A man’s voice, slightly slurred and a bit too loud, spoke up. “Come on, babe. Stay for one more,” the man burped, “one more drink.”
“No,” she said firmly. “Go back, enjoy yourself, and I’ll go home.Alone.”
“Oh, d-don’t be like that.”
Fucking hell.
He cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Pardon me for interrupting, Miss Ruffin.” He turned to the idiot next to her. “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced yet, Mister….?”
Her lips pursed and a blush stained her cheek as she curtsied. “Your Highness.”
When the jackass next to her just stared at Gabriel with his mouth open, Genevieve elbowed him.
“Ow! Why did you do that? I didn’t?—”
“Gabriel, there you are.”
He turned to see his sister round the same corner, then stop as she took in the scene. As always, she was quick to understand the situation.
The drunk bastard gave Agnes a lopsided smile and started towards her. “Well, hello.”
“No,” Gabriel said forcefully. He took the few steps towards the man, grabbed him by the arm, and escorted him—almost dragged him, really—towards the front door. “I believe you could use some fresh air.”
As he opened the door, the RPS agents quickly took hold. “Sir, do you and Her Highness need further assistance?”
He shook his head as he tugged at his sleeves and straightened his tie. “Check if he has a driver. If not, find him a ride home. And find out who he is. He was too drunk to properly introduce himself.”
The agents nodded and Gabriel turned back to the house. Framed through the door, with the lights of the house behind them, highlighting the sparkles in their outfits, he saw Agnes with one hand on Genevieve’s arm. Genevieve was nodding but didn’t seem to be crying.
If that asshole had hurt her…
As he approached the house, Genevieve sneezed and he smiled. Not at the thought of her sick, but that such a massive sneeze could come from such a small woman.
Oh fuck. He even found her sneezes adorable. What was happening to him?
As he approached, Agnes’s arm fell away and she smiled softly at him. “Gabriel, I think we ought to take Miss Ruffin home. I’ll just let her mother know.”
For once, he was thankful for how nosy his sister was. “Of course.”
As Genevieve turned to him, she missed Agnes winking at him as she walked away. His sister clearly saw too much.
He checked her arms and face for any injuries but saw none. “Are you hurt?”
She didn’t look upset, only annoyed. “No. I was handling him. I didn’t need your help.”
He simply raised an eyebrow. “Well, sorry for being a gentleman.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t need a ‘gentleman’. I was dealing with it.”
He took a step closer and spoke quietly and calmly. “There’s nothing wrong with accepting help, Genevieve. I get the feeling you’ve had to do quite a lot on your own, for a very long time, and so you’re used to dealing with everything yourself. I’m sure you could have managed him, but that doesn’t mean you needed to.”
Her brows crinkled—another adorable look on her—just as Agnes returned.
Agnes looked between the two of them and smiled brightly. “Your mother will be returning in the family car later, Miss Ruffin. She was very happy to allow you a ride with us. Shall we go, then?”
GENEVIEVE
It tooka few minutes to say the goodbyes, but they made it to the car is a surprisingly short amount of time considering there was a prince and princess involved.
