CHAPTER 15
Archie
I woke to sunlight filtering through silk curtains and Betty's hair spread across my chest like dark silk.
For a moment I just lay there, listening to her breathe, feeling the rise and fall of her ribs against my side. She was sprawled across me like she owned the space, one leg hooked over mine, her hand resting on my stomach. Possessive, even in sleep.
My wife.
The thought came with less guilt this morning. Less like a political arrangement and more like something I wanted to be true in every sense of the word.
She stirred, making a small noise that might have been protest at consciousness, and burrowed closer. I ran my fingers through her hair, and she hummed contentedly without opening her eyes.
"Morning," I said.
"No."
"It's almost nine."
"Still no."
"You have Italian lessons at ten."
"Tell the Italians I died. Very tragic. They'll understand."
I laughed, and she finally cracked one eye open to glare at me.
"You're annoyingly cheerful for someone who kept me up half the night."
"You didn't seem to mind at the time."
"At the time I was too distracted by your abs to make good decisions." She traced lazy circles on my stomach. "In the cold light of morning, I'm realizing those good decisions included approximately zero hours of sleep."
"We slept."
"For maybe three hours. That's not sleeping, that's napping with ambition."
I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo mixed with something that was just Betty. "Would you like me to apologize?"
"No." She propped herself up on one elbow to look at me, her hair falling in messy waves around her face. "But I would like you to explain how you look this good on three hours of sleep. It's unfair. I probably look like something that crawled out of a swamp."
"You look beautiful."
"Liar." But she was smiling when she said it.
"You look thoroughly—"
"Don't say ravished. That's creepy."
"I was going to say satisfied."
"Still creepy, but slightly better." She kissed me, slow and soft, and I was contemplating the merits of canceling both our morning schedules when someone knocked on the bedroom door.
"Your Highness?" Thomas's voice, unreadable. "I have your morning briefing when you're ready."
Betty went rigid against me. "He knows you're in here."
"Of course he knows. He's my personal secretary. He knows everything."
"Does everyone know?"
"Probably. Palace staff notice these things." I called out: "Give me twenty minutes, Thomas."
"Of course, Your Highness."
His footsteps retreated, and Betty buried her face in my chest with a groan. "This is mortifying. Everyone's going to know we had sex."
"We're married. They'd be more concerned if we weren't having sex."
"That's not how it works. There's having sex, and then there's the walk of shame back to your own rooms wearing yesterday's clothes while the entire palace staff pretends not to notice."
"You could wear my clothes."
"That's even worse. Then I'd look like I'm doing the walk of shame in a prince costume." She sat up, and I immediately missed the heat of her against me. "I need to get back to my rooms before Carmela sends out a search party."
"Stay for breakfast."
"I don't have clothes."
"I'll have something brought from your rooms."
"Archie." She looked at me seriously. "Last night was amazing. Like, genuinely life-alteringly good. But I'm not ready for everyone to know the exact details of our relationship."
"What details? That we're attracted to each other? That we're acting like a married couple?"
"That we went from barely speaking a week ago to sleeping together. People are going to have opinions about that."
She wasn't wrong. My mother would have opinions. The Grand Duchess would have opinions. Half the Mediterranean diplomatic corps would have opinions about whether this meant the alliance was strengthening or whether Betty was using sex to manipulate the situation.
"What if I don't care about their opinions?" I asked.
"You should care. You're a prince. Your life is other people's opinions.
" She started gathering her clothes from where they'd been scattered across the floor.
"Besides, I have actual responsibilities today.
Italian lessons, that fitting for the state dinner dress, and I promised Petra I'd review the palace staff schedules with her. "
"Why are you reviewing staff schedules?"
"Because three of the junior housekeepers are working double shifts while two senior positions are mysteriously vacant, and Petra thinks it's suspicious.
" She pulled on her dress from last night, which looked decidedly wrinkled in the morning light.
"She's worried it's connected to the sabotage attempts. "
That got my attention. "What did she say exactly?"
"That the schedule changes happened right after I arrived, and the vacant positions are in areas that have access to my rooms and my daily schedule." She paused with her hand on the door. "You should probably hear what she found. It's concerning."
