Page 5 of Owned By Royal

“Yvonne and I are engaged.”

Silence settles over the room for a moment before polite congratulations begin circling the table. I lean back in my chair. Of course, they are. My father collects wives the way some people collect expensive watches.

Since my mother died, neither of his two marriages after that lasted particularly long, though that has never discouraged him from searching for another. Yvonne certainly fits his preferred type. Attractive, elegant, considerably younger, and well-connected within the elite social circles.

What surprises me isn’t the announcement. It’s Sierra.

Every bit of color drains from her face before she quickly schools her expression into something neutral. But I’ve spent years watching people lie, so I recognize forced composure when I see it. She isn’t happy. That alone captures my attention more than the engagement itself.

Dinner ends shortly afterward, and people begin drifting into different rooms with after-dinner drinks. My father disappears into the library with Riccardo and a business associate, while Yvonne is quickly surrounded by friends eager to admire her engagement ring.

I should leave. Nothing is keeping me here anymore. Instead, I go looking for Sierra. I find her exactly where I least expect to.

She’s standing alone in my father’s study, facing the floor-to-ceiling windows with her back to the room. Moonlight spills across the polished wood floors, casting silver light over shelves filled with leather-bound books my father has probably never opened.

“You disappeared.”

She startles before turning toward me. “I needed a minute.”

“I gathered.”

She lets out a slow breath before looking back toward the gardens outside. “It’s... a lot to process.”

“I imagine it is.”

“You don’t seem surprised.”

I shrug lightly. “My father has never stayed single for very long.”

She studies me for a moment. “Doesn’t it bother you?”

“It stopped surprising me years ago.”

A quiet laugh escapes her, though there’s no humor behind it. “I envy that.”

“You don’t look happy.”

Her smile fades completely. “Yeah, well unlike you, I’m not used to all of this.”

Silence stretches between us. When she finally meets my eyes again, the guarded confidence she wore at the gala slips just enough for me to glimpse genuine uncertainty beneath it. And for some reason, I want to see the fiery, intelligent woman that attracted me.

“I’ve been catching you looking at me since the gala,” I point out with a smirk.

And just like I predicted, she folds her arms. “You’re impossible.”

“So you’ve said.”

“And full of yourself.”

“Only around you.”

She shakes her head, but this time the corner of her mouth twitches upward.

“There it is.”

“What?”

“Your real smile.”