“I can’t complain.”
“Monsieur Bouchard’s daughter.” He said it casually, but I could tell he was ticked by it from the way his expression was set.
“That’s me.”
“You don’t sound as thrilled as I imagined someone in your position to be.”
“That’s funny coming from you.”
“What does that mean?” He tilted his face to study me.
“I thought endless jewels and the respect of everyone in most nations would mean you’d be happy.”
“I don’t have the respect of everyone in my nation, let alone others.” He shot me a pointed look.
“You’re mistaking my father’s beliefs for mine. Besides, I don’t think we should have this conversation.” I walked over to him. His eyes widened a fraction as I stood in front of him and turned, glancing up at him over my shoulder. “Can you zip me up?”
His eyes met mine and held as he tossed the garment bag onto the nearest couch and brought his hands to my lower back, where the zipper was. I wanted to turn away, especially when I felt his fingers on my back, but I couldn’t bring myself to break the spell he seemed to be casting. He tugged on the zipper and slowly brought it up. I gasped as he reached the top and ran a finger over my back, then held my breath as his expression darkened. He was finished zipping me, but hadn’t lowered his hands. There was a loud knock on the front door, followed by the door opening quickly. I stepped away, forcing Prince Elias’s hands to drop between us; his gaze was still sharp on mine.
“Sir, the Princess of Austria is in attendance and asked to see you,” Pierre said, clearing his throat as he stood there.
I turned away completely and walked back to my room, my galloping heart chasing after me. I closed the door and shut it behind me, slamming my back into it and letting out a breath. What the hell had just happened?
I waited until I heard doors slamming and the sound of Prince Elias’s shouting had dissipated before I opened the door and made my way to the party. Pierre was standing outside with today’s guard as I shut the front door and locked it.
“Men don’t wear masks?” I asked.
“We do.” He took a mask out of his pocket and put it over his eyes for me to see.
“You look good.”
“Thanks. So do you.” He eyed me up and down. “I see you decided to wear the wig.”
“It’s a bit uncomfortable.” I patted the top of my head. “But I think it’ll stay. Are you ready to go or do you have to wait for him?”
“We can go ahead. I’m off duty, remember?” He smiled, offering me his arm.
I gladly linked my arm through it, grateful that I had someone to keep me from falling. I didn’t wear heels often and even though these were comfortable, I wasn’t used to walking on small pebbles with them.
“Do they just have outfits for every theme readily available?” I asked as we walked.
“Pretty much. There’s this one. There’s a seventeen-hundreds theme where everyone looks like King Louis and Marie Antoinette. That’s my personal favorite.” He paused, pursing his lips. “I’m sure there are more.”
I filed away the seventeen-hundreds theme. It would be a good one for the Versailles event.
“Any excuse to have a party,” I said.
“Or any excuse to liven the party up,” Pierre responded. “He gets bored with all of this.”
“So why do it?”
“That’s a question you’d have to ask him. If you dare.”
“I dare, but I don’t care. It won’t make a difference in my life.”
We arrived at the villa and stood on the porch for a couple of minutes as we set our masks in place.
“Can you tell it’s me?”
“Not at all,” he said. “Can you tell it’s me?”
“Not really.” I looked at the man that walked outside as we stood there and noticed he was wearing the exact same outfit as Pierre. A woman walked out and she was wearing the exact same dress and mask as I was. “Are we all supposed to be wearing the same thing?”
“Everyone wears the same exact outfit. It makes things more interesting.” He offered me his arm again. “Let’s go get some drinks.”
Chapter 9
I didn’t drink much. Not because there wasn’t plenty to drink, and then some, but because people-watching was much more fun when you did it sober. When I was dating Thomas, I’d rubbed shoulders with world leaders and even some members of the royal family in London, but that didn’t make me any less intimidated to be at this party. I had no idea who was who beneath the masks and even though that was the beauty of it—we were all equal in here—it was still extremely jarring to think about.
“That right there is Benjamin Drake,” Pierre whispered beside me.
“What? Where?” I followed his finger to one of the men dancing on the dance floor. “How do you know?”
“I saw him without his mask earlier,” he said.
“You’re a real fan, eh?”
“Aren’t we all?” He grinned. “I’ve met him a few times. Nice bloke.”
“Well, that’s good to know. I would really hate to toss his jersey.”
Pierre laughed. “Hey, I’m going to get another drink. Want one?”
“No, thanks. I’m going to look for the toilets.” I hesitated. “Well, I know where everything is, so, yeah.”
He laughed again. The villa was the same layout as mine, so finding one wouldn’t be difficult. It was finding one that didn’t have people standing outside of it waiting that would prove to be a challenge. I glanced around the room. The longer the party went on, the more risqué people seemed to become. Apparently, inhibitions really did run wild when people had something to hide behind. I decided that going into one of the rooms may be the best option, so I tried the first one and found a couple making out on the bed. I shut it quickly. I moved on to the next room and found a group of men having a conversation. I shut that quickly as well. There was only one room left and it was the master downstairs. That level had a guest bathroom outside of the bedroom, so I could use it without going into his room. I headed toward the stairs and walked down there.
I felt uneasy. It was completely dark down here and I felt like I was trespassing. I had to pass his bedroom to reach the bathroom at the end of the hall, and my steps slowed as I walked past. I heard movement inside, the sounds of a conversation between a man and a woman. Was it the Princess of Austria? She’d been looking for him earlier. Was she the one he was to be engaged to? She was beautiful and royal and fit the bill. One thing I’d learned in boarding school was that all of those royals and billion-dollar heirs had flings with each other at one point or another. It was a cesspool of future monarchs and the outside world couldn’t begin to understand them, so it made sense. Still, for some reason, the thought didn’t sit well with me.
I went into the guest bathroom and locked the door. I stayed in there a little longer than necessary and re-did my wig and fixed my mask before walking out. The door to the bedroom opened as I stepped out of the guest bathroom and a woman walked out. She was fixing her dress and running a finger underneath her lip to fix her lipstick. She didn’t even glance my way as she walked down the hall and up the stairs. I didn’t even realize that I was frozen in place until he walked out of the room shortly afterward. He was wearing the exact same thing as everyone in the party, but there was absolutely no doubt that it was him. Unlike his companion, his head whipped in my direction and his eyes found mine.