The Royal Romance - The Valtoria Diaries

That knife is in your back

"I've done overthinking us, Jen," he could hear himself say. "I love you. And somehow you seem to feel the same way about me. I can't promise I'll be perfect, but I want to show you how I feel. Physically."

Now he heard her voice; seductive, loving, true. "Just kiss me. Everything else will fall into place."

He was sitting on the floor of Leo's bedroom, with his back against the locked door, looking through his tears at the empty room in front of him. Picturing what had taken place in this room a couple of months ago as the images replayed in his brain, and hearing every word anew.

"I love feeling this close to you," she had whispered into his ear.

"I've always loved dancing, but if I'm being totally honest.." She had turned to face him, and he had looked at her with all the love he felt for her. "It's never been what it was tonight. What it was with you."

He had kissed her again, deeply, and let his lips linger on hers while they swayed together, letting the last of the silent song they'd been dancing to play out in his mind. The anticipation of what they were about to do had made him tingle all over.

Too good to be true, that little voice in his head had still been telling him at that point. Things are going too well. Something is going to go wrong. You are going to screw this up.

But he hadn't seen this coming.

Whatever, his luck had finally run out. He'd been exposed for the idiot he really was. Bertrand had pretty much confirmed that on the way back here. But he was feeling far too numb to think about how he felt about Bertrand's betrayal right now. It was Jen's deception that was in the forefront of his tortured mind.

He was still crying, still looking ahead into the quiet room. Now instead of seeing their dancing continuing to its beautiful conclusion, he was seeing Evil Justin laughing at him. Bertrand laughing at him. Jen laughing at him. The whole courtroom laughing at him.

Did you not think it happened suddenly?

Look at her, and look at you. You're nothing special.

Did you wonder why the wedding was rushed?

He put his head in his hands to try and make Evil Justin go away, but he was glowering at him from the inside of his eyelids. You're nothing special.

Hey, I thought I was. For a few months, anyway.

My whole life just got turned on its head because I let myself believe that she could possibly love me.

I shouldn't have let myself believe it. I should have stuck to my original instinct. I'm Maxwell Beaumont. Mistake, class clown, family embarrassment, court jester, loveable screw-up, spare friend to make up the numbers, perpetual single pringle. I was never supposed to have the happily ever after.

Of course this was all a big joke at his expense. Of course they were all laughing.

Suddenly there was a loud knocking behind him, jolting his whole body. He gasped in shock and jumped up, moving nervously away from the door. He settled on the bed, eyes fixed on the door, hoping whoever it was would just go away.

Next, there was a tremendous crash, and he saw a red heel make its way through the door. Before he had the chance to fully process what was going on, he'd been joined in the room by Olivia Nevrakis.

She scowled at him. "Well, this is a bit pathetic, isn't it?"

He said nothing, just attempted to dry his eyes, even though he knew the tears hadn't stopped yet.

"Someone's clearly been taken in by the most absurd, preposterous fairy-tale ever written." She sat down next to him. "And I thought you had some shred of intelligence. Not much, given. But enough."

He looked at her sadly. "Yeah. It felt like a fairy-tale. The whole Unity Tour, our wedding, moving into Valtoria.."

"No, that's not.. I mean Anton's fairy-tale."

He sat up. "You don't believe Evil Justin?"

"Of course I don't believe Evil Justin. I can't believe you would even suggest that I..." Her expression flashed from irritation to shock and horror. "Oh my god, you really do believe him?"

"Shouldn't I? I mean, don't you think there's some truth in what he said? It was all just too good to be true. I should have seen this coming."

"Oh, you really are one of a kind, Maxwell Beaumont," sighed Olivia, sitting down next to him. She took his hands in hers, and looked into his eyes with a hostile glare. "Now I don't know why, and clearly you don't know why either, but I know that Jen loves you. And you know it too. So stop with the moping, and go to her, and tell her you know it."

He sighed, pulling away. "So you don't think that Bertrand put her up to.." He toyed with his wedding ring. "All of this?"

Olivia rolled her eyes and tutted. "Do you honestly think your brother's a criminal mastermind? Please, Maxwell. Even you managed to pull the wool over his eyes. First with the whole Savannah's secret baby thing, then again when you started seeing Jen. Now, on the other hand, Anton Severus is a sick, warped bastard. He's enjoying every last second of playing with us. He knows he's beaten, and he can't bear to go down without twisting the knife." She stood up, and headed for the door. "Seemingly, that knife is in your back at the moment. But don't let him have the satisfaction, Maxwell."

She opened the door. "Do you reckon Mr Walker will fix this door for us? Is that the sort of thing he does round here?"

He forced a small smile. "Not when he finds out it was you who broke it."

"Oh. Too bad." She kicked at the hole she'd made.

"Hey. Olivia. Thanks."

"Don't thank me," she pointed out. "Just thank your lucky stars. Or your ancestors. Or whatever it is you believe in. Because they're definitely looking out for you. God knows why. But they are."

As Olivia looked at him, her expression changed for a second, to one that he very seldom saw on her face. He couldn't help but laugh in response.

"What?" Her scowl was back.

"For the record, I still think your smile is effulgent."

"For the record, I still don't care. What were you thinking of, embarrassing yourself by bringing that up in front of everyone that time?"

He knew he was blushing. "I miiiight've been trying to make someone a teensy bit jealous. Someone whose smile is even more effulgent than yours. Well, in my humble opinion, anyway."

She looked at him curiously. "Your plan succeeded. She probably tried to hide it from you, but her face was a picture of tetchiness just after your pitiful little sob story. I got quite a kick out of it at the time, actually."

"Really?"

"Really. I'm not stupid. I had my suspicions about you two even then. And that proves my whole point. So, get a grip."

She closed the door, and he took a deep breath. Olivia's little chocolate party observation had really helped him focus on reality. And she was right. It was time to get a grip, and stop jumping to conclusions.

Evil Justin was not going to win this.