she’s actually pretty fucking annoyed.
Welcome to my new life, Pippa. It’s hell on earth.
She eventually makes it to the door and squeezes herself in. Then she shuts the door behind herself, giving her long mane of red hair a little shake. She smoothes her hands down her pristine pink floral dress and pulls her oversized white leather handbag onto her shoulder.
“That was insane!” she says, looking at me with wide eyes. She jogs a brown paper bag full of groceries on her hip. “I brought you bagels.”
My eyes well up. I rush over and give her a tight squeeze, surprising her a little. “I’m so glad you are here.”
Pippa hugs me back with her free arm. “I’m just glad I’m in town.” She bites her lip, pulling back and looking at me. “Although I have to admit, if I wasn’t visiting, you never would have met Stellan.”
“None of this is your doing.” I tug the paper bag out of her arms, heading over to the kitchen and setting it down on the counter. “It’s one part my fault, one part Stellan’s. He could’ve just told me who he was. Or maybe handled the aftermath a little better.”
Pippa sighs, brushing a strand of her hair back. “Yeah. But really, it’s the American press that’s the problem. They’re having a field day with the whole situation.”
I wrinkle my nose. “I know. The tabloids are running all kinds of headlines about me. Mostly focusing on the idea of a rags to riches story, which is almost completely made up.” I wince. “Well, they aren’t wrong about where I came from. They’re just making up lies about where I’m going.”
She looks around my tiny apartment, screwing up her face. Walking over to my sofa, she sits down. “I’m guessing you haven’t heard anything from Stellan, then?”
I snort. “No.”
Pippa tosses her handbag down. “I think the whole royal family is on lockdown. It’s been one scandal after another for them this year.”
Sitting beside her on the couch, I look wistfully out my small living room window. “I don’t particularly care. I just want the tabloids and the paparazzi to leave me alone.” I glance at Pippa. “Did I tell you that I lost my job over this whole thing?”
Her jaw drops. “What?”
“Yep.” I make a disgusted sound. “Jeff said that if I didn’t come in yesterday, I could consider myself no longer employed. I can’t even get out the front door without enacting a mob scene!”
She reaches over, placing a comforting hand on my arm. “I’m so sorry. I wish none of this had happened to you. Really I do.”
I sort of shrug off her concern. We have been friends for a long time, but it’s just hard for me to let people show concern for me like that. “I’m fine. Or I would be, if some scummy tabloid hadn’t dug up a couple of people who knew me in high school. They’ve been running these clips of different people that say they spend time with me, when in fact I didn’t even recognize their names until I looked them up in my yearbook.”
Pippa bites her lip. “That sounds like bullshit.”
“It is!” I growl.
“Well…” She flashes me a nervous smile. “I actually come bearing news on that front. Politiken is still very interested in you, perhaps even more so now that this little fiasco happened.”
My eyebrows fly up. “Really?” Then I scowl. “I don’t know. I don’t want to be headhunted just because I posted some pictures online of myself with Stellan.”
She scrunches her face up. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but… tough shit.”
Her pronouncement actually makes me smile. It feels good to express something other than the anger and disappointment that’s been consuming me for days. “Yeah?”
“Yeah!” she says. “Stuff happens. This happened already. It’s sort of shattered your existence. All you can do now is figure out the best way out of this mess.” She raises her eyebrows, with a hopeful smile on her face. “Plus, Politiken is offering to pay for your flight and basic moving expenses. You are getting an offer to move to Copenhagen, all expenses paid. What could be better than that?”
I bite my lip. “I... I’m not even sure what to say.”
Pippa squints, then looks around. “You live in a space where you can almost fry an egg from your bed. Your bathroom is just a shower and a toilet, packed into a few square feet. You don’t even own a mirror that I can see…” She makes a face. “So… what? You are afraid to give up all this opulence for a chance at adventure?” she teases me.
I can’t help the bark of laughter that escapes my lips. “Hey, at least the heater works.” Then I stop, admitting the truth. “Well, it works sometimes.”
