Secrets of a Prince (The Princes of New Sargasso #3) - Carol Moncado Page 0,5
night. I’m also named after a character from the Trilunium series, though my name isn’t quite as old fashioned.”
Lady Waterford’s eyes widened. “Joshua?” she hissed.
He shushed her with a finger over her lips. “Sh. No one knows I’m here.”
“No one?”
“Rosie knows we go to TriluniCon. She and Kari are the only non-family members to know about it.”
“And now me?”
“I’m trusting you.”
She dropped his arm and twisted her hands together as she stared at them. “Even after what happened?”
“That is something we should probably talk about,” he conceded. “But not right now. Right now, I’m just glad I have someone I know to spend the evening with.”
That wasn’t entirely true. He wanted to go somewhere else, to talk about what happened, and see if he could figure out what was going on with Lady Waterford.
She’d always been detached and reticent - never really warming up to anyone. But over the last couple of years, she’d become decidedly more cold and catty. Kari said Lady Waterford had been downright cruel to her when she and Gideon started dating.
That wasn’t the woman he’d spent a couple of hours with after the book release party. She’d been warm and affectionate. Funny and caring.
He didn’t think it was just the copious amounts of alcohol.
Joshua wanted to find out which one was the real Lady Minerva Waterford.
The woman he’d been around for the last couple of years didn’t interest him much.
But the woman from the suite fascinated him.
“Maybe we can find somewhere to talk after midnight?” she asked.
“That sounds like a good idea.”
The lower level of the party held a mix of people dressed as the queens of Trilunium and the princes of Odzoo and those dressed as members of the general populace like he and Lady Waterford were this evening.
A group of the ordinary citizens danced by and grabbed Lady Waterford by the hand. She grabbed Joss’s hand, and he let himself be dragged along into the crowd.
At midnight, he kissed her again.
An hour later, he found himself in the outer room of her suite texting his brother to come back to the hotel to get him.
And an hour after that, trying desperately to find a way to get to the hospital where, according to news reports, his twin brother was barely clinging to life.
All while Lady Waterford, once again, slept on in the other room.
3
At least Minnie knew two things: she’d been with Joss the night before and, while it might not have been the only reason he left, his brother’s life hanging by a thread after an auto accident probably played a role in his departure.
Despite what could be seen as ulterior motives both times she initiated kisses with Prince Joshua, Minnie still felt the sting of rejection when she woke alone.
She’d have to tell him. Soon, most likely.
Having lived through the most painful experience of her life, she was going to have to exploit it.
Her father would insist. Was already insisting.
Had tried to bully her into confronting the king already.
Somehow, she’d managed to remain strong, to not let herself be pressured into something she wasn’t ready for - would never be ready for, but would have to do anyway.
She remained secluded in the house manager’s apartment of her ancestral family home. It was the only part of the house she was allowed in unless company came calling - which seldom happened anymore.
The last time she went on a date was one she bid on and won with Prince Gideon - about the time he started dating his now-fiancée.
She didn’t count the two evenings with Prince Joshua as dates.
The door to the apartment opened, and her father walked in without knocking first. She’d come to expect it, but it still annoyed her.
“What are you doing?”
She looked around the dark apartment, with the shades drawn and a single light on a side table feebly attempting to illuminate the entire room.
“Saving money,” she told him. “I thought that was part of my job.”
“It is. The rest of your job is to bring in money.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at her.
“I gave you the leather copies of Trilunium. You sold them for more than they retailed for. What more do you want from me?”
“Did you lie about what happened that night?”
She shook her head. He didn’t know the half of it, though. He didn’t know about the pain that came later.
Thank God.
“Then I suggest you set up a meeting with the king to tell him about his precious son’s behavior.”