Ten
“What?” I rubbed my damp hands down my jeans. For the last twenty minutes, I had been locked in the office with just a few of the house’s PR team. Four people sat around the room, typing and talking around me like I wasn’t actually there.
“All personal pictures will need to be vetted.” Chloe opened a folder, flipping through papers with a slight frown on her face. Her assistant, Millie, stood near with a tablet, stabbing and scrolling through it. “It’s better to start from scratch than going through all your accounts.”
“And all of that will be up for debate, ridicule, and censure, no matter how appropriate you think it is,” Chloe replied, tossing a folder at another member of the team.
“Every detail of your life is going to be dug up and put up on display to be shredded. We want as little as possible for them to rip apart.” She looked up at Millie.
“Get a statement from Kelly, Theo’s PR. What they want his message to be. ”
Millie nodded, tapping harder at her screen.
“The moment you step out as the prince’s girlfriend, everything changes.
They will move in like vultures, ready to pick you apart, and if you want to stay whole, we need to control the message from the beginning.
” She opened another packet, flicking through the pages.
“The image we are putting out there will be shaped and cultivated by us. Not the press. You will no longer do any posting yourself. We will be doing everything for you now.”
My life was no longer my own.
“Theo mentioned to you that I want to get my own flat?” I swallowed back the lump building in my throat. I needed even the tiniest bit of freedom.
“He did,” she answered curtly, not going on as she turned to the side. “Thomas?” She addressed another employee. “Is her new mobile ready?”
A guy in his mid-twenties with pasty skin and glasses unhooked a phone from his laptop. “Yes.” He slid the device to her. “Downloaded and ready to go.”
Chloe picked it up, tapping at it before handing it over to me, open to a calendar. “This is your official RH mobile. It is protected and programmed. Please use this for all your communication. Your latest changes in your calendar of events will be updated there.”
I nodded, noticing how packed the dates already were, especially after the gala where we were officially coming out as a couple.
Almost every day was filled with something.
The walls moved in around me; the need to run outside into the fresh air itched my limbs.
The desire to go riding, to gallop across the green rolling hills, burned the back of my throat.
“I’m in the process of interviewing an assistant for you, but she won’t officially be hired until you and the prince are engaged.
” She flipped through a folder, her words nonchalant.
The tension in my gut braided up my spine.
“Until then, they will be acting as an informal aide, keeping you on task and message.”
Message? My relationship with Theo didn’t feel real, like we were two dolls being moved and dressed in the way the royal house wanted.
“All the things in red are events you must attend. Orange is for charities Theo is part of, and it would be beneficial if you were with him. Yellow are events and activities Prince Theo must attend, and again it’s good if you would show a united front.
The starred ones are meetings, fittings, private dinners, and instruction. ”
“Instruction?”
Chloe touched her flawlessly smoothed blonde hair.
Not even a strand would dare come out of the low tight bun.
She was tall and lean, dressed in a knee-length black dress and heels with a red blazer.
She was picture perfect for the “message” of the royal house, meeting the same standard as the Queen and Eloise.
Conservative, elegant, and reserved. So many things I didn’t feel I was.
Maybe those on the outside would disagree, but I preferred animals to people, jeans to dresses, riding boots to heels, pizza to lobster, and loose, long tangled hair to being perfectly coiffed.
“I know being raised as a baroness you’ve had some instruction on manners and etiquette, but the royal house is another level of traditions and customs. Things that have been in place since the establishment of this kingdom.
Protocols a novice could break without even knowing.
” She tugged at the edges of her jacket, pressing her red lips together.
“Dinner etiquette will start later this afternoon after your fittings. Dresses will be picked for you for the formal events. We want your introduction at the gala to be seamless.” She moved to Millie, handing her a few files.
Without a note of instruction, Millie took them with a curtsy and left the room.
“Your world is here now. Your message will be the same as Theo’s until you become duchess, then you can start thinking of charities of your own you want to be the voice for.
Of course, only if they are first approved by the royal house. ”
The walls cinched down on me, strangling air from my lungs. Stay strong. Think of Theo.
Chloe went on about my schedule as perspiration glided down the back of my neck, stirring me in the chair. My own family, the people here, everyone was trying to control my life and every choice of words from my mouth, ripping my voice away.
“I have to go.” The sentiment popped off my tongue before I even realized it as I rose from the chair.
“Spencer?” I heard Chloe call after me, my legs already taking me out of the room and down the hall. I had no direction or care, I just ran, my only desire to get out of this cage and feel the fresh breeze on my face.
Weaving and dodging through staff, I moved along several corridors, down the stairs, and out a door, bursting through into a gray day.
Sucking deeply, I gulped in air as if I had been strangled, desperate to breathe.
The air was still slightly warm, the clouds keeping it in like another cage locking around me.
My new shoes were kicked out in front of me as I moved across the garden, the stone wall dimming the voices, honks, and rumbles of cars, life on the other side of the barrier.
They all wanted so badly to see over the wall, to be part of this world, when all I wanted was out.
Funny how so many saw this as the ideal life.
They didn’t see that you may have privileges, but no freedoms—no bad days, no nights you could just stay home and watch the telly, drink in a pub with a friend, or wear sweats and your hair in a messy ponytail.
Darting farther into the private gardens, I longed to get lost in the wildness of nature. But even here, nothing was out of place. Everything was perfect and tamed.
Reaching a pond, I came to a pause at a bench, watching a few koi fish breach the surface, their lips nipping in hopes of food. I was entranced by their colors and movements, circling around and around. Trapped.
With a sigh, I dropped on the bench. None of this was completely out of the blue. I understood what being with Theo meant. Still, the panic bubbled to the surface. They were striping every bit of my personality, trying to mold me into another coiffed model of perfection.
