Page 73 of Fit for a King

He shot me a wink. “Maybe on your next visit.”

“I’ll remain curious until then.”

He smiled and took a long sip of wine before angling his body against the railing to face me.

“Your Mr. Bennett is rather handsome,” he said.

I was mid-swallow and coughed into my fist as the wine went down wrong.

“Sorry,” I said, and cleared my throat. “I hadn’t thought about it.”

“No?”

“No.”

Alejandro swirled his wine, and though the move was casual, his eyes were sharp when they met mine again. “I don’t think we’ll be needing Mr. Bennett’s services once we’re married.”

His words weren’t at all what I’d been expecting. “I require a footman.”

“Of course, but Mr. Bennett can be replaced. Should be replaced before the wedding.”

Shock filtered through me like ice water had been injected into my veins. I barely knew the man, but he somehow already knew what I’d been trying to hide.

Oh God.

I didn’t know what to say to that. I’d never been caught so off guard before. “I’ll take that into consideration.”

Alejandro smiled, and this time it looked less charming and more formidable. “Please do. A dalliance is one thing, but I will not be mocked. Your Majesty.”

I inclined my head as he headed back inside, leaving me on the terrace.

My hands were shaking, and I had to set down my glass. I’d spent the entire day reminding myself of my place, playing the part, being cautious, and then in one jealous outburst I’d undone it all.

I couldn’t keep Noah, but I had no idea how to let him go.

Would this be my life now? Standing beside the man who’d just noticed too much and pretending every day for the rest of my life? It was easy to say I could do it, but at the first test today, I had failed.

The future was coming for us, faster than I’d anticipated, and at this point, I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.

24

NOAH

LAST NIGHT HAD been an absolute disaster.

So when I was asked once again to join Nicholas in his private car the morning after we left Solterra, I thought the king must’ve lost his mind, the same way he had the night before.

We really should’ve been keeping our distance now, especially when Nicholas had turned the formal dinner into a territorial dispute over whether Prince Alejandro’s footman had made me smile.

Instead of my being ushered into the last car in the motorcade, Baxter directed me to the king’s car without so much as a flicker of an expression, which somehow made it worse. I’d heard the whispers last night, the staff from both houses gossiping about why the king had noticed two footmen and had such an outburst about it.

I kept my spine straight and my face as neutral as I walked toward his car, even though my heart was trying to escape through my throat.

Nicholas was already seated inside by the far window in a dark travel coat, hand wrapped tightly around a pair of leather gloves. He looked like he hadn’t slept, and he didn’t look my way when I entered, keeping his eyes locked on something out the window.

I slid into the seat beside him, and when the door shut behind me, a tense silence filled the car. Neither of us spoke as the motorcade began the drive back to Valoria.

“Bennett,” Nicholas said finally.