“You want to have your stag party where?” Carlisle scratched at the blond curls atop his head. His green gaze went from Zhi to Alex and back again, hazy with incomprehension.
“In my restaurant.” Alex spread his arms around the inside of the Prince’s Palate. His usual mischievous grin was filled with pride of ownership as his dark eyes surveyed his small kingdom.
The three friends sat at the bar which was pushed up to the kitchen where they had a front-row seat of the food preparation going on behind the scenes. The restaurant wasn’t technically open to the public, there were still renovations going on in the main dining area. But Alex and his fiancée had a tasting for some movers and shakers in the culinary world happening in just a matter of days. So, being the true friends that they were, Zhi and Carlisle had volunteered to be taste testers.
“We’ll close shop for the night,” Alex continued, “and I’ll fly in chefs from around the world. We can even make it a culinary competition like that show where the chefs cook head to head.”
The man was beaming at his idea of a bachelor party fit for a prince. Both Zhi and Carlisle gawked at their friend. Silently, Zhi let out a relieved sigh. He’d expected Alex would want a destination party on some private island. Zhi couldn’t afford to take that particular duty on as his best man. He could barely afford lunch.
Thankfully, this bill was being covered by Alex as the owner. It was the best meal Zhi had had in months, mainly because the last sumptuous bite of food he’d had had been prepared by Alex’s fiancée, Jan, when she’d won the annual Union Day pie making competition. He’d dreamed about that slice of pie ever since.
Jan emerged from the kitchens with a dish. The pretty blonde rattled off a list of exotic ingredients that were in the dish which Zhi promptly tuned out. His ears were far too full of the scents wafting in the air, and his tongue only cared about sampling the fare.
Zhi and Carlisle groaned with delight as the first morsel hit their tongues. Meanwhile, Alex had interrupted the pie maker with a kiss before she could escape the table.
“I know what I’m having for dessert,” he said into her ear, but loud enough for the carpenters in the other room to hear his claim.
“My potatoes are gonna burn.” Jan gave him a playful shove and then dashed out of his way before he could grab her again.
Alex beamed after the woman. Zhi had never seen his friend look adoringly at any woman except his niece, Penelope. Other than Penelope or his brother’s soon to be wife, Esme, Zhi had never seen Alex actually look a woman in the eye.
They all had had their fair share of partying. But now Alex was settling down. He was not only the happiest Zhi had ever seen him, but he also looked content with his lot in life.
The prince was marrying for love. Not title. Not money. Though that’s what everyone had initially assumed. But love was clear in both the prince and the pie maker’s eyes.
Zhi had seen the same look in King Leo’s eyes. Leo had married for duty his first go
around. He hadn’t been unhappy. But with his second wife, Esme, he had the same sparkle as his brother.
Love matches were rare for nobles. Even in this day and age. From somewhere in the back of his mind, he swore he heard his father snort at the idea. The delectable bite of food on his tongue turned bitter with the memory of his father’s words from earlier.
Marry more money.
Zhi set his fork down. He picked up his folded linen and pressed it against his mouth, trying to clear the distasteful thought from his palate.
He hadn’t planned to marry for love. Sure, he’d figured he’d marry someone from his own class, someone who he found compatible on things that mattered. They’d have some things in common, like music or art. But he couldn’t imagine deceiving a woman as his father had done his mother.
Zhi had seduced his fair share of women. But they all came to him willingly. He made no promises. Most enjoyed the novelty of landing a duke, even if only for a short period.
He wondered if anyone would ever date him now that he was about to be destitute? Looking up, he saw Alex and Carlisle laughing. He knew the two had their own burdens, but money wasn’t one of them. Would his friends be there for him when he became penniless?
He knew they would. They’d been through enough that money, or the lack thereof, would not rip them apart. They’d likely want to help him, to at least give him shelter.
It wasn’t himself he was worried about. It was mainly his mother’s reaction to impending poverty that concerned him.
Nian Zhen had been raised in luxury back in Spain. But she’d also been scorned because of her heritage and the newness of her family’s money. It had made her shy and reserved. He also suspected it was a major contributing factor in why she accepted the abuse her husband doled out to her over the years. She never felt that she belonged, not to his society, not to his world.
She rarely made public appearances. Which had been perfectly fine in her husband’s eyes. It was easier for him to carry on his affairs without his golden ball and chain standing beside him. Mondego House had become as much her cell as it was her home. Zhi wasn’t sure she would survive outside its walls.
She’d been turned out by her family after choosing and then sticking with her husband. She’d had her heart broken by the man she thought would love and protect her for always. Through it all, she’d never said an ill word about any of the people who were meant to care for her but had trudged over her. She deserved better.
“She deserves the world,” Alex was saying. His gaze was on Jan’s figure in the kitchen window as she stood over a stove. “Can you believe her ex left her at the altar? Literally. He just left her there and walked away. I can’t imagine ever being away from that woman for the length of time it takes to bake a casserole.”
“Afraid she’ll run?” said Carlisle.
Alex threw a buttered roll at him which Carlisle caught and took a bite out of.
Zhi couldn’t imagine feeling that way about a woman. He felt that way about his mother, his home, even his staff. He loved the place and the people who’d been there his whole life.