Page 35 of The Billionaire's Royal Secret

“Absolutely,” Elena said.

They exchanged phone numbers before Maddie hugged her again. “Bye, Ellie.”

Elena waved as she crossed to the door. Nate smiled at her before he flicked his gaze to Caroline. “Nice to see you again, Caroline. Ellie, see you tomorrow.”

“I look forward to it.” She crossed to the door and closed it behind them, collapsing against it with a muffled scream. “Oh, Caroline!”

Caroline grabbed her by the hands and pulled her to the couch. She flitted back into the kitchen to grab a plate of biscuits. After handing one to Elena, she settled onto the couch next to her. “Tell me.”

“It’s wonderful. He’s wonderful. He’s so…normal. We just have fun. There’s no pretense, no distance. It’s just us being us.”

“Mmm,” Caroline said as she bit into her cookie, “is it him you like or the idea that you do not need to be Her Royal Highness?”

Elena clicked her tongue. “Him. The added bonus is he sees me for me. Not for my title.”

“I see,” Caroline said. “And you will see him again tomorrow?”

“I cannot wait.” Elena’s phone chimed as she answered. She leapt from her seat and raced to her purse. “I bet that’s him.”

She pulled her phone from her bag and toggled it on. Her grin quickly faded as she stared at the screen.

“Your Highness? What is it?”

Elena’s heart thumped against her ribs as her eyebrows pinched. She crossed to Caroline and collapsed onto the couch. “This.”

With trembling fingers, Elena turned the screen toward Caroline. The image displayed–a stolen moment of her and Nate, intimate and unaware–was like a cold splash of reality. Accompanying the photo, a message loomed ominously.Not quite fitting behavior for a princess.

Elena’s breath hitched, the implications of the message spiraling into a vortex of fear. Who was watching her, and what did they want?

CHAPTER 8

NATE

The smile slipped from Nate’s face as he shifted his gaze from the text message on his phone to his brother’s smirking face. Every muscle in his body tensed, and his jaw clenched until it hurt.

“Good morning, Stephen. Still obsessed with my life?”

His brother scoffed. “Me, obsessed withyou? I don’t think so. I’m not the one who painstakingly planned out how to destroy someone’s life.”

Nate slid his eyes closed as his brother referenced his past sins. “You really can’t let the past go, can you?”

“Was I supposed to?” Stephen screwed up his face as he stared into space. “I seem to have forgotten the part of my process where I forgive my brother for manipulating GenoTech into investigating me for misappropriation of funds in a desperate attempt to take over the company.”

Nate flicked his eyes out the window as he shook his head.

“Oh, wait, maybe that’s because that wasn’t part of my process. Though seeking forgiveness is part of yours, right? Which of the twelve steps is it again?” Stephen offered him a mocking glance as he narrowed his eyes at his brother.

Nate leapt from his chair, his teeth clenched. “The part right after I kick your–”

“Boys,” Victoria said as she rushed into the room with Charles close behind her. “That is enough. You can hear this argument all the way in the foyer.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mom, but I’m still not over what Nate did.”

“We agreed to let bygones be bygones after it happened,” Charles said as he settled into his seat. “Everyone’s got their place at the table.”

Stephen settled into his seat, his features taut. “Yeah, well, Nate’s up to his old tricks again, so maybe his invitation should be revoked.”

Charles shot his wife a weary glance as she sipped her coffee. “Do you want to explain that, Stephen? Or just make vague accusations to stir the pot?”

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