Dirty Rogue: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance(78)
Jesus. This is probably the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done, and I’ve upended my life more than once. Only each of those times, I had at least a hint of a plan in mind. This time? I have nothing.
I pull my purse out from where it’s stored neatly under the seat in front of us and remove my phone from the middle compartment. The flight’s in-flight Wi-Fi makes it easy for me to send a few messages. I start with Carolyn.
I'm heading to Europe on an impromptu vacation. Not sure when I'll be back. Don't worry. Be in touch soon…
The scenery greeting us when we step out of the airport in Saintland takes my breath away.
The airport itself was small and meticulously maintained, a far cry from the massive scale and overall dinginess of LaGuardia. Instead of being surrounded by skyscrapers, bustling streets with honking taxis and throngs of people scurrying here and there, it’s surrounded by something straight out of a goddamned storybook. A sprawling town filled with Eastern European–style buildings encircled by lush rolling green hills and flower-dotted valleys, mothers and children strolling shining streets, and, no joke, a palace overlooking it all from the highest point.
We look up to see Nate in the driver’s seat of a shiny black town car, navigating his way across a couple lanes of traffic to pull up in front of us at the airport exit door. Several small Saintland flags lining the hood and bumper are flapping in the wind. Alec waits as Nate shifts the car into park and then comes around to where we are waiting to open the doors. Nate patiently stands at attention, waiting for Alec to give the signal. I slide into the back seat first, followed immediately by Alec, and then Nate closes the door behind him before he puts what little luggage we brought with us into the trunk.
I realize that Alec and Nate’s interaction seems very formal, and is a far cry from the way they bickered behind closed doors in New York. I’m beginning to realize that everything is going to be different here…but how much different, I don’t know.
It doesn’t take long for me to figure it out, though. As Nate pulls the car away from the airport, I notice that several other sleek black and official-looking vehicles seem to be falling into line behind us.
Then I hear the wailing sirens.
Alec groans. “Nate, you *, did you tell the palace that we were returning?”
Nate doesn’t take his eyes off the road. “Yes, your highness, since I would like to secure my employment in your household. Also, your father was keen on ensuring that your trip to New York appeared to be an officially sanctioned trip.”
“Oh, and a royal escort through the capitol is going to do that?”
“He seems to think so.”
Nate screws up his mouth, and I wonder exactly what I’ve gotten myself into.
Alec and I talked during the flight when the sky above the Atlantic was dark. He told me his full name is Alexander Charles Caldwell, and he is second in line to the throne of Saintland after his older brother, Marcus. It’s only been the three of them since his mother died of breast cancer when he was ten years old. I also got the impression from the way he spoke about his dad and brother that they hadn’t exactly approved of his vacation to the United States.
After Alec finished outlining his life story, I told him some of mine. How I wouldn’t take no for an answer about boarding school. How my closest friends are rich, but no matter how many years I spend in their world, I never quite feel like I belong. How I was thinking of leaving New York for a fresh start.
That’s when it hit me. Maybe this was divine intervention, and Alec was my fresh start.
Nah. But it was good f*cking luck.
“I guess,” I said to him in a low tone, “this could be the perfect distraction.” I keep it noncommittal. No need to promise each other forever, not this early in the process, not when emotions are still running high from our big escape from the paparazzi.
As I lean against Alec in the back of a royal town car—I still can’t believe that’s what this is—and absorb the beautiful quaint European countryside that’s giving way to a city that seems both modern and historic, I sigh deeply. Things are squared away with Carolyn. My job is probably a thing of the past, but it wasn’t my dream job anyway.
All of a sudden, I feel light-headed as it dawns on me. The real adventure is about to begin.
Chapter 14
Alec
I set Jessica up in the Royal Suite at the Northern Crown, which is only about a half mile from the palace. If it were up to me, I’d bring her directly to my father’s council chamber and introduce her to him right now—there’s no way he could deny how smart, beautiful and incredible she is—but I know that even if Jessica was an angel who descended directly from heaven, the conversation would still be tense.
As it stands, the household staff gives me sympathetic looks as I make my way through the palace to my rooms. Goddamn sympathy.
My stylist—who is similar to the valets on that show Downton Abbey in that he’s always on hand to coordinate my wardrobe and run any errands that Nate doesn’t—is waiting for me when I get there.
“Your highness,” he starts out, “I’ve laid out three options for the meeting with your father, and—”
I hold up a hand, cutting him off. “First off, hello, Phillip.”
His face turns red, and he inclines his head. “Good afternoon, your highness.”