Sexy asshole but… Asshole.
Once I left, I headed for the security rooms because I needed to check on something Lydia had told me. Nothing surprised me more than finding the Alpha of Jade Creek standing outside of there with at least one of his Betas.
And obviously whatever was on my face made it clear I wasn’t happy to see him. He frowned and then glanced behind me, doing a double take and not hiding his surprise before he winced.
“I didn’t make the connection, Your Majesty,” he said adamantly. “I thought—”
“I told Uncle it was Tuesday so this exact scenario didn’t happen,” Ayao said from behind me.
The Alpha was less than thrilled to hear that, shooting him an unfriendly look. “I’m not a—you think I would have shown up and tried to influence thequeenabout—”
“No, of course not, Uncle. You are never crass,” Ayao quickly said.
Meaning he thought his uncle might show up to grill him.
Wow. That actually sucked and I felt for him… If he hadn’t been such an asshole to me.
The Alpha focused on me. “I’m here to run some things past Benson. It was just easier to drop things off and we…”
“They’ve had some issues at their hotel,” Benson said as he walked up and joined us. “It’s legit. We just got footage. They’re being harassed.”
“Of course you and yours are welcome to stay at the castle where it’s safe,” I immediately said, understanding what was going on. “We discussed it originally, but we wanted to keep it separate as much as possible visually instead of a favor directly to me.”
“And that was the smart move,” the Alpha agreed. He sighed, looking tired. “Maybe we should switch, but honestly this is just—” He snapped his mouth closed.
But they were all shocked when I chuckled. I moved closer and patted his arm. “You just need the break from all the annoyances and reasons to throat punch people. Yes, Ifullyunderstand. Every moment of every day now. Anything you need, and please forgive our construction.”
“We’re not here to be pains and we appreciate your understanding, Your Majesty,” his Beta said firmly.
The Alpha cleared his throat when I turned away. “So it did go well though?”
The balls on this man were ridiculous, Benson even chuffing while others stared at that Alpha in shock.
While Ayao simply looked vindicated.
I smirked at him before glancing back at the Alpha. “He’s definitely related to you and I actually mean that as a compliment. He knows when to play the games and when it’s best to put his cards on the table and not go another round with someone who can break him. I appreciate honesty, and I look forward to seeing if he can keep up with Joris.”
That was about as nice of a way of not being petty or getting him in trouble with his uncle but also making it clear to Ayao I wanted to tell him to fuck off… And shove his bullshit offer.
Hard.
Myriam sent me a message with a link and that Toni said we needed an official statement. She agreed and it wasn’t something I could ignore no matter how difficult it was for me. They would handle it, but they just needed to know where my head was and for me to give them a direction.
Except I had no idea the drama now.
I glanced at my schedule and was glad that my lunch with Ayao was set for longer so I could have a break in my suite. I went up there and kicked off my heels as I clicked on the video. The first thing I noted was how long it was. It wasn’t just a clip or a segment up on YouTube from a show like normal.
It was the full morning talk show up on their YouTube channel. That was… Odd.
Horror filled me when I realized because it was aboutme.
The five female hosts that I thought were catty and useless—even when I agreed with them—were practically frothing at the gossip of my “mating contest.” They had all the candidate pictures up with names, ages, and areas.
It was like a fucking sports team roster.
And they handed out a multipageprintoutto the audience as if this was some sort of draft pick.
“Now, before we get into their resumes and what they bring to the table, I think it’s important go over what’s on Sagan De la Rosa’s,” Stacy Scalf, the lead host ofOur Perspectives, said brightly.
