Page 54 of Royally Knocked Up
Regardless of what his father would think, how could he have done this? What wouldHaileyhave thought?
He cursed himself quietly. He didn’t want to care about what she would think. She was out of his life now, and good riddance to her.
Except… he did care. Even if what was between them hadn’t been real, the way she’d affected him had been. The way he had felt on those nights at La Fantasia, when he had realized that staying home and talking with someone you cared for deeply could be more worthy a pastime than going out and partying… that was real. And even if that wasn’t something he was going to have with Hailey, he had been changed by it. It was something he wanted to find withsomeone.
That wasn’t going to happen if he threw himself right back into his old ways.
He didn’t like the fact that he was waking up at the palace after a wild night out. He didn’t like that he had gotten so out of control that Luca hadn’t even wanted to send him back to his own home.
For the first time, it sort of made sense to him that his father was worried by his behavior.
But that didn’t mean his father was right about everything. Far from it.
Well, he was here. There would be no better opportunity to speak to his father about how he was feeling with regard to these things. He might as well do it.
He got out of bed, moving slowly to manage the way the world spun around him, and carefully dressed in one of the spare sets of clothes that he kept here at the palace. He went into hisbathroom, brushed his teeth, and splashed some water on his face. Then he examined himself in the mirror.
I’m too old to be doing these things.
He remembered his conversation with Luca last night — how Luca had insisted that he didn’t want to work or settle down with a woman, and how jarring Enzo had found those statements. They were things he would have had no problem with saying himself just a few months ago. Knowing Hailey really had changed everything.
I can’t believe she’s pregnant.
He felt a chasm open up inside him, a gutting sense of loss at the realization that he was going to have a child that he would never know.
Have I made a mistake?
No. She’s the one who made the mistake.
However he might feel about it now — and hewasfeeling conflicted — she was the one who had lied. She was the one who had deceived him about what she was doing here and what her true feelings for him were. He couldn’t put his trust in her now, even if therewasa baby involved.
He turned away from the mirror and left his room, heading down to the throne room to find his father.
King Edoardo was there, with breakfast spread out before him. He looked up as Enzo entered the room with narrowed eyes.
“So,” he said. “You’ve decided to show your face, have you?”
Enzo gestured to the table. “Got enough here to share?”
His father nodded. Enzo approached and picked up a piece of toast.
“I suppose you need that to absorb all the alcohol in your system,” his father said. “I simply can’t believe, after everything, that you would go out and drink like that. Don’t you realize that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to prevent you from doing?”
“I know,” Enzo said. “You’re right, I had too many.”
His father raised his eyebrows. “I’m right?”
“You’re right aboutthat.”
“Oh, I see. Meaning there’s something else that I’m not right about?”
“Father, there are all kinds of things you’re wrong about.”
“Well, by all means. Illuminate me.” He waved to one of the servants standing against the wall. “Perhaps we could get my son a chair.”
“I can stand,” Enzo said.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
