Royal Ruse - Emma Lea Page 0,47

relatively early. “Just after eight,” I said.

Frankie frowned as she did the calculations in her head. “We slept for fifteen hours?”

I shrugged, accepting the cup of coffee from Maddox. “Seemed like we needed it.”

“No wonder I’m starving,” Frankie said, reaching for the covered dish in front of her. “We missed dinner.”

“Thank you, Maddox,” I said to the valet. “Who do I need to speak to about visiting my family’s compound?”

“Ms. Lazos said you may want to tour the estate today. She said just to let her know when you were ready and she would organize a car and driver for you.”

“Ms. Lazos?” I asked, trying to remember who that was in all the myriad of names I’d learned yesterday.

“Danika Lazos, head of security.”

I nodded, “Right. Thank you. Could you let her know we’ll be ready to go in…” I looked to Frankie with a raised eyebrow. “An hour?”

“Make it an hour and a half,” Frankie replied with her mouth full.

“An hour and a half,” I repeated to Maddox.

“Certainly,” Maddox replied with a slight bow. “I’ll lay out some clothes for you and instruct Ms. Davenport’s maid to do the same.”

“Oh, you don’t need to—” I started, but he was already gone.

“It’s so weird having servants,” Frankie murmured. “I don’t even know what to call them and I feel like I should tip them or something.”

I smiled. “I think they would be offended if you did that. The palace pays them well, probably better than what the bar paid you.”

“It still makes me uncomfortable to have someone assigned to just fetch and carry and pick up after me.”

“I agree,” I said, “although I could get used to breakfast being delivered to me every morning.”

Frankie smiled. “Yeah, that is a perk I could get used to, too.”

I stepped out of the car and stood before the gates of the compound where I grew up. I was fourteen when we escaped and I think I must have blocked out a lot of what happened as a self-preservation tactic. My parents never spoke about that period of our lives. Or, at least, they didn’t discuss it when I was in hearing vicinity.

Frankie stepped up beside me and laid her hand on my arm. I lifted my arm and pulled her close to my side. The ground beneath me felt unstable, but holding onto Frankie gave me a solid footing.

“It’s beautiful,” she murmured.

It was, if a little neglected. The large villa was built on the side of a cliff and overlooked the Aegean Sea and the small unpopulated islands scattered close by. The estate stepped down the edge of the cliff in terraces and parts of it were built into the side of the cliff, as in underground. The cellar was completely underground and at the lowest level of the compound. We couldn’t see any of that from where we stood at the large gates…or rather, gate posts. The gate was gone. All we could see from our vantage point was the cobblestone drive, and the overgrown and weed-infested gardens, and the entry of the villa. The sea was a constant backdrop and stood out stark blue against the yellowing color of the villa.

I didn’t know how to feel as I faced the ghosts of my past. Our life in America was so completely removed from the life we had here. My parents had changed…not that they had ever been the hugs and kisses type of parents. A staff of nursery maids, and eventually a governess, raised Effie and me. But all that changed when we ran from Kalopsia. My parents had reveled in their positions in court, but once we moved to America, they had to find a new social circle; they had to work for the same respect that the people of Kalopsia had afforded them. They went from being big fish in a small pond to small fish in a big pond and the transition hadn’t been easy, or kind. I suppose that was what happened when someone put their value in their position in society rather than in who they were as a person.

“Are we going in?” Frankie asked.

“Yeah,” I breathed, stepping across the property line and into the estate. I expected to be assaulted by the memories, but it wasn’t as brutal as I worried it would be. Yes, there were memories, but they were hazy and soft, like old photographs.

“Wow,” Frankie breathed as she stepped into the foyer.

The big double wooden door was barely holding onto its hinges and