After Betty left, and after I watched through the window to make sure she made it back to her wing without incident, Thomas entered with my morning briefing and an expression that suggested he had news I wouldn't like.
"Your Highness. Roberto needs to speak with you urgently about another incident."
"What now?"
"The Princess's Italian lesson materials were replaced with advanced legal texts. Constitutional law, specifically. Professore Benedetti arrived to find parliamentary procedure documents instead of conversational Italian exercises."
I set down my coffee cup with deliberate control. "That's the fourth sabotage attempt in ten days."
"Yes, sir. But there's something else." Thomas hesitated. "Lord Viktor Beaumont is here from Valdoria. He says he has urgent information regarding the Princess's security."
Viktor. The Grand Duchess's chief advisor and the man who'd orchestrated much of the marriage negotiations. He'd been notably absent from palace activities since the wedding, which had seemed like a blessing at the time.
"Why is he here?"
"He didn't say, Your Highness. But he requested a meeting with both you and the Princess immediately."
A cold feeling settled in my gut. "Where is he?"
"The Red Salon."
"Tell him I'll be there in fifteen minutes. And Thomas? Make sure Roberto is present for this meeting."
I dressed quickly, my mind racing through the implications of Viktor's sudden appearance. The man was brilliant and ruthless, with connections throughout European intelligence networks. If he was here personally, something significant had happened.
The Red Salon was a small receiving room off the main palace corridor, decorated in burgundy and gold. Viktor stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back, looking out over the harbor. He turned when I entered.
"Your Highness. Thank you for seeing me on short notice."
"Lord Viktor." I kept my voice neutral. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
He gestured to a tablet on the side table. "I have some troubling news that requires immediate attention. It concerns the Princess."
"What about her?"
"Perhaps we should wait for Her Highness to arrive."
"She's on her way," I interrupted, though I hadn't actually sent for her yet. I wanted to see what Viktor would reveal before Betty walked into whatever this was.
Viktor picked up the tablet and handed it to me. "This was published online approximately two hours ago. It's already being picked up by international media."
The screen showed a gossip website with a headline that made my blood run cold: "AMERICAN PRINCESS'S WILD PAST EXPOSED."
I scrolled through the article, my jaw tightening with each paragraph.
Photos of Betty that looked like they'd been taken at a college party.
Quotes from someone claiming to be her ex-boyfriend.
And there, in living color, was a picture of her in a hot tub in a bikini, pressed up against some guy with his arm around her waist.
"Royal Fiancée Stole My Girl, Claims Heartbroken Ex." "Inside Princess Betty's Party Lifestyle." "Hot Tub Photos Reveal Future Queen's Wild Side."
"Who is this?" I asked, though my voice came out rougher than I intended.
"According to the article, his name is Charles Baker. He goes by 'Chilly.'" Viktor's tone was unreadable. "He claims he and the Princess were in a committed relationship before she discovered her royal heritage. He's alleging that she abandoned him for a title and a crown."
The rational part of my brain knew this was probably nonsense. The part of me that had just spent the night making love to Betty, the part that was already falling too hard and too fast, wanted to put my fist through a wall.
"Where did you get this?"
"Our media monitoring team flagged it. Given the potential for damage to both the Valdorian and Solmarian royal families, I thought it best to bring this directly to your attention."
"How considerate."
Something flickered in Viktor's expression, but it was gone before I could identify it. "Your Highness, I understand this is difficult, but we need to manage the situation before it spirals. The optics of—"
"I don't care about the optics."
"With respect, you should. The Princess's suitability for her role has already been questioned in certain circles."
"This is exactly what someone would manufacture if they wanted to undermine the alliance."
Viktor's eyes sharpened. "You think this is fabricated?"
"I think the timing is extremely convenient. Four sabotage attempts in ten days, and now suddenly an ex-boyfriend crawls out of the woodwork with compromising photos and sensational claims?"
"It's possible they're unrelated incidents."
"It's also possible they're part of a coordinated campaign."
Before Viktor could respond, the door opened and Betty entered. She'd changed into jeans and a sweater, her hair still damp from a shower. She looked young and beautiful and completely unprepared for what was about to hit her.