26. Gabriel
GAbrIEL
“IT SOUNDS SIMPLE, but trust me when I say no game gets more competitive than Spoons.” I laid four spoons out on the table where five of us sat with cards in hand, ready to get down to business.
With Alejandro scheduled for meetings all morning after rudely leaving my bed too early, and my itinerary completely free for the rest of the day, I’d ventured downstairs to steal away any of the staff who were on a break for a little game of cards.
Two housemaids, Nya and Luanne, a junior footman who went by Balki, and one of the longtime kitchen assistants, Corbin, all looked at me with curious eyes as I grinned and said, “Everyone ready? When you get four of a kind, grab a spoon, or when you see someone else grab a spoon, make sure you’ve got one or you have to turn a corner of your dollar. ”
“Like musical chairs with spoons?” Balki said, and I nodded.
“Same mentality. Ready?”
When they all nodded, Nya started us off, picking up a card from the pile, glancing at it, then passing it down the line.
I already had a pair of sevens, so hopefully the other two came my way sooner rather than later.
I kept one eye on my cards, the other on everyone else, watching for any sign of movement.
Everyone began to pass the cards faster and faster, and suddenly I saw Luanne quietly pick up a spoon, something no one else noticed until I grabbed one of my own, and then it was a frenzy of hands reaching for the last two.
It happened so fast, and when Corbin came up short, his mouth fell open as he stared at the spoons in everyone’s hands but his own.
“How did… I didn’t even see who took the first one,” he said.
Luanne set down her four queens and grinned. “That would be me.”
“Time to turn a corner, Corbin,” I said, shooting him a wink as he groaned and reluctantly folded one edge of his dollar bill.
The next round started faster now that everyone knew what to expect.
Cards were passed around quickly, the room going quiet with the kind of tension that had you sitting on the edge of your seat.
Three of them were terrible at keeping their expressions blank, which made them easier to read when they got a good hand or when it was bad but Luanne was the dangerous one.
She was all sweet innocence and stealth. I made sure to keep an eye on her.
I picked up the final two I needed to complete my hand and reached for a spoon, and in a matter of seconds, the rest were gone, with poor Corbin’s hand smacking the table last and coming away empty.
“What the hell?” he said, and then flushed when he remembered I was there. “Apologies, Your Highness.”
“Call me that again down here and I’ll make you fold another corner,” I said. “It’s Gabriel, and don’t apologize. I’m sure you’ll hear worse come out of my mouth if anyone gets the jump on me.”
Corbin only nodded, which told me he wasn’t comfortable referring to me as anything but my title no matter where we were, but at least the other three had played enough games with me over the last few weeks that they understood my preference and respected it.
As we passed the cards around, I figured I should distract them a little to throw them off—and also because I was nosy about all the dynamics and relationship drama they’d filled me in on.
“So what’s the latest gossip?” I said, picking up a card, glancing at it, and sliding it past me.
Because I kept my attention roving all over the table, I didn’t miss the way they all sort of looked at each other but quickly went back to eyeing their cards.
“Uh oh. Did one of the higher-ups find out about the pastry chef and the gardener’s secret engagement?” I shook my head. “Because if so, it wasn’t me.”
“No, no,” Nya said quickly. “It’s not that.” There was a thump under the table, followed by Nya’s “Ow.”
I switched out one of my cards to give me a trio of kings. “Oh, something more scandalous? Now you have to tell me.”
“No, there’s nothing. Completely drama free at the moment,” Luanne said, her face not betraying anything.
Maybe I even would’ve believed her, but there was guilt written all over Balki’s face.
But then Nya stole a spoon out of the corner of my eye, and I managed to grab the last one before Corbin even noticed.
He dropped his head into his hands. “What am I doing wrong?”
“You’ve gotta be faster than that,” Luanne said as she and the others tossed their cards in my direction.
But Balki was still looking anywhere but at me.
“Balki, dear friend,” I said as I shuffled. “What’s so terrible you’re all trying to hide it from me?”
His cheeks turned a bright shade of pink as he looked directly at Luanne and Nya for help. When neither of them jumped in, I rolled my eyes.
“Just say it. Is it about Alejandro? You can tell me. I won’t say a word.”
And I wouldn’t. Probably. Although I had filled him in on the fact that I’d enjoyed games and gossip sessions with his staff, he didn’t care to know all the details I found fascinating about the inner workings of their world.
