The Naughty Princess: A Sexy Royals Novella Page 9

  “And the fatalities?” I held my breath, feeling like every single thing out of his mouth was the most important thing I’d ever heard.

  “Two people died.” He looked down.

  “Hey.” Adeline walked out of one of the rooms and headed toward us. “Ben, are you here to see…?”

  “Pi—I’m here for both of them,” I said, because it was the truth. I would have been here for Aramis, but I ran here, flew here, for Pilar.

  “She’s in there,” Adeline whispered, pointing at the room she’d just left.

  She put her hand in Elias’s and pulled him to the chairs in the waiting area. That was when I noticed that Elias’s mother was also there, sitting and speaking to some people. Our eyes met, and I gave her what I hoped was a sympathetic look. She acknowledged it with a nod and then returned her attention to those she had been talking to.

  I opened the door slowly and stopped breathing when I saw Pilar on the hospital bed, Amir at her side. He looked as if he’d lost hours of sleep and gained hundreds of years since the last time I saw him. He glanced up at me and walked toward the door, setting a hand on my shoulder as he left. I walked forward quickly and went over to Pilar.

  “Hey.” She smiled weakly. “I’m fine. I just…scratches.” She pointed at the scratch on her face and lifted her arms to show light bruising. “But my brother…” Her eyes welled with tears. “Aramis.”

  “He’s fine. He’s stable. Just got out of surgery,” I said, grabbing her hands in mine and taking a seat beside her in the small bed. I looked at her and felt myself crumble as I leaned in and wrapped my arms around her as gently as I could. “You scared the hell out of me, Princess.” I pulled away. “Are you really okay? What happened?”

  “I’m fine. I feel fine. I’ll be out of here tomorrow. I just…” Her lip wobbled. “Aramis.”

  “He really is okay.” I squeezed her hand. “I’m going to go see him next, but your brother is fine. You know he’s too stubborn to leave us.”

  “I know.” She laughed and hiccupped as a tear fell down her face. “It was so scary.”

  I nodded. It was scary, and I hadn’t even been involved. The lump in my throat hadn’t left, not even now that I was here with her and knew she was all right. It was a reminder of how short and fragile life was, that I could lose her the way I’d lost my brother. I couldn’t handle it. Not her. I squeezed her hand tighter.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered, wiping a tear.

  “I came to see you. I left as soon as I saw the news. I couldn’t just…” I exhaled. “I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you, not like this.”

  She smiled weakly and squeezed my hand back, then lost her smile altogether. “Kayla was there.”

  “Where?”

  “At the shelter. Aramis and I went to feed the homeless today, and she was outside.” Pilar frowned. “She said something about me not leaving my car there. Do you think…?” She looked up at me.

  “No.” I felt myself frown. What could Kayla have possibly done to the car? In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter what she could have done or not, I needed to put an end to the stalking. “She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. How was the car before the accident?”

  “It was perfect. It only had three hundred miles on it. It was brand new.”

  “I’ll put an end to this Kayla stuff,” I said.

  “I told Amir about it just in case. I just…it seems crazy and far-fetched, I know, but I can’t stop thinking about it.”

  “She won’t come near you again.” I kissed her hand, feeling like I never wanted to let go.

  The weight of that pushed at me, sat heavily on my chest. I needed to tell her things if I was going to keep her in my life. I needed to be vocal and open up. This wasn’t the time for it, though. I needed her to focus on getting better first.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Pilar

  “I heard you’re dating Drake.” Aramis’s voice was dry and low.

  His words made me laugh, and then cry, and then laugh again. My brother looked awful, and I wasn’t just saying that because he was lying on a hospital bed with a cast on his left leg, and his left shoulder covered in bindings. His face was filled with tiny scratches from the broken windshield, and bandages covered the burns he’d acquired from the car that’d caught fire. Yet he was alive, and he was here, and he’d heal and be fine again, at least according to the doctors and surgeons. We were lucky. Two people had died, yet Aramis had somehow made it out of it.

