The Controversial Princess (The Smoke & Mirrors Duology #1)(85)

“Adeline,” Josh yells after me, but I don’t slow my pace, dashing to the field to immerse myself in the crowds where I know Josh can’t corner me. I cast my eyes back as I round the corner, seeing Damon placating Josh, allowing me to escape. I need to go home. Get away from here, and that is exactly what I intend to do when Damon comes back.

“You are acting weird today.” Matilda looks at me with a heavy frown when I land by her side, all flustered and still drink-less. So I help myself to hers. “Dive in,” she quips. “What’s going on? Did you talk to him?”

“Why would I talk to him? What he does is not my concern.”

She snorts, thoroughly amused by my pathetic attempts to feign coolness, yet her apparent disbelief doesn’t encourage me to spill the beans. Besides, there is technically nothing to spill now. “You slept with him, Adeline.”

Except that, which my cousin already knows because I was daft enough to tell her. “I have slept with men before. What is your point?”

“No point.” She shrugs nonchalantly. “Except that you are absolutely smitten with this one. Probably best he has turned out to be a moron. It’s not like it could have gone anywhere.” Cocking her head at me in interest, she claims back her champagne. “Cheers.” I stare at her as she returns her attention to the field, paralyzed by my conflicting feelings.

She’s dead right, of course. This is the best thing that could have happened. Or it would be, if I wasn’t so head over heels.

“Santiago Garcia is a god on horseback, by the way.” Matilda pouts, and I slowly turn my attention to the field. “Bravo!” Matilda yells, as the god on horseback swings his mallet, connecting perfectly with the ball and sending it straight toward Eddie. My brother swiftly finishes it off, landing it in the goal in time for the end of the second chukka. Eddie rides across to Santiago, who pulls off his hat, revealing his stunning looks to all as he shakes Eddie’s hand.

“Did I hear your heart just flutter?” I tease. “Or was it your thighs vibrating?”

“Adeline.” Matilda scolds me, though she is still smiling toward the Argentine.

“I know,” I say quietly, glancing around me. “I’m a disgrace.”

“Yes, you are.”

The crowds disperse for the small interval, most venturing toward the champagne tent to replenish. I remain where I am, scanning the area, wondering where Damon is. I’m itching to escape.

He appears, as if responding to my thoughts, and paces over. “Ma’am, a word, please?”

“Thumbs down,” I say, just in case he needs reminding.

“I’m aware of your wishes.”

“Good.”

“But I must insist you accompany me to the car.” Damon places his hand on my back and moves me along.

“Why do we have to go to the car?” I ask, my legs working fast to keep up with his long strides.

“Kim would like a word. Something about a bank.”

I nearly crack my neck when I snap my head up to look at him. Gerry Rush? Has he not disappeared into the black hole full of hookers where he belongs? “So much for a lovely day at a royal polo match,” I mumble to myself.

“Quite, ma’am.” Damon opens the door to the back of my car while I brace myself for whatever I’ll be challenged by now. Maybe I should relent to my father’s wishes and marry Haydon, because I’m suddenly so very tired of the constant discord in my life. Could I learn to be content? Could I pretend like the rest of my family?

I slip into the back and the door slams quickly after, barely giving me enough time to settle in my seat.

“Now you will listen to me,” Josh says from beside me.

I suck in an incredulous breath and immediately reach for the door to let myself out, but I hear the mechanics of the locks kick in before my searching hand finds the handle. What the hell? I yank at the lever nevertheless, and despite it having no effect, I repeatedly pull, cursing Damon for his underhanded stunt. “Thumbs down,” I shout through the window to his back.

“No thumbs down,” Josh replies calmly. “You will listen to what I have to say.”

“I’m not interested.” I give up on my bid for freedom and slam my back into the seat. “He will lose his job over this.”

“No, he won’t. You love him too much.” Josh’s hand lands on my bare knee, and I immediately push it off.

“Don’t touch me.”

“As it belongs to me, I will touch it when I want.” His statement is deadly serious, his hand back on my knee, his flesh fused to mine. Heat courses through every vein, muscle, and nerve. How can I be so hypersensitive to his touch? How can I react this way when I’m so angry and disgusted? The thoughts are twisting my head.

“I do not belong to you.” I spit the words out with pure venom.

“Wrong,” he states simply, reaching for my jaw with his spare hand and forcing me to look at him. Amber flashes in his blue eyes back up his potent anger. “You became mine the second you dropped to your knees for me, Your Highness.”

I defiantly tug my jaw from his grasp. “And you became an arsehole the second I saw evidence of your little party.”

He exhales through his nose, clenching his teeth. “Oh, that.”

Oh, that? The man has a nerve. “Yes, that.”