Royal Ruse - Emma Lea Page 0,26

I said, getting up. “Do you want me to do this shift or…?”

“Nah, I covered your shift already.”

“Great,” I replied, walking out of the office and heading for my locker.

It wasn’t great, and I had to grit my teeth against spilling the entire tale to Chris just so I could keep my job. But Lucas meant more to me than my job. I could always get another one when I got back from Kalopsia. I was a great bartender and once the publicity around Lucas and me died down, any bar would be glad to have me.

Lucas

“We need to talk about Francesca.”

I looked up from the work on my screen to squint at my mother. My assistant, Annabel, was behind her mouthing, “I’m sorry.”

“What?” I said, addressing my mother as Annabel left the room and closed the door behind you.

“Have you seen these photographs? They’re appalling. And what was she doing going into a bar? This does not look good for a future member of the royal court. It will not impress the king if she keeps this up.”

I sighed and leaned back in my office chair, pinching the bridge of my nose and massaging away the headache that was just beginning…or at least I tried to.

“Frankie works at that bar,” I said, trying to keep my tone reasonable as I adjusted my glasses.

“Francesca works in a bar?” Mother gasped.

“You know she does. That’s where I proposed to her. That’s why your press minions were waiting for her there.” It was the most confrontational I’d ever been with my mother, but she didn’t even notice.

“Well, you need to tell her to quit. A future member of the royal court’s fiancée cannot be seen working in a bar.”

“I won’t be telling Frankie any such thing,” I said. “Besides, thanks to you, she lost her job last night.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“The mob of photographers and reporters waiting for her outside the bar did not impress her boss.”

Mother harrumphed. “They should be delighted that I brought them so much publicity.”

“I think the management took issue with the reporters scaring all their patrons away,” I mumbled.

“What? Don’t mumble, Lucas. You’re a markissios and a markissios does not mumble.”

“So father is giving me the title?” I asked, holding my breath.

My father had yet to say anything about the title to me since that first night. As far as I knew, I still had to prove my worthiness before he would actually let me go to Kalopsia. Pretending to get engaged to Frankie had been a bit of a gamble. There had been no guarantee my parents would A. believe it; and, B. be willing to let me go. Even now, until I officially held the title, I wasn’t taking it as a given. My father could change his mind at any given moment.

“Of course he is,” Mother said, finally sitting in the chair across from my desk. “This is an excellent thing for the Andinos. Having my son as part of the royal court is more than we ever thought we would get out of Kalopsia. I just hope the king doesn’t rescind his offer when he discovers what a disaster Francesca is.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “I thought you liked Frankie?”

“Oh, we like her well enough, but is she the right sort of woman to hold a title? She works in a bar, for goodness’ sake. And have you seen how she dresses? I thought for sure her mother would have taught her better than that.”

“There is nothing wrong with the way Frankie dresses,” I said with a sigh.

“No, not if she was just an ordinary young woman working in a bar, but she will be a markissia. Ripped jeans and scuffed boots should never again be seen on her person.”

Yeah, I wouldn’t be the one telling Frankie that. Besides, I liked the way she dressed.

“And that hair,” Mother said with a sniff. “She needs to pick a color and stick to it. If she insists on being blonde, then she needs to keep up with the regrowth maintenance.”

“I think that’s the look,” I said carefully. “I’ve seen a lot of women with it.”

“Francesca is not like other women, or at least she won’t be when she marries into the family. You need to speak to her about it. It looks bad for us and reflects badly on the king.” Mother got a faraway look in her eye before she spoke again. “I wonder if I can get her in to see