Dirty Royal: A Bad Boy Royal Romance (14 page)

Claire discreetly slips out the door, leaving us alone.

Alec’s grip on me tightens. We stand in silence for a moment, and then he speaks. “It’s awful, Jessica,” he says solemnly.

I have no answer, so I press my lips tenderly against his cheek and then hug him again.

“Will you do something for me?” he asks, pulling back and meeting my eyes.

“Of course,” I say. “Anything.”

My heart thuds in my chest. I’ve already accepted that he might want to take a break from our relationship while he sorts things out. He might ask me to go back to the United States until things are more stable…or perhaps he’ll even suggest we break up, never to see one another again. At least, I thought I had accepted this could potentially happen, but in the moment it takes him to start speaking again, my throat tightens as my heart braces itself for rejection.

“Come to the funeral with me,” he murmurs in a soft voice.

Relief floods through me, and it’s followed by a wave of apprehension. “Oh, Alec, are you sure? If it’s better, I can go back to New York and give you time alone with your family.”

With one hand he lifts my chin so that I can’t look anywhere but directly into his eyes. “Don’t say that,” he says, his voice tight with grief. “Don’t say that, please. I want you, and no one else, by my side. If you’re not comfortable with it, you can say no, but the last thing I want is for you to leave.”

“Okay,” I say, the word coming out as a whisper. Swallowing hard, I find my voice again. “Okay. Yes. I’ll go with you. When is it?”

“In three hours.”

“So soon? But that’s not enough—.”

Even as I begin to protest, Alec disengages himself from his arms and heads back to the door. Opening it, he sticks his head out into the hall and gestures to someone down the hall.

A moment later, my team—Claire in the lead—comes streaming in.

They pull in racks of black clothes behind them.

“There’s time,” he says.

I step back to let them enter the room, my heart beating fast.

This is going to be the most important event in my life. One of the saddest occasions in Alec’s family’s life will also be my official royal debut.

Chapter 28

Alec

I could not have imagined a more perfect woman to sit by my side on one of the longest, hardest days of my goddamn life.

Jessica didn’t flinch when I asked her to attend Marcus’s funeral with me. Her first thought was to step back, allowing me time to process everything that’s been happening and regroup with my family, but I couldn’t find the words to tell her that she is as important to me as anyone in my family. There were no words to describe the pain piercing my heart when I pictured her boarding a plane back to the United States, leaving me behind. Alone.

Besides that, it’s just my father and me now.

I have a few errant uncles and aunts, but my mother only had one sister and my father’s siblings aren’t close to one another and they’re scattered across the world.
 

For years, it was the three of us.

Now it’s just the two of us.

 
I don’t think I could have faced the funeral—so final, so heart-wrenching—without Jessica by my side.

Somehow, she doesn’t need me to tell her what to do. She manages to be a constant comfort to me without demanding a thing, even though she’s in a strange country and attending the funeral of a man she never met. As far as she knew, he was just a man who wanted her deported.

Jessica knew instinctively to ignore the photographers covering our entrance when we arrived at the Sainthall Cathedral for the service. She faced looking forward the entire time, her steps measured and confident. Throughout the service, she stayed by my side, her hand tucked into the crook of my elbow.

Her beauty served as the ideal distraction whenever grief and guilt threatened to overwhelm me. I didn’t even need to offer input into her wardrobe choice for the funeral. Instead, she consulted quietly with Claire and the styling team while I sat on the sofa in her living area, picking at a lunch she’d had sent up for me because she insisted that I needed to eat. She chose to wear a simple black dress with a matching hat that highlighted her best features but didn’t draw any attention away from the funeral.
 

The entire time, she was strong and composed, and it made me impressed at her composure and class under duress. She’s American, no doubt about it, but she can fit in here.

She sits close to me in the back seat of the town car driven by Nate to the burial service, her hand always clasped to mine in comfort, and doesn’t once complain about the heat.

