The Tattooed Prince 2

63.

Is it too late to make a run for it? I had embarrassed myself in front of Mateo. Had I forgotten I cannot assume someone wants to kiss me just because the atmosphere feels right? If there was a hole I can crawl into, right now would be the moment to appear in front of me.

Sophia and Tony were waiting for us at the entrance of the venue. They were quietly conversing with Santiago and young women next to him. Santiago turned around staring at me with a wide grin.

"Adalyn." He said embracing me in a hug.

"Santiago, thank you for the invitation."

"It was my pleasure, there was no way I could host a charity event in LA without you being here."

"I want you to meet my girlfriend, Serena." He motioned towards the girl next to him.

I expected for her to shake my hand, instead, she pulled me into a hug. "Queen Adalyn, it's a pleasure to meet you!" She said excitedly.

"Serena, you don't have to call me Queen. Adalyn is fine, I'm not legally entitled to the name."

"I apologize, it just I stand with you and your tough journey as a Royal."

Santiago gave me an apologetic look. "If you excuse us, I have a few more guest to greet." He grabbed onto her hand and pulled her away from us.

"What did I tell you about calling her Queen Adalyn?" I heard Santiago scold her as they walked into the venue.

I turn to look at Mateo who was chuckling quietly to himself. "What?"

"Never thought you'd meet a fan in LA, huh?" He teased me.

"Shut up. I'm proud of having a crowd supporting me, it feels weird having people call me Queen. They're not peasants and I'm not a Queen." I defended myself.

Mateo placed his hands inside the front pockets of his slacks. "I understand, but you must know to Spain and America you continue being Queen Adalyn, it's who they know as. Isn't it the reason you held an interview to show the world who Adalyn Haynes truly is?"

"You watched my interview?" I muttered.

He nodded. "Like I mentioned before, I don't judge people by what I've seen through the media. As they're learning who Adalyn is, you need to learn too, your sole popularity comes from being a Queen. Right now, it's fresh in their minds where you came from, maybe in a few years Queen Adalyn will only be a nickname you had."

Mateo spoke to me as if he knew all the answers to the problems revolving around me. As much as I wish he was wrong about people seeing me as a Queen, I have to accept the title I had. Divorcing Sebastian doesn't necessarily mean I have to forget the person I was. Inside I continue to be a Queen whether I have a kingdom to rule over.

"You speak about the situation as if you've gone through it," I responded, raising a brow.

He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "You live in the city where stars come to shine. If you wanted to stay low, you should've gone to Texas or a small town where no one has a clue who you are."

"I didn't think about where I was going to head too, it was an error on my part."

"A good one to say the least, if you hadn't decided to live here I probably wouldn't have met you." He smiled.

Tony cleared his throat interrupting the small standoff between us. Sophia took it as her cue to motion for us to go inside the venue. Mateo took on his hands out of his slacks and gave me the pass to enter in front of him.

It had dawned on me, tonight was the first time since my separation from Sebastian I was attending an event single. My focus had glued on Mateo coming with me, I forgot this was the first night I was going to show people the new me.