A few birds chirped, the noise of the city rolling softly through the trees, and I inhaled, letting my shoulders drop back down.
It was then that I felt it. The back of my neck prickled with the sensation that someone was watching me. I curved my head to peer over my shoulder.
“Great.” I frowned at the figure behind me.
Lennox stood there, his scruffy jaw rolling back and forth, his expression twisted up with annoyance.
“What do you want?”
“Just doing my job, my lady.” His voice was empty of any emotion.
“I’m on the grounds. I doubt you have to watch me here.”
“Always.” He kept his arms behind his back, his gaze staring out past me. “Once you get out of bed, I am on duty.”
“And you sound so thrilled about that.” I shifted back around, staring at the fish.
“No. I’m not.”
His answer yanked my head back around again, the brutal honesty making me laugh for the first time today.
“You are not any happier about it than I am.” He shifted on his feet, still not looking at me.
“You’re right.” The truth felt like silk gliding over tender skin. “I wish I could say it wasn’t personal that I don’t want anyone, but I think we’d both know it’s a lie. I don’t like you at all.”
The ghost of amusement wobbled his lips, the first sign of a personality that I’d seen. Not that I believed he had one. “The feeling is mutual, my lady.”
“Wow,” I snorted, standing up and turning to him. “You really are new.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because no staff, bodyguard, or private secretary would ever talk to their boss that way. Especially in the royal house.” I folded my arms. “You are willing to risk your job?”
“You’d fire me for being truthful?” His hazel eyes slid to mine. “Tells me all I need to know about your character.”
“Screw you.” I ground my teeth. “Your honesty was not asked for, nor do I believe you’d really have my back if the time came.”
“I do my duty. Whether it’s your arse or the prince’s.” He dropped his arms, clasping them in front of him. “My reputation sort of counts on your survival. I let you die, the chances of someone hiring me again diminish severely.”
A burst of dry laughter shot from my mouth. I was surprised he was so frank with me. Rubbing my temple, exhaustion quickly engulfed me, my bones still aching from the night before, the bruises under my concealer throbbing.
“Anyway, thank you for not letting me die last night.” I leaned back on my heel. “I appreciate it.”
His attention flicked to the side, highlighting his strong jaw.
No answer.
Irritation climbed up my back like vines.
“You don’t need to watch me here. I’m fine.” My head turned the opposite way. “You can go.”
His head jerked back, his shoulders rising.
“I don’t take orders from you. I’m not your maid.” His hazel-blue eyes glinted with fire, his hands clasping harder around each other. “I work for His Majesty. He is the one I listen to. Not you.”
“Excuse me?” My mouth parted; a spark of my uncle’s pride pushed up my chin. The deep insecurity we held at being so low on the nobility list reared inside me. We were still nobles.
“And I’m not your charge. I am your…”
“What?” His lids narrowed, a sneer lifting his lip.
“Nothing.”
“No, please. Continue.” He raised his eyebrows. “Superior, perhaps? Above my lowly status?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t need to.” His gaze challenged me. “I am fully aware of my rank here. But I am employed by the King of Victoria. If you want to challenge that and start paying me, I will gladly step aside.”
“What is your problem?” I snapped.
“You will have to narrow it down.”
“Fine. With me. What is your problem with me?”
“Personally, I have no problem with you. You are just a job.”
“Bullshite,” I responded, feeling the heat crawl up my face from challenging the intimidating man before me. “From the moment I met you, you’ve acted like you hated me.”
“I don’t feel enough about you to hate you.”
Embarrassment and hurt punched me in the gut. A retaliation grew in my chest, my mouth opening to hit back.
“Spencer!” Theo’s voice broke my glare on my new bodyguard, landing on the familiar figure jogging for me from the house. Instantly, my heart fluttered with happiness, filling with relief. His smile lightened my mood, a smile growing on my face at seeing the boy who made all this bearable.
“You really have the best catch anyway.” Hazel’s sentiment wrapped around me like a reassuring hug.
He was so worth this.
He smiled at Lennox, wrapping one arm around me, pulling me in to kiss my temple.
“Hey, luv.” Theo’s posh accent swaddled the term. I would have hated anyone else calling me that, but he seemed to make it work.
“Hey.” I grinned up at him.
“A maid told me she saw you running out here. You all right?” The concern in his eyes had me forcing down my fear, nodding my head.
“Yes. Of course.”
A noise came from Lennox, casting our attention on him.
He was staring past us, emotionless. “Do you need anything else, my lady?” Every word sounded like he ground it through a shredder.
“No,” I replied.
He dipped his head and started to spin around.
“Hey, man,” Theo called out to him. “Sorry about what happened earlier. That’s my father for you.”
“No worries, Highness.” Lennox’s stone face thawed, and he gave Theo a slight nod. “I understand why he did it.”
“I actually like that you will be watching Spencer.” He winked down at me. “I feel better knowing you are on my lady.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t sir me. Call me Theo. You know I hate all those titles.”
“Not when I’m on duty,” Lennox countered. “And you better get used to it, Your Highness.”
“Such an arsehole.” Theo grinned, hitting his friend on the arm.
“Not a secret, Highness.” Lennox’s eyes snaked to mine.
No, it certainly wasn’t.
A smug grin hinted at his mouth, as if he heard me, before he looked back to Theo.
“I will leave you two.” He bowed, starting to walk again.
“Okay, but come find us when you’re off duty. I told Eloise we needed to stay in tonight. Maybe some beers in the theater room.”
Lennox bobbed his head and strolled down the lane away from us.
“Theater room?” I curved an eyebrow at Theo.
“We don’t have to worry about going to the movies when movies that haven’t even been released yet come to us.”
Of course they did.
A royal perk. More golden paint on the cage.