Page 117 of Modern Romance November 2024 5-8

Since she was rarely given a chance to tell her side of things, she did.

“When I was sixteen, one of my brother’s friends put drugs in my bag. It was hard stuff that I never would have touched. My father managed to keep me from being charged, but I did a stint in rehab, then a year of community service.”

In some ways, the counseling had been a blessing. She probably would be a drug addict by now without that perspective, given all she’d been through. At the time, however, her counselor had feared she was in denial, lying about not having a drug issue.

“I live sober now,” she added. “It’s simpler.”

Her phone burbled in her clutch, but she ignored it.

“Probably my brother calling me back,” she said when the Prince’s gaze dropped to the noise. “Half brother,” she clarified. “He runs the entertainment agency that manages me.” The agency her career had built, if she wanted to be petty about it, which she definitely did. “Our father was an entertainment lawyer. Mom worked in hair and makeup before I was born. They had an affair, but he was already married. I was born on the wrong side of the blanket, too.”

A choked noise came out of Ulmer as he set a soda with lime on the table beside her.

Magnus gave the man a laconic blink. “You have an opinion you wish to share?”

“You know my opinion, sir.”

“I do. Pack it with your things from your room.”

“You’re not firing him!” Lexi blurted. “I get way worse from trolls online. And I know what the press says about me. I don’t blame him for wanting to keep you out of that blast radius.”

“If only I could fire him,” Magnus said with pained tolerance. “Ulmer serves at the pleasure of the queen. Her goal is that I experience no pleasure at all. I’m actually doing him a favor, giving him the means to report truthfully that he made every effort to offer you a bed that wasn’t mine, including providing his own.”

“I—” Her throat tightened, cutting off her voice while heat suffused her chest. He was taking a lot for granted! Wasn’t he?

Maybe not. She kept imagining how it would feel to straddle him in that wide chair while she finished unbuttoning his shirt.

He held her gaze in a way that suggested he knew exactly what she was thinking. And wanted that, too.

The heat under her skin sizzled into her cheeks and streaked downward into the pit of her belly.

“The hotel is full. Ulmer will need to stay in your room. Give him your key. Unless you have something to hide?” Prince Magnus was like a cat, she realized with a leap of her pulse. He appeared lazy and bored, then surprised with a lightning move that trapped his prey in his sharp claws.

“Only a racy historical romance on the night table. Don’t lose my place in it,” she said as she opened her clutch.

“Send back something for her to wear in the morning,” Magnus instructed.

Lexi thought about insisting on going back to her room. She could ask hotel security to check it, but she knew from experience they were no more qualified than Nishan. She would lie awake all night, fretting they had missed something, terrified by every footfall outside her door, waiting for Carmichael or someone else to break in.

“Will you have one of the men look for cameras, please?” she asked as she offered her key. “That’s what Carmichael did the last time he got into my hotel room.” She shuddered remembering all the snippets of film that had been shown in court.

Ulmer plucked the card from her with atsk.

“I don’t want to need protection,” she said shakily, using anger to cover the way she was inwardly cringing with shame. She knew exactly how badly she had already tarnished the prince’s reputation. Judging from what he’d said of his father, he couldn’t afford any smudges.

“I’ll see that you have something comfortable to sleep in, too,” Ulmer said stiffly.

“Are you suggesting my bed isn’t comfortable?” Magnus taunted at the man’s back.

Ulmer sniffed and walked away.

“Please don’t make this worse for me,” Lexi pleaded. “If you needle him, he’s liable to plant something incriminating in my room as retaliation.”

“He won’t. That could blow back on me. Besides, he prefers to tattle so I can be called on the carpet for a lecture from my sister. It’s very tiresome. Let’s talk about something else.”

“Such as?”

“Tell me why your reputation is so far in the gutter.”

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