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A hand touched her bare arm and a voice said, “Juliana”
She whirled around, her heart suddenly pounding again, but then she relaxed The voice was si, but there was just a touch lish She sh she hadn’t seen him for eleven years
“Hello, Zax Good to see you again,” she said honestly Then another man came up behind Prince Xavier, and her sain, too,” she lied with a straight face She turned to introduce the two princes to Sabrina “Your Highnesses, may I present my dearest friend, Sabrina DeWinter Bree, this is” She hesitated a second and looked up at Zax “It’s Crown Prince Xavier now, isn’t it?”
Zax shrugged dismissively, then smiled down at Juliana “Yes, until such time as Andre marries and has male heirs, which will no doubt be soon I place little stock in the royal title, to be honest I much prefer my military title” He turned to Sabrina, shook her hand and murmured formal words of welcome
Julianapain Zax’s words caused For years she’d expected to read about Andre’s engageainst it But hearing Zax talk about it as if it were imminent Who? she wondered feverishly Of all the names that had been bandied about over the years as the next Queen of Zakhar, as Andre’s chosen one? And asn’t she here tonight?
Niko cleared his throat and Juliana quickly brought her thoughts under control “I’m sorry, Niko Bree, this is Prince Nikolai, also of the House of Marianescu Zax and Niko are the king’s first cousins on his father’s side”
Niko bent over Sabrina’s hand and said suavely, “Ah yes, Mrs DeWinter I had the pleasure ofyour husband—a marvelous actor, by the hen I ran into hiallery this afternoon”
Sabrina raised her eyebrows “Really? Dirk didn’t mention it” She withdrew her hand as soon as practicable, and Juliana shot her friend a sharp glance Apparently Sabrina was equally unier Zakharian prince
“How is your father, Juliana?” Zax asked “Is he enjoying his retirement?”
She s strong at seventy-five—I hope I’e He volunteers as a tutor at the local high school two days a week and distributes “Meals on Wheels” to seniors even older than he is on the weekdays he doesn’t tutor”
They chatted desultorily for a few minutes after that, and Juliana assessed her old acquaintances Zax looked older than she remembered, of course, but he’d already been a man when she’d left Zakhar, and the years had touched hihtly as they had Andre His face was austere, and his bearing was as military as it had always been—she wasn’t surprised to learn Zax was now a Lieutenant Colonel in the Zakharian National Forces, on detached duty as head of security for the king
But it was his younger brother’s appearance that truly surprised her Niko was only two years older than she hich er than Andre and three years younger than his older brother But there were already tiny lines of dissipation in his face And though he was still a handsoood looks hadn’t passed hied too often Wine Food Wos? Juliana never liked to think of people she knew using drugs, even people she didn’t care for, but she wouldn’t put it past him The press had dubbed him the playboy prince, and they weren’t far off The moniker wasn’t a compliment
Juliana suddenly renored her in the early days, only displaying an interest in her once she started showing signs of the beauty that had eventually made her world famous So very different from Andre, who’d never treated her as an imposition when she and Mara used to trail after him, who’d never made her feel as if either of them were in the way And this is important why? she asked herself Andre-then and Andre-noeren’t the same person Maybe that held true for Niko, too Maybe he’d ie, had become less self-centered, less self-important
But probably not, she h she maintained an air of sweet interest on the surface She’d always seen right through Niko, had seen his pursuit of her years ago for what it was Fro now, he hadn’t changed one bit