A Royal Holiday (Royals of Valleria #5) (3 page)

“Well, it’s bullshit. She clearly just wants attention.”

“She wants more than that.”

“What do you mean?” Rebecca asked as she wound an arm around Alex’s waist; Alex wrapped an arm around her in return.

“She’s shopping around some pictures she states are of the two of you in ‘compromising’ situations.”

“What. The. Fuck.”

Gabriel nodded. “My sentiments exactly. All of the media outlets – even the legitimate ones – are questioning your relationship.”

Alex glanced down at Rebecca, whose forehead was creased in worry. Damn it; he wouldn’t let anything or anyone harm her. “It’ll be okay, darling. Don’t worry.”

“It may not, my son. This scandal is growing by the minute.”

Alex shook his head. “Who the hell is this? I would never cheat on Rebecca.” He looked her straight in the eyes and cupped her face. “I would never cheat on you. You know that, don’t you?”

She covered his hand with hers against her cheek. “Of course I do.”

“Who the hell is this?” Alex demanded as he turned back to his father. “Who the fuck has the gall to threaten me and the woman I love?”

When Gabriel mentioned the name of a long ago ex-lover, Alex’s face went pale.

He may not have cheated on Rebecca, but he was well and truly fucked.

Alex paced inside his bedroom, shooting furtive glances at the bathroom, where Rebecca was getting ready for the day. Family breakfast was a must this morning since most of his siblings were already in Valleria for the holiday season – save for Sarah, the Vallerian ambassador to Italy, and Ethan, a doctor in the Vallerian Royal Navy, both of whom were set to arrive later that day.

He would have to face his family, and discuss this embarrassing news with them, all while Rebecca sat right next to him. Gabriel had already gone to warn the rest of them, in case they didn’t already know.

Alex shoved a hand through his hair as he thought about next steps, and the spin he’d have to put on everything to the public. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he hastily silenced it; he knew without looking that it was his chief of staff, Tavin, calling again.

The door clicked open and Rebecca stepped out, wearing a fitted dress in a deep, holiday green with a matching sweater. His Vallerian purple and gold diagonally-striped tie was not matching her today, and even his crisp white shirt and dark gray suit seemed wrong. Usually, they got dressed in front of each other, and he changed his tie to match her dress.

But not today.

Today, she’d locked the doors to the bathroom and the adjoining closet for more privacy, or perhaps for a little more time away from him.

That worried him more than any photos from an ex-lover.

“Are you ready, darling?”

“Almost. I just need to put on my shoes.” She crossed the room to where a pair of nude heels – the same ones he’d removed and tossed aside last night – lay cluttered on the floor. He watched her slip them on her feet, her amethyst and diamond engagement ring twinkling in the light as she did so.

“Rebecca,” he said, taking hold of her arm when she crossed the room again. When she turned to look at him, he saw the hurt in her eyes. “Rebecca. God, I’m so sorry.” He pulled her into his arms, needing the connection, needing to know they would be okay. When she lifted her arms and hugged him back, he wanted to sag in relief.

“Oh, Alex.”

“I know, darling. I’m so sorry. I made a stupid mistake a long time ago, trusted the wrong person, and now you’re getting hurt because of it.”

She sighed against his chest. “Tell me about her. I don’t want to know, you understand, but I need to know.”

Alex nodded and walked them over to a small sitting area in their bedroom. Not wanting to lose the connection, he sat down and pulled her into his lap.

“As my father mentioned, her name is Portia Walker. I met her over ten years ago, when I was still at university.”

“College girlfriend?”

He shook his head. “I told you when we first got together that I never had girlfriends. There were women, yes, but none of them constituted a relationship.” He cupped her face and forced her to look straight into his eyes. “And I never loved anyone before you. There was no one I wanted a relationship with before you.”

She took his hand and kissed his palm, which sent a swell of emotion straight to his heart and rippled through him. “I believe you.”

“Thank God,” he murmured, then shook his head. “Anyway, I was officially enrolled at a Vallerian university – along with most of my siblings – but we all spent time abroad. I spent a year in England, along with a semester in France and another semester in Italy, though those were also for diplomatic and political reasons, since our countries are so closely tied together.”

He took a deep breath. “I met her while in Italy.”

“Was she, I mean, is she the same woman you lost your virginity to? The Prime Minister’s daughter?”

Alex wrapped his arms tightly around her. “No, though I did see her. As a visiting ruler, the Prime Minister had to invite me over for dinner and she was there. We talked, nothing more.”

“I’ll bet she wanted more, even if you didn’t,” Rebecca muttered.

Alex hid a smile; it wasn’t the time or place for it, even if he loved it when Rebecca’s jealous streak came peeking through. “She may have wanted more, but I didn’t. I was respectful to her, and very nicely declined her invitation. At the same dinner party, however, was another woman.”

“Portia.” Rebecca almost spat out the name.

“Yes. That’s where we met, but not when we started seeing each other. She was also attending the same university as I was, and we happened to run into each other a few times.”

“I bet she planned it that way.”

“She did, my astute fiancée. Of course, I didn’t realize that until later. We went out on a few dates – a few chaste dates, I might add – before I ever considered anything sexual with her.”

Rebecca snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “I doubt that. You’re a very sexual person.”

This time Alex did smile. “Only with you, my love.”

“You weren’t thinking about me then.”

