A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (22 page)

I snuck a sideways glance at him.
 
His jaw was tight, his eyes straight ahead, his posture tense.
 
He was holding himself away from me, something he never did.
 
Freddie was all about getting up close and personal, he was normally always finding a way to touch me, whether it was holding my hand or rubbing shoulders.
 
The Freddie sitting beside me was somehow different.

“Are you all right?” I asked.
 
I was a little thrown by this angry Freddie, I don’t think I had ever seen him like this.

He turned his head and looked at me.
 
I didn’t like what I saw on his face.
 
There was an expression of distaste, contempt even and his eyes flashed angrily.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” he grated at me, “Why would you meet him out in the open like that.
 
Why were you meeting with him at all?”

I was taken aback by his tone of voice and by his attitude.

“I need your permission to have lunch with a friend?” I asked angrily.

He scoffed.
 
“Bradley Corsair is not a friend,” he seethed, “The man is—“ he stopped and shook his head, “It doesn’t matter what I think of him, what matters is that you were seen by some very aggressive paps holding hands with another man.
 
Do you know what will be on the front page of the paper tomorrow?
 
Your previous relationship with that man.”

“Oh,” I said, somewhat chastised.
 
I hadn’t thought about that when Bradley had called and asked to take me to lunch.
 
He’d assured me he only wanted to talk to find out what had gone wrong between us.
 
“I thought it would be harmless,” I mumbled, “He wanted to talk.
 
We’d been together for two years, I thought I owed him at least that much.”

“And the paparazzi?” Freddie asked, his eyes cutting through me like a laser.

“I’m supposed to control them now too?” I asked, incredulous, “How could I possibly know they were there?”

Freddie rolled his eyes and looked forward again.
 
“Because he called them.”

“What?
 
No, of course he didn’t, how can you say such a thing?”

“Think it through, Alex,” he said condescendingly, “It was a last minute lunch date, you are not yet famous enough to have the paps following your every move.
 
The only reason they could’ve been there was if one of you told them and somehow I don’t think you would’ve done that.”
 
He didn’t even look at me as he revealed his obvious disappointment in me.

“But why would he do something like that?” I asked, completely baffled, “Brad always hated the media attention as much as I did.”

“Unless he could get something out of it, I bet.”

“And what would he get out of alerting the media to a private lunch between friends?”

“He’s making a play for you Alex,” he said with a sigh, “He wants you back and he’s trying to get the media speculating about the validity of our relationship.”

“That makes no sense,” I said with a shake of my head, “What is the point?”

“To get you running scared from the paps, to make you run from me the way you ran from him.”

“That doesn’t mean I’ll run back to him.”

“I didn’t say the guy was smart.
 
Besides, it also has the added advantage of making me look bad.”

“So you’re angry about how this looks for you?” I asked, “You’re upset because me being seen in the company of my ex reflects badly on you.”

He turned to look at me then and the fire in his eyes was intense and for a moment I was lost in his vortex and then it was gone.

“No Alex,” he said, tiredly, “That’s not why I’m upset.”

“Then why—“
 
But he was climbing out of the car.
 
We had arrived at the Palace and there was another, more immediate crisis to handle.
 
My mother.

I climbed out of the car and straightened my suit.
 
I needed to put the conversation with Freddie out of my mind and deal with this issue at hand.
 
My mother in the palace had potential disaster written all over it.
 
I couldn’t imagine what havoc she would have wreaked in my absence.
 
I just hope Penny’d had the sense of mind to keep her away from the Queen.

I turned to Freddie, but he was sliding back into the car.

“You’re not coming with me?” I asked stupidly.

“I think this is something you need to handle yourself,” he said before slamming the car door closed.

I swallowed, feeling suddenly adrift.
 
I thought Freddie would have my back, but obviously he was too angry with me, or maybe it was because he’d already met my mother.
 
No doubt he was thinking to himself that dealing with her was more than their fake relationship was worth.

I squared my shoulders and turned back towards the Palace.
 
I had been dealing with my parents for years, I could do it again.
 
With more confidence and determination than I felt, I stalked towards the Palace steps.
 
I had been doing this on my own for far too many years to feel intimidated by them now.

As I stepped into the parlour where Percy had told me my family was waiting, my worst fears were confirmed.
 
Sitting having tea with my mother, father and two sisters was the Queen and Meredith.
 
I glanced at the Queen trying to determine her level of irritation, but instead she shot be a bemused smile.
 
Meredith’s smile told me she was laughing at me and that I would no doubt have the entire entourage in my suite tonight so they could all hear the gossip, only then would my humiliation be complete.

“Alexandra,” my mother said, shooting me a disappointed look.
 
My mother had never forgiven me for turning my back on the lifestyle that she and my sisters chose to live.

“Your Grace,” I said sketching a quick curtsy in Alyssa’s direction before turning to my family.
 
“Hello mother, father,” I said respectfully before turning to my two sisters who were sprawled on a settee, their phones glued to their hands.
 
“Lily, Tina.
 
Good to see you.”

“Your mother came to visit you while you were out,” Alyssa said, her eyes dancing with mirth, “I invited her to tea while she waited for your return.
 
It has been quite an enlightening half hour.”

I took in the tea trolley and the remaining cakes and pastries that looked like they hadn’t been touched.
 
Neither my mother nor my sisters would ever eat something with so many carbs and, depending on the current fad diet they were following, probably wouldn’t drink tea either.
 