When Nya slowly nodded, I should’ve made a joke about their prince being such a menace and asked what he did now, but my mind only went back to last night. Seeing him with someone else had cemented what I’d already known but couldn’t admit.
I’d fallen for Alejandro. And I had a sneaking suspicion he felt the same way.
After leaving the event, we’d spent the rest of last night wrapped up in each other until I’d woken up alone in my bed.
That wasn’t unusual when he had a busy day ahead, but I wouldn’t have minded waking up in his arms, especially since we hadn’t gotten a chance to really talk about the elephant in the room.
Not that I hadn’t made it completely obvious I was more than a little interested.
Balki paled a little and finally said, “Are you and Prince Alejandro…you know…”
I arched a brow. “Planning a coup?”
“Uh, no—”
“Scheduling an archery rematch?”
Balki licked his lips nervously and glanced at Luanne, who sighed.
“Everyone’s talking about you and the prince,” she said. “That you’re secretly together.”
“Well…” Nya glanced at Luanne. “I mean, it doesn’t seem like a secret. There’s a picture of you holding hands all over the news today.”
Yeah, I’d seen that, but considering I looked ready to explode in the photos, it didn’t seem like much of a romantic scene to me, but way to take something and run with it.
No one knew anything. We were both flirts and this was the kind of thing we’d each dealt with before, so whatever the press was saying didn’t really faze me at this point.
Although they weren’t wrong for once.
I finished shuffling the cards and dealt. “You’ve all let the tabloids infect your common sense. Alejandro and I are not together.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth they felt wrong. But I wasn’t about to confess that I liked Alejandro to his staff before we had a chance to figure it out for ourselves.
“You’re…not?” Nya asked, her brow furrowing like what I said didn’t make sense.
Balki glanced past me and stood up, but I motioned for him to sit back down.
“You don’t have to leave yet, one more hand,” I said.
And then, because I’d already told one lie, so why not another, I met Nya’s curious gaze.
“To answer your question, no, we’re not.
I’m here for diplomacy, but the press sees two princes within a few feet of each other and immediately starts naming future kids. It’s ridiculous. He and I are just—”
I stopped. Saying we were friends wasn’t right, and enemies wasn’t true, at least not anymore. I wasn’t about to call him the hot pirate prince that I liked to fuck, so that left me with limited options.
With a shrug, I rearranged my cards in ascending order and said, “Passing time.”
All of a sudden Corbin stood up and the others quickly followed suit, but it wasn’t until they bowed and curtsied at someone behind me that I turned around.
Alejandro stood in the doorway, and I instantly smiled at seeing him there, so out of place but obviously looking for me if he’d ventured downstairs.
Damn, he looked so good this morning with his hair tied back low at the nape of his neck. Now I could finally admit to myself how attractive the man really was, why I couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Sexy didn’t cut it when it came to him, and I felt a thrill at the fact that he was mine.
Well…that I wanted him to be mine.
Alejandro’s eyes moved over the table, the cards, the spoons, then to the staff, and finally to me.
“Prince Gabriel,” he said, his voice clipped, his expression so perfectly blank that I wanted to commend him on how formal he came off, but something stopped me. It was a feeling, a vibe coming off him that felt wrong and not at all how we’d left things this morning.
Maybe I was reading too much into it.
“Your Highness,” I said, winking at him and gesturing to an empty chair. “Won’t you join us for a round of Spoons?” Everyone else stood too silent, too still, and I knew for a fact they wouldn’t relax enough to enjoy a game with him, but I was more than fine with a little one-on-one action instead.
“No,” he said, staying right where he was. “I was looking for you.”
Luanne was the first to move, tucking her chair under the table. “We can finish later, Your Highness.”
Corbin followed her, his tall body knocking into the table hard enough to send a couple of spoons clattering to the floor. “Yes, yes, later. Excellent game. Terrifying game. I hate it.”
Balki grabbed the spoons, then dropped them, then grabbed them again before scurrying out without a word.
Only Nya went around to gather the cards and, with her back to Alejandro, gave me an almost pitying look that told me why the prince was out of sorts. He must’ve been standing there listening for longer than I realized.
He must’ve heard what I’d said. Denying him.
Shit.
My heart began to beat faster as the room emptied, and I pushed my chair back and stood. “Looking for me, huh? I thought you had meetings?”