I press my hand to my heart, willing it to slow its frantic pace.

Of course it isn’t my father. It will never be him, ever again. After the scandal erupted, he sent Mum and I away ‘for a vacation’. Then he filled his vintage Jaguar with exhaust fumes, got in, and drank whiskey until he fell asleep and stopped breathing.

My father always was a man with a plan…

Anyway, I’m entirely certain that he’s dead. I was the one who found him, after all.

These little visions I get, they’re just a quirk of mine. I once asked Mum if she ever has those moments, moments when she thinks she sees him, and she was aghast.

Just me, then.

Though this phenomenon has happened time and again, all over the world, my heart still beats wildly in my chest. I still find myself hovering between the terrace and the ballroom, looking for the man I saw. Just to be sure.

I heave a sigh and turn back toward the terrace, but fingers clamp onto my forearm like a vise.

“Kit, really,” Charles hisses. “Will you stop leaving me with all these strangers? It’s beyond rude.”

I bite my lip to hold in my sigh. I forget that Charles and I haven’t been announced officially, so he doesn’t know anyone in Courtland society and they won’t talk to someone without notable rank.

“Sorry,” I apologize. I’m forever apologizing to Charles, it seems. “Come outside with me, will you?”

It’s not an easy path from our current spot to the terrace. I’m stopped several times by old family friends, and I have to smile and make nice for a minute each time.

I am careful just to introduce Charles as my escort, nothing more. Boyfriends don’t exist in Valencia City, just escorts, fiancés, and husbands.

At last, we make it outside into the crisp night air. There are a few people gathered on the terrace, clustered here and there with their heads together, no doubt gossiping.

There’s plenty of scandal and intrigue to go around, so why not?

I lead Charles over to a quiet spot and lean against the stone balcony; downing most of my champagne in one go. Charles watches me, intent.

“What just happened back there?” he asks. “Did you just become a princess?”

I snort inelegantly. I hold my fingers up to tick off the list of inheritants to Courtland’s throne.

“Uh, no. The royal line proceeds by gender and by the age of the parent… it’s really confusing. There’s the King and Queen, then Prince Mercier, then Prince Archie. The next generation down is Prince Bramford, then Re— er, Prince Alasdair,” I say, correcting myself at the last second. Rex is too familiar, I don’t want Charles catching my bad habits. “Then Princess Camille. Unless Camille has a son, who would then bump Alasdair down.”

“I see,” Charles says, but clearly he doesn’t.

The waiter brings my champagne cocktail, and I sip it gladly. I wrinkle my nose, trying to figure out how to explain.

“So there have to be at least four royal heirs. There can be way more, once a new generation starts having children, but there are always at least four. Prince Bramford’s heirs come first, if they’re male, then Prince Alasdair. Unless Princess Camille has sons first, because she’s the oldest of the three…” I wave my hand. “It’s complicated. Nobody really understands it. But no, I’m definitely not a princess.”

“No, I guess you’re just the ugly stepsister, huh?” Charles jokes.

I sputter, and have to spit a mouthful of my drink onto the ground to avoid spitting it everywhere.

Stepsister. I’m going to be Rex’s stepsister?

Then, oh god, I’ve fucked my future stepbrother?

“Katherine, calm down, it was just a joke,” Charles sighs, pulling out his pocket square. He unfolds it and hands it over with an impatient expression.

I glare at him as I use the linen to pat my mouth, careful not to smudge my Dior lipstick.

“I just hadn’t thought of it that way,” I say with a frown.

Who could have dreamed that I’d one day be related to the only guy I’ve ever slept with… not to mention the biggest asshole I’ve ever met… and the only one I’ve ever felt deeply, madly in love with?

Jesus, I really need to stop thinking about Rex in those terms. Except the asshole part, he’s absolutely earned that.

“Surely your mom told you something about this before tonight?” Charles asks, looking suspicious.

