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To -new stepbrother

Prince Albert, the Crown Prince of Protrovia

This is a royal fucki

ng nightmare

CHAPTER TWO

Belle

“Isabella Kensington,” my mother hisses “This is not the time nor place”

If she only kne badly this was not the time nor place

“Oh, juicy” King Leopold’s daughter stands on the other side of the rooainst an ornate carved wooden statue that's triems, her torn jeans and faded t-shirt emblazoned with the name of an indie rock band from the United States She is a stark contrast to the formality of this room in the palace

I look around the room with a clinical kind of detachment that means I’m probably in shock I haven’t even had a chance for a tour of the palace I wonder if this room is the place where they announce bad news Do royal palaces have designated bad news rooms? They should

I suppose ood news

The girl – I can’t even reone coe drama for once”

Leopold gives her a disapproving look “Yes, Alexandra,” he says, scowling at her “That’s certainly a silver lining”

“So the two of you are gettingher arms over her chest “I think we’re all pretty clear on that You’ve been seeing each other all su happy family Smile for the press and all that Are we done now?”

“Alexandra!” Leopold bellows, his deep baritone thundering through the room The sound makes me ju his temper, because he clears his throat i married”

Am I the only one in the world who didn’t know?

Even isolated in a rural village in Africa before I caeot mail My mother could have told me before this

She could have sent a postcard or so:

Wish you were here PS I’ to be a princess!

The King continues, saying so words like decorum and public eye and propriety – but I don’t hear what he says It’s like he’s speaking in a tunnel, his words co I know I’ still, but it feels as if I’ back and forth Someone asks me if I’m okay, but I can’t seem to muster up a response

Instead, I turn and run headlong through the rooainst the heavy, ornately-carved wooden door, pushing it open without waiting for the assistance of thebeside it Is he a butler? Do palaces have butlers, or is there a fancier term for them?

When I burst out the door, a bulky, i man in a suit with an earpiece in his ear catches ton?”

I shakecreepy But of course he knowsabout me

Oh God What if they know about what happened in Vegas?

The thought brings a fresh wave of nausea to the surface, and I barely choke out the word “bathroouard points me in the direction of a roo to escort me, but I shake his hand offit to a velvet-covered bench that ive way

My breath coe of hyperventilating I try to slowmyself that I can't freak out

Not here Not now

Closing s that don't involve being the center of what's potentially the biggest scandal in the entire world

Or, if not the entire world, at least the Western one Or Europe

Any way I think about it, it's a scandal involving several countries It's the worst possible scenario for so in the public eye at all

I've successfully avoided any public attention for the last two years That’s not easy to do when your mother craves the public eye the waybefore Congress and trips as a United Nations a all of that meant I had to flee to another continent entirely

I've been so disconnected from the outside world that I had no idea who he was

And now, I feel like a co Prince Albert He’s only one of the most famous princes on earth Notorious would probably be a better word for it, known more for his antics in the bedroom than any kind of political activity

The door swings open and there he is, as if sih to conjure hi, summoned here by the universe I silently curseout, my breath still short

"Are you having a panic attack or a total mental breakdown?" he asks

"Neither," I lie In fact, Ithis entire scenario

"Good," he says "I'd hate to think I over-estimated you"

“I just needed a second," I say, ets off talking about over-esti me "Leave me alone"

"Not a chance," he says, still standing by the doorway "Count to ten after I walk out this door before you follow o down the hallway There's a Monet -- it's the third painting on the right side of the wall Push on the panel beside it It's a secret passageway"

A secret passageway? Of course there's a secret passageway It's a palace I’ve practically walked right onto the set of a James Bond film "You’re nuts if you think I'eway," I say,into disbelief

He givesbetter to do, luv," he says "Unless you're planning to get on a plane and head back to Africa?"

"How do you knoas in -- " Africa, I start to say, but he's already turned around Damn it

I sit there in the bathrooer panicked and anxious Instead, my heart pounds wildly in my chest for different reasons as I look at the closed door, where he just left The thought of the way he looks at th of h my body

We spent one night together – and not even that way I haven’t been with hi around in a limo

And getting married

It seeo

I thought I would never see hiain And how in the world was I supposed to knoas a prince? Or my future stepbrother?

We spent one night together One kiss So what?

It was one kiss that I’ve thought about it every day for the past teeks, unable to shake the way his lips felt pressed against mine

I should be devastated by ement When your maid of honor confesses her affair with your fiancé, it should crush you It’s supposed to crush you, right?

Except that I’ve been thinking of him instead

I' to chase Prince Albert – he was Albie to eway

I count in my head -- ten, then twenty, and thirty before I stand up and walk to the door and do exactly what he told me to do