And here, I gasped, sitting back, staring at him suddenly.
“You’ve been through this before, haven’t you?” I asked slowly, realization dawning. “The made-to-order bride stuff, this isn’t your first rodeo, is it?”
And he just grinned at me cheekily, showing those pearly whites.
“That’s right,” he confirmed, this time with a positive smirk on that handsome face. “Besides, I’ve been a prime target since I was a kid. Ladies were lining up before I could talk, in the cradle still. That’s right, hopeful parents were throwing their baby daughters at my parents, sending gifts, dropping hints, in the hopes that a lucrative match could be worked out pronto.”
And suddenly I felt dumb, really dumb. Of course Kristian knew. He was hot property on the Continent, one of the most eligible bachelors in Europe. Of course he knew how the system worked, girls from fading families had been hurled his way for years now, I just happened to be the latest in a string of impoverished Cinderellas.
“So what’s stopped you?” I asked slowly. “You’ve been in the bull’s eye your whole life, why haven’t you picked one of these girls? Or is it,” and suddenly I stopped, dread overcoming me, “you’re looking to marry rich too?”
And Kristian laughed even harder at that, practically bellowing now, I was sure people could hear us through the closed windows of the car.
“Naw baby, my family’s good,” he threw out, smiling so hard I thought his cheeks might crack. “I’m good, no need to trot out the dollars for me.”
And I slumped in my seat, mortified. Had I just implied that the St. Venetians were a crumbling royal house, that they needed dollars under the table? But Kristian continued.
“In fact, my family’s pretty good at protecting our fortune,” he drawled. “They had you checked out before we set out this morning.”
I gasped, turning to him.
“They had me what?” I sputtered.
“Checked out,” he said helpfully again. “It’s standard protocol for us, it’s not that weird if you think about it. Their Crown Prince is headed to a ghetto with a woman he’s never met before, of course they worked up a dossier on you, investigated you.”
My face flamed.
“A dossier?” I repeated dumbly. “You must be kidding. You’ve seen it? What’s in it?”
“Nope, I haven’t seen it,” he said cheerfully, “but I know it exists. It’s probably pretty thin, I only met you yesterday, unless,” and here he paused dramatically, “there’s more about you than meets the eye.”
And I was silent.
“No, I think I’ve told you everything now,” I mumbled. “In fact, I think you knew everything before I even uttered a peep.”
“Probably,” he said cheerfully, turning back to the road, “and ah ha, here we are now.”
I was so astonished at the turn of events that I hadn’t registered where we were going. I’d assumed he was going to drop me off at Miss Carroll’s, it was early evening now and we’d been out all day, but instead we’d pulled up at a dive on the outskirts of town, a ramshackle building with the windows blacked out, a cement block with no distinguishing features except the thump of music ringing out from behind closed doors.
I sighed. I was tired and the multiple revelations had me reeling.
“Where are we?” I asked, resting my head against the car seat. “Where is this place?”
“Nowhere,” Kristian cheerfully, “I just thought we’d stop for a drink before I dropped you off,” he said, jumping out of the car. “Come on,” he said, striding out and pulling open my door. “It’ll be fun.”
And I got out slowly. I was dusty from our trip, my skirt crinkled from the romp by the side of the road, my hair messy. I ran my fingers through my brown curls self-consciously, trying to tidy the unruly mass, make myself a little more presentable. But Kristian couldn’t be deterred. He bent over and kissed me on the lips, breathing into my mouth.
“You look beautiful,” he said, gazing into my eyes before taking my hand again. “Come on, you’ll like it here,” he said, pulling me towards the dingy building, a picture of a donkey on the door.
And a blush ran over my cheeks, my heart jumping. I had no idea where we were, I’d just had roadside sex with a man I’d only known for hours, so why not? In this incredible roller-coaster that was my life, it was just the next adventure.
KARL
We haven’t been ourselves recently, my brother and I. Our work didn’t suffer, we were just as sharp as ever, but being on the fucking boat was driving us crazy, our bodies buzzing, constantly alert.
And it was because of the girl, the brunette we’d met that night in Andorra. Tina. Even her name ran in my mind ceaselessly,Tina Tina Tina, like the chime of bells, a melodic peal that wouldn’t stop.
It should have driven me crazy but instead it just made me hungry, wanting more. Because I kept re-living our night together, taking the curvy brunette behind the Old Dog, ravishing her like she was the last woman on earth when in fact she should have just been one among many.