Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
Pilar
“How hungover are you?” my best friend and personal secretary, Joslyn, asked as she opened all of the blinds.
“Very,” I croaked, throwing an arm over my face to shield myself from the sun. “Don’t worry, no scandals on my end.”
“You sure about that? The chef spotted Benjamin Drake leaving your villa just before five o’clock in the morning.”
“What?” I sat up quickly with a gasp. “No.”
“Yes.” She raised an eyebrow. “I take one night off, and you go out partying without me?”
“I…” I shook my head. “I went to a Hookah bar and then to the club beside it…” I tried to recall memories from last night. “I…yeah, I definitely spoke to Ben. I think we may have danced.” I shut my eyes momentarily. “I was extremely drunk.”
“And you’re on medicine.” Joss shot me a heavy stare. “You know better than to mix things like that with alcohol.”
“Fuck.” I brought my hands to my face and wiped at my eyes. I’d completely forgotten that I’d taken the medicine the doctor had given me for the sinus infection I no longer had. It had been my last day of taking it. “How could I not remember spending the night with Benjamin-bloody-Drake?”
“How indeed?” Joss sighed as she sat on the edge of my bed. “You must have made a good impression though.”
“Why do you say that?”
“His people called me an hour ago. He wants you to accompany him to a gala next week.”
“Me?”
“Yep.”
“Why me? I don’t even like public appearances.”
Joss had been working as my personal secretary for a short time. So far, hiring her was the best decision I’d ever made. We’d gone to an all-girls college together. Before that, we attended an all-girls high school. We’d known each other since we were born—technically before that since our mothers were pregnant at the same time. As lifelong best friends themselves, they’d proclaimed our friendship fate and were thrilled to see it come to fruition the way it did. I’d be lost without Joss.
That didn’t mean I agreed with her about this particular thing. I only made a handful of public appearances because they always resulted in one thing or another. The last event I’d attended on behalf of the Crown had been with my sister-in-law, Adeline, the queen. I’d fallen on my ass walking down a set of stairs. It was morbidly embarrassing to say the least.
Adeline, being the natural that she was, sat beside me and played it off as if we were looking for a lost earring. That was the snap the paparazzi took—two women looking for a family heirloom. It was fine until my mother gave us a lecture on how irresponsible that looked and reminded us how queens and princesses were never meant to be on the floor, etcetera, etcetera.
I looked up and found Joss staring down at her phone with a frown on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your brother is an idiot. That’s what’s wrong.”
“Which one?”
“Aramis.” She shot me an exasperated look. “He’s once again in the headlines. I don’t know how Elias is going to handle the stress of the throne and your brother’s missteps.”
“Who cares?” I yawned. “Aramis has his own secretary to do damage control.”
“Ha. You mean the one who quit this morning?”
“What?” I blinked. “George quit?”
“He did indeed.” She shook her head, tossing the phone onto the bed. “That makes three secretaries in three weeks. Like I said, he’s an idiot.”
“Poor George. I liked him.”
“Me too.” Joss stood up. “Anyway, get up. We have things to talk about and galas to get dresses for.”
“What? No. I’m not going to that with Ben. Tell him I’m flattered, but I can’t make it.”
“You’re going to say no to Benjamin Drake? The man you’ve lusted after for five years? The guy you just spent the night with and can’t even remember a single second of?”
“Don’t remind me.” I reached for the sheet and pulled it over my head. “Tell him I don’t make appearances.”
“It’s for a good cause. It’ll be good for the Crown. It’ll take the spotlight away from Aramis and in turn, Elias and Adeline, and give them a moment’s reprieve.”
I’d gotten used to living under a microscope. Sometimes, I absolutely hated it, but I was the sister of the newest King of France. Living under scrutiny was to be expected. My father’s passing had garnered all of us even more attention from the press, especially Addie and Elias. The paparazzi loved them, but it had gotten to be too much. They couldn’t even walk the Gardens at Versailles without having photos snapped, so I understood when Joss said that this would help to give them a break while they figured things out.
“When is this gala?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around Benjamin Drake asking me to go with him, and the fact that I’d spent the night with him and didn’t remember it.
“Two days.”
“Two days?” I sat up in bed. I was wearing my pajamas so I found it difficult to believe Ben and I had done much together. I frowned at that. “Have I heard of the organization?”
“It’s the Drake Foundation.” She picked up her phone and scrolled on the screen, reading a text or an email. “They open schools and fund after-school activities for underprivileged children.”
“So he wants me to go with him to his own foundation’s gala?” I asked. “Wasn’t he dating an actress?”
“Yes. Sophia Deneuve. They broke things off recently.”
“Oh.”
Joss walked out of the room, leaving me thinking about Benjamin and Sophia. Was that the kind of woman he liked? I’d run into them together once or twice and always thought they were an odd pair. Not because they weren’t gorgeous, but because Ben looked as if he could snap Sophia in half. She was tiny and delicate, and he was rough and muscular with tattoos on seemingly every inch of his perfectly toned body. My face heated. Had I touched his perfect six-pack? The tips of my fingers tingled at the thought. Had I explored his body? Had he explored mine? Oh God. I shut my eyes again and groaned. Leave it to me to spend the night with the most perfect specimen on the planet and not remember a second of it.