  “I’m so sorry.” I squeezed his hand. “If I’d been driving…”

  “Don’t.” He shot me a look. “Don’t even think it. I would never trade places with you. I wouldn’t allow it. You’re my baby sister, and I need you to be safe. Always. I’m fine.”

  “You’re not.” I began to sob, my chest heaving. “You’re completely messed up.”

  “I’m always messed up, darling.” He winked, then flinched.

  “Stop it.” I laughed as tears ran down my cheeks. I sniffled and wiped at them. “I told Amir to look into what happened. Ben has a crazy ex, and she confronted me before I went into the shelter. She knew which vehicle was mine. Knew that I was there alone.”

  “You think she did something?”

  “I don’t know what to think.” I exhaled. “I don’t know. What could she have done? Tampered with the engine? The brakes?”

  “No.” He shook his head and then winced a bit. “It was none of those. It was almost as if…it was like the car couldn’t stay straight.”

  “The tires?” I asked. I’d driven Audis for most of my adult life and I’d gotten flat tires on them. They weren’t quick to give out, even with a nail embedded in them. I said that aloud, and Aramis shook his head.

  “This wasn’t a nail, Pilar. It had to be a slash.”

  My heart stopped beating. “Could she want me out of Ben’s life that badly?”

  “She must.” He stared at me for a beat. “The question is, do you want to be in this relationship badly enough to put up with people like her?”

  My knee-jerk response was “of course,” but seeing my brother like this…I wasn’t so sure.

  “How’d that happen anyway?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “You and Ben.”

  “That’s really the first thing you’re going to ask me about?” I laughed. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “I think it’s worth discussing now, seeing as I have nowhere to go.” His lip twitched, but his eyes were dull and remained sad.

  “Well.” I cleared my throat. “It just happened. I guess it started as us just having fun, but it may have become something more.”

  “You guess?” Aramis raised his eyebrows and cringed with pain. “Are you having fun or not? It’s that simple.”

  “I am.”

  “But it’s not serious? Or is it?”

  “We haven’t discussed it.” I worried my bottom lip. “It’s Ben, you know. He has a reputation, and it certainly isn’t about being a serious boyfriend.”

  “Just because he hasn’t been in a serious relationship, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want one.” He tilted his head. “Besides, he flew here the minute he heard that you were in the hospital.”

  “He came to see you too.”

  “I’m pretty sure he came here for you.” He winked. “He didn’t sleep beside my bed all night.”

  “That’s true.” I worried my lip.

  It was true, wasn’t it? He’d come here knowing full-well that he’d be seen and photographed. He’d stayed with me all night. He only left this morning because he had things to take care of, and I told him that I wanted to see my brother alone. I stood up and leaned over to kiss Aramis’s forehead.

  “Get some rest. I’ll be back soon.”

  “Yep. Resting. Don’t you worry, I’ll be back to normal and partying in no time.” Aramis winked and then cringed. “Fuck.”

  “Stop winking and stuff,” I said.

  “It’s hard
.” He groaned.

  “Elias says he wants you to go to the cottage in Roussillon when they discharge you so you can continue your healing.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. They’re going to banish me now for looking like this?” He raised his arm and gestured at his leg and face. “What? Does this not fit the narrative of what our family is supposed to look like?”

  “It’s not that, you idiot. He wants you to get one hundred percent better. You’ll need physical therapy for your leg.”

  “I’ve broken a leg before. I’ll live.” He rolled his eyes.

  “Stop being so stubborn. I’ll see you soon.” I walked out of the room and saw that Elias and Adeline were still with my mother. I walked over to them. “He’s doing okay.”

  “We heard about Kayla,” Elias said. “Why didn’t you tell us?” He looked at Amir, who stood near the elevator. “I haven’t addressed this with him yet, but I will.”

