Yeah, she gave me a signal all right. Not coming to my suite for breakfast was a big, glaring, red flashing light of a signal.
I didn’t even bother to eat. I just sipped my tea and read the news on my iPad. The day was bright and clear and warm, but I hardly noticed any of it. It was the very first time since we’d arrived on Kalopsia that the view from my terrace hadn’t brightened my mood. In fact, the longer I sat out there, alone, the worse my mood got.
“This is stupid,” I said to myself, setting down my mug and frowning at the ocean. “I should just go and talk to her. I’m sitting here brooding and questioning everything I said and did last night and instead, I should be talking to her and finding out what is really going on.”
“Are you talking to me, sir?” Maddox asked, stepping out onto the balcony.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head, “but, don’t you happen to know were Frankie is?”
“I believe she is in the dining room,” Maddox replied.
“Thank you,” I said, tossing my napkin on the table and standing to my feet. I was almost at the door when I heard Maddox clear his throat. I turned slowly. “Yes?”
He looked me up and down and I tilted my head to see I was still wearing my robe and slippers.
“Right,” I said, changing direction and heading for the ensuite to shower and dress.
Finally ready, I practically raced through the palace to the dining room, hoping I hadn’t missed Frankie. I slowed when I reached the final corridor and tried to compose myself. I wouldn’t do myself any favors by racing in there all disheveled and out of breath.
I heard Frankie’s laugh—there was no mistaking it. I smiled, her laugh always made me smile. It was loud and unrestrained and delightful, and I loved the sound of it. My smile dropped when I entered the dining room and saw Frankie sitting at a table on the terrace with Dorian, her head tipped back as she laughed, her hair shiny in the sunlight.
That guy.
That flipping guy.
I should have marched over there and staked my claim like I’d done the night before, but…well, I still didn’t know what exactly it was that upset Frankie at dinner. Was it because I acted proprietarily over her? Was it because I tried to assert my dominance over Dorian? I’d never acted like that before and maybe she didn’t appreciate my behavior.
I headed toward the buffet instead. I still wasn’t hungry, but what other reason did I have for being in the dining room if not for breakfast?
I snuck a look in Frankie’s direction and my gut clenched uncomfortably. Dorian and Frankie looked good together. The guy looked like he just stepped out of some fashion magazine but not as a model, although he was good-looking enough to be one. No, he looked like the guy a fashion magazine would interview as one of the hottest billionaires under thirty or something equally ridiculous. He was exactly the kind of guy Frankie needed in her life. He was bold and outspoken and could match Frankie in wits and confidence. I hated him.
“Good morning, Lord Lucas,” a voice said, and I turned toward the sound.
“Um, good morning…?”
“Sophia,” she said, filling in the blank with a smile. “Sophia Dellis. I’m one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting.”
“Oh right, of course,” I said.
I’d seen Sophia every night at dinner, but I hadn’t ever spoken to her or really taken any notice of her. My eyes had only ever been for Frankie.
Sophia smiled at me. “How are you enjoying your time on Kalopsia?”
“It’s good,” I replied and then frowned in concentration. “Dellis? Did you say your last name was Dellis?”
Sophia nodded.
“As in Ambassador Dellis?”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “Yes. He’s my father.”
“Ah, that’s why we haven’t met before,” I said. “I kind of recognize the others from the years before, but I could never place you.”
She smiled sadly. “No, I spent most of my time in Greece. I only summered here with my grandparents.”
“So how are you finding being here full time? It must be a bit of a change for you.”
She took a deep breath and her eyes went to the view framed perfectly by the open doors leading out to the terrace. “I’ve been in France since…well, since. I barely remember Kalopsia but now I’m here…I really love it.”
She looked back at me with such a beatific smile that I couldn’t help returning it. We—all of us, not just Sophia and me—all shared a weird history that in some ways bonded us together. We hadn’t had the same experiences, but we all had that one event that separated the ‘before’ from the ‘after.’
“So are you planning on staying here?”
She beamed a mega-watt smile at me. “Oh, absolutely,” she said. “Aren’t you?”
I found myself nodding but not able to say the words. I hadn’t come here intending to stay, but the longer I was here, the more I could see myself living here and being a part of this new world.
Francesca
I knew the moment Lucas walked into the dining room. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. The atmosphere changed or my body somehow recognized him before I even saw him.
I tried to concentrate on the joke Dorian was telling me. None of the others probably even knew that he liked to tell jokes, but for some reason his guard lowered around me and I saw a side of him the others didn’t. I thought it was because he saw me as non-threatening. All the others had some kind of stake in the royal court and there was jockeying for position and posturing like roosters…or wolves. I’d seen the way the others circled each other, sizing one another up to see whether they were friend or foe, finding the pecking order. Even Lucas did it to some extent. He wasn’t as obvious as Dorian, that was for sure. And it was only that I’d known Lucas for such a long time that I could see the change in his behavior. Lucas wasn’t the alpha, he didn’t want to be the alpha, but that didn’t mean he could just let the others sort it out amongst themselves. No, he needed to know what his position was in the pack and until all those positions were assigned, there would always be a tension in the group.
Lucas had challenged Dorian last night, in his own way. And Dorian challenged him back and won, asserting his dominance. Which was probably why Dorian was sitting at breakfast with me pretending to not have a care in the world when we both knew Lucas was in the dining room. Human behavior was fascinating.
I was waiting for Lucas to approach me. He wouldn’t outright ask why I was here and not having breakfast with him, but I was sure he would at least approach the table. When he didn’t, I turned to see where he was. Talking to Sophia. Smiling at her.
Something hideous rose inside me. I liked Sophia. In fact, I thought we could be friends, but right in that moment, I wanted to scratch her eyes out.
“I wouldn’t worry about Sophia,” Dorian said, reading my mind. “Little Lord Lucas has eyes for no one but you.”
“I’m not worried,” I said, flashing the insanely ridiculous engagement ring I was wearing. “I got the boy. And don’t call him that.”
“What?” Dorian asked, raising his eyebrows. “Lord Lucas?”