Royal Ruse - Emma Lea Page 0,61

taken any notice of her. My eyes had only ever been for Frankie.

Sophia smiled at me. “How are you enjoying your time on Kalopsia?”

“It’s good,” I replied and then frowned in concentration. “Dellis? Did you say your last name was Dellis?”

Sophia nodded.

“As in Ambassador Dellis?”

Sophia rolled her eyes. “Yes. He’s my father.”

“Ah, that’s why we haven’t met before,” I said. “I kind of recognize the others from the years before, but I could never place you.”

She smiled sadly. “No, I spent most of my time in Greece. I only summered here with my grandparents.”

“So how are you finding being here full time? It must be a bit of a change for you.”

She took a deep breath and her eyes went to the view framed perfectly by the open doors leading out to the terrace. “I’ve been in France since…well, since. I barely remember Kalopsia but now I’m here…I really love it.”

She looked back at me with such a beatific smile that I couldn’t help returning it. We—all of us, not just Sophia and me—all shared a weird history that in some ways bonded us together. We hadn’t had the same experiences, but we all had that one event that separated the ‘before’ from the ‘after.’

“So are you planning on staying here?”

She beamed a mega-watt smile at me. “Oh, absolutely,” she said. “Aren’t you?”

I found myself nodding but not able to say the words. I hadn’t come here intending to stay, but the longer I was here, the more I could see myself living here and being a part of this new world.

Francesca

I knew the moment Lucas walked into the dining room. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. The atmosphere changed or my body somehow recognized him before I even saw him.

I tried to concentrate on the joke Dorian was telling me. None of the others probably even knew that he liked to tell jokes, but for some reason his guard lowered around me and I saw a side of him the others didn’t. I thought it was because he saw me as non-threatening. All the others had some kind of stake in the royal court and there was jockeying for position and posturing like roosters…or wolves. I’d seen the way the others circled each other, sizing one another up to see whether they were friend or foe, finding the pecking order. Even Lucas did it to some extent. He wasn’t as obvious as Dorian, that was for sure. And it was only that I’d known Lucas for such a long time that I could see the change in his behavior. Lucas wasn’t the alpha, he didn’t want to be the alpha, but that didn’t mean he could just let the others sort it out amongst themselves. No, he needed to know what his position was in the pack and until all those positions were assigned, there would always be a tension in the group.

Lucas had challenged Dorian last night, in his own way. And Dorian challenged him back and won, asserting his dominance. Which was probably why Dorian was sitting at breakfast with me pretending to not have a care in the world when we both knew Lucas was in the dining room. Human behavior was fascinating.

I was waiting for Lucas to approach me. He wouldn’t outright ask why I was here and not having breakfast with him, but I was sure he would at least approach the table. When he didn’t, I turned to see where he was. Talking to Sophia. Smiling at her.

Something hideous rose inside me. I liked Sophia. In fact, I thought we could be friends, but right in that moment, I wanted to scratch her eyes out.

“I wouldn’t worry about Sophia,” Dorian said, reading my mind. “Little Lord Lucas has eyes for no one but you.”

“I’m not worried,” I said, flashing the insanely ridiculous engagement ring I was wearing. “I got the boy. And don’t call him that.”

“What?” Dorian asked, raising his eyebrows. “Lord Lucas?”

I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. Don’t call him little Lord Lucas or I might start calling you little Lord Dorian.”

“There is nothing little about me,” Dorian replied with a lewd wink.

I rolled my eyes again. The fake Dorian was back. It probably had something to do with my fake fiancée being in the room and the whole posturing and dominance thing, but right now it just annoyed me. I was already annoyed with Lucas for not only standing me up the night before but