Page 35 of The King's Fake Bride

And right now, there are more important things to deal with than what could be the beginning of a relationship.

Atticus sighs and leans forward, his palm hitting the conference table. “I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere with this today, Jorge. You’re driving everyone insane.”

Jorge glares at him. “I spoke to Daphne this morning. She said that Amy was coming along in her etiquette lessons, which is in direct contrast to the disaster that was the Katastinia Tonight interview. She needs to get it together.”

I glower at him as the rest of the room falls silent. “I already told you that what happened at the interview wasn’t her fault. I don’t know who Taryn Doukas thinks she is, but turning to non-approved questions based on vicious lies spread by the media would throw anyone off, especially someone who is new to this world.”

“You want to protect her, and I understand that,” Jorge says, his voice soft and slow like he’s trying to placate a child.

“As you should too!” I stand, hands slamming on the table to cut him off as his mouth opens again. “Your job is to protect both the interests of the people and the interests of the monarchy. You’regoing to find out who gave Taryn those stories before she went on, and then you’re going to source who at the station gave her the green light to go off script.”

Jorge’s face becomes pinched, his mouth disappearing into a barely visible line. “I don’t think you understand.”

“No, I do understand.”

Atticus groans, waving to the rest of the council. “You can leave. This will be a core council meeting only.”

The rest of the provincial representatives stand up and leave the room, leaving me with Jorge and Atticus.

Jorge rounds on Atticus immediately. “How can you sit here and help defend him when you know that this is going to be a disaster?”

“You were the one that suggested it in the first place.” Atticus reaches for the tablet in the center of the room, nodding to the image the projector is casting on the whiteboard. “Look at these.”

Atticus pulls up a search of my name and Amy’s. Though there are a few nasty articles about her only wanting my money, there are more that compliment the two of us together.

Most of them seem to be in favor of our engagement.

I give Jorge a smug smirk and sit down. “Just because Amy isn’t the woman you would’ve chosen doesn’t mean that she’s the wrong person for the country.”

Beyond the smugness, there’s still hair that stands on the back of my neck the more I look at the pictures of the two of us.

Some of them are from brief outings in the afternoon where we were walking on the private beach or through the small area of forest at the back of the castle.

Most of them were taken in moments I believed to be private.

Too many of the pictures showcase the way I look at her, and I wonder if it’s as obvious to anyone else.

We’re just trying to sell the relationship to the media. My family must believe it’s real.

Atticus sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “While Amy might need a little more polishing, I don’t think we want to scrub away her personality. I was in town late last night after the two of you left, and all I heard were people singing her praise. The farmers love her.”

“I should hope so. I carried home three bags of their produce. And I know that after her day’s etiquette lessons are done, she plans to spend the afternoon baking.”

Somehow yesterday, she managed to get Beatriz to hand over an old family recipe for little custard cakes with bourbon-glazed strawberries on top.

My stomach growls just thinking about them.

Jorge claps his hands together once, drawing my attention. “You need to focus. This isn’t another situation that you can just coast through and hope that everything will be fine.”

The jab strikes exactly where he wanted it to.

It’s a subtle reminder that I’m not the king the country wanted. My family never planned for me to be on the throne beyond Yorgos dying before his first child was of age.

Which reminds me.

I look between the pair of them. “Enough about me and Amy. I want to talk about the future of the monarchy and all that entails.”

Jorge’s eyes widen. “I didn’t know you were thinking of having children so soon. Of course, she has to give you an heir before the divorce.”

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