“It all fits with my research and the police findings,” I whispered.
Mattie’s expression was hard to read, but her eyes looked a little shiny too. “He had scratches…”
I nodded. “Yeah, their fight was pretty epic, and they had just broken up, which is why Jasmine was so upset. Alex told me that they broke up a lot, but this one felt different. He was done and she could tell.”
“Jasmine wouldn’t have taken that well,” Mattie said with a reminiscent sort of laugh “She was pretty used to getting her own way.”
I didn’t point out that most royals were.
Mattie pushed the doors open, and my pain over Alex was replaced with a small wave of anxiety as I stepped through. Would the makeup be enough to hide the bruises on my face? Were people staring? How many had seen that video of my ass getting kicked? How utterly humiliating.
“Stop dragging your feet,” Mattie hissed at me. “You look fantastic, no one can tell. Oh, well, that’s a new development.”
The surprise in her voice jerked my attention back up, and I saw what she’d meant. There was our usual table, with everyone early for once. But that wasn’t the strangest part… Nope, it was the fact that Alex was sitting there with our friends like he didn’t have a care in the world.
That was, of course, if you ignored his clenched jaw, tight shoulders, and balled fists.
“Alex, hey,” I blurted out as we arrived at the table. People were definitely staring now. “What, uh, what are you doing here?”
His brows shot up, and from the corner of my eye I caught the smug sneers on Nolan’s, Jordan’s,andRafe’s faces.
“I figured you’d be sitting here for breakfast, so I thought I’d join you,” Alex replied, totally ignoring the other boys. “Seems weird to sit across the room from my girlfriend like we’re embarrassed to be seen together or something.”
Girlfriend?Okay, well, it seemed we were publicly going there now. I wasn’t going to argue. I’d never have thought any crown prince would be so open when dating a titleless orphan, but Alex hadn’t tried to hide me for a second.
“Okay, yeah. Cool.” Argh, why was I suddenly talking like an idiot? Trying to cover my embarrassment, I sat down in the empty chair beside him and flailed for a change of subject. “So, I heard you ended things with Claudette, Rafe?”
What. The. Fuck?
Why did I just say that? Of all the different subjects I could have jumped on,thatwas what I chose? Maybe Brandon had damaged some brain cells when he hit me in the face.
The whole table fucking knew I’d fucked up, too, because everybody froze, waiting for Rafe’s reaction.
“You heard incorrectly,” he finally responded, his voice ice-cold. “I guess growing up as you did, you can be forgiven a certain lack of understanding on these matters.”
I frowned. Aside from the obvious insult implied there, was he seriously lying? Mattie had said the whole school was talking about it.
“Uh, okay. So youdidn’tbreak off your engagement and kick her out of the country because she tried to get me killed?” I could find no excuse for why my mouth kept running away from me, but this couldn’t possibly end well. For me.
Across the table, Nolan was trying to subtly shake his head at me, and Alex intertwined his fingers with mine in my lap.
“Let’s get something straight, Cinderella,” Rafe sneered, and it was like a bucket of snow being dumped over my head. So much for the progress andmutual respectI’d thought we’d been forming. “If I were to ever make such a reckless move with my country’s future, it certainly wouldn’t be to defend the honor of a street urchin who I can barely even tolerate on the best of days. Perhaps you don’t fully grasp what’s going on, seeing as Alex is content to string you along with the hopes of getting his dick wet, but we are theheirsto our kingdoms. We don’t marry for love or even for like. We do it for political alliances. Do you seriously think I’d throw away an alliance with the United Kingdoms foryou?” He scoffed a mean laugh, pushing back from the table. “Keep dreaming, orphan girl.” With that, he stalked out of the dining room.
“What the actual fuck?” I blurted out as uncomfortable silence fell across the table. “I thought—”
Nolan cut me off, shaking his head. “We did too. But the official party line is that the whole Claudette-and-Rafe-breaking-up rumor was started by a student here, but was just that. A rumor. There was even a press release from the Swiss palace this morning, assuring the people that they wouldnotbe cutting ties with the Britains. Claudette has gone to visit her ailing grandmother, or some shit.”
Confused, I looked to Mattie, who just spread her hands helplessly.
“I’m as lost as you are, girl. This is all news to me.”
Jordan cleared his throat. “We shouldn’t be discussing this here. You never know who might be listening.”
That comment shut everyone up, but it only stoked more questions in me. Still, before I could ask any of them, Alex gave my fingers a warning squeeze.
“Maybe at lunch I can explain how some royal families operate, beautiful. It might help you to know that all of us heirs have expectations to act certain ways. For some, it aligns well with our personalities. For others…” He trailed off with a small shrug.
“For others, everyrequestfrom their personal advisor is like nails down a chalkboard,” Jordan murmured, his gaze distant. “I should go check on Rafe. Catch you guys later.”