“Not a word,” I say with a shrug. “It a complete surprise to me, on several levels. I was under the impression that she loathed the Prince.”

Charles gives me this sort of disbelieving expression, and I shake my head.

“Not everyone comes from the perfect American dream family like you do, Charles. I told you how fucked up royalty can be; you knew all of this before you ever stepped foot on Courtland soil. Quit looking so shocked.”

“No need to scold me like a child,” Charles snaps.

I knock back the rest of my cocktail and straighten my spine. I have a lot on my mind right now, and no room for Charles’s pouting.

“We have to go back inside,” I tell Charles. “Stiff upper lip and all that.”

“I want to meet the Prince,” Charles says as we step back inside.

“I assure you, you do not.”

Charles scowls at me, but we’re around people now and he can’t argue without drawing attention. Instead he takes the pocket square I thrust at him, sticks it in his pocket, and brushes off his jacket.

Heaven forbid Charles not look perfect all the time, I think, but I won’t let myself roll my eyes.

I’m nearly as bad as him, feeling the weight of the room’s gaze on my bare shoulders. Before I can get too anxious, I’m sucked into the social swirl. I don’t have to work too hard, just giving the same few answers over and over.

Doing quite well, thank you for asking.

Yes, I ran away to the States, ha ha ha. Yes, I did miss Courtland.

Yes, college at Brown University. Yes, I liked it.

I’m back in Courtland for good, yes.

This is Charles Ford, my escort for the evening.

Not engaged, no. Ha ha. I did like American men, yes.

And so on, different versions of that until I find myself getting a bit hoarse. I also keep downing champagne, but I can’t seem to get drunk. Not drunk enough for all of this, anyway.

After what feels like a damn lifetime of polite chit chat, Charles tugs at my elbow. I haven’t seen him in almost an hour, I realize belatedly. Why is it so damned hard for me to notice my own fiancé-to-be??

He doesn’t give me a hard time for forgetting him, though. He glances around, seeming almost nervous, and jerks his head toward the exit.

“It’s almost ten. We should get going,” he says.

I arch a brow.

“Are you going to turn into a pumpkin, Cinderella?”

He smirks, but he also shuffles his feet, the very picture of discomfort.

“I’m still iffy about the time change,” he says with a shrug.

It’s a lie, and a bad one, but I want to leave just as badly as he does. I’ve managed to avoid my mum, Prince Archie, and Archie’s heirs, but at this point the crowd is starting to thin out and I’m really pushing my luck.

“Fine. Let’s go before my mum sees us trying to escape,” I say.

We make it all the way to the door before things go absolutely sideways.

“Charles Ford, I know you’re not trying to LEAVE!” comes a woman’s screech, cracking across the ballroom and killing every mote of conversation.

Charles and I turn as one. People step back, like a scene in a movie, and a curvy brunette stands there, pointing straight at Charles.

“Charles, what the hell,” I whisper.

He looks straight terrified, which makes my stomach sink.

Clad in a sapphire ball gown that pushes her cleavage up to the heavens, the brunette storms over to us. I know her a little, maybe. Dinah something?

She’s holding a tablet computer in one hand and still pointing at Charles as she steps right up to the both of us, a sneer on her face.

“You think you can just knock me up and then dump me for her?” Dinah snarls, pointing at me.

Every single pair of eyes in the room is glued on us. I can feel their excitement growing. This room is full of circling sharks, and they smell the blood in the water.

“What the hell is happening?” I ask, glancing nervously between them. “Charles?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know her,” he says, touching his throat. “Ma’am, you’re making a scene. We don’t know each other.”

“Sorry, is it Dinah?” I cut in.

“You,” she says, pointing her finger in my face. “You can’t even control your man? Letting him wander? You don’t deserve him. You’re both trash!”

My mouth opens in a horrified o. Footmen appear out of nowhere, taking Dinah by the arms.

“I have proof!” she cries, thrusting the tablet into my hands. “You’ll see! It’s his baby, it’s his! Fucking American coward!”

