Mom frowned. “I didn’t know you were bringing a guest, honey.”

“You know Daira Ailey, yes?”

“Your Royal Highness.” Daira curtseyed.

“Lovely to see you again, dear. It’s been a few months since you graced us with your company.”

“I’ve been out of the country since Leo and I—”

“Glad you could put in an appearance, black sheep,” Dad said.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” I said.

“Burger, chicken or sausage?” Dad asked. “I remember what Daira wants.”

Mom and Esmeralda shot each other looks.

“Daira wants the combo platter,” Dad said.

“Shocker.” Esmeralda rolled her eyes.

The shade was thick with this one.

Leo strode toward me. “This is beneath you, Max.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I shrugged and slugged back my lager.

“Yes, you do,” Leo said. “This is old-school, family tradition. You showing up here with my—”

“I’m here with your brother, Leo,” Daira said. “At least Max is a gentleman. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you again, Cici,” I said.

Vivian stared at me, hurt weighing heavy in her eyes.

A twinge of regret rolled through me because I realized I was being an asshole. Vivian was just playing the part, doing exactly what the job entailed. The problem was, a part of me no longer wanted her to do this.

After Vivian had accepted Leo’s proposal, I’d journeyed to my friend Vander’s estate. I spent three days drinking, gambling, and partying, which is how I bumped into Leo’s ex, Daira. She was attractive in that cheap, been there done that, fake kind of way. She wasn’t royalty, but she’d been Leo’s on again, off again, hookup for years.

Daira and I knocked back a few too many glasses of scotch, and she cried on my shoulder, telling me Leo had left her high and dry six weeks ago with barely an explanation. Practically ghosted her. Her revenge fantasy was to show up with me at a family event and show my no-good brother what he was missing. It sounded like a fairly innocent idea at the time, until I brought her here and we played out this game for real.

Now, I was deep in this shit show, hurting Vivian’s feelings, irritating my mom, and stirring things up with my brother, who was actually doing what I wanted him to do for a change, even if I didn’t know why. I took Daira’s elbow and steered her toward a table at the deep end of the lawn and counted the minutes until I could get out of here.

My cousin, Esmeralda, all around smart ass and self-proclaimed femme fatale of our family, decided to make matters worse. She held her glass in the air, plucked a knife off the table, and turned toward the crowd. “Leo, your presence is requested.”

He strode toward Esmeralda and wrapped his arm around Vivian’s waist. She leaned in toward him and whispered. His lips brushing up against her ear made my stomach twist.

“What do you think she’s saying to him?” Daira asked, leaning in closer to me and kicking off her shoes.

“Lady Cici is Leo’s new fiancé. She’s probably asking him who you are.”

“Good.” Daira put her hand on my shoulder and covered a smile. “Do you think he broke it off with me for her?”

“I have no idea what’s in Leo’s brain these days.”

“You ever think about you and me, Max?” She ran her bare foot under the table and up my leg. Her toes landed in my crotch and lingered.

This was the second time she was hitting on me. I should have been flattered. I felt repulsed.

“Could we ever be a thing?” she asked.

“No.”

Esmeralda raised her glass. “I propose a toast to the future rulers of Bellèno. Prince Leopold and his smart, beautiful, and charming fiancée, Lady Catherine Fontaine.”

The extended Rochartè family raised glasses.

I stared at Daira. Something was off in her eyes. And not the fact that they were too far apart and she resembled an alien. She had the look of a predator. The kind of person who felt entitled to take what she wanted no matter the consequences. Thank God I hadn’t slept with her at Vander’s, even though she’d shown up at my cottage door at 3 a.m. wearing a skimpy negligee. Maybe Leo had ghosted Daira for good reasons.

Esmeralda toasted. “May your love be the Happily-Ever-After, for the both of you. Cheers.”

“Let’s get out of here, Daira.” I stood up, struck with the sneaking suspicion that if I didn’t get the predator out of here now, there could be a darker hell to pay.

“Cheers!” The royals toasted.

Esmeralda clinked her knife against her glass. “Kiss!”

Leo pecked Vivian’s lips.

“Kiss her like a man,” Royal Nana said. “Or I will blame your American mother for catering to your every whim and raising you to be a precious snowflake.”

Vivian caught my eye seconds before my brother’s look turned from dutiful to smoldering. He kissed her thoroughly, lingering.

“She’ll pay for that,” Daira said.

I took Daira by the hand and we exited the party.