  “Don’t. Don’t get Amir in trouble for this. It was my fault for not making a big deal of it sooner. Do you think she slashed the tires or something?”

  “How could Aramis have driven that far without noticing?” Adeline asked.

  “If he’d been in any other car, it likely would have been impossible to do,” Elias said. “But that one…” He shook his head. “Do you think she’s capable of slashing your tires?”

  “Yes.”

  “We need to have her arrested.”

  “Eli.” Adeline grabbed his arm. “We can’t just arrest her before we inspect the car.”

  “The hell, we can’t. I’m the king, and my brother is in the hospital. My sister could have been killed.” He yanked his arm away from Adeline.

  “She’s right, Eli.” I licked my lips. “If you arrest her, it would be like Father all over again. Your people will lose trust in you.”

  “I don’t like knowing she’s out there.” He scowled.

  “We’ll have them inspect the tires immediately,” Adeline said. “In the meantime, we have a public engagement and need to keep unrest at a minimum right now. “I’ll be back later to visit with Aramis while you meet with Parliament.”

  We said our goodbyes and I stayed behind with my mother.

  “It’s such a shame,” she said.

  “What?”

  “That you have to leave Benjamin because of his ex-girlfriend.”

  “What?” I said again and blinked. “I’m not going to leave him because of her. He has nothing to do with her anymore.”

  “Does she know that?”

  “If she didn’t before, she will now.” I kissed my mother goodbye and walked over to Amir, ready to leave.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ben

  I knew the media frenzy would be overwhelming, but I didn’t anticipate how much. There were cameras everywhere, at all times. I was used to attention. It wasn’t like I was the kind of man who could go to a pub with friends and not expect to be noticed, but I was still able to go out. These days, that seemed nearly impossible. I got Pilar though. I reminded myself of that. And they hadn’t pried too much into my personal life, so that was nice. I knocked on the door again and waited with a sigh. When it opened, I smiled at my ex, Tamara, who was standing there wearing a large t-shirt and shorts.

  “Well, if it isn’t the newest member of the royal family.” She opened the door wider. “Should I bow to you?”

  “Don’t be silly.” I laughed, walking inside and looking around for a second before hearing little footsteps running full speed toward me. Then, I crouched and opened my arms as my son ran into them. I lifted him and turned as he laughed.

  “Daddy, you were supposed to come earlier,” he said as I set him back down.

  “I wanted to, but I had some things to do.” I ruffled his curly hair and smiled.

  “Stay right here. I want to show you what I made in school.” He ran off.

  “Did you look into the football camp I sent you?” I looked at Tamara.

  “I did. But, Ben, I have a million things going on right now. I haven’t even properly moved in.” She pointed at the boxes scattered around the living room.

  “Tam, it’s been two months.”

  “You try juggling moving with a four-year-old and a job.”

  “I told you I’d hire people to help you. You’re too stubborn.” I shook my head. “Where’s the American, anyway?”

  “The American’s name is Jack,” she said, rolling her eyes with a smile. “And you know very well that he’s in New York for work. He’s moving here at the end of next month.”

  “In here?” I raised my eyebrows.

  “He’s going to pay rent, don’t worry.”

  “Hmm.” I walked around. I’d gotten her this flat when I leased the one upstairs because I wanted to be close to my son. I hadn’t anticipated what would happen if her boyfriend became more serious and actually wanted to move in with her. I guess that answered my question though.

  “Ben, we talked about this.” She sighed. “I told you I’d pay for this place, but you insisted.”

  “Tam, I don’t care. I really don’t.” I turned to look at her.

