Page 2 of His Highness's Hidden Heir

She hated to enter a crowd alone.I’m safe, she affirmed to herself. The hotel had its own security in place and that young woman at the door was only letting in the approved guest list. These were all sophisticated people who cared very little for American actors turned failed online influencers.

But there had been someterribleposts over the years, especially after that most recent lawsuit.

She ignored the anxiety that tried to churn her belly and scanned the crowd, looking for her target, Bernadette Garnier.

Lexi wasn’t short. She was five eight and wore five-inch heels, but it was still difficult to spot the director. The room lights were dimmed. Balloons floated above highboy tables and streamers draped from the ceiling. Clusters of people were shifting and pressing around the silent auction tables. More were jockeying at the bar. Waitstaff circulated, offering champagne.

She waved that off, moving closer to where an ensemble played a lively tune that was barely audible over the din of voices.

“Paisley!” A man close to her age brightened with discovery as she tried to excuse herself past him.

This was why she preferred to have a bodyguard with her.

“Guilty.” Lexi forced a friendly smile and offered her hand. “My real name is Lexi Alexander.”

Yes. My mother named me Alexandra Alexander, she often had to add.

“No, you’re Paisley Pockets,” he insisted. “My sister made me watch your show when we were kids.” He leaned in to add in a tone that bordered on creepy, “Then I made her watchBungalow Bingo.”

This was typical from a man.Hehadn’t enjoyed a show about a girl who could travel in pockets, but he couldn’t wait to brag about ogling her in her later work, when she’d worn short shorts and a bandeau.

“Can we get a photo?” He threw his arm around her and brought up his phone.

It was always more expedient to agree than protest that this was an invasion of her time and privacy, but damn Hadley for hiring such a green bodyguard. Who ate a shrimp-filled croissant from a street vendor’s cart?

She smiled sunnily for the photo, experiencing a prickle of awareness as she did.

It took all her control to wait until the photo was taken before she glanced left, to where her inner radar was pulling her attention.

Prince Magnus was watching them.Her.He was tall enough he stood like a lighthouse amid the streaming crowd. As she held his stare, an itching sensation rose behind her breastbone, making the rest of her tingle.

The prince blinked once and glanced away, leaving her deflated at losing his attention.

“Darling.” A woman arrived to grip her fan’s arm, digging her nails into his sleeve.

“Look,” he said with an excited wave at Lexi. “It’s Paisley Pockets.”

“Lexi Alexander. Hi.” Lexi always offered her real name with her hand, even though she was resigned to having Paisley Pockets on her tombstone.

The woman offered a flat, dismissive smile. She ignored Lexi’s hand and insisted to the man, “You need to meet my friend.” She mumbled something in his ear.

The man shot Lexi a look and the tension in Lexi’s belly twisted into a blistering knot.

That look was becoming familiar, too.Don’t speak to her. She’s radioactive.

“Excuse me,” she said, even though they were already turning away.

This was why she was in Europe, taking long shots at finding work. No one in the American film industry would touch her.

You just have to stay in the game, her mother would say cheerfully, but Lexi was growing tired of the fight.

If she had other options she would take them, but this was all she had and the press loved to chum the waters with her old mistakes, making it impossible for her to outswim her past.

The next hour was a roller coaster of similar encounters. She wound her way around the auction items, bidding on the ones she knew she would lose since she couldn’t afford any of them.

She didn’t find Bernadette. Was she even here? People were still arriving, but she was very done with being here. This evening was starting to smell like a huge mistake.

The music paused for speeches. Lexi listened with half an ear, scanning the faces as best she could until she joined the polite applause. A gorgeous couple took to the dance floor in an elegant waltz.

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