“That’s not true. It’s not,” he said, cutting her off as she was about to say something. “I’ve told you before that I had already started thinking about you as a woman, and not merely as my sister’s friend, before we both left for university. I just didn’t think seriously about you until a few years ago, as that’s when you started working as my sister’s chief of staff and our paths crossed more often. Then, before I knew it, I’d fallen in love with you.”

He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “I love you.”

Rebecca threw her arms around his neck and pressed against him. “I love you, too.”

He kissed the side of her neck. “Don’t forget that.”

She kissed his cheek. “I never could.” They rested their foreheads against each other. “Finish the story.”

“That semester was the first real time I was away from my family and alone – even with the crowd of Royal Protection agents who came with me. I’d grown up in a palace full of siblings and family, duty always surrounding me. As freeing as it was, I felt lonely for the first time, and I didn’t care for it.” His fingers brushed over the pin she often wore, the Vallerian coat of arms set in gold and jewels.

“Loneliness? That’s why you slept with her?”

Alex shrugged away the question. “You can guess the rest. We did sleep together. I was honest before we did, however, and let her know in no uncertain terms that it would never lead to anything long-term.”

“So, what about the photos your father mentioned?”

His eyes narrowed and darkened. “She recorded us once having sex, obviously without my knowledge and consent.”

Rebecca sat back and gasped. “What?”

“The photos must be stills from the video, which she’s threatened me with once before for money. Suffice it to say, being a royal comes in handy when you need the assistance of a foreign government.”

“You had her arrested?”

“No, but I wanted to.”

“So, she was never punished for it?”

“Not legally, but I made her life difficult. Since her mother trained her to be a socialite, she was taught that earning a degree from a university was secondary to finding a rich husband there. People knew we had gone on dates and I very subtly implied that men should steer clear of her. A few well-placed comments in the right social circles can do wonders.”

“But wouldn’t marrying you be worth more than blackmailing you for money? I mean, if her mother’s that controlling, wouldn’t she want her daughter to become a queen?”

“She might have, but I’d made it clear to Portia that I would never consider her for the role.”

Rebecca nodded, considering. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“The day she threatened me with the video. I’d already finished my studies in Italy and was about to return to Valleria. We’d already stopped seeing each other by that point, but she requested a meeting with me at a café.”

Rebecca grimaced and began to massage her stomach, which Alex knew held all of her stress and worry. “She had the video?”

Alex nodded, his face somber. “I don’t think I’d ever felt so betrayed before that point. Whenever we’d get together, it was usually at her apartment. She knew that, recorded me, and tried to use it against me.” Alex shook his head.

“What about your security? Didn’t they think to sweep her rooms?”

“They did. She still managed to sneak a camera in. Believe me, the agents responsible for missing that were fired.”

“And she really didn’t want to marry you?”

“No, at that time she only wanted money. Plain and simple. I have little doubt that’s what she’s after again.” Alex looked her straight in the eyes. “No matter what, I never, ever would have married her. She would never have become my queen, and Valleria’s queen. Do you believe that?”

After a few moments, Rebecca spoke. “I do believe you. I can’t see you letting anyone push you around like that, especially not with Valleria’s future at stake. What did you do? When she told you, what did you do?”

“I gave a signal to my security team, and they pulled me away from our discussion. I told the agents what was going on, and they had people searching her apartment while I kept her talking at the café.”

“Fast work.”

“Things move fast when you’re a royal in another country. Anyway, to stall for time, I sat back down in the chair, my espresso long gone cold, and stared at her for several long minutes until she started squirming in her chair. Then I proceeded to tell her, in no uncertain terms, that I would not be blackmailed or bullied. She was going to hand over the evidence right now, or I would take her straight to court for violating the non-disclosure agreement she signed.”

“You made her sign that?”

“I made every woman I slept with sign them, but the first, which we’ve already discussed, and the last, which is you. That first time, I was too naïve to think of it. When I was older and wiser, I even asked the women to provide proof they didn’t have any sexually-transmitted diseases.”

“You didn’t.”

“I did. In this modern age, it was also smart. If you can’t discuss things like that, or you’re too afraid to, then you probably shouldn’t be having sex in the first place. Not to mention, I am a future king, and the future of the monarchy depends upon me becoming a father. Having an STD could have irrevocably changed that.”

Rebecca’s brows furrowed as if she were trying to figure something out. “Once you started pursuing me, why didn’t you have me sign anything ensuring my secrecy?”

“I didn’t need those things with you.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “You’re the love of my life; I didn’t need any documents ensuring your trust, as I did with them. I already trusted you with my heart, and I’m damn lucky you decided to trust me with yours.”

“You do a good job with it.”

“Even today?”

“Even today.” Her hands slipped down to rest on his chest. Her fingers toyed with his tie, and he once again considered changing it to match her dress. “So, now we know she lied about giving you back all the copies of the video.”

“Or she’s lying about having them now, we can’t be sure just yet. I asked Marcello to look into her while we were getting dressed. All he’s discovered so far is that she’s just divorced for the fourth time, but her last husband was prone to gambling and lost the entire fortune she’d amassed through the first three marriages. That’s why I think this is just for money and attention.”

“Why didn’t you ever mention this before?”

“Honestly, I just haven’t thought about it. That may seem hard to believe, but it’s true. I cut her out of my mind, because she doesn’t deserve a place there. Any basic respect I held for her left the moment I realized her betrayal. Once she was dealt with, I may have brooded about it a little, but then I was done.”