…We’d called her the “wicked stepmother” ever since we were little girls, and the name fit like a glove.
Mallory was everything Kathryn hadn’t been — cold, cruel, vindictive, vain, and full of petty jealousy and insecurity. She’d married a king to be queen, but she’d been quite firm from the start that she hadn’t done so to be someone’s mother. As sweet as our cousin was, Mallory had zero interest in her. That was, until she’d gotten older, and started turning into the beautiful young woman she was today. At that point, Mallory had gone from total disinterest to keen meanness towards her.
It sucked, and I knew everyone saw it. But my uncle Lorne was under her spell, it seemed.
“Sorry, Adele,” I gave her a harder squeeze.
She waved me off, smiling. “Eh, it’s fine.”
“Well you look freaking amazing tonight, if that helps”
She grinned. “It does, thanks.”
“Would some bubbly help even more?”
“Definitely.”
I laughed as I linked my arm through hers and steered us towards the bar. Tonight was looking better already. Was I going to find my prince charming tonight? Nope. But I was going to drink champagne with my favorite cousin, listen to some classical ballroom dancing music, and try not to worry about the fact that I was only twenty-one and already somewhat jaded with the idea of love.
“Oh, shit.”
My arm suddenly jerked as Adele stopped short in her tracks. I turned to see her face pale, which was saying something considering the usual tone of her alabaster skin.
I frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I— yeah, it’s fine.”
Her head whirled back to me for a second from wherever she’d been looking. “Actually, I need to go.”
I shook my head. "Wait, what?”
I followed her eyes across the room, and I froze as I saw the dark-haired, bearded, ruggedly handsome man in all black staring right at her from across the ballroom.
“Um, someone you know?”
Adele said nothing, her chest quietly rising and falling.
“Adele?”
She shook her head, turning back to me. “Uh, yeah, no. I mean, I’m not sure.”
I raised a brow at her. “You know you’re not making any sense, right? Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “I just need to go, now.”
“I’ll come with—”
“No, Ilana,” she gave me a quick look. “I'll catch up with you later, okay?”
She slipped away, scurrying out of the ballroom. And then I was alone, shoulders slumping and my fun night of blowing this whole thing off with Adele withering under the hard gaze of the mystery guy from across the room.
Wonderful. First Isla, then Imogen, and now Adele. Which meant now I was alone to wander this dumb ball. It was definitely time to get some champagne.
“It's a sad day when a princess as beautiful as yourself finds reason to frown.”
The voice teased over me like silk and whiskey, sending a shiver down my whole body. I swallowed, feeling my head swim slightly under the sheer manliness of that voice before I turned.
My heart flip-flopped.
I’d been positive I wasn’t going to find my prince charming that night. Fate had decided to step in with a sense of humor by sending me two Charmings.
Literally.
At first I thought I was seeing double, until I focused on the two gorgeous, staggeringly handsome men dressed in crisp tuxedos standing in front of me.
Of course, I knew of the Charming brothers of Marland, but I’d never met them. And of course, they were handsome in pictures in tabloids and on news websites.
Tabloids and websites had not done them justice.
Because here in the flesh, both of them standing right in front of me with two sets of piercing blue eyes lancing right into me, their presence enveloped me. And yes, I’d known they were good-looking guys, but up close, a foot away from them?
They were freaking gorgeous.
The identical men were built like linebackers — broad shoulders, and muscled arms and chests that filled out their tuxedos. Strong jaws, split by two slightly cocky, and for lack of a better term, charming grins, and two pairs of intensely melting blue eyes.
“Um, hi,” I said, cringing a little at how lame a response it was.
“I’m Cade,” the first one said in a smooth, velvety baritone. “And this is my brother Caspian.”
“The Charming brothers,” I said, nodding politely. “I know you. Well, I know of you. I guess we’ve never met. I’m—”
“Princess Ilana,” Caspian finished for me, his eyes burning right into me and sending a shiver through me. “And how in the world is it that we’ve never met?”
I smiled to hide the eye roll. I mean, what a line, right? That and the first one about “a sad day when a princess frowns.”
I mean, please.
I’d heard it before. I’d heard them all from so many different princes over the years, at functions, or fundraisers, or dinners, or balls like this. Gems like “I didn’t know King Lucian was a thief, but he stole the stars out of heaven and stuck em in your eyes!”