A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (14 page)

“Hey girlfriend,” Meredith said, sitting on the corner of my desk.

I looked up at her and grimaced at the pitying smile she bestowed on me before dropping my head back down on the desk.

“It’s not that bad,” she said, annoyingly cheerful.

“It couldn’t have been much worse,” I mumbled into the paperwork on my desk.

“It came across as endearing,” she said.

I sat up straight and glared at her, “It came across awkward,” I said, “The media will have a field day with it.
 
That press conference was meant to dissuade them but all it’s done is encourage them.
 
I am tabloid fodder.”

Meredith chuckled and shook her head.
 
“Have you even checked the responses?
 
The people love you, you’re like a modern day Cinderella.”

“Ugh,” I groaned dropping my head back down on the desk.

“Cheer up,” she said standing, “Alyssa wants to see you.”

Great.
 
Just what I needed.
 
Alyssa would not be happy with the way the media circus had gone this morning.
 
Why was it that when I was dealing with other people’s crap, I could act all poised and efficient, but when it was my own personal crap I fell apart?
 
It just wasn’t fair.
 
I took a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, grabbed my tablet and marched into the Queen’s office, ready for battle.

Alyssa was sitting behind her desk with a giant smile on her face, not what I was expecting and it made me nervous.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked cautiously.

“I’m happy,” she said, the grin getting bigger.

“You’re laughing at me,” I said, slumping into an armchair.

She shook her head, “No, honestly, I’m not.
 
I am genuinely happy.
 
I think you and Freddie make a wonderful couple and this morning’s press conference was so sweet.”
 
Her eyes turned dreamy. “It’s just so romantic.”

Meredith made gagging noises and flopped down on one of the sofas.
 
“It was a sickening display.”

“You’re just jealous,” Alyssa said with a laugh.

My cheeks flushed and I dropped my eyes to my lap.
 
“I’m so embarrassed.”

“Why on earth are you embarrassed?” Alyssa asked, concerned.

“I’d be embarrassed too if I was dating Freddie,” Meredith snorted.

“Mer, that’s enough.
 
You love Freddie to death,” Alyssa said sternly.

“Yes, I love him, but it doesn’t mean I would trust him with my girlfriends.”
 
She turned to me and took my hand.
 
“Just give me the word, Alex, and I can have him roughed up.”

“Stop it, Mer,” Alyssa said, standing and coming over to join us on the couches.

I sighed.
 
“I’m embarrassed because I was a total mess in front of all those reporters.
 
Freddie is an important guy—” Meredith snorted again.
 
“—And I need to be able to perform better or I will humiliate him and his family.
 
Oh God,” I blurted, remembering.
 
“We haven’t even spoken to his parents yet and that media performance was by far my worst—”

“Alex,” Alyssa cut in, “Calm down.
 
So you weren’t your usual flawless self, it doesn’t matter,” she said with a shrug, “You looked like a woman in love and the press ate it up.”

Oh God, that was worse, I thought.
 
I wasn’t in love with Freddie, maybe a little star-struck by him, but not in love.

There was a knock on the door that interrupted my meltdown.

“Sorry to disturb, Your Grace,” Penny said, sticking her head in the door.
 
“There’s a phone call for Alex.”

“Who is it?” I asked, standing.

“Your mother.”

I saw the wide-eyed glance that Alyssa and Meredith shared.
 
I didn’t talk about my family - ever.
 
My mother calling me here could only mean one thing, she’d seen the papers and the press conference.
 
Of course she had, it would’ve only been a matter of time.
 
Now she would be cashing in, she’d want to know how she could weasel in to a photo op, she’d want to meet Freddie and his parents and probably the Queen.
 
This was my nightmare come to life.

I took a deep breath and nodded to Penny.
 
With all the deep breathing I was doing, I was liable to pass out.
 
I straightened my jacket, smoothed my skirt and pushed my shoulders back.
 
I saw Alyssa and Meredith watching me and I knew I must look like someone preparing to go to war - girding my loins as it were - and that’s exactly what I was doing.
 
One did not take a phone call from Kiki Fornette without first mentally preparing.
 
When I felt steady enough I took a step towards the door.

“Why don’t you take it in here,” Alyssa said.
 
It wasn’t a friendly offer, it was an order.

I turned to smile sweetly at her and moved over to her desk.
 
With a last calming breath, I picked up the receiver and pressed the flashing button.

“Hello mother,” I said.

I had been ducking calls from my mother all day.
 
With the amount of work on my schedule it was easy to do, but I also knew it would come back to bite me when I eventually gave in and spoke to her.

I should have perhaps warned her about the press conference, but my thoughts had been on Alex and smoothing this over for her.
 
It hadn’t been until the first phone call from her that I realised my mistake.
 
But there was nothing I could do about it now and I really did have a mountain of work to do.

I was summoned back to Merveille six months ago, after the death of the King and the Prince, the Heir Apparent.
 
