Page 13 of A Girl and HER Prince
Chapter Five
Did that just happen? That really just happened! Livvy’s mind was blown that the prince had actually let them on his yacht. She’d been prepared to tackle the staff to get their luggage back and instead he’d given in.
Wasn’t he supposed to be mean?
He didn’t seem mean, though perhaps a little testy in his sultry British way, very sultry—likehot! His golden hazel eyes had been especially heated when they’d rested on her, and the effects of that molten stare still sizzled all over her, so that she had to sternly lecture her runaway heart to stop fluttering!
Why was she letting him get to her in this way? She’d be mortified if her friend ever found out. Her mind wandered immediately back to the prince where it shouldn’t… Venice definitely wasn’t happy about letting them stay on. He’d told Deedee to destroy the footage. What footage?
Her uneasy gaze went to Deedee, who rushed them down the hall so they could keep up with Turner. The unlucky bodyguard was the one designated to show them their cabin.
Deedee turned the camera phone on herself. “Okay,” she told her followers, “we’re on—with the condition that we have no cameras on the boat. But off the boat? I’ll let you know every juicy detail.”
Venice was heading the opposite way down the hall. “Hey!” He spun on his heel at that, glowering darkly. Apparently, he wasn’t out of hearing range yet.
Achilles grabbed at his shoulder and shoved him away from his ex. “Oh, no you don’t! That’s the least of your concerns now—you caved, man! Again! Aren’t you getting tired of this? You do this with your father, your sister, everybody.”
“What was I supposed to do?” Venice hissed. He marched ahead. “This is more catastrophic than—” Their arguing voices faded down the hall.
“Byeee!” Deedee waved at her audience like she was deaf and couldn’t hear Venice’s scorching outbursts behind her. “I can’t wait to get back to you at the next port!” She cut off the feed. Her face strained with bright cheeriness then went back to normal.
“Deedee!” Livvy couldn’t let her friend torment this guy further. “Don’t go blasting the poor man’s life over the internet.” As much as she despised that infuriating duke, he was right about sticking up for his friend.
For all of Deedee’s breathless accounts of the prince’s wrongs against her, he almost seemed… charming.
“Oh, don’t waste your pity on him,” Deedee said. “Sure, he plays nice… when he has incentive to do it, and I had plenty to use against him.”
“That’s the footage he wants you to destroy,” Livvy said. “What are you using against him?”
Deedee snorted, avoiding the question. “He deserves everything coming to him. You’ll see who he is soon enough.”
Would she? The duke was a regular devil with how he’d taunted her for that camera phone, but Venice? He was so laidback, and when his interested Tyndarian eyes had landed on her after their awkward little run-in with the phone, well? He didn’t seem like what she’d imagined a snobby royal to be at all.
“Just wait until he starts to play dirty. You’ll see.” Deedee snatched Livvy’s arm as they walked into their cabin. Someone had thought to decorate the inside exactly like the rooms they were leaving behind in the Greek villa with powder-blue painted frames against pristine white walls, exposed rafters, and even a pillar next to a flat bed with roll pillows. Despite her growing worry, she took a moment to take in this gorgeous room.
Nothing made her feel more like she was in Greece than this.
Deedee turned triumphantly to her. “See? Aren’t you glad I’m in charge of our adventure? Nothing about this is going to suck!”
The longsuffering Turner had to endure their whole argument down the hall, and now the bodyguard leaned against the luxuriously framed door, his eyes on Livvy. “Are you going to be okay in here?” he asked.
Livvy glanced over at him with some embarrassment. What must he think of her now? More than anybody, he knew exactly what Deedee had done to get on this ship. She smiled over at him, knowing it was shaky at best.
Venice’s bodyguard returned the smile, not seeming to associate her with her friend’s scandalous conduct at all. That was nice of him, at least. “Ring us if you lack blankets or towels or whatever toiletries you need,” he said. “Dining hall is above you on the next deck. The pool open to you is on the main deck here.”
She noticed a deeper accent in his words this time—it was melodic with rolling “Rs,” guttural “Hs,” and “Ds” for “Ts,” and deep like the voice she’d imagine would come from the forty-two foot Zeus statue stolen away from the temple in Olympia.
“Did we miss breakfast?” Deedee asked. As always her mind was more on temporal things.
“Nai, but I can ask the chef to cook you something nice,” he answered.
Livvy had to remind herself thatnaimeant yes.Ochiwas no. “Can we go anywhere on this ship?” she asked.
“Ochi,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye. “However, you will have access to the best rooms,o fílos mou.”
Livvy was entranced, and had to remind herself she was having a conversation here. She nodded, not knowing whato fílos moumeant, but too embarrassed to ask. “Thank you for your help.”
“Don’t get into too much trouble.” He pressed his knuckles into the door before leaving.
