Royal Ruse - Emma Lea Page 0,100

Mass General and her father works in the grant department at Harvard. But even if her mother worked in a diner and her father worked in sanitation, it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference to me or to the king and queen. Frankie is an amazing person and not only do I love her but so does nearly every other person she comes into contact with.”

“Not me.”

“Yeah well maybe that has more to do with you than with Frankie.” I stopped and took a breath, running my hand through my hair. “Look, I don’t want this to denigrate into slinging match. You don’t have to love Frankie, you don’t even have to like her. The only thing that concerns me is how I feel about her and how she feels about me. As for you and me? We’re done. Your opinion of me no longer concerns me. I know you came here to try to resurrect our relationship, but even you have to admit it was a long shot. I don’t feel any ill will toward you, in fact I don’t really feel anything toward you. I’m grateful for that night you broke up with me because it gave me a chance with Frankie. So thank you.”

“So that’s it? There’s nothing more to say?”

“That’s right. We’re done and I don’t know how many more times I can say it or how many different ways I need to say it to get you to accept it.”

“Fine,” Clarissa spat and stormed out.

I breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto a chair. I had never had a confrontation like that before…I’d never really had any confrontation before. My heart raced with the letdown of adrenaline and I felt weirdly wired. Never before had I actually stood up to someone and held my ground. I think I surprised Clarissa as much as I surprised myself. Now if I could only do that with my parents, I might have crossed over into being a fully formed adult.

I wouldn’t hold my breath, though. I may have said what I needed to say to Clarissa, but the stakes were nowhere near as high as standing up to my parents…or Frankie.

I didn’t exactly expect to have a confrontation with Frankie, although I would need to argue my case and hold my ground. There might even be tears—mine, not hers—but I knew I had to do this. It was my last shot at getting the life of my dreams. For far too long I had been happy to just go along with everyone else’s plan for my life, but coming to Kalopsia showed me I could reach for something I want and achieve it. Now I was greedy for all the things. I wanted this new life in Kalopsia and I wanted it with Frankie by my side.

Now I just had to convince Frankie.

Chapter 25

Francesca

Another day, another shift at the bar.

The days had begun to run one into another with nothing to distinguish them. I wasn’t depressed, I just didn’t feel anything anymore. Mom said I was grieving, and she was probably right. Lucas hadn’t died, but the relationship we’d had for five years was certainly dead in the water and I knew I was to blame.

I sighed and groaned and stretched all at once. I was tired, except I couldn’t sleep. I just lay in bed all night and stared at the ceiling, rehashing the entire month I’d been in Kalopsia with Lucas, and wondering what I could have done differently. Some nights, I wished I’d turned down his initial proposal and then other nights I wished I’d been brave enough to accept the words he offered me on the terrace that night…when he told me he loved me…and I told him I didn’t love him back.

It was a lie, of course. I knew it then, just as I knew it now. I’d been lying to both of us, and Mom had been right. I was scared. I was scared I would never be enough for Lucas. I snorted softly to myself. I’d spent my life believing I was too much; too loud, too outspoken, too brash, but when it came to being with Lucas for real, I was afraid all of that was just a thin veneer and what was underneath was not nearly deep enough or wide enough to satisfy a man like Lucas. Lucas had depths and layers—like onions, ogres, and parfaits—and even though I felt like I knew him best, I still