Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Lola snorted. “You going to tell me it’s fake?”
I glared at her. She glared right back. Best friends are good at showdowns like this. But finally, she cracked, throwing her hands in the air and sighed heavily.
“Okay, shit. You’re really hanging onto that one, huh?”
I nodded.
“Fine, fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll let it go.”
“Thanks.”
“For now.”
I grinned as the movie rolled on.
But the thing was, I was going to have to figure this out. In my head, I knew the reality was that I was falling for Cole, which was kind of funny thing in itself to say to yourself — that you were “falling” for the man you’d married. But then, if I knew that, why was I still holding back? Why was I still keeping it a secret from my best friends, when I should have been shouting it across the room to Lola?
I was scared, and I knew it. Scared of being hurt, scared of all of this being so new. But I didn’t want to be afraid, not with him.
Two days. In two days, at Callie’s wedding, this whole thing would have to come to a head, one way or another.
Chapter 12
Cole
Cole
“So what the fuck are you saying?”
It was late. Fuck, I was supposed to have already been in Robling, spending the night at Milton’s palace for the wedding the day after. Instead, my meeting with my lawyers and some of my advisors had gone very late.
..And I was not happy about what I was hearing.
Marissa, my lawyer, sighed as she took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“I’m saying they may actually railroad this thing though, Cole.”
There was no “Your Highness” shit with Marissa and me. Hell, she’d gotten me out of enough dumb shit over the years that we were way past the client-attorney relationship. With her sharp glare, the hair silvered at the temples, and her ability to completely call me on my bullshit, she was really more like a bad-ass aunt to me than my lawyer.
“How?” I stared across the conference table at her. “These women are lying under oath, and the men behind them are lying through their fucking teeth. I’ve literally never even met Princess Kelly, and I don’t even fucking know Alphonse’s mistress’s name. Also because I’ve never met her!”
“Phantasia.”
“What?”
Marissa cleared her throat as she slipped her cat-frame glasses back on. “The mistress’s name. It’s Phantasia. With a PH.”
I tightened my jaw. “Of course it is. Well, I’m pretty fucking sure I’ve never met a Phantasia before, much less forced myself on one, so why don’t we tell Alphonse, Rodney, and Homer to fuck themsel—”
“Cole!” Marissa snapped at me, shutting me up as she had a way of doing when most would have failed.
“What?” I glowered.
“You aren’t listening to me. We’d never prove it of course, but I’ve got enough sources in the International Royal Courts to hear that the head magistrate going over this case is, well…” She made a face. “Bought and paid for, I believe is the saying.”
“Motherfucker,” I hissed.
“He plays a regular poker game with King Alphonse and King Homer, and I think that’s enough for us to acknowledge that there’s a very good chance reason and obvious facts are going to be ignored during this thing.”
“So I’m completely fucked.”
This. Was. Bullshit.
I was used to the stories, and the rumors. I was used to the tabloids coming up with whatever shit they could think of about me. I’d never actually cared that much, and it’d never even really bothered me. Hell, if anything, I’d always found it funny, even when my best friends would get furious for me.
But now, my world was bigger than just me, and the stories and the assaults on me were going to harm more than me.
…Because now, I had Faith to think about.
“I wouldn’t say completely,” Marissa said cooly. “But, this isn’t going to be easy.”
I swore as I got up from the table, storming to the bar cart and grabbing a bottle of whiskey and a glass before I sat back down and poured myself a healthy double.
“Have you told any of your friends yet?” She sighed as I shook my head. “Cole, the men you call friends are powerful allies. I mean King Sven holds some serious sway with the courts, if you asked him—”
“I’m not bringing my friends into this,” I spat. “Period. This is my fight, and I’ll deal with it my way.”
She pursed her lips before she turned to my mostly silent advisors. “Could we have the room please?”
I glanced over and nodded at the silent suits, and they quickly grabbed their stuff and left.
Marissa cleared her throat. “I need to know something, right now.”
I shrugged, swallowing a huge gulp of the bourbon. “Shoot.”
She looked at me sharply.
“Is there anything else I should know about with you these days?”