Page 37 of A Girl and HER Prince
Too quickly, the strains of the music were beginning to end, and he’d barely had time to hold her close before they’d be forced to say goodbye. Even now, he noticed Deedee pull Turner to the side, anticipating the end of their dance early, laughing and talking in low whispers in the shadows at the edge of the dance floor.
Deedee’s eyes were on Venice the entire time. She wasn’t an idiot—she’d figure out really quick that her attempts at making him jealous weren’t working and she’d come to “rescue” her best friend.
His attention veered back to Livvy, desperate to stick by her side until Deedee wrestled her away from his grasping hands. He held her closer. “We were barely able to show you Greece before you jumped ship,” he said. “What about thatOdysseytrip you were so excited about?”
She gave him a guilty smile. “Well, under the circumstances, I thought it best that we not impose on your hospitality.”
“It’s no imposition at all,” he said quickly. “Tomorrow we’re headed to Scheria Island—it’s privately owned… and…” Remembering that she loved Greek history, he tried to build his case, “it’s rumored to be the last stop Odysseus made before going home. He met a princess from a Utopian world there.”
“You know your classics,” she said with unconcealed appreciation. “How long have you wanted to take this trip?”
Why did it seem she was more impressed with his knowledge than the fact that he had a ship that could take them anywhere? But he wasn’t about to lose his advantage now. “Our family hid out in the UK after our exile, but despite our countrymen turning against us or maybe because of it—I don’t know—my father wanted to make sure we stayed connected to our heritage. He hired the best tutors.”
And then he’d abandoned the children to these caretakers while he mourned the loss of his wife, for almost a decade. Even to this day, Venice remembered how much he missed his father. It was like he’d lost both parents, not just the one.No one wants to hear that.He forced a grim smile so Livvy would never guess how hard that had been.
Regardless of his best efforts, her eyes watered. “Your childhood must’ve been so rough,” she said.
“Not really.” He winced at the desperate sound in his voice, and still he felt frantic to convince her otherwise, as if painting a brighter picture could somehow remake what had been. “Unless you count the hours of having to put up with Achilles teasing Bris, then yes, very,veryrough. I prayed often for some kind of release.”
His heart brightened at her laugh. “Yet, here you are, sailing the Mediterranean Sea with them—you must be a glutton for punishment.”
“You have no idea.”
She smiled and jerked with realization when she glanced distractedly around them. The dance had ended… maybe for a full minute while they’d been talking. Seeming to realize that the music was sliding into the faster rhythm of a traditional Greek dance, she stepped back from him. “Wasn’t there water around here? I’m so thirsty.”
“There is.” He pressed his hand into her back to guide her to a table, though eventually he had to release her as she moved around the jostling crowd to get a red plastic cup.
An elbow digging into his side stopped him from assisting her. Glancing back, he saw Achilles grinning back at him. “Hey lover boy, invite her to the dive at the caves tomorrow…”
“I’m trying!” And yet, there were so many hurdles standing in his way.
“I’ll take care of Deedee,” Achilles said. The man had read his mind. “She likes me better anyway.”
That was a disaster waiting to happen. “Learn from me, friend,” Venice said. “That Medusa will turn you to stone.”
Achilles laughed. “I have no intention of doing what you did… you have way too much of a conscience. I’m only out for some fun with Deedeelicious.”
“I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit…” Venice muttered, then hesitated when he caught eyes with Livvy across the table. She smiled gently and looked back to where Deedee was moving through the crowd to get to her. If Venice didn’t do something soon, he’d lose her like another witless prince had lost Cinderella. Would it be so bad if Achilles distracted his ex? The duke was more than capable of taking care of himself. “If my sister finds out…”
“She won’t until it’s too late,” the duke quickly assured him. “Be sure to drop a few mentions of that shipwreck lost at the bottom of the sea.”
Venice smirked. That shipwreck again! Achilles had been talking nonstop about it since his last girlfriend had blabbed the location to him. As a child, he’d harbored a not-so-secret desire to be a pirate. “Why do I get the feeling this is just about you making sure I don’t back out from the dive?” Venice asked.
“Because you’renotbacking out—that’s why! Tell Livvy it’s covered in diamonds and rubies. That’ll bring her running.”
Not a chance! Livvy was too level headed for any of this. “She’s too loyal of a friend.” Venice sighed. “She’ll never come.” The same qualities he liked in her would tear them apart.
Achilles’s eyes darkened at the challenge. “It’s like you’re so used to women falling into your arms that you’re clueless on how to make the ‘chase’ fun,” he said. “Believe me, she has a price. I know how to get her.” He broke from him to press through the crowd, and Venice could see that he was cutting off Deedee from reaching them.
He groaned. Achilles wasreallygoing through with this, wasn’t he? As soon as the duke found Deedee’s hands, he was pulling her into a dance.
Venice hadn’t expected Deedee to refuse the object of her present flirtations. She’d been desperate to use his good friend against him, though for a moment, seeing the two smiling together, he wondered if this went deeper than that. She’d always had an eye for the bad boys—in fact, it had been one of her greatest disappointments when Venice had turned out to be notquitethe bad boy she thought he was.
And Achilles? He’d grown so bored with the bland socialites throwing themselves at him; he needed a girl with spunk. What if he’d found her?
And that was too convenient, wasn’t it? Venice would never wish the two on each other, just to escape being the object of Deedee’s obsession.
Maybe thatdidmean he had too much of a conscience.