My hands shake as I grip the tablet, turning to watch as the footmen wrestle her out of the ballroom. I look at the crowd; everyone is staring right at me, hungry. They’re all desperate to see what’s on the tablet, I can tell.

“Katherine,” Charles says, reaching for the tablet.

“Don’t touch me,” I tell him, pulling back.

I can feel myself start to sag. My mouth is wobbly, my eyes burning. My face is hot; actually, my whole body is flushed with embarrassment. I wish that there would be an earthquake or a tsunami, something that would rip the palace in two, let the floor open up and swallow me whole.

Not again, I think. I can’t feel like this, not again.

I wish I didn’t exist.

Oh, god. I’m going to cry in front of all these people. Please, god, no!

An arm wraps around my shoulders and I look up into Rex’s concerned face, his gorgeous navy eyes burning into my face.

“It’s you,” I mumble up at Rex.

A dimple flashes in his cheek, that strange humor of his.

I can’t handle this. Everyone’s watching me, and now Rex is here, looking at me like that… It’s just too much for my poor heart to take at once.

A fat tear slips from the corner of my eye and slides down my cheek. I look down again, shaking my head.

All I can think is: I can’t believe I’m back here again. I can’t believe that I’m about to be the subject of gossip and scorn again, after all my hard work to distance myself from my father’s legacy.

“Come this way, Kit,” Rex says. “You’re making a scene.”

He gives me a little push. Suddenly I’m not rooted in place anymore, I’m in motion.

Hand on my lower back, Rex steers me out of the ballroom. In my peripheral vision, I can see that people are already starting to follow me into the hall.

Like people watching the princess run barefoot from the ball, all the bystanders are drawn to my tragedy like a moth to a flame.

“Katherine! Katherine, wait! Don’t—” Charles says, somewhere behind me. He goes quiet, but I can’t see what’s happening back there. Too busy putting one foot in front of the other, trying not to cry.

I suck in a breath and it hitches in my chest. I am genuinely about to go to pieces. Rex’s hand is warm and firm against my back, which somehow makes me feel even worse.

“Here, Kit,” Rex says, pulling me over to a door. He’s all steel command right now. Something he learned in military service, perhaps?

He opens the door and ushers me in, then closes it behind me. It’s some kind of storage room, filled with chairs and empty flower vases.

“Sit.” Rex pulls out a chair and puts me in it.

I drop the tablet onto my lap and press my hands to my eyes.

“Jesus, why is this happening to me?” I ask, my voice cracking.

I try to take deep breaths, try to calm down. The last thing I want in my life right now is to cry in front of Rex.

Rex blows out a breath of his own and sits down in the chair beside mine. We’re crushed together in the tiny closet, and he’s far too close to me. He produces a cigar and proceeds to light it, puffing thoughtfully.

“Rex, you can’t smoke in here,” I say, wrinkling my nose.

“I think I can,” he says with a shrug. “I am, in any case.”

Spoiled, privileged brat.

I roll my eyes, trying not to look at the tablet in my lap. Some part of me already knows what’s on it, and I’m not quite ready to confirm my fears yet.

“Take a deep breath. You need to collect yourself,” he says.

I glare at him.

“Why are you here? Why are you… helping me, or whatever?” I ask.

He hesitates a beat, then shrugs.

“We’re family now, aren’t we?”

I can’t hold back the shudder that accompanies that word, family.

I’ve done things with Rex that family members should not do together.

I get a flash of our time in upper forms. Me straddling Rex in a chair, my Cotillion gown pushed up around my hips, my hands gripping his shaggy hair as I cry out his name.

Yeah, stuff like that. I need to get my mind out of the damn gutter.

“This isn’t quite the reunion I imagined we’d have,” he says, kicking his feet up and sucking on the cigar, before blowing a series of smoke rings.

“What other kind could there be,” I say, shaking my head. “Flowers and champagne?”

Rex’s brows rise.