I saw my father eye the cake tray longingly, but he wouldn’t partake either, mother wouldn’t let him.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived,” I said, “Had I known you were coming, I wouldn’t have slipped away.”

“So I need to make an appointment to see my own daughter?” Kiki said.

“Not at all,” I tried placatingly, “It’s just that I didn’t know—”

“I met your new man,” she said with a sniff.

I raised my eyebrows at her tone.
 
I would’ve thought for sure that once Kiki saw Freddie she would be urging me to seal the deal with him.
 
She always did like a good looking man with a lot of money.

“Oh?”

“I don’t understand why you would leave Brad for someone like him,” she said, “You’re definitely not his type.”

I rolled my eyes, “I think we’ve already had this conversation,” I said, “And I believe I told you that my love life was none of your business.”

“But it reflects badly on us,” she said.

I saw Meredith’s eyebrows go up in surprise and I gave her a quick shake of my head to stop her from saying anything.

“How so?” I asked.

“Well, he’s titled, for one,” Kiki went on, “And he has a reputation.”
 
That surprised me, since when did my mother care about a reputation and I thought she would jump at the chance of a title, not to mention Freddie’s financial situation.
 
The man was a billionaire in his own right without taking into account what he was set to inherit. “Besides, he’s far too good-looking for you.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of irritation from the Queen, but she remained silent.
 
I don’t know if my mother had forgotten who was in the room or if she just didn’t care, but for whatever reason, it didn’t stop her from continuing to speak.

“I’m really rather disappointed in you, Alexandra.
 
You threw away a perfectly good marriage to a man from one of the oldest families in Boston who was set to inherit an absolute fortune for a titled playboy with nothing to show for his name.”

I saw Meredith open her mouth to speak, but I glared at her and she closed her mouth slowly.
 
I knew her and Freddie fought all the time, but she wouldn’t hesitate to jump in and defend her brother if the chance arose.

“Do you know who Freddie is mother?”

“Of course I do,” she said, “I just met the man and he is like every other titled man I’ve ever known.
 
Living off his peerage and never knowing a single day of real work.
 
A title doesn’t make him anything special, you for one should know that.
 
He is no doubt broke and sponging of his friends to keep up appearances.
 
If you marry him, how are you going to take care of us?
 
He will gamble away all your money and leave us destitute.
 
As it is, the amount you have been sending us is barely enough to cover expenses.
 
Come back to Boston, marry Brad and let him take care of you.”

“I like my job,” I said, keeping my voice level, “I enjoy working.”

She waved her hand, “You and your career.
 
I’m sure Brad can set you up in a charity or something to keep you busy, or you could go back to work at that place you were before.
 
The pay was definitely better.”

The Queen stiffened and Meredith’s eyes snapped.
 
If looks could kill, my mother would be a dead woman.
 
I smiled serenely at them and turned back to the woman who had made it her mission to ruin my life.
 
It was true that I made less money working for the Queen, and with the exchange rate, the money I sent to my parents wasn’t the same as it used to be, but the Queen housed and fed me.
 
The suite in the Palace that had become my home was bigger and more beautiful than the small apartment I’d lived in when I was in Boston.
 
At least by living here, I could put a little money away in a savings account.

“I’m sorry mother, but that won’t be happening.
 
If money is tight, why doesn’t Tina or Lily get a job or even Dad?”

“Tina and Lily are doing their best to find work,” Kiki said, “And you know your father can’t work in his condition.”

My father was not sick, he was weak, timorous and cowering, and far to under the thumb.
 
He worked for my mother as a slave and there was no way she could let him go out and find a real job because then he might discover that there was a world outside of his existence with Kiki, a world he might even prefer.

“I am not coming home,” I said with confidence.

My mother stood, my father scrambling up too and my sisters getting to their feet lazily.
 
“You are such a disappointment to me,” she said, “I don’t know where I went wrong with you.
 
You showed such promise in college and then you threw it all away.
 
And then we were so close to getting what we wanted, and I finally thought you’d live up to your potential, but you threw that away too.
 
If you had married Brad, all our problems would have been solved, instead you acted rashly and selfishly.
 
Don’t you care that your father and I are barely keeping our heads above water?
 
Don’t you care that the wolf is at our door?
 
No, all you care about is yourself.
 
I don’t understand how I could’ve raised such a self absorbed child who would turn her back on her parents in their hour of need.”

“You are hardly destitute, mother,” I said, standing, “If your living expenses are too high, I can help you find another house, one that doesn’t cost so much to run.
 
Or you could let go a couple of the staff.”

She looked at me like I had asked her to cut out her still beating heart.

“Who are you?” she said, “I don’t even recognise you anymore.
 
You are no daughter of mine.”

She swanned out of the room, my father and sisters following behind her, and I slumped back down in my chair.

“What the hell just happened?” Meredith asked.

Later that night, I sat in the sitting room of my suite surrounded by the women who had come to mean a great deal to me.
 
We had been thrown together six months ago and none of us knew each other, but over the time we had forged a friendship that I was grateful for.
 
Alyssa’s Ladies in Waiting comprised Savannah, Margaret, Priscilla and Jeanette and along with them were Meredith and the Queen herself.
 
We sat around the modest room drinking wine and eating cheese, Will’s cheese of course, and talking about the embarrassing things that our families had done to humiliate us.
 
It lightened my mood and helped me to feel like I wasn’t alone.