Page 87 of Royal Daddy


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“Sure, and I bet you could. In fact, I’d love to help.”

“Yeah! That’d be awesome. You’d be such a good cool aunt.”

She grinned. “You bet your ass I would. But still, you’d be raising the baby without a dad.”

“Same as Mom.”

“Right. But don’t you think the kid mightwanta dad? Your mom left because of the way your dad had been treating her, being a total cheater. That had to have been hard on her, but it makes sense. You, on the other hand, have a perfectly good and extremelykind, not to mention super-hot, guy who I’m sure would love the chance to be a dad to your kid. You really think it’d be fair to deny the baby, not to mention Luc, all of that?”

It was another good point. Sure, Mom had left my father to raise me on her own. But he had been cruel to her, made her suffer through something that no woman should ever have to deal with. Luc, on the other hand…

She placed her hand on her belly. “OK, I’m starting to grumble here. What kind of spread have they got in there for breakfast?”

“Oh, my God,” I said. “A totally ridiculous one. They put out these huge platters of eggs and bacon and sausage and pastries, as if my father and I are going to eat all of it. You want to go grab a bite?”

“Wait, we’re supposed to be avoiding your dad, right? Won’t he see us in there?”

“He eats nothing for breakfast. Luc said that he thinks it’s a total waste of a meal.”

“His loss,” she shrugged. “More royal bagels for us, right?”

I laughed, the two of us heading back into the palace. I loved the way the place looked in the morning—huge beams of slanted sunlight shooting in from the east through the tall windows, the castle staff zipping here and there as they prepared for another day. More than a few gave sidelong glances toward me and Hailey, looks that made it obvious that she and I would be the subject of staff gossip.

“Oh,wow,” Hailey said as we entered the dining room, and she had a chance to take in the spread. “This is all for you and your dad?”

The breakfast food was arrayed on the big buffet in front of the windows on the other side of the room, Hailey wasting not a second before rushing over and checking it out.

“It is, but thankfully the staff just eats whatever we don’t. The idea of all this going to waste is enough to make me sick.”

“No kidding; you’ve got a whole freaking Panera Bread in here. Oh, is this a blueberry Danish? You know that’s where I’m starting.”

I laughed as I stepped over to the coffee carafes, pouring myself a big cup of decaf. I was still weaning off caffeine, not even close to getting used to not being able to start off my day with a big espresso.

“Who is this?”

The voice stopped me dead in my tracks, my heart skipping a beat.

I turned, spotting my father standing at the entrance to the room. He was dressed in a smart outfit of navy-blue slacks, brown suede loafers, and a white polo shirt. The look on his face, however, was anything but casual.

He turned to me, a tinge of anger in his eyes. “Ava, would you care to tell me who this young woman is in my palace?”

Hailey, not seeming too bothered at all by what was happening, popped the rest of her Danish into her mouth, chewing it and wiping the flakes from her fingers as she headed over to where my father was standing.

“Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.” She stuck out her hand toward him. “Wait, am I supposed to be curtseying? How’s a girl supposed to greet a king, anyway?”’

My father didn’t find it funny at all. In fact, the expression on his face suggested that he couldn’t believe what was going on.

As I stood there, it hit me. Hailey and I were spitting images of one another. And that meant we were spitting images of Mom. My father was no dummy, and I was positive he was making some mental connections.

“Who are you?” he asked, raising his finger to Hailey. “Tell me right now who you are and what your relationship is to my daughter.”

Hailey looked at me with a nervous expression, her hand still in the air.

I nodded, giving her the signal to tell him.

“I’m Ava’s sister.”

“Who approved this? Who let you into my palace?”

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