Page 8 of The Billionaire's Royal Challenge

“I’m just here to…there’s something you should know.”

Nate narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Look, if you don’t want to go to Eldoria, I get it. And–”

“No, that’s not it at all,” Stephen said. “Plus, Mom said it wouldn’t look right if I didn’t go. She doesn’t want it to seem like there’s a rift in the family.”

Nate bobbed his head up and down. “Right. Well, I’m sure we could–”

“Nate, that’s not it. I just…” Stephen licked his lips before he settled his eyes on Nate. “Chloe and I…”

Nate’s stomach clenched at her name. Had his brother finally seen the light about the woman? She’d bounced from him to his brother, desperately trying to keep herself tied to the Kingsley money.

The next words out of Stephen’s mouth stunned him, though.

“We got married last night.”

His stomach twisted into a knot. His brother had married his former fiancée?

CHAPTER 3

ELENA

Elena bounded down the stairs, a grin on her features that slid into a frown in a split second. Her muscles stiffened and her footsteps slowed. She smoothed her dress as she lifted her chin and pounded down the remaining stairs.

“Elena, there you are,” her mother said from the foot of the stairs.

In front of her, two of Elena’s three royal cousins stood. The two she disliked. Noticeably missing was the one she couldn’t wait to see. Her heart pinched, a battleground of hope and dread. Perhaps she was wrong to drag Nate into the viper’s nest of royal intrigue like leading a lamb to the slaughter.

“Here I am. And here you two are. Where is Alexander?”

“Lovely to see you, too, cousin,” Julian answered with a smirk. “Your favorite cousin is coming in on the next flight. He should be here within the hour.”

“Now, Julian,” Sophia said with a polite smile. “There are no favorites.”

Elena shifted her gaze to her cousin Isabelle, two months her junior, and the youngest of the Montclair cousins. She couldn’t forget the day, ten summers ago, when Isabelle had “accidentally” pushed her into the palace pond during a state gathering, ruining her dress and her evening.

“An error in foot placement,” Isabelle had claimed, though her smug smile told a different story.

Elena arched an eyebrow at her. “Welcome, cousins.”

“We are so pleased to be here,” Isabelle answered in her usual snippy tone.

“Yes, but so very surprised,” Julian added. “I hadn’t expected to be invited to meet…Americans.”

“Not meet,” Elena reminded him, ice edging her voice. “You have met Nathan, remember?”

“Yes, I do recall meeting Mr. Kingsley while in the States. How…interesting that he will be joining us here in Eldoria.”

Elena wrinkled her nose at the statement while her mother smiled graciously through it.

“We are very pleased to welcome the Kingsleys and get to know them better,” she said with a slight tilt of her head. “And so pleased to have you here as well.”

Elena held back rolling her eyes at her mother’s poised behavior. Why she did not put the royal pains in the rump in their places was beyond her.

“We are pleased to be here. Mother and Father send their regrets, but then I’m certain they’re hardly needed to greet…the Americans. They will be in attendance for the arrival of the Corinthian royal family.”

“Of course, they will be,” Elena answered with a sigh as she crossed her arms.

Her mother shot her a warning glance, and she dropped her arms to her sides. “You will, no doubt, wish to settle in.”

---