The Lord's Passionate Lover (The Royals of Monaco, #3) (3 page)

“Unfortunately, I am not there for romantic purposes. My mother is taking care of that,” Katherine replied as she shook her head.

“What do you mean?” Francesca asked.

“She is trying to find me a suitor.”

“You do not want her to?”

“Not really, especially when you see her choices.”

Macee sighed. “Reminds me of our mother,” she said. Mrs LeBlanc had done everything in her power to make sure that Liane had been chosen to be the crown princess. When that failed, she was determined that Francesca would be next. No one anticipated that the Crown Prince would choose Macee over her trained and better-educated sisters.

“Mothers,” Katherine said.

“They are a piece of work.”

“You should say we,” Katherine said as she smiled at her.

“I do not feel as if I am ready to be a mother,” Macee replied as she frowned.

“No one is ever ready,” Francesca said and rubbed her shoulder.

“How reassuring,” Macee said sarcastically, as Francesca smiled.

“You will be fine.”

L
iane stood in front of the mirror admiring herself. For the past few months, she had been working out to regain her prenatal figure and it was finally starting to pay off. Looking up, she saw Jean Pierre standing in the doorway watching her.

“Something I can help you with?” she asked him.

“Yes,” he replied as he walked towards her. Standing behind her, he kissed her neck, as she tilted her head to give him better access. While it was true that they did not get on well under the best of circumstances, they turned each other on and could not seem to get enough of each other.

“Jean Pierre, stop,” she whispered, secretly not wanting him to stop.

“No,” he replied as he pulled her tank top over her head. Sliding his hands across her body, he caressed her skin, which always felt like silk to him. Licking at her neck, he found that he enjoyed the taste of her sweat. Turning her around, he pulled the band off her ponytail as he ran his fingers through her hair.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered as he unclipped her bra. Scooping her up, he carried her to the bed. Laying her down, he leaned over her as he continued to kiss her. Liane wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer to her. He groaned as he felt her nipples brush against his chest.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “Ignore it,” Jean Pierre said as he carried on kissing her.

The knock sounded again. “What?” Jean Pierre shouted.

“I am sorry to disturb you, but you have visitors,” the maid said. Jean Pierre growled as he got up. Liane quickly dressed before running a brush through her hair.

“Fine,” he replied. “Such bad timing,” he added.

“I agree,” Liane replied as she headed out of the room to see who the visitors were. She found her sisters playing with Simone. She narrowed her gaze at them. She was happy to see them but they had come at the wrong time.

“Hello,” Liane greeted them as she sat down on the sofa. They both turned to look at her.

“Annie,” Macee said with a smile.

“How are you?” Francesca asked.

“Fine,” Liane said but Macee and Francesca were not convinced. Her hair was messy and her cheeks were red. Macee raised her eyebrows.

“What were you doing before we got here?” Macee asked her.

“Nothing much,” she replied. Jean Pierre walked into the room also with messy hair. He smiled at Francesca and Macee and bowed to Macee before he sat down.

“I trust that the two of you have been well?” he asked. Macee and Francesca looked at each other as they burst out laughing.

“What is so funny?” Liane asked.

“We have bad timing. We should have called first,” Macee said.

“What do you mean?”

“She means nothing. How are you Jean Pierre?” Francesca interrupted Macee before she could answer.

“I have been well, thank you,” he replied. “Would you like anything to eat or drink?” he asked. Francesca opened her mouth to speak but Macee spoke first.

“I thought you would never ask. What do you have?” Macee asked.

“You ate before we left the palace,” Francesca said.

“It does not feel that way.”

Liane laughed as she stood up. “It's the baby,” she said. She walked to the door and called the maid.

“But Macee was an eater before the baby,” Francesca said as Macee frowned at her. They were always on her case about eating too much. Jean Pierre smiled.

“How is the pregnancy so far?” Jean Pierre asked. Liane told the maid to bring food, lots of it. Then she returned to her seat.