Her step and facial expression does not falter when we arrive at Sainthall Palace, though I know she must be nervous about meeting my father.

“It’s going to be all right,” I reassure her as we move toward the palace’s formal entry, the paparazzi flashing their cameras mercilessly from both sides of the paved pathway leading to the door. They’re lined up shoulder to shoulder and they remind me of goddamn vultures waiting to swoop in and devour us. My father has approved a few select members of the media to photograph the reception held after the funeral. When I asked him why, he said, “We have to let the people of Saintland see that we mourn just as they do.”

We are both introduced to the somber crowd as we enter the Great Hall, and it’s then that I see Jessica’s iron veneer crack. She takes in a deep breath and lets it out evenly as she rearranges her expression to form a small smile appropriate for the occasion.

My father stands at the back of the hall near a display that the palace staff set up to honor my brother. They’ve displayed his official portrait on one easel and arranged a massive wreath of orchids, the official flowers of the House of Caldwell, on a second easel. The King of Saintland, his back ramrod straight and eyes hollowed with sadness, shakes hand after hand as people come through the receiving line offering condolences. When he sees us approaching, he excuses himself and steps aside to join us.

“Come with me,” he says quietly, motioning for us to follow him. I guide Jessica, who is still linked to my elbow, as I follow him out of the room.

My father leads us through a door into the throne room, and then through the next one leading into his council chambers.

The last time I was here with Marcus, we fought.

The memory flushes warmly through my chest. It’s agony.

It must be agony for my father, too, but he doesn’t mention it.

Instead, he goes farther into the room to stand in front of the desk. Then he turns to face us, extending a hand toward Jessica.

“Ms. Reeves,” he says, his voice deep and tired. “Please let me apologize for any unpleasantness…any discomfort you might have experienced over the past couple of weeks. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Arthur Caldwell, King of Saintland, and Alexander’s father.”

Jessica shakes her head, waving away his need to apologize, and places her other hand over his in a gesture of sympathy. “I was so very sorry to hear about your son, your majesty.” Someone must have coached her how to greet him.
 

My father bows his head over their clasped hands, and when he looks up his eyes are shining. “It was very sudden. Very sudden. But I’m pleased that Alexander has someone to stand by his side.”

Jessica smiles a little, her cheeks turning pink.
 

“However, Ms. Reeves, I wanted to speak with you.”

“Of course.”

“As I’m sure you have heard, Alexander is shortly going to be named the crown prince.”

“Yes, I have heard this news, your majesty.”

My father’s tone grows more severe.

“You should know,” he says, looking her straight in the eye, “that his responsibilities in the future will be a far greater burden than he’s been accustomed to. If you intend to remain by his side, you need to be fully aware that your life will no longer be yours alone.”

Jessica meets his gaze, her brow furrowed.

“You must be fully aware that the eyes of Saintland will be on you. There are expectations, Ms. Reeves. This responsibility is not one to be taken lightly.”

“I understand, your majesty.”

“Do you?” my father says, his eyes locked on her face.

“Yes. I do,” Jessica responds, her voice smooth and confident. All the same, I see a flicker of nervousness glinting in her eyes.

“Then I’ve done my part,” says my father, patting her hand and then releasing it. “It’s time we went back out to join our guests.”

Jessica returns her hand to the crook of my elbow, and I can feel her trembling.

The reality of the situation has probably just hit her, just as it’s hitting me, too.

The stakes are higher now.

Much higher.

For both of us.

Chapter 29

Jessica

My hands are shaking when we return to the Great Hall, back to the crowds of people and the incredible array of food that is constantly being replenished. The wait staff must be really good at their jobs because I rarely catch one of them attending to the tables.
 

Just before we reenter the fray, I tug Alec’s arm and whisper in his ear. “Did I do all right?”

