Royal Ruse - Emma Lea Page 0,30

groaned and my attention snapped back to the conversation. I stood up and paced, moving behind her so she couldn’t see the effect she had on me.

“Your mother made it sound so reasonable. She made a valid argument about presenting an image fitting your new title and position.”

I paused in my pacing. “Frankie,” I said as I walked around to crouch in front of her. I took her hands in mine. “You didn’t need to do this. I don’t care what the media thinks and I don’t want you to be anyone other than yourself.”

Frankie patted my hand and smiled sadly. “Thanks, but we both know this is the best way. Besides, none of it is real, right? And I can pretend for a few weeks. Once you have the title and we are in Kalopsia, things can go back to normal.”

“Ha,” I laughed despite the pain in my chest. I didn’t like thinking about how temporary this situation was, or that before too long, Frankie would come back here and I would be living in another country permanently. “I hardly think living in a palace and dining with the king and queen can ever be construed as normal.”

“Oh…I didn’t think about it like that,” Frankie said. “I will have to dress like this the whole time, won’t I?” Frankie whined and I couldn’t help but be relieved to see the real Frankie beneath the fake one my mother had created.

“Not the whole time,” I replied with a smile. “When you’re alone in your room, you can dress however you like.”

“Oh god,” she groaned, leaning forward to rest her head on her knees.

I felt bad for her. It was a big ask, and I was only just realizing how big of an ask it was.

“Hey,” I said, tapping her on the back. “It’s just a couple of months, right? We can both pretend for a couple of months.”

With a sigh, she straightened and smiled sadly at me. “Yeah. I can pretend for a couple of months. It’ll be fun. Like playing dress-up or something.”

Or something, I thought to myself.

Francesca

I was bored out of my brain. When Maya said we were going for drinks with the girls, I thought we might go to some fancy new hotspot at the very least, not the country club. And when she said girls, I thought they might at least be my age, not my mother’s age.

Maya, however, was in her element. She was the queen bee of her little entourage and I could tell how much she relished the position. The other women around the table hung off her every word, and they all tried to imitate her mannerisms. I felt like I was back in high school, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Despite the new designer dress, the makeup, and the obscenely expensive hairdo, I was still the weird girl who didn’t fit in…not that I wanted to fit in, but I needed to, for Lucas.

“You’re going to be our very own royal princess,” one of the women said to me with a nudge.

“Not a princess,” I replied.

“Still, it’s close enough. Just like Grace Kelly,” the woman sighed.

I smiled tightly. “Exactly like Grace Kelly,” I replied trying to keep the sarcasm in check.

“You’re so lucky to have Maya advising you,” the woman on my other side said. “With all her connections in the press and her social media platform, she will make you famous.”

Not something I wanted and definitely not something I’d taken into consideration when I agreed to this plan.

I lifted my hand to a passing waiter and indicated my empty wine glass. “Can I have another, please? And keep them coming.”

I didn’t drink wine normally, I was more of a spirits kind of girl, but Maya had ordered for me earlier and I knew better than to mix my drinks, and I needed all the alcohol—I mean help—I could get to get through ‘drinks with the girls.’

“Have you considered how you will use your new status?” the first woman asked me.

“Um, what?”

“Well, with Maya’s endorsement, it won’t be long before you have a whole host of companies beating a path to your door to showcase their products on your social media.”

Maya thought of herself as a social influencer. I knew this. Lucas and I often made fun of her delusions when we were alone. I’d never taken it seriously before, but now…maybe I should have taken more notice.

“Hush, Missy,” Maya said, and I found myself feeling grateful to her…for about