“So come work at Politiken. Stay with me. My roommate moved out last month so it’s basically perfect.” She gives me a cheesy grin. “It’ll be like the NYU dorms all over again. But like, less marijuana smoke drifting through the halls.”
I glance outside again. “I don’t know. I’ve never lived anywhere that wasn’t New York City.”
Pippa rolls her eyes. “New York isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’ll still be here when you decide you’re tired of Copenhagen. Besides, what will you miss?” She wiggles her brows. “Come on! Say yes!”
Outside, I can hear raised voices. Likely two of the paparazzos are bickering with each other. I release a long-suffering sigh. “You’re right. I think I should go. At least for a few months until this whole thing blows over.”
Her entire face brightens. “Really? I didn’t actually expect you to accept…”
My heart seizes up. “The offer isn’t real?”
“It is,” she assures me. “Politiken definitely asked me to beg you to come. They’ll be over the moon that you said yes. I just didn’t foresee your answer, that’s all.”
I bite my lip. “Do you think it’s the right choice?”
A loud thump that comes from my front door, making us both jump. Pippa’s eyes widen.
“Definitely.”
I screw up my face. “In for a penny, in for a pound… How soon do you think I can leave?”
She stands up, pulling out her phone. “I can find out with one phone call… just give me a minute…”
She presses the phone to her ear and walks to the other side of my studio apartment, setting the wheels in motion. I start to pull out my two duffel bags, filling them with my clothes.
It doesn’t feel real. Then again, nothing really does.
Nothing except for the fact that I’m still angry at Stellan.
It’s only the work of an hour for Pippa to get us booked on a flight to Copenhagen. She keeps giving me the same comforting smile while she works on it, checking on me every so often.
But Pippa was right… there isn’t anything holding me back. Nothing tying me to New York except that I was born here.
And that just isn’t enough.
We pack up everything I could need
to take in twenty minutes. Then I open the front door, looking out into the crowd of reporters. There are a million camera flashes and people jockeying to be close enough to me to ask me a question.
“Margot! Margot!”
“Are you joining the prince?”
“Will you become queen, Margot? Is that what this is about?”
I roll my eyes harder than they’ve ever been rolled in my life. There is a somewhat violent struggle between the paparazzi to get my attention. I stop, giving them the only sound bite that I will ever utter.
“It must be terrible for you to be so bound by the rules of the patriarchy,” I tell one woman who keeps shoving her microphone in my face. “You should really work on that.”
Pippa locks the door behind us and then steers me through the jostling crowd. We get into the waiting Lyft, jetting off toward Pippa’s hotel, our only stop on the way to the airport.
I look out the back window as my flat disappears around a corner. Splaying my hand out against the glass, I say a silent goodbye to my shitty apartment.
Then I turn and face forward, wondering what Copenhagen will be like.
Chapter Forty-Three
Want to find out what happens between Margot and Stellan next? Duh, of course you do! Find out when A Royal Affair goes live on June 2nd 2020… and make sure you pre-order to snag that sweet pricing!
About Vivian Wood
Vivian likes to write about troubled, deeply flawed alpha males and the fiery, kick-ass women who bring them to their knees.
Vivian's lasting motto in romance is a quote from a favorite song: "Soulmates never die."
Be sure to follow Vivian through her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/VivianKWood/) to keep up with all the awesome giveaways, author videos, ARC opportunities, and more!
Vivian’s Works
Married To My Enemy
Sleeping With My Boss (Mar 2020)
Same World, Different Characters…
Dirty Little Heart
Dirty Little Secret
Dirty Little Thing (A Newsletter Exclusive)
Same World, Different Characters…
A Royal Mess (April 2020)
A Royal Affair (May 2020)
A Royal Secret (August 2020)
A Royal Wedding (October 2020)
Wild Hearts
Addiction
Obsession
His Virgin
His Best Friend’s Little Sister
Claiming Her Innocence
His To Keep
Promise Me
Knocking Boots
For more information….
vivian-wood.com
[email protected]
