My tongue slipped over my dry lips, my heart picking up speed as more and more people’s notice fell upon me. Shocked, horrified, disgusted, and incited, their expressions jumbled together as adrenaline pierced my veins, hammering at my pulse. Their eyes fastened me to the floor. The music was just a hum in the background as chatter and gasps filled the large room, bouncing off the walls and ceiling and spearing right through me. Activity stopped as guests showed their phones to others.
What was going on? Why was everyone staring at me?
I searched for Theo, finding him near his parents, looking down at his cell phone. As if he could feel my stare, his head jerked up, his lids narrowing, hate flaring his nose.
“Tramp!” A woman’s voice came from deep in the crowd, jolting me around, my breath bursting heavily from my lungs as sounds filled the vast room, cutting through my chest.
Distant and muffled, but clear enough to hear, a man’s voice came from the cell speakers.
Moans and mutterings.
And then…
“Spencer…bloody hell. I’m about to come. Stop now if…” A few beats of mumbled sounds. Then a deep groan mixed with a swear word bellowed from the speakers, dropping realization and terror on me like a brick. The familiarity of the intimate moment, the words spoken, flashed the fresh memory of yesterday in my mind.
The world stopped.
Bile scorched up my throat, drowning me as the blood rushed to my ears, spinning my head. Oh. God. No. This can’t be happening.
We were alone. Private property. Paparazzi weren’t allowed anywhere near it. There should have been no way they could have caught us. And no one knew we were there…
Except.
Fecking hell.
Katy.
Would she do this?
There were unintelligible mutters before you heard a girl’s gradual wails ring through, dripping with passion and release.
“Oh god… Fuck. Lennox.”
I stood frozen, paralyzed to the spot, being burned alive with condemnation. My breath fluttered and heaved from my chest, panic whirling my head, dipping my legs.
I noticed the King whispering something to Dalton, rushing him off. In seconds, the sounds of sex stopped. Guests murmured, tapping madly at their cells, trying to refresh.
“All internet services have been shut off, and the use of mobiles will be strictly prohibited from here on out.” Alexander’s voice boomed in the room, snapping every head to him. “Whoever made this fabricated video will be found and dealt with. But the topic and matter of it end now. Everyone in this room is above spreading gossip and lies about such grotesque and blatantly false footage trying to hurt my family.” The King’s eyes drilled into the guests, daring them to contradict him. “Please carry on and enjoy the evening as if this never happened. We are above such vile tricks for headlines.” He swished his hand at the orchestra, which instantly filled the room with jubilant Christmas carols as a dozen ballerinas swirled onto the main floor, performing like dangling shiny objects intended to distract the guests.
From across the room, I felt the King’s attention stick into me like a knife, his glower shredding me apart. Going over my shoulder, he found someone else, the tiniest flick of his head screamed his demand before he exited the room, trailed by a stone-faced Theo. He wouldn’t even glance back at me, a nerve twitching at his temple.
Fuck.
Sweat pooled at the base of my spine and neck, stealing all the moisture from my mouth. My heart thumped, trying to push out of my chest, my limbs shaking as I took a step to follow. I forced my head to stay up as glares and mumblings whirled around me. Humiliation buried me as I walked across the room like I was about to be condemned, their gazes painting me with a scarlet A.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my family, their expressions contorted with horror and fear. My mother gripped my father as if she already sensed the secure ground, which she had put all her belief on, was cracking and breaking under her feet. Not able to look at them, I rolled my shoulders back, holding my chin up, and strode for the door.
I had survived a real bombing, but the metaphorical one might be the one that destroys me.
Acid foamed up the back of my throat as I stepped into the King’s office. Alexander stood behind his desk, Theo to the side, while Dalton and two guards secured the doors on either side of the room. Lennox hung a few steps back, still following the rules of a bodyguard, though I knew there was no point now.
The King stayed silent, his head bowed, his fingers pinching his nose. Heavy tension dipped the back of my knees, forcing my teeth to grit together to hold myself up. Keeping my face blank and my head up, I hid my fear under my veneer.
“Is the video real?” He finally spoke, his voice low and dangerous, his glare leaping between Lennox and me. To hear it was one thing, but I knew everyone was privy to the most intimate moments between us. The King, my father…they all had seen it.
My throat locked up, not letting sound exit my mouth.
“Yes, Majesty,” Lennox replied unemotionally.
Red dots rose on the King’s cheeks, anger flaring his nose. “You stupid girl,” he snarled at me. “I warned you. Cautioned you about what would happen. And still, you couldn’t keep your legs closed.”
A threatening rumble came from Lennox behind me.
“Wait.” Theo’s entire frame twisted to his father. “You knew about this?”
“I am King. There isn’t anything I don’t know about.”
Theo’s mouth parted. “When?”
“At my birthday.”
“You mean before I proposed to her?” Theo exclaimed. “And you still let me?”
“I tried to stop you. Everyone tried. But you were dead set on her. Wouldn’t listen to any of us. I thought warning her was enough to either end it or set her right.”
“So…it didn’t matter if my fiancée was cheating on me as long as it didn’t cause a scandal?” Theo’s fists rolled into balls, anger coloring his face.
“Of course it matters, but our reputation is everything, Theo. Without it, we lose respect. Respect equals power. We deal with our private matters secretly and with care. Especially affairs,” Alexander shot back. “But don’t suddenly act the fool. You couldn’t be that naive and blind.”
My stomach flipped around like a carnival ride. I half expected Theo to throw me under the bus and deny he had any idea. He could have, and I wouldn’t even have fought it.
“Did you know?”
“Yes, sir.” Theo shuffled his feet.
Alexander dipped his head, spearing his son with his disappointment. “You will be the king someday. How do you think the commoners will look at you, realizing you knew your fiancée was having an affair with her bodyguard, and you allowed it to happen? Will you appear weak or strong?”
Theo bowed his head.
“Answer me!” His voice rose, fury bustling under the seams.
“Weak!” Theo shouted back.
“You also had to be aware the media could discover this at any time, exposing our family to this vulgar scandal!” Anger broke free from the King, his fist smashing on his desk. “I warned you, Theo! I told you what kind of girl she was. You should have gone straight to the PR, let them handle this!”
“We were going to. Right after the holidays.” Theo’s cheeks were rosy with humiliation. “I was trying to protect us since we just got engaged. I wanted to wait before we broke the news.”