  Tamara was the closest I’d ever gotten to marriage. She was the relationship nobody knew about. I fucked it up by cheating on her with Kayla and regretted it every single day afterwards—not only because I missed out on my chance to be with a great woman, the mother of my child, but because I hurt her deeply, and she was one of the most caring people I knew. It had been a turbulent time for me, not that it was an excuse for doing what I’d done. Kayla had been there for me my entire life though, before, during, and after Tamara. My brother had just died from an overdose, I was alone in a big city with a million-dollar contract, and I was twenty-three years old. Back then, I’d been sorry I hurt Tamara, but not sorry I did it. I figured there was no way to stay faithful under those circumstances. I had been taught, by every man in my life, that it was okay to not stay faithful. Everything with Tamara was before I’d lived and seen things and met men who were decent and respectful to their significant others. These days, I regretted the hell out of all of it. To lose a woman like Tamara over someone like Kayla was just plain stupid, but if I was completely honest, Kayla sleeping around with my teammates was really what made me finally realize how much I had screwed up. Now, Tamara had Jack, the American, a great man who loved her fiercely. It helped that he was a fan of mine and also adored my son. In the beginning, it took me a while to embrace him, but seeing him with Asher was enough to sell me on the whole thing. So, him paying rent or not paying it was the last thing on my mind. If he was going to move in here with my son, I didn’t need him to pay for anything.

  “Jack isn’t going to want a freebie anyway. He’ll want to pay.” She shot me a look as she started to wash dishes.

  Asher ran back into the room, waving fistfuls of paper at me. I felt myself smile. I always smiled when around him. The kid made me happier than anyone else in my life.

  “Look. I drew this and this.” He showed me the first paper. It was a house with a family. There were four people drawn on the paper.

  “Who are they?”

  “You, Mommy, me, and Jack!”

  “Ah.” I chuckled, looking at Tam, who was watching me closely.

  It was as if she half-expected me to flip out about her boyfriend half of the time. I didn’t blame her. I’d been a different person when we were together, though I really hoped to show her that I was much calmer nowadays.

  “I really love it.” I cleared my throat and then looked at the rest of the artwork.

  “I have to show you something else.” He grabbed the papers from my hand and ran off again.

  “He’s non-stop,” I said, shaking my head.

  “You’re telling me.” Tamara turned the kitchen sink off and dried her hands. “So, what’s going on with you and Princess Pilar? Is it serious?”

  “I think so, but I don’t know yet.”

  “You don’t know yet?” She raised an eyebrow. “Do you want it to
be serious.”

  “I do.” There was no use denying it, but I hadn’t spoken to Pilar about how she felt about it yet.

  “Have you told her about Asher?”

  “Not yet.”

  “You probably should.”

  “I will when the time is right. She has a lot on her mind right now.”

  “I’m sure she does. What happened to her and her brother was horrible, but you should consider telling her sooner rather than later.”

  “I know.” I stood up and walked over to her. “I just don’t want the paparazzi hounding you guys, and they will. The moment they find out about either of you, they won’t leave you alone.”

  “They’d leave us alone if you’re honest about us. Besides, we take some photos, sell them to a magazine directly, let the story run its course and be done with it.” She shrugged.

  “We agreed.” I paused. “You were the one who told me you didn’t want to be in the spotlight.”

  “I don’t, but Ash is older now. I’m tired of playing dress-up every time we go out together. Or saying I’m your sister.” She shot me a look.

  “That was one time.”

  “One time too many, Ben.” She rolled her eyes and continued organizing things in the kitchen. “Are you scared she’ll like you less if you tell her?”

  “No.”

  “Are you scared she won’t like Ash?”

  “No,” I said vehemently. “Who wouldn’t like him?”

  “All I’m saying is, if you’re really serious about her, you’ll tell her. But then again, I thought you were serious about Sophia, and you never told her.”

  “Sophia and I were never serious.”

  “The media thought so.”

  “The media is full of lies. You of all people should know that.”

  “Does Pilar know about Kayla?”

  “Yes.” It was something I hated to discuss with Tam, of all people. “Kayla approached her while we were in Ibiza and again the day of the accident.”

  “Why was Kayla even in Ibiza? You invited her?”

  “I had to.”

  “I will never understand how someone so smart can do so many stupid things.” She rolled her eyes.