“It’s a nightmare,” Macee replied. She had thrown up twice that morning. She could not wait until the morning sickness was over. She was even more frustrated that she could not eat some of her favourite foods.

“It's a beautiful journey.”

Macee whipped her head in Jean Pierre's direction and shot him a dark look. She was tired of people saying that to her. Clearly, they either had never been pregnant or had not had a bad experience.

“Were you not at the hospital when Liane was having contractions?”

Jean Pierre cleared his throat and stood up. “I shall leave you ladies to it,” he said quickly to get out of the line of fire. If anything, he learned not to mess with a pregnant woman.

“You sure scared him off,” Francesca said.

“His fault. He has never been pregnant, so he cannot say things so lightly,” Liane said.

“Aren't you thinking of having more children?”

“The rate she's going, she will not have a choice,” Macee joked. Francesca smiled and shook her head.

“We have not been doing it that much,” Liane lied. Jean Pierre could not stay away from her.

“You were doing it before we came.”

“Macee!” Francesca called out. She was the one with the cleanest mind amongst the three of them and she preferred not to speak about sex.

“It's true,” Liane confessed with a red face. “But we did not get to the good part because we were interrupted,” she added as she glared at her sisters.

“Oh God,” Francesca buried her face in her hands as the maids brought in the food. Macee smiled and kissed Simone.

“It's food!” she said to Simone as if she understood her. Francesca reached out to take the baby from Macee. She knew that her little sister would want to focus on her food.

“How is Prince Louis?” Liane asked Macee.

“Very happy about the pregnancy.”

“That is sweet,” Francesca said.

“Especially because he gets more sex.”

“What?” Francesca was in disbelief.

“You have no idea how aroused you get when you are pregnant. It’s very frequent too,” Macee added as she bit into her croissant. Francesca frowned.

“That is too much information, your highness.”

Liane laughed. “But it is true,” she added.

“Let us speak of something else.”

“You are so stiff.”

“Tell me about it,” Macee said.

“Slow down, no one is chasing you,” Francesca said to Macee as she shovelled food in her mouth. “Hasn't Charles taught you how to eat correctly yet?” she asked as Macee rolled her eyes.

Macee directed the conversation away from her eating habits. “Louis is pleased with Lord Jacques. I guess we will be seeing more of him,” Oh gosh, Francesca thought to herself. It seemed as though all the women in the palace were going crazy over Jacques. Even the maids had been whispering about him amongst themselves.

“I would not mind looking at him every day,” Liane said as she munched on grapes.

“You are a married woman,” Francesca said.

“Don't worry, she will not steal him from you,” Macee teased.

“What does he have to do with me?”

“You would make a lovely couple.” Macee enjoyed teasing Francesca.

“You did dance with him,” Liane added.

“Only once. It does not mean that we should mate,” Francesca said as Macee burst out laughing.

“Who says mate?” Her sister always avoided using blunt words when it came to a sexual topic.

“That is Francesca for you. Can you imagine her on her wedding night?” Liane asked Macee.

“Do not answer that! We are changing the subject,” Francesca demanded.

“Yes, so, Lord Jacques.”

“Another subject!”

The three sisters talked and ate together as they caught up on different events. They missed living together more than they had anticipated. Before they left, Macee made Liane promise to visit more with Simone.

T
he following day, Macee and Francesca were in the middle of having dinner when Prince Louis and Lord Jacques came to join them. The Prince kissed Macee before sitting down while Lord Jacques bowed to Macee and then greeted Francesca.

“Great that the two of you could join us,” Macee said as Francesca frowned at her plate. She knew that Macee would make some sort of joke about her and Jacques after dinner.

“So how are you settling in?” Macee asked Jacques.

“I am settling in just fine, your highness,” he replied.

“That's good. I hope my husband treats you well.”

“He does.” 

“Tell me if he does not,” Macee winked at him. Prince Louis coughed in warning.

“Of course, I treat him well,” Prince Louis defended himself. He looked at Francesca. “Why are you so quiet?” he asked her.

