Felipe snorted a dry laugh. "Not to mention she's an insufferable, spoiled brat with a mean streak a mile wide? I'm all too aware." He released a long, tired-sounding sigh. "I can't tell you everything, Violet, you must understand." I nodded quickly. "But please trust me when I say Jas and I will never force our kids into a marriage they aren't happy with."
A small amount of anxiety shifted from my gut. It was a question that had been bothering me all week, having seen how much the king and queen of the Switzerlands loved their kids. The idea that they'd force Rafe into a marriage with the likes of Claudette, all for political alliances, it didn't fit with the people I'd gotten to know.
Reading between the lines? He'd done it to maintain their alliance with the Britains long enough to secure whatever he needed in regards to the satellite system still controlled by the Britains. Beyond that, I suspected he'd find some very convenient excuse for the betrothal contract to be ripped up.
"Good," I murmured, and King Felipe shot me an amused glance.
"Glad you approve, Ms. Spencer," he joked. "Care to take a look at my policies on climate change or the development of the deadlands next?"
I grinned back. "I'd love to. Just leave it on my desk by close of business?"
King Felipe laughed, but moments later the smile slipped from his face and he stiffened, looking at someone behind me. "Steve," he said, and I froze. "Lovely to see you. Is Sheila here?"
"She is," Alex's father replied, his voice deep and musical like his son’s. "I'm sure she'd love to catch up with Jacinta."
"Ah, that's a shame," Felipe replied, sounding anythingbutregretful. "Jacinta decided to stay home with the twins. Next time."
"Mmm yes," King Steve said like he couldn't care less, "Next time. Violet, my dear, you've been a hard woman to pin down tonight."
I turned a forced smile on Alex's slimy father and tried to hide my shudder of revulsion at his sexual innuendo. "King Steve," I said, keeping my voice calm and respectful, "what an honor to meet you in person."
His eyes flashed with something, but it was gone again in an instant. "Yes, well, I'd hoped to get to know you after the soccer match last weekend, but I understand you had better places to be." The reprimand was clear, and my stomach rolled with anxiety.
Thankfully, though, I still had the world's most powerful king on my side. "Yes, we're so sorry about that mix-up," Felipe apologized for me, sparing me the need to lie. "You know how our lovely queens can be when they get their minds set on something."
"Mmm," Steve murmured, and I got the distinct impression Queen Sheila didn't doanythingwithout her husband's approval or permission. Poor woman. "Violet, may I have this dance?"
My stomach sank. People had been dancing all evening, waltzing like we'd stepped back in time a few hundred years, but I'd so far avoided making an idiot of myself.
"Uh," I stammered, frantically searching for an excuse. Trouble was, any kind of denial would be taken as an insult, I could just sense it. "Sure. But I should warn you I don't know how to dance. It wasn't something covered in my foster homes growing up."
That look was on his face again before he could hide it. It spoke of his disgust that the perfect “broodmare” for his son, the future leader of his country, had begun her life in the dregs of a foster home. He covered it quickly enough, but I was good at reading people.
I’d known exactly what he was thinking.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” he said with all the condescension in the world. “You only have to follow my lead. That’s always the most important part.”
AndI could read between those lines, too.
King Felipe’s face was like a stone, and I was finally catching a glimpse of the core of steel that allowed him to lead the most powerful monarchy in the world. “Thank you for the delightful conversation,” I said to him, nodding my head respectfully.
“The pleasure was all mine, Violet dear,” he replied. “I will find you again soon, and we can continue.”
Gah, I loved Rafe’s dad just a little bit in that second as he made it clear to Steve, the jerkwad, that he would notice if I disappeared.
“Looking forward to it.”
Before anything else could be said, King Steve wrapped a firm hand around mine, pulling me forward. Once I started to walk, he placed his hand on the small of my back, and I legit wondered if I might not throw up on him.
The entire family made my stomach churn like I’d eaten really bad food. If these were the genetics I was matched up too, I was starting to wonder if I might not be a little fucked up too. Because they were all horrific.
“So,” he said when we reached the main floor. “Want to tell me why you’ve been avoiding my son all evening?” Gone was the false politeness as he jerked me closer, his hand biting into my waist as he used the other to grip my hand. “I don’t appreciate being kept waiting, and I especially don’t appreciate you making my family look like fools.”
We moved, both of his hands bruising me, but I kept my face calm like I couldn’t even feel it. It would take more than a strong grip to break me.
“I’ve just been trying to meet everyone,” I said, forcing a smile and an air of casualness into my words. “It’s important to form alliances, don’t you think?”
He examined my face, and in turn I did the same to him. He looked a lot like his son, but his eyes were smaller and mean. With Alex it was hard to tell he was an evil bastard, at least at first, but his father wore it clearly on his face. His blond hair had no mark of age in it, not a single gray that I could see, but the blond was also a little unnatural, as was his smooth forehead. Something told me that this king was vain and, unlike Felipe, was not aging into a handsome and distinguished older gentleman. Nope. He was fighting every line and mark.
