Page 32 of Devilish

All I’d known was that our destination was overseas, and he’d mentioned something about race cars. That didn’t make any sense to me, and I’d spent a lot of time in the air throwing out guesses.

And then Lucien said our final destination wasn’t France.

The car turned off the highway and into busy city streets, but it wasn’t just cars that were packed in. Crowds of people waved small flags, huge smiles on their faces as they chanted something I couldn’t understand. They seemed to be celebrating, not protesting, as they lined the roads and weaved in between the cars, forcing us to move at a snail’s pace. Off in the distance, boats of every size blanketed the sea to the left.

“What’s going on?”I asked.

He moved in closer beside me, our legs brushing as he listened to what they were saying as we passed.

“Ah.” He laughed and said, “Theo is probably losing his mind right now.”

My brows pulled together. “Who’s that?”

“A friend of mine.” Lucien nodded toward the window and then pointed out the many signs and flags hanging from buildings. “Seems like they’re excited for two reasons. The first being the F1 race happening this week. Remember how I mentioned race cars?”

Now that sounded like fun. “What’s the second?”

Lucien sat back and smirked as he pulled out his phone. “Seems like the Prince of Monaco just got engaged.”

“Monaco? Isthatwhere we are?” When he nodded, I sucked in a breath and turned back to the window to take it all in.

Oh my God. I’m in Monaco.

As the car crawled along, one of the women celebrating smiled at me, said something I didn’t understand, and thenhanded me one of the small flags. On one side was what I could only assume was the Monaco flag, and on the other was a happy couple posing for an engagement photo.

“Is this the future king?” I asked.

“In a sense—he’ll be the head of state. They don’t have kings.”

“Okay. But they’re all pretty happy about this, huh?”

“It’s been a long time coming.”

The crowd thinned just a little as we made our way up a side street toward what I could only describe as the biggest mansion I’d ever seen. We definitely weren’t headedthere.

A minute later, as the Bentley pulled into the circular drive, I was eating my words. The door was opened for us, and I stepped out to hear the distant sound of the crowds, and the sea lapping against the cliff nearby.

“So, what do you think?” Lucien asked. “Will this do for the next few days?”

“This would do for the rest of mylife.”

Lucien chuckled and shut the door. “I know exactly what you mean.” He looked out at the crystal-blue waters below. “Everything feels so vibrant here. But at the same time, peaceful.”

That was the perfect way to describe it. The exuberance of the people on our way through town had filled me with such a sense of excitement. Yet, as I stood there now, looking out at the waves, a feeling of complete and utter serenity washed over me.

“It’s incredible…”

Lucien grinned and looked over his shoulder to the enormous home behind us. “And we haven’t even set foot inside the villa yet. Ready to change that?”

I nodded, eager to see what lay beyond the front doors. “Um, Lucien?”

“Hmm?”

“This place…”

“Yeah?”

“Is it, um, yours?”

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