“I am actually not a talker,” Francesca replied. It was true. She was quieter than Macee and Liane but this time she was especially quiet because of Lord Jacques's presence. She could feel him looking at her whilst she was eating making it hard for her to make eye contact with him.

“Are you not?” Lord Jacques asked.

“No.”

“You just have to find what she is interested in and she will talk to you,” Macee said to Lord Jacques.

“Well, what is she interested in?” he asked. Francesca usually did not mind being the centre of attention but not in this moment. She did not fancy discussing herself or being discussed in front of Jacques. She could not put her finger on what it was yet, but she was not keen on him. He was older than her and he always seemed to know what she was thinking. No matter how attracted she was to him, she was going to have to keep her libido in check.

“My beautiful niece. We went to see her yesterday. She is the cutest thing,” Francesca said hoping to shift the focus away from herself. Jacques raised his eyebrows. He could tell that she was avoiding his gaze, which amused him.

“Do you have any children?” Macee asked Jacques.

“No, your highness, I do not have any. Hopefully one day I will,” he replied.

After dinner, Francesca mentioned that she was tired and was leaving. “I will walk you, as I am on my way out too,” Lord Jacques said. Francesca narrowed her gaze and reluctantly left with him.

As they walked, Francesca turned to see him staring at her. “Mr. Jacques you glare a little too much,” she said. She could not help but point it out, as she had caught him looking at her on far too many occasions.

“There is something about you that intrigues me but I have no clue what it is yet,” he replied, as he continued to look at her.

“Is that so?” She was surprised but not interested.

“Yes, and I intend to find out what it is.”

“Good luck with that,” Francesca replied as she quickened her pace. As he watched her walk away, he thought about how cold she was toward him and how she avoided looking at him. But despite all of it, his presence clearly affected her. He could see how he made her uncomfortable. She seemed like a confident woman but around him, she was nervous.

He knew that there was a significant difference in age and while he had sworn off women, he found himself wondering about her. And the fact that she was beautiful made it that much harder to avoid her. He slipped his hands in his pockets and carried on walking. 

*                                                                                   *                                                                  *

T
he following afternoon, Princess Katherine returned from Paris. It had not even been ten minutes since she was back when the queen came to her quarters. She kissed her daughter on both cheeks and led her to the sofa. “How was Paris, dear?” the queen asked her.

“It was fine, mother,” Katherine replied. She knew what her mother was there to speak to her about as she waited for her to bring it up.

“Sir Augustin came over for tea yesterday.”

And so it begins, Katherine thought. “What does that have to do with me?” she asked her mother.

“He is single-”

“Oh! I forgot, I promised Macee that I would have lunch with her upon my return,” Katherine interrupted her mother as she jumped to her feet.

“What? I was not done speaking with you.”

“I will speak with you later.” Katherine kissed her mother on the cheek and rushed out of the room. Not only did she not want to speak about match making, but she especially did not want to speak about Sir Augustin. He was not her type and she would never consider him.

Katherine rushed down the palace hallways to get away from her mother and arrived in Macee's quarters moments later. She found Macee lying on the floor, looking at the ceiling. “Are you alright?” Katherine asked her as she rushed over to her.

Macee jerked her head upwards to see who it was. “Yes, I am fine now,” Macee replied. Katherine sat down next to her and put her hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

“Are you sure you are alright?”

“I was throwing up and it seems that lying here like this makes me feel better.”

“That is quite strange.”

“Tell me about it. How was Paris?”

“I should have stayed longer.” Katherine threw herself backwards and laid on the floor next to Macee.

“What happened?”

“I was not even back for ten minutes when my mother was already talking about yet another suitor that she found for me.”

Macee turned her head to face Katherine. “Are you alright lying on the floor?” she asked her. She had never expected to see Katherine on the floor. It seemed that the more she got to know her, the more she realised that she was not your typical princess.

“I am fine. It's strangely calming.”