Page 41 of Royally Knocked Up
“How have you been enjoying your time in Monteverde?”
“It’s a beautiful country. I wish I could stay longer.” She felt a pang in her chest. “I guess my time here is nearly done. Once the coronation is over, the king will end my contract and send me back home.”
“Well,” Romano said, “there’s no reason you couldn’t stay anyway.”
She looked at him. Was it possible he knew what she was thinking — the true reason she wanted to stay longer? Could he have perceived that there was something between her and Enzo?
No. Of course he didn’t know. He was taking her at face value. And he was right. Technically, there was no reason she needed to leave Monteverde.
But could she stand to stay here once Enzo was no longer a part of her life? Once her contract was over, she wouldn’t have the chance to see him every day like she did now. And it was unlikely that he would go out of his way to seeheronce he discovered what she had done.
She felt the weight of it like an axe hanging over her head. He was going to learn the truth so soon. There didn’t seem to be any avoiding it. And as Romano drove her to the palace, Hailey found herself wishing that she could go almost anywhere else — that she wouldn’t have to face up to this. Seeing King Edoardo again would be the first tacit evidence of her betrayal that she had had to confront.
This is my job. This has always been my job. It’s never bothered me before.
But she had never been assigned a target like Enzo before — someone who had made her feel that she could, and should, truly be herself.
The king was waiting for her in the throne room. He wasn’t seated today — he was on his feet and pacing, and he turned to face her when she arrived. “Ah,” he said. “Ms. Jones. Thank you for coming to meet with me today.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
“You are to be commended,” he told her. “Truly, you’ve done a masterful job with the assignment I gave you. I’ve never gone so long without seeing my son’s name in the papers. When I sent him up to Vista Piccola, I confess that I feared it would do no good. I thought I might see reports of him carrying on up there the same way he did when he was here. Having him at a distance would have done some good, of course, but even so — those reports would have been damaging.”
“Well, that’s why you hired me,” Hailey said.
It caused her no small amount of grief to say it. To admit aloud to the fact that her sole purpose had been to keep Enzo from proving his father’s worst fears true — it felt as bad as admitting that his father was right to have sent him away. And admitting that felt like a worse betrayal than anything she had done so far.
The king was smiling at her, though. “I don’t know how you did it,” he said. “Truly, Ms. Jones. No one has ever been able to control my son. Not me, not his mother, not his brother. I admit that when I gave you the job, I expected you to fail. Butyou surpassed all my expectations. You somehow found a way to keep him out of trouble, and I couldn’t be any happier.”
Now Hailey really felt sick. She had betrayed the king too, though she hadn’t allowed herself to worry too seriously about that until now. She’d been hired to do a job, and instead of focusing on that, she had conducted herself in a shockingly unprofessional manner. Yes, she had managed to keep Enzo under control, but in doing so she had risked a story getting out that might have been much more damaging to the crown than anything the papers could write about a night of drinking at bars. What would the king have said if the story had been about Enzo conducting an affair with an unknown American woman — the woman he himself had sent to make sure his son stayed out of trouble?
At leastthatstory would never have to be revealed. She would never have to let the king know what had happened between herself and Enzo, and with luck, Enzo wouldn’t tell him either. Of course, once Enzo knew that Hailey had been hired by his father, he wouldn’t feel any loyalty to her — but by then she would be on her way back to America.
She was filled with regret. She should never have gotten involved with him. It had been such a mistake.
And yet — how could she regret it? Everything about it had been so wonderful. What did she wish had been different? She hated to think about what would be said when it was over. It hurt to imagine what Enzo would think of her when she was gone, when the truth came out.
But would she really rather it had never happened?
Her stomach churned, and she felt lightheaded. “Is there anything else, Your Highness?” she asked. “I’m a bit tired.”
“No, that’s all,” the king said. “I wanted to congratulate you personally on a job well done. I’ll be letting your organization know how happy I am with your performance.”
“Well, I very much appreciate that,” Hailey said, but the truth was that she could hardly think about it. Suddenly, her head was spinning.
She allowed herself to be escorted from the palace. Romano was waiting outside with the car, and he smiled at her. “Back to your hotel then, Ms. Jones?”
She nodded and got into the backseat, wishing that she could lie down, but knowing it would look unprofessional to do so.Although why should I worry about professionalism now?
Could her guilt really be making her feel this bad? Could it be causing physical symptoms? She hadn’t realized she wasthatregretful about what she had done here.
Or maybe this was something else. Maybe she was actually sick?
“Romano,” she called up to the front seat.
“Yes, Ms. Jones?”
“Can we stop at the drugstore on the way back?”
