Page 35 of A Queen and HER Bad Boy
Bris swiveled with a gasp. Deedeelicious! She’d secured an invitation too? Now she knew someone was actively plotting her downfall. The redhead looked stunning in a sleek black dress that hugged her like a loving shadow, the perfect foil to Bris’s white—every move casual and confident, like she belonged in this rarefied atmosphere of wealth and power. She lowered her camera phone with a knowing smirk.
“Did you really let him go with the other woman?”
Bris gaped at her usual openness, torn between hugging the one familiar face in the crowd and having security eject her from the premises. Deedee hugged her first, enveloping her in the scent of expensive perfume and barely contained excitement.
“You looked like you needed a friend, no offense intended.”
Bris let out a shaky breath. Sink or swim, she was swimming, but with her head barely above the water. “Who exactly invited you to record my crash and burn?”
“Gena…” Deedee’s ruby lips curved in a slow, satisfied smile. “Achilles’s sister told me that I might as well finish the job I started—she gave me her invite since she can’t escape her real life as easily as some do. Oh, and she mentioned something about appreciating the thought, but she’s got a lumbering bodyguard shadowing her every move, so she’s not going anywhere.” She eagerly passed on the juiciest parts of her message. Deedee’s camera phone swept the room, capturing candid shots of the glittering crowd. “Got to get some good B-roll.”
“You’re wasting your time,” Bris warned her, though it came out sounding more like a royal command than a suggestion. “I’m not giving you anything viral.”
“Oh babes, too late,” Deedee said with obvious glee.
Achilles and Charisse! Bris’s heart leaped in horror. “How about you make us look good this time? I’ll make it worth your while.” She was dead serious, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper.
“Honey, I made you look amazing last time—everyone is rooting for you two, can’t get enough of the fairy tale romance. Trust me, this is incredible for your brand. The only time you need to worry is when nobody cares what you do.”
Tell that to the High Consortium. They didn’t want a ticking time bomb with a messy personal life on their hands. The damage was done if Deedee had already captured Achilles leaving the party with Charisse. She took a steadying breath, fighting for control. “He had to explain to her why… we married so quickly. They were dating before we…. Anyway, just make sure that your viewers don’t misread that.”
“They won’t. No worries, bestie.”
Bris’s annoyance flared like a struck match as the truth of her words hit her. “Look, I can just call someone to get you escorted out of here.”
“No, you still need your redemption story, girlfriend,” Deedee said with the confidence of someone who held all the cards.
She was acting like she was doing them a favor! Was she? Bris knew nothing about the intricate world of social media where Deedee reigned supreme. Despite how much she used those platforms, they seemed to use her right back, never the other way around. That might be happening again. Could she trust her unpredictable friend… acquaintance… frenemy? “Just… be nice.”
“Always am, sweets.”
That was definitely up for interpretation. Bris’s gaze drifted back to where Achilles had disappeared with Charisse,temporarily forgetting the viral threat in her overwhelming worry about losing her husband forever.
Chapter Ten
“Ijustwanttounderstand,”Charisse said. “I don’t want to create problems in your…” she lowered her voice, “marriage. You must care about her very much.”
“It’s complicated,” Achilles said quickly. “Bris and I are friends. This is…” He was finding it harder and harder to explain without breaking his confidences. “Bris and I… we’re not like normal people.” He repeated what Bris had told him after they’ddecided they were a bad idea. It was a hard lesson for all of them. “We can’t follow our hearts.” He frowned at how that sounded.Maybe that was the wrong thing to say.
Her blue eyes grew larger, more tearful. “Aren’t you happy? I’d hoped that I would be the one to… help you settle down at last.” Her fingers found his cheek, and he froze.Yes, that had definitely been the wrong thing to say.
He drew back a couple of steps, his thoughts going back to the electricity between him and Bris when they’d kissed—the first time over the altar and then a few days ago… and this obsession over his wife wasn’t making any sense—it never had! Hecouldn’tfollow his heart! Marrying her had been his duty. Poor Bris was crying in her father’s study when she’d found out her fate of being forever entangled with him, so why was he allowing his feelings to muddle his usual good sense when it came to falling all over her?
He swallowed. He had to get a grip on himself. “It’s best we forget about happiness.”
Charisse scoffed with teary eyes—that thing women did when they were torn between crying and mocking. “They’ve stolen everything from you, and you just let them. That’s not you! You fight… you’re a fighter!”
She didn’t understand. His mother’s life was in danger. “This is just the way things are.”
“Well, they got their pawn,” Charisse said, venom turning her voice bitter with disappointment. “Everyone here seems to know it but you! You’ll be a prince consort, not even a king, just a minstrel dancing attendance on that—that ice queen.”
That was harsh. “Charisse…” he began.
“You’ll have less a voice than you had before.” She waved her hands wildly before they landed on his. “How could you? After everything you told me about what they did to your family? My father’s been telling me stories about that regime and hiscommunication with your father and… you’re absolutely right. Your father was assassinated. No question about it. He stumbled onto something big, andtheykilled him before he could do anything about it. Are you going to let them steal your life too?”
His attention snapped to focus, everything else fading as her words hit him like a physical blow. She knew something—something concrete about his father’s death. The familiar rage and grief twisted in his chest, but now there was something else: hope. Could he really get the answers?
“Wait, what?” he asked, his voice sharp with sudden intensity. “What did you hear?”