As a family, the Bingham’s and the St Benét’s (the Queen’s family) were close friends.
 
The late King and my father had been best friends and Meredith and I had grown up with Prince Jacob and Princess Alyssa.
 
When the King and Prince were killed, we, naturally, circled the wagons.
 
Merveille had never had a female Heir before and were resistant to accepting one, but Father and I believed that if anyone could do it, Alyssa could.

Returning to Merveille also gave my father an opportunity to express his desire to retire from Monticorp and he wanted me to take his place.
 
I was glad to do it, but it meant that my own company, Avonlea, would have to transition as well.
 
I would still hold a controlling stake in it, but I would no longer be President, instead taking over the Presidency of Monticorp.
 
That meant there had to be a whole lot of manoeuvring on the Board of Directors, for both corporations.

It would have been easier to have the two merge, or for Monticorp to buy out Avonlea, but something in me resisted that.
 
I liked that Avonlea was independent of my father’s money and influence and I really wanted to keep it that way.
 
Hence the loads of work that had me snowed under.
 
With my father soon to become Prime Minister, there was now tight time restraints on finalising the shift and add to that the work I was doing with Alyssa and my to-do list just kept getting longer.
 
I didn’t really have time for a girlfriend, but how could I say no to Alex when she needed me.
 

Thinking about our very sweet kiss this morning made me smile.
 
She had been so nervous and it just endeared her to me more.
 
The woman seemed unflappable in most situations, but I think I’d found her achilles heel.
 
Put her in a professional crisis and she could spin hay into gold, but anything to do with her personal life and she was a hot mess.
 
I liked knowing that she wasn’t perfect and I really liked seeing her flustered.
 
It was like catnip, I couldn’t get enough.

And we would definitely have to practise the whole kissing thing.

A knock on the door distracted me from my imaginings and I looked up to see a pale faced Dayne.
 
That was never a good sign.
 
Dayne was very much like Alex in that he was super efficient and always in control.
 
We worked well together and I could usually read him, but this look had disaster written all over it.

“Your mother is here,” he said and swallowed.

I pushed back from my desk and turned my face to the ceiling, closing my eyes and taking a few cleansing breaths.
 
My mother had given up trying to phone me and had decided to just turn up, a guaranteed way of forcing me to talk to her.
 
I stood from my chair and looked at Dayne.

“Let her in,” I said like a man about to face the lions.

Lady Caroline Bingham breezed into the room as soon as Dayne was out of the way.
 
Chanel No. 5 wafted into the room with her, like a calling card or a prophet of doom.
 
I had erred greatly by not informing her of my relationship with Alex before doing the media interviews and there would be punishment, the only question was what form it would take.

“Mother,” I said with a forced smile as I stepped up to greet her with the obligatory kiss on the cheek.

She accepted the kiss gracefully and allowed me to lead her over to the side of the room where an arrangement of couches was situated.
 
She sat primly on the edge and looked up at me expectantly.

“Can I get you some tea?” I asked.
 
It was always best to stick to the proper protocols when dealing with my mother, especially if she was feeling piqued.
 
She inclined her head in the affirmative and I buzzed Dayne before coming to sit opposite her.

We sat silently regarding each other until the tea had been served and then once Dayne had left the room, Mother sipped her tea and gently placed the cup and saucer on the coffee table in front of her.

“You have been holding out on me,” she said.

“I apologise, Mother,” I said, suitably abashed, “The media ambushed us.
 
I had no idea those photos would be run in today’s paper and we both felt that we should face the media as soon as possible before any more rumours were spread.”

“And you didn’t think to let me know ahead of time?
 
Do you know how this looks to all our friends.
 
I will be a laughingstock.”

I covered a surprised laugh with a cough and had to look away from my mother to regain my composure.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t dare,” I said when I had my face under control.

She harrumphed and turned her head away.
 
“Still,” she said, “You should have told me.”

“And we were going to,” I said, gently, “But the media got the jump on us.”

She sniffed and looked at me down her nose.
 
She wasn’t worried about gossip, she was more hurt that I hadn’t come to her first.
 
She had been so determined to set me up and I had denied her the privilege of letting her gloat over my choice.

“I’m sorry, Mother,” I said, softly, “How can I make it up to you?”

“I want to meet her,” she said.

I chuckled, “But you’ve already met her,” I said, “And she was on your list.”

“I’ve only ever met her as the Queen’s Personal Assistant, now I want to meet her as my son’s intended.”

Intended?
 
Whoa, that escalated quickly.

“We’re not engaged,” I said, “We’ve barely begun to even date.”

“All the more reason for me to meet her,” she said, “If she is not an appropriate choice we can call it off before it goes too far.”

I grit my teeth, a flash of anger washing over me like a wave.
 
I refuse to let my mother disrespect Alex so callously.

“I like her Mother,” I said, my voice firm, “And I want you and Father to be kind to her.
 
She already has enough hesitancy in seeing me, I don’t need you scaring her away before I’ve even gotten to know her properly.”