I’m not usually the kind of girl who needs validation for how navigated a social situation. I’ve been handling that on my own for years, thank you very much. But being here with Alec is different. I can no longer just sit on the periphery and hope I’m playing my cards right, like I did back in New York. It’s beginning to sink in that the more time I spend with Alec, the more I’m going to belong and fit in here, and the more I’m going to have to live according to their rules, not my own.

This gives me pause.

The king’s words ring in my ears.
 

“There are expectations, Ms. Reeves. This is not to be taken lightly.”

Of course, I can’t know all that he meant by that, but since he’s the King of Saintland and oversees the entire kingdom, it wasn’t your typical “be careful with each other’s hearts” speech. Now that Alec will be the crown prince, our relationship and everything it entails will have ramifications reaching far beyond just the two of us.

I’m going to have a lot less leeway for plans that might shake up the status quo.
 

“Is that something you really want?”
the voice in the back of my head pipes up. “
Don’t you want to be in charge of your own life?”

As I stand at Alec’s side, my hand on his arm, it’s easy to scoff at the thought. I
am
in charge of my own life, and I
have
chosen to be here. So what if it’s going to be harder to pack up and move across the country when I feel like a change of scenery?

The only scenery I need is Alec.

I don’t end up having much time to think about it because the very next day, everything changes.

Alec arrives at my suite at eight in the morning and sits with me while I eat breakfast. As the team starts packing up the suite, he explains how the near future is going to play out.

“Rooms are already prepared for you in the palace,” he says, breaking a small piece from a scone and popping it into his mouth.

“Rooms?” I say.

“Yes. There are several suites on the third level of the palace where my rooms and Marcus—.” He breaks off, swallowing as though it hurts, and then continues. “—where my rooms are located. The king’s rooms are also on that level. You’ll be staying in the queen’s rooms.”

It occurs to me that those would have been his mother’s private rooms if she had had the chance to live here.

The significance of being assigned to the queen’s quarters makes my head spin.

“Claire will be with you there, as well,” he says, taking another bite of the scone. “If you’re happy with her, she can continue on as your head personal assistant.”

“Head personal assistant? Isn’t this a bit much for your…your girlfriend?”

I realize after the words are out of my mouth that this is the first time either of us has brought up titles, and I wish I could grab them out of the air and shove them back into my mouth. What the hell am I thinking? He doesn’t need that kind of pressure right now.

But Alec only leans across the table at me, a glint sparkling in his tired eyes. “Do you
really
think, my lady Jessica, that at the end of this you will be only my
girlfriend
?”

A furious blush rushes to my cheeks. “We really don’t have to talk about it now,” I say hurriedly.

The quiver in my voice makes him smile. “I’ll tell you what I think. I think you’ll be much,
much
more than my girlfriend when all is said and done.”

A laugh bubbles up in my chest at his innuendo-laced tone. “Alec, there are people around,” I whisper.

He waves a hand. “There are
always
people around. I can send them all away right now if you want to spend some time alone reminding each other why we’re in this for the long haul.” He plants a kiss on the top of my head.

“No,” I giggle, feeling giddy and foolish. “There’s a lot to do today, isn’t there?”

“Oh, yes,” he says. “You have a full schedule, and so do I. It seems we both have a lot to get caught up on. But that could wait twenty minutes.” He pulls me into a tight embrace and kisses my hair again.

The half grin on his face is the first real smile I’ve seen from him since he got the news about his brother.

“Twenty minutes,” I say sternly, although we both know that if he wants three hours, three
days
, or six
months
, I’ll give in without a second thought.

The team is out the door inside of ten seconds.

The sex is hard, rough and fast, both of us unrestrained in our show of passion for one another, leaving marks from our lips and fingers.. When we’re spent, lying back on my bed in the Diamond Circle, I trace the line of his jaw with my fingertip.

It’s the last time for several days—perhaps even weeks—that I see him so relaxed.

By noon, I’ve been set up in the queen’s rooms in Sainthall Palace, by 12:30 I’m eating my first lunch prepared by the palace staff, and by 1:00 I’m sitting through my first briefing meeting.