“Is everything all right?” Jamie asked with a frown.
I exhaled roughly. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.” What else could I say? My fake fiancée is mad at me and I don’t know why? Yeah, I didn’t think Jamie would be very accommodating if I said that.
“Let’s go to my office,” he said, and I followed him back into the palace like I was headed to the gallows.
Chapter 15
Francesca
I didn’t eat breakfast with Lucas the next morning. I couldn’t face him. I’d waited up for him, hoping he would come to me and we could have ‘the talk’ he’d wanted to have, but he never came. Eventually I gave up and crawled into bed. It must not have been all that important for him to just blow me off.
Besides, I didn’t even know if I wanted to hear what he had to say. The night before, when he was kissing me, I thought I knew what I wanted, but after what he said at dinner…I didn’t know anymore.
One of the things I loved about Lucas was that he wasn’t all about money. Yes, he had a lot of it, but he didn’t dedicate his life to getting more of it. He was happy to stick with his mid-level position in the family company and plod along. He didn’t buy expensive toys or throw his money around. He wasn’t the typical trust fund playboy, nor was he a money-focused alpha-hole. He was steady and competent and reliable, and while some people might find that boring, I found it attractive.
But last night…when he talked about reopening the family distillery, it just felt wrong. His family abandoned these people. They fled for their lives, yes, but they also abandoned all the people who relied on them for a steady income. They left people who had spent their entire lives working for the Andino family with nothing. But those people had survived and found a way to make ends meet, and now Lucas wanted to take it away from them. Oh, I believed he thought he was doing the right thing. I knew he would give them jobs and pay them well, but they had created something from nothing and the Andino family were just going to come in and sweep it all away.
It was the first time I’d ever looked at Lucas and seen his family.
And I didn’t like what I saw.
So no, I couldn’t face him this morning. Instead of going to his suite, I headed down to the dining room. The doors opened out onto the balcony and tables lined the perimeter of the room piled high with breakfast foods. I made myself a plate, although I wasn’t all that hungry, I found a seat outside so I could stare out over the ocean and wallow in my misery.
“Ms. Davenport?”
I looked up and shaded my eyes against the morning sun to look at the man who said my name. “Yes?”
“My name is Filipe, I am the king’s personal assistant.”
“Oh, hi. I can’t believe we haven’t met yet, but then I suppose I don’t spend much time in the palace. So, what can I do for you?”
“You had an appointment this morning—”
“Oh, my god! What’s the time? Did I miss it?”
“Um, no. It’s only just gone eight. No, the reason I sought you out was because the king needs to postpone…”
“Oh,” I said, dropping my hand and turning back to my breakfast. “Of course. I understand.”
“Yes, he’s very excited to hear Lord Lucas’ plans in full so he was hoping to reschedule with you.”
“Sure, why not,” I replied with just the tiniest bit of snark. “Why don’t you just let me know when the king can fit me into his busy schedule and I’ll rearrange my entire life around it.”
“Perfect,” Filipe said. “I’ll be in touch.”
Either the man did not get sarcasm or he didn’t care. I slumped in my chair. I shouldn’t have snapped, but I’d woken up in a foul mood—correction, I’d gone to sleep in a foul mood—and having this meeting postponed for Lucas’ money-grabbing plan just rubbed me the wrong way. How was I supposed to finish my research if I couldn’t speak to the king?
“Hey,” Sophia said as she slid into the chair beside me. “I don’t normally see you at breakfast. Everything okay?”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
“You and Lord Lucas looked a bit tense last night. Not trouble in paradise, I hope?”
“Ugh, don’t call him that,” I said.
“What?” she asked with a laugh. “Lord Lucas?”
“Yes, that,” I said, pointing a finger at her. “It just sounds weird, especially coming from you who, I think, outranks him.”
Sophia shrugged. “I think we’re all just kind of working out where we all fit and what to call each other. None of us grew up with titles, except the queen, and the king of course, but even he didn’t go by his actual title for a decade.”
“Did you and your family stay on the island?” I asked. “Oh, that’s probably an insensitive question—”
Sophia waved her hand, brushing the question aside. “No, it’s okay. I know you’re doing research and you want to hear all the gory details. The truth is, my family didn’t live on the island. My father was part of the embassy in Greece. I grew up there with only the occasional visit to Kalopsia. When the troubles started and they shut the embassy down, we went to France.”
“So you never lived here on Kalopsia at all?”
Sophia shook her head. “My grandparents did, but me, no. I have fond memories of summer visits, but…” she shrugged. “I was surprised to hear from the king. My father is a business consultant now and my parents still live in France with my little brother and sister. They’re ecstatic to have me part of the royal court.”
“But what about you? Is this something you wanted?”
“To be completely honest, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I was doing an arts degree with no idea of what I would do with it when I finished.”
“There you are.”
Sophia rolled her eyes and turned her back to the newcomer. I looked up and smirked at Dorian. “You were looking for me?”
Lucas
I didn’t sleep well. Jamie kept me late asking a million questions about my idea and then when he finally let me go, it was too late to have that conversation with Frankie. I stood outside the door of her suite like a creeper for who knows how long. I wanted to knock. I wanted to wake her up and tell her how I felt about her. I wanted to explain to her about the distillery and the plans and everything I’d talked to the king about. But I couldn’t. I used the excuse that it was too late and that she would already be asleep, but the truth was, I was a coward. She’d been angry at me and I was afraid of facing that anger. There was also the small—not so small—problem of my feelings for her and the genuine fear that she didn’t return them. I thought I was ready to open up about them. I’d certainly been ready yesterday afternoon, but now I knew it was just the raïda talking.
And if I had any doubt Frankie was still mad at me, then her not showing up for breakfast crushed it. I’d even psyched myself up into maybe telling her what was in my heart. I had definitely intended to feel her out about the subject and if she seemed conducive to it, then I would have said something. I absolutely would have…maybe…if she gave me all the right signals.