Page 48 of Lila

“Hold on,” I murmur as I continue reading. Mia is finally accepting the three sexy shifters are her mates and they’re about to get down and dirty, so now’s a good time to stop. I just have to finish this chapter. “Okay, I’m good,” I say turning off my phone. Tipping back my head, I look up at him. “How was your call?”

He sighs the dramatic kind of sigh that can only come from having a serious conversation you didn’t want to have. “Alejandra paid a shapeshifter to pretend to be me. They announced our supposed engagement and were in a hurry to get married. She even went so far as to claim to not want a traditional extravagant royal wedding. That should have been their first clue something was wrong,” he mutters.

“She must have used magic to get her way. But there is one thing about a Verdant royal wedding that cannot be forgone or faked. And that’s when she was caught. As part of joining the royal family, there is a symbolic joining of blood. There is an ancient chalice with a giant sapphire that glows so bright it turns the entire room blue with just one drop of royal blood. WhenIadded my blood, it didn’t glow. The entire room erupted in shock and the royal guards quickly subdued both Alejandra and the fake me.”

“Oh my god! That’scrazy!”

“They’ve been trying to determine what she did with me, but couldn’t find me.Mi mamaknew I was alivesomewhereand wasn’t going to stop looking until she found me. She had enough resources and tenacity she would have found me eventually. But she is glad she doesn’t have to keep looking.”

“She sounds like a wonderful mom.”

“The best. She wants to meet you… I told her soon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she shows up tomorrow. That woman does not take no for an answer.”

I laugh at Mateo’s description of his mother. She sounds a lot like mine. “I can’t wait to meet her. Though, she may think poorly of me if she gets here and you don’t even have clothes to meet her in.”

“Mmm,sí. She would not like that.” He smirks.

“Well, let’s go then. We can’t havetú mamathinking I can’t take care of my mate, can we?”I think that’s the first time I really referred to one of them as my mate. It feels oddly satisfying to claim him.

“No. We can’t have that,” Mateo chuckles.

Chapter 34

Lila

Harkintoldusabouta magical shop that’s like Silver Threadz, but for guys, so we head there first. It’s amusing watching Mateo shop. He’s never been in a store like this and it shows. The poor clerk is running around trying to find something,anythingthat Mateo will approve of. I’m starting to think there’s nothing in this store good enough for my snobby prince when the clerk comes back with his arms full. Mateo’s lips twitch and he nods once before taking the clothes and walking into a changing room. The guy sighs and relaxes slightly for the first time since we got here.

A few minutes later, Mateo comes out fully dressed in his new clothes.Holy wow. I thought he looked good in Luca’s basketball shorts.

“You can never wear anything but that,” I declare after I catch myself staring a little too long. Mateo was born to wear those pants. On anyone else, they’re just a pair of black dress slacks. But on Mateo, they hug his legs and ass, anddamn. Add in the sleek black belt, white button-up tucked in with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of black oxfords, and you have one irresistible man. Based on that stupid, sexy smirk, he knows it.

“See something you like,mi reina?”

“I mean, it’s okay I guess,” I scoff.

The smirk gets smugger and his tongue slowly licks his lip, pulling it in with his teeth before turning to address the clerk. “I want five more pairs of these exact pants. Five of the exact same shirts,” he pauses and looks at me. “Would you like me to wear another color,mi reina?”

I bite my lips together and picture him wearing different colored shirts. When my brain flicks to black I almost moan at the thought of him in all black. His lip twitches and he arches a brow. “Black,” I say with my head high. So what if he caught me drooling over him? He’s my mate, I’m allowed to do that. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

“Three black and two white,” Mateo instructs. “Five pairs of socks, and another pair of these shoes.”

The clerk runs off to gather Mateo’s order and I chuckle. “I should have known you’d be a pretty boy. You looked fine as a regular guy in basketball shorts, but now? You’re in your element dressed like that. The confidence you have in that suit is enough to bowl someone over. You look like you can take on the world and no one would dare challenge you.”

“Thank you for the compliment,mi reina. I’m glad you approve.” He winks at me.

Rolling my eyes, I walk past him to the checkout. I normally love shopping, but shopping withMateois like no shopping I’ve ever done. I deserve a treat for putting up with him all day. The clerk walks back into the room carrying a stack of sleek black boxes with black ribbons and sets them on the counter in front of us. He pulls out a thick stack of price tags and scans them one after another. As I watch the total climb I remember Mateo doesn’t have any money.

“Uhh. How are you gonna pay for all that? I mean, I would buy you some clothes, but I didn’t realize they’d be so pricey.”

The clerk’s eyes narrow. “You can’t pay for this?” he sneers.

“Of course, I can pay for this,” Mateo scoffs. “I’m the crown prince of Verdant. I have more money than you’ll ever see.”

“And so modest.” I roll my eyes.

He arches a brow at me and I shrug. “I assume you take contactless payment,” he says to the clerk.

His demeanor instantly changes. “Yes, sir.”

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