“You’re awfully bitter for having been the one to run away,” he says.

His tone and expression are utterly casual, like he couldn’t give less of a shit what we’re talking about, but he’s tense. Angry.

I’m not the only one who regrets the whole affair, then.

Good. I hope he suffered, even a little bit.

“So, your American,” Rex says. “Is he worth keeping around?”

I frown.

“What do you mean?”

“Like… is he giving you something worth the embarrassment he’s causing you now? Is he fucking you properly, at least?”

I’m pretty sure I couldn’t look more shocked and scandalized at once if I tried.

“Shut up,” I say, looking away to hide the heat in my cheeks.

“Seriously, though. You’re… you know, royal blood and not bad looking and all,” he says, waving his hand to indicate my whole person. “Is he giving you the right and proper fucking you deserve? You know, wild and crazy, up against a wall in the garden? Cum so hard you can’t see for a minute?”

“Jesus! No, we don’t even…” I start, flustered, then catch myself.

“Oh my god,” Rex says, a grin bursting across his face. “Oh my god, you don’t fuck him? Oh, Kitten.”

“Don’t fucking call me that. And I literally just found out that my… well, almost my fiancé, is cheating on me… Don’t you have any sense of propriety?” I hiss.

“Nope.” Rex leans back and blows more smoke rings.

“Stop, for god’s sake,” I say. “You’re going to ruin this dress.”

Rex huffs a laugh and leans back, putting the cigar out in one of the empty flower vases.

“Someone’s going to have to clean that, you know,” I snap.

“Yeah, but not you. I think you’ve enough to worry about,” he says, leaning forward. He reaches over and taps the tablet’s screen with a finger, his hand brushing mine as he moves.

I wish I could say that electric tingles didn’t slide up my arm at the mere touch of his skin against mine…

“Fuck,” I say, shaking my head.

“Just turn the screen on,” he says, sitting back again, looking bored.

I know he’s right, although he’s being quite an asshole about it.

Silence lapses, heavy and awkward. Someone knocks on the door, making me jump.

“Fuck off!” Rex shouts, briefly snapping into his commanding voice once more, and whoever it is obeys him.

When Rex wants to be obeyed, he makes people listen. He leaves behind Rex and takes of the mantle of HRH Alasdair Magnum Augustus Rex Westwood.

When we were younger, I used to tease him about going into Prince Mode. Eighteen year old Rex’s Prince Mode was a weak imitation of the man he’s become, though.

Now when he gives an order, he has authority written all over his face, stitched in his proud posture, the way he takes up all the space around him. And his voice. Deep and somber, his voice is nothing short of commanding.

I shiver.

“Are you going to look at it, Kitty?” he asks after a full minute.

“Don’t call me that,” I warn him.

I glance at him. I think he’s going to be amused, mocking me, but he’s deadly serious.

“This is bad,” I tell him.

He hesitates, then shrugs.

“Maybe Dianah’s lying, maybe she’s not. Either way, you have to know.”

Dianah, that’s it. I couldn’t quite remember, but I knew that she was a familiar face.

I press my lips into a thin line and nod, picking up the tablet. I press a button on the front to wake it up, and a freeze frame of a video comes up with a big blinking button in the middle.

Play? it prompts.

Heart in my throat, I tap the arrow.

There’s Dianah, in her full and naked glory. She’s sprawled on a bed, beckoning. After a second Charles steps into the shot, also naked. He kneels and crawls on top of her.

“Shit,” I say.

The camera angle changes, and I gasp.

“They’re in my bed,” I choke out, pointing at the screen. “Oh god, I just bought those sheets for our new apartment a week ago.”

We both watch in horrified silence for a second, then Rex takes the tablet from me.

“Kit, look at me,” he says.

When I don’t obey, he reaches out and lifts my chin with gentle fingers, until I’m staring up into those big blue eyes, unable to escape.

“I will deal with this,” he promises.

I laugh, a pathetic sound.

“How? What’s to be done?” I ask.

“Don’t worry about it,” he tells me.

The way he’s watching me, his eyes dark and intense, it’s too much. He’s too much, making things too intimate. This isn’t the easygoing, cocky Rex I know.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask, pulling away from him.

He has the nerve to look offended.

“I’m always nice to you, Kit,” he says.

I scoff, turning away to wipe at my eyes again. “That’s not true.”

Rex shrugs, looking impatient.

“Stay here,” he says. “I’ll have him put out, discreetly.”

“No reason to be discreet at this point,” I sigh.

Rex gives me a look, then stands and moves to the door.

“Don’t go anywhere,” he tells me. “We should talk about… well, we should talk.”

I stare at him, confounded by everything that’s happening.

Then he’s gone, the door closing behind him with a definitive click.

I fidget. I wait. I try to calm myself. This closet is protecting me from everything outside, but damn if it isn’t making me claustrophobic.

Where else would I go, though?

After an age, a knock sounds at the door.

“Kitty? It’s Marj.”

I drag myself to my feet and open the door. Marj takes one look at me and clicks her tongue.

“Come on, you. Alasdair is making a huge scene in the ballroom, so it’s time for you to make your exit out the back.”

I can’t help but laugh.

“Where to?” I ask. “I live with that cheating asshole.”

“Not for long, judging by the tenor of the conversation in the ballroom,” Marj says. “I think Alasdair might have killed him if Prince Archie hadn’t stepped in.”

“Rex is taking this surprisingly to heart. Says it’s because we’re family now.” I wrinkle my nose. “Sounds like I missed some juicy drama. Too bad it’s surrounding me now.”

“Actually, almost everyone is gone. I think your mum and Archie sent people packing.”

“Well, that’s a relief, I guess.”

“Can you come out of the closet now?” Marj asks.

I sigh and nod. Marj takes my hand, and I smile at how easy the friendship between us can be, like slipping on a comfortable and beloved old sweater.

“Marj, where am I going to go? I’ll have to get a hotel,” I say, already daunted by the prospect of finding a change of clothes before I crash for the night.

“Are you mad? You’re staying with us, of course,” Marj says. “Jesus, Kit, you act like we’re perfect strangers.”

I flush.

“Sorry, Marj. I’m a little turned on my head,” I sigh.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll get you fixed up. Right you are, down the back stairs with me,” Marj says.

As she leads me down to the back drive, I realize how glad I am to have Marj here. She’s got that classic Courtland attitude, grin and bear it, you’ll get through it, sort of vibe. It’s pushy and loud and maybe too practical for my situation, but it’s comforting in the extreme.

I guess that’s one more thing I’ve missed, living in the States.

“Lady Katherine,” Darian says, pulling the door open for me.

“This isn’t your side of the palace,” I say, my lips pulling up into a smile when I see him at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for us. “I assume you’ve already heard that I’m snared in scandal. Again.”

“Rules are meant to be broken, eh?” Darian says. “If you’d like, I can make sure your former flame meets a grisly end.”

He says it calmly, almost like it’s a joke, but I get the feeling that Darian is perfectly serious. Darian does have that ex-military thing about him; I wonder if he couldn’t just make Charles disappear without another word.

“Alas, I don’t think he’s worth a jail sentence. Thanks, though.”

Darian winks at me. A Bentley pulls up before us and Darian rushes to open the car door, ushering Marj and me inside.

“See you soon, ladies.”

We both wave goodbye, and then the door is shut and we’re pulling off.

“What a night,” I sigh.

“Right?” Marj says. “Bloody American chap, I’d string him up if I could.”

I reserve my judgement. Instead, I slink down in my seat and rest my head on Marjorie’s shoulder with a sigh.

“Will there be ice cream?” I ask, and she laughs.

“Anything you want, Kitty.”

Marj is always so easygoing, she makes my life better just for being in it.

If only I could say that of everyone in my life…