Page 8 of Legacy of Roses

“I only arrived yesterday,” he said carefully.

“I know that,” she snapped. “I walked you part of the way, remember?”

“You met him outside the manor?” Blythe asked. “You must have been shocked.” She giggled. “No one has lived there for twenty years,” she added unnecessarily.

Rosalie frowned from Blythe to Dimitri. How had Blythe known they had met in the manor grounds?

“I walked him into town,” she confirmed slowly, a horrifying possibility dawning on her.

A slight flush brushed Dimitri’s cheeks, his face betraying him and giving away his guilt. He cleared his throat.

“Thank you for your directions,” he said. “I was able to follow them this morning when I walked in to purchase supplies. Thebarton is a lovely town…” His voice faltered at her stony expression.

“You’re the one who moved into the castle?” she asked, needing confirmation. “You’rethe Beast?”

Blythe snorted, and all four of the other girls giggled.

“Of course he’s not a Beast, Rosalie,” she said. “Obviously!” She flushed darker than Dimitri had, her gaze dropping shyly away from his handsome face.

“I don’t know,” Daphne said doubtfully. “The most terrifying creature I’ve yet encountered was a good-looking young man.”

The other girls all cried out protests or rolled their eyes, but Rosalie squeezed her friend’s hand. Daphne understood. Daphne knew that beneath Jace’s pretty exterior had lurked a cold and heartless monster. Apparently the other girls had chosen to forget what he had done to Rosalie and her family under the guise of love. But Rosalie would never forget.

The love sometimes felt like the worst part of it. Her body still burned with humiliation when she thought of how easily she’d been deceived. Jace had been so obviously struck the first time they met, and she had soaked in his pretty words and flattery, had been so ready to believe he loved her. She had wanted to believe it because he represented an escape fromthe Legacy and the danger it represented for her—the youngest daughter of a merchant with three daughters and three sons. Once she was Jace’s wife instead, the Legacy would have only the mildest interest in her. Jace was the key to a whole new life, and so she had thrown herself into their love with everything she had.

She had been so desperate for that future that she couldn’t bear to wait as Jace said they had to until he found a proper position. It had seemed only natural for her to beg her father to give Jace the job he needed. And of course her loving father had given his daughter’s beloved a trusted role within his thriving merchant empire. They were about to be family, after all.

But it had all been a lie. Just as Rosalie’s friends hadn’t really valued her for herself, Jace hadn’t been struck by Rosalie’s beauty or wit. He had been struck by her name and her family. He had seen an opportunity, and he had exploited it ruthlessly. With the Legacy to aid him, it had been child’s play to embezzle a chunk of her father’s fortune.

He couldn’t get it all, of course. But his actions had been the spark, and the Legacy had fanned the flames that followed. Rosalie’s eyes were drawn irresistibly to the place her childhood home had once stood. Not all the flames had been metaphorical, and when they had subsided, almost nothing had been left.

Jace had wielded his face like a weapon, taking what he wanted and not caring who was hurt in the process. And now here was Dimitri, just as careless of both the truth and the well-being of others. Her instincts had known it as soon as she saw his face, and she should have trusted them.

“I’m not a Beast.” Dimitri watched her, his features twisted in false concern. “But I do live at the manor now. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear yesterday. I…” Words failed him. Clearly he couldn’t think of an excuse fast enough.

“You told him not to ask you questions, but apparently we should have asked him some,” Daphne muttered beside her. Rosalie ignored her.

Sable, one of Blythe’s closest friends, edged closer to Dimitri, looking up at him with admiration.

“We’ve all been so used to the manor being empty. I never thought we’d have our own prince in residence.” She giggled.

Rosalie snorted. Dimitri was no prince—thankfully. She could only imagine how much the Legacy would love that.

Dimitri cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Rosalie’s eyes snapped to his face. He was watching her, the others apparently forgotten, his expression rueful.

“Not a prince,” he said. “I’m a more distant royal than that, I’m afraid.”

Rosalie fell back a step, grasping at Daphne’s arm in horror. He actually was a royal? Quibbling about exact titles was like insisting the castle was officially a manor. The Legacy didn’t require such exactitude. It had a prince living alone in a castle, and she could already feel her life as she knew it crumbling around her.

Her fingers dug into Daphne’s arm, making her friend squeak in protest.

“Sorry,” Rosalie muttered, forcing her fingers to relax.

She didn’t let go, though. Continuing backward, she dragged Daphne with her. They had to get away from Dimitri immediately, and she had to make sure she never ran into him again. She had thought she just needed to avoid the castle, but now there was a walking, talking prince she had to avoid as well. One who apparently felt at ease in her town, flirting with her friends. One who couldn’t be trusted.

She groaned.

“Ahh…Where are we going?” Daphne asked, trying fruitlessly to free her arm.

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