her bright, blue eyes. Cameras flash as reporters shout for us to face them. I ignore them, but the woman smiles for the photographers.
I could fuck her for the month I’m here, I guess, if she’s not too boring to listen to.
Glancing at Cara, I see her staring at the two of us. Her eyebrows draw together slightly, and she lets her eyes drift down the woman’s body.
For the briefest of moments, all my anger melts away and is replaced with bright, zinging interest. I tilt my head, studying her.
Is the Queen jealous?
I quirk an eyebrow as an idea starts floating through my head. Maybe this blonde would be more useful than I anticipated. Taking my date’s hand, I hook it into the crook of my arm and motion toward the castle. “Shall we?”
“Please.” She smiles at me again, a little more coquettishly. In her heels, she’s almost as tall as I am. She smells floral and a little too sweet. My date angles her head one more for the benefit of the cameras, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
Cara clears her throat, stealing another glance at us before turning away.
I grin.
Cameras flash.
Shocking as it is to say it, this might actually be fun, in a cruel, twisted kind of way.
We turn toward the big double doors that lead into the castle, and my date stumbles over the last step. Before she goes flying face-first into the ground, I catch her.
Snap-snap-snap. Cameras are trained on us.
My date smiles at me, a blush tinting her cheeks. “Thanks.”
“Of course.” I put my hand on her back, resisting the urge to steal a glance at Cara.
As soon as we enter the castle, someone hands me a glass of champagne. I down it in one gulp and belch in my fist. The woman—what was her name?—stares at me and then immediately rearranges her features into a smile.
“I was told you were a character.” She bats her eyelashes and pushes her chest out toward me.
I guess ‘not too boring to listen to’ was too much to ask. I could still fuck her, I guess. Cara would hate that.
“I was told you were a good fuck,” I answer. I grab another glass of champagne on our way toward the Great Hall, ignoring whatever it is that comes out of her mouth next.
Farcliff Castle is different from the one at home. This castle just as grand, but it feels colder. There’s more stone and steel in it. In the Great Hall, long tables are set up with thick, white tablecloths on them. I let the usher lead me to my assigned seat, at a table with Beckett and my date. Prince Damon and Princess Dahlia of Farcliff are seated next to us, and a few other Lords and Ladies take their seats further down the table.
The King of Farcliff, Charlie, and his Queen, Elle, take their seats at the head table. My brother, Theo, thankfully, is sitting at the opposite end of that table with Queen Cara. I won’t have to stare at them all dinner, which I’m sure was done on purpose.
The more distance between us, the better.
Beckett stares at me from across the table, glancing at my date. He cocks his eyebrow as if to say, You okay?
I avert my eyes.
I don’t know how I feel. On the one hand, I’m seeing my family for the first time in years. I’m happy to see them, but another part of me resents the fact that they never came to visit me. I want to go back to Argyle, but I’m nervous about what to expect.
Beckett stares at me and then his face twists, and he sneezes.
“Allergies?” I ask, spreading my serviette over my thighs.
Beckett grunts in acknowledgement. My brother is allergic to dust, cats, dogs, horses, pollen, peanut butter—pretty much everything except water. He sneezes again, and I hide a grin.
I used to tickle his nose with dandelions when we were kids and run away when he’d get mad. He’d chase me, sneezing the whole time. We were kids. Our childhood was happy.
Now, that happiness seems to have slipped through my fingers.
“Can’t take you anywhere,” I say with a grin. Beckett sighs, frustrated. Is it wrong that I kind of like seeing people like this? Uncomfortable, in pain, and hurting?
I wasn’t always like this. Before the accident, I was a happy person. I liked to laugh.
Snapping your spine and become a paraplegic has a way of changing your outlook on life, though. My