Playboy Princes (Royals of Arbon Academy, #2)(56)

My whole body stiffened, and I would have bolted out of the bed had Alex not snaked an arm around my shoulders to hold me still.

"Mum, you're embarrassing my girlfriend," Alex chuckled, and I swallowed the rage and frustration and disgust threatening to engulf me. I couldn't afford to lay it all out there, though. Not if the king and queen of our world’s third most powerful kingdom were in on the whole thing. I needed to play it smarter than that.

"Oh nonsense, darling. I'm sure Violet is just dying to start a family with you. It's what every little orphan girl dreams of, isn't it? Becoming a princess?" Alex's mother bubbled with excitement, seemingly totally oblivious to the insult in her words. Me? I was fucking stunned speechless. Was this bitch for real?

"Mum, seriously," Alex chastised, and I almost believed that he was embarrassed for me. Almost. Damn, his acting skills were good. "Do you mind if I call you guys back later? Violet and I are late for our economics lecture." He affectionately pressed a kiss to my head, reinforcing the idea that we were late because we couldn't keep our hands off each other.

"Of course, son," his father replied with a smug smile. "We'll let you get back to it." Wink. Ew. "And Alex? The clock is ticking. Don't disappoint me."

Alex's frame tightened beside me, but his relaxed smile didn't slip even a fraction. "Of course, Dad. I'm working on it." Without waiting for his parents to reply, he ended the call and let out a long sigh.

“What. The. Fuck. Was. That?” I asked him, shifting out from under his arm and trying really hard to contain my shock. "The clock is ticking? That better not mean what I think it means."

Alex remained where he was, reclined against his pillows, shirtless, with his arm tossed above his head. Fucking hell. It should be illegal for the bad guys to be so gorgeous.

"It's exactly what you think it means. Dear old Dad wants me to get you either locked into a marriage contract, or better yet, pregnant, before the end of the school year."

I barked a sharp laugh because it was either that or… I didn’t even know. A mental breakdown?

“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever let you stick your dick in me again, Alex,” I informed him with total sincerity. I scurried off the bed and rebuttoned my shirt with shaking fingers.

Logically, in the back of my mind, I acknowledged that he hadn’t been pushing the issue anywhere near as hard as he could’ve been. In fact, he’d been kind of leaving me alone for the most part.

It was suspicious, and I made a mental note to mention it to Jordan just as soon as he could erase Alex’s touch from my skin.

My ex-boyfriend just shrugged, reached over to his bedside table, and grabbed a small velvet box. He tossed it over to me, but I didn’t catch it. Instead, I let it land on the comforter in front of me and stared at it like it was poisonous.

“What the fuck is that?” I demanded.

Alex let out a sigh, like I was being dense. Okay, sure. I was. “Lesser of two evils, Violet. Make smart choices.”

Without waiting for me to open the box or even for me to respond, he climbed out of the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Seconds later, the sound of the shower running reached my ears, and I released the breath I was holding.

Curiosity pulled at me, and I picked up the velvet box, even though I already knew what I’d find. My fingers pried the lid open, and my heart stopped beating for a second.

Nestled in a bed of black velvet was a ring with the largest diamond I’d ever seen. It was so huge it would take up most of my knuckle, not that there was a chance in hell it would ever touch my finger. The jewelry was typical Alex in that there was nothing special or personalized about this ring. Huge rock, square cut, no other adornment.

He didn’t know me at all, and this was just another show of money and power, neither of which I was interested in.

Dropping it like it was a snake about to bite me, I backed away, looking anywhere but at that fucking box.

How could this be happening? In this freaking century. If anything, the monarchies had taken us back ten decades instead of forward into the future.

The twenty-first century had seen the abolishment of most monarchies, and arranged marriages had not been the norm, but somehow all of these years later, after the Monarch War and everything, we were back to this bullshit.

Well, not today. Not with me. I’d die first.





Chapter 24





Alex left me alone for the next week, and I spent my time avoiding everyone—scurrying to classes; hiding from the nurse, who’d taken to knocking on my fucking door at ten at night; and listening to the student body rave about the big dance that was coming up next week, on Saturday. The Spring Ball was Arbon’s first chance this year to show off to the monarchies, and they were wasting no time revamping the entire school to make it a showpiece. Or more of one than usual anyway.

I personally was freaking the fuck out because I had almost no doubt that Alex’s parents would be there. Along with Rafe’s, Jordan’s… Jesus, I had to stop fucking princes. They were too complicated for my life.

During my last class on Friday, the buzzing of my palm reader distracted me, and I glanced down to find a new message.

Jordan: It’s done.

Fuck. Yes. This was the first good news I’d had in days, and I needed it desperately. He’d run into a few snags in making sure the virus would not be traced back to us at all. It required him to use the school server, ping it all over the world, scramble the data… I’d tuned out the rest of his explanation because this sort of thing was not my strong suit. It was Jordan’s, though, and I trusted he had done an exemplary job at ensuring its success.