Page 78 of A Queen and HER Bad Boy
“What? Has he been pawing at you with his sugary promises?” Chises Mnon demanded, advancing on her until she could see the gold flecks in his hawk-like Tyndarian eyes, could feel the heat of his anger radiating from his substantial frame. “And you actually believed anything coming from that lying mouth? He’s just like his father! Don’t make the same mistakes I did! Achilles will betray you too… he only thinks of you as a spoiled little girl!”
Each word was carefully chosen to wound. Her heart felt like it was being slowly shredded, piece by piece at the thought of Achilles secretly despising her, of finding someone better.Achilles had never lacked partners, and as her father’s cruel reminder suggested, she wasn’t exactly the best of them. And still she fought back, “Well, that is a fine speech from someone piling praise on him for saving my life.”
“Ha, my dear, he’s not the only one who can play at being nice.”
“He might be wild, yes! But he’s proven helpful The last few days have been spent trying to keep the flood from completely destroying Ilion.”
“Ah yes, you know what kind of man he is… after a few nights of him stroking your vanity! Achilles hasn’t changed from the sneering rebel that used to drag Venice to wild parties and get him drunk. Do you know what he’s been doing with Charisse behind your back?”
“No!” The word escaped before she could stop it, raw and desperate. She pressed her lips together, but it was too late.
Her father’s smile was predatory as he went into horrible detail: “He’s been calling her every night since you’ve been here, telling her how trapped he feels, how this marriage is a prison.”
“Every night?” He was lying. He’d hardly left her side this week. “That is impossible!”
“Why? Has he been with you the whole time? Is that what you’re telling me?”
Only now, after they’d come to an understanding. Her lips pursed to stop from admitting that, even as her father’s words poured into her ears like poison: “My sources say he promised to find a way out of this arrangement so he could run away with Charisse. He told her that you mean nothing to him—that you’re just a political convenience he has to endure until he can figure out an escape. Don’t believe me?”
She didn’t… couldn’t… refused. Her father took out his phone and shoved it at her—“I want out…”It was Achilles, his voice, his growled laugh coming through her father’s phone as it playedout his conversation. Maybe a deep fake—she’d heard AI could do that now, and yet… his humor was solely his, including his wit as he accused Charisse of dangling herself at him like bait: “We have to be completely discreet. Bris can’t know what we’re planning. I stole the last piece of pizza tonight, and she wouldn’t even fight me for it.”
No, no, that was him! Her vision blurred, and for a moment she thought she might be sick right there on the fancy palace rug. But some small, desperate part of her resisted—surely this was taken out of context, surely Achilles didn’t mean it, even as she listened to him go on:“I doubt she’ll have me after this.I’ll be free to do whatever I want after she throws me out to the curb.”
Charrisse’s soft answer grated on her nerves.“I’ll be waiting to pick you up. I’ll be waiting to catch you when you fall. I will always be there for you, no matter what happens.”
“Thanks Charisse.”
They’d both been angry beyond reason for being forced into a loveless marriage. That’s why… that’s why…. And the pain choking her throat wouldn’t listen to logic, even while she knew she had to pretend one last time that none of this hurt. “Father, the way that you carry on… why did you allow us to marry if you were concerned about his wild streak?”
“Do you think I care about his latest flings?Youare to keep him in line… not the other way around.”
She pushed steel into her spine, drawing on years of practice at hiding her true feelings. A smile, forced and bitter, somehow sprang to her lips. “Ha, well, it seems I’ve fooled you as much as I fooled him! Please, do go on about how lovesick I am.”
For a moment, uncertainty flickered across his features. Had she managed to convince him? But then his eyes narrowed. “Don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes, little girl. You let him fire Phoenix on a whim. Deny it if you can.”
The accusation hung between them. She remembered that moment—standing in their doorway, seeing Achilles’s fury, making the split-second decision to support her husband. It had felt right then, like the first real choice she’d made as one ready to be queen. Now it felt like evidence of her weakness… to an outside observer. And yet, Phoenix had overstepped his bounds.
She shrugged under his glare. “What was I to do? Allow my husband to believe that he was less than a servant? Sacrifices were made. Phoenix had to go.”
“Well…” The intimidating Chises Mnon seemed to understand the wisdom in that. “Perhaps some good will come of it—your strategy might’ve made you the next target for that boy’s wandering eyes. I can admit that. My sources tell me that you now share the same bed. And I’d be blind not to notice how Achilles watched you today, like an adoring puppy. You haven’t been completely