The Prince's Unwilling Lover (The Royals of Monaco, #1) (10 page)

“Well there is that,” Princess Katherine said.

“Besides, if Liane is pregnant, then let her be. What should it matter now?” Now that he was married to Macee, he could not picture being married to her sister. It was as if this was the way it was meant to be. Liane’s pregnancy was meaningless to him.

A maid walked in with Francesca who was holding a brown envelope. She looked furious. She curtsied and apologised for the intrusion but it was necessary as she had important information for the crown prince. She handed him the envelope.

“Could it not wait?” the queen asked her.

“I am afraid not, your majesty,” Francesca replied.

Prince Louis opened the envelope and took out the contents. He grew more and more angry as he read the file. He threw it down and banged his fist on the table. The queen gasped and placed her hand on her heart. “What is the matter?” she asked. Prince Louis looked at Bridgette.

“So all these leaked rumours were your doing?” he asked her. Bridgette's eyes flew open; she picked up the paperwork and read it.

As Francesca was trying to reveal the identity of the culprit, she ran into some roadblocks. The person had gone to great lengths to hide his or her identity.

“What?” The queen turned to look at her sister. That could not possibly be true.

“She made up rumours about my sister because she did not approve of her,” Francesca said.

“Macee is not suitable for this position,” Bridgette said.

“So you tarred her image and the image of the royal family to get what you want?” the king demanded.

“In addition, you leaked Liane's pregnancy instead of telling us,” the prince said. He was disappointed and disgusted by her.

“It is her family you need to direct your anger at,” Bridgette screamed. “They hid the pregnancy and lied about it.”

“I am disappointed in you, my own sister,” the queen said. She stood up and left the room.

“We will discuss this deception another day,” the king said as he dismissed the LeBlancs. The king left the room followed by Prince Louis, Macee and Katherine. Francesca was left in the room with Bridgette.

“How dare you!” Bridgette shouted at Francesca.

“No, how dare you try to ruin my family like this!” Francesca shouted back. Bridgette rose up from her seat and walked over to Francesca.

“You have no idea what you have done.”

“No, you have idea what you have done. The prince will probably have your head on a stick for drawing all this unwanted attention their way. Good luck with that,” Francesca replied as she turned on her heel and left the room.

Prince Louis and Macee went to the palace gardens, away from everyone. He stopped and looked at her. “I am sorry,” he said to her. He finally understood what she had gone through. She went from living a normal life to being a crown princess by force. Then she had her character tarred by his aunt. His family had turned her life upside down.

“For what?” Macee asked him.

“Because of my family, your life has been shaken up.”

“It's not your fault.”

“I played my part. I was the one who chose you to be my bride.” Macee could actually see that he felt bad. This was a new look for him. She wrapped her arms around him and placed her head on his chest.

“If you had married Francesca, this might be happening to her instead. There is nothing you could have done to change it; your aunt was determined to cause trouble.”

He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. They had all gone through so much in the past week all because of one person. “I would understand if you still wanted an annulment,” he said. It hurt him to say it, but given everything that happened, he would not fault her for it. Maybe then, she could start over and be free from all the drama the royal family brought upon her.

“I don't want it,” Macee said. For a while, she had wanted it so badly that she was willing to do whatever it took. Now she had the opportunity to annul the marriage but she did not want it anymore.

“What?” Prince Louis took a step back and looked at her. “This is your chance to be free.”

“Are you kidding? I will never be free. Everyone will know me as the former crown princess that was dumped by the royal family. Louis we are stuck together.” His face dropped. He was sad for her and for himself. Macee stood on her toes and pressed a small kiss on his lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “For better or worse,” she said to him.

“Till death do us part.”

Macee smiled and nodded. That was the first time she smiled at him and it warmed him inside like nothing else. He felt happy. She could finally smile on his account. He was going to keep her in his life. “I have question though, you picked me to be your wife even after you had seen me looking a mess. Why?” she asked. The prince laughed when he remembered the first time he saw her.

“You were really messy that day.” Macee laughed. “I think I fell a bit in love with you from the moment I saw you all covered in paint.”

Macee raised her eyebrows. “You are in love with me?” The prince shrugged his shoulders.

“You can't help who you love.” Macee laughed.

“Well, Prince Louis, I am in love with you too,” she said and kissed him.

A
s the queen’s sister, Bridgette had been afforded more latitude than anyone else had, but she had gone too far. Despite her pleas for leniency, her dislike of the LeBlancs and actions created scandal for everyone that was proving time consuming to fix. She was ordered to leave the palace immediately.

The queen was not over the fact that Mrs LeBlanc went to such great lengths to hide Liane’s pregnancy and she was not going to let the LeBlancs get away with it. She needed to find out the identity of the baby's father, as both he and Liane were to be punished. She was spoken for when she slept with another man and not to just any ordinary man. She was spoken for by the crown prince. By sleeping with another man, it was the same as spitting on the royal family and for that, there were repercussions.

Macee and Prince Louis began to spend more time together. They realised how much they did not know about each other and they were enjoying finding these things out. Macee felt blessed that the prince had stood by her side the entire time. Despite everything that had gone on between them, he never once wavered in his belief in her innocence. 

Prince Louis was happy that Macee refused the annulment. She was different from the type of woman his family would have wanted him to marry and he knew that from the start. The more he learned about her, the more he grew to appreciate her differences. He was glad that he married her instead of Francesca. Even his sister had warmed up to her and never missed an opportunity to spend time with her. Just as he never missed an opportunity to make love to her. He was happy he was the only man to have lain with her. It would drive him crazy to think of her with another man.

Macee was so grateful to Francesca for coming to her aid like that. Francesca apologised to her sister for her earlier behaviour and promised to be supportive. She realised that life in the palace was not going to be easy for Macee, so she wanted to be there for her sister. The two of them also wanted to be there for Liane. Everyone was dying to know who the father of the baby was. The truth was about to come out and it was going to cause a lot of drama. Soon, very soon they would all finally know that Liane was carrying Bridgette's grandson.

END OF PART ONE

PART TWO OUT OCTOBER 2014

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Excerpt from ‘The Sheikh's Demanding Fiancée’ (The Botros Brothers Series)

"Amir, we are going to be late," Soraya whispered against his mouth. He groaned in response and pressed a small kiss on her neck. Soraya sighed with pleasure and closed her eyes. He trailed kisses from her neck down to her chest. He caressed her back as his hands continued their languid caress around her hips before he cupped her bottom. He loved how firm it was. He slipped his hand under her dress and caressed her thighs.

"Okay... we... really..." Soraya was struggling to string a sentence together. Pushing him away, she jumped up from the sofa and cleared her throat. She blinked a few times before she said anything. Amir was still sitting on the sofa looking at her with so much desire in his eyes. "We have to go," Soraya finally managed to say.

"Do we?" Amir asked as he got up from the sofa and walked towards her.

"Yes," she said and ran out of the room. Amir laughed. He was pleased he could affect her so much. Not long ago, it was difficult to get a simple smile out of her. He straightened his tie and slipped his suit jacket back on.

Moments later, Soraya re-entered the room. She had adjusted her makeup and managed to put herself back together. They had to be at Fiddah's charity fundraiser dinner party and were already running late. By the time they arrived, everyone was already seated inside. They joined Sara and Tariq at their table. Amir kissed Sara on both cheeks before he took Leylah in his arms. Her face lit up when Amir picked her up. He kissed her and she laughed in response.

"You guys are so late," Sara pointed out.

"Blame him," Soraya said. Amir raised an eyebrow at her. Sara laughed.

"She just threw you under the bus," Sara said.

Malik joined them at the table. He greeted everyone before he pulled out his chair and sat down. He pinched Leylah's rosy cheeks. Turning his attention to Amir and Soraya, "Why so late?" he asked.

"Traffic," Amir said.

The waiters served the starters. Sara frowned and pushed her bowl of soup away. Tariq held her arm gently and asked her if she was okay. "Smells awful!" she complained. Tariq laughed softly and asked the waiter to remove both their bowls.

"And the pregnant journey begins once again," Amir said as he smiled at Sara. He enjoyed teasing her over how soon she became pregnant after having Leylah. Seemed like her and Tariq could not take a break from each other. Sara rolled her eyes. Some moments were not so pretty about being pregnant. She was not looking forward to it at all. Then there was her supercharged sex drive. It was ridiculous how she was easily aroused when she was pregnant. That was Tariq's favourite part. He liked seeing her in that state and begging for attention.

"How are you coping so far?" Soraya asked Sara.

"Morning sickness is already screwing me over," Sara complained. She sighed and reached for her glass and drank from it. Malik gave her a sympathetic look and rubbed her hand.

Halfway through dinner, Fiddah made a speech to thank all the donors. They had managed to raise a lot of money. She also informed them about future charity events. She delivered the speech with such poise and elegance. Everyone clapped their hands after her speech.

Music filled the room and people started dancing. Sara got up to make her third trip to the bathroom within the hour. Tariq rubbed her back before she left. He turned his attention to Amir who was still holding Leylah.

"I'll take her, you and Soraya go dance," Tariq said to Amir. Amir looked at him wondering what he was up to. "Ley," Tariq called out. She turned her head in his direction and smiled as she stretched out her arms toward him. He took her from Amir and kissed her. She smiled and touched his face.

"She's so adorable," Soraya said as she smiled.

"We can have an adorable one too," Amir said and winked at her. Malik and Soraya both frowned at him.

"Slow down," Malik said. Tariq couldn't help but laugh. His brother's humour wasn't always warranted. Amir simply smiled and held out his hand to Soraya.

"May I have this dance?" he asked her. She did not respond right away. She looked up, as if she was thinking about it. Amir kissed her on the cheek. "She always makes me work for it," he said before he helped her to her feet.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Soraya said.

"As if you don't want to dance."

"I don't."

"Lies."

Snaking his arm around her waist, he guided her to the dance floor. Giving him a sour look, she placed one hand on his shoulder and the other in his palm. Their bodies moved to the rhythm. Amir was looking at her with such intensity. Being so close to her set him off. She was so beautiful and everything he wanted in a woman. He could not stay away from her.  

Soraya avoided his gaze. She acted all tough but the truth was that she melted in his presence. She tried to hide it from him but she was not always successful.

"What are you thinking about?" Amir whispered in her ear.

"Nothing," Soraya replied.

"You're thinking of me."

"Absolutely not," she lied. All she could ever think about these days was him.

*     *    *    *

"S
heik Amir, there is someone here to see you," the servant said.

"Who is it?" Amir asked.

"She would prefer to tell you herself."

Amir raised an eyebrow, as it sounded rather dodgy. Sara looked up, she was suddenly curious. Why so cryptic? Amir motioned to have the guest join them in the courtyard. Sara's jaw dropped open when she saw the green-eyed woman from the restaurant. She was wearing a white silk camisole with a see-through lace back, high waist beige shorts and black shoes with red soles. Her hair was tied up in a high messy bun. Amir looked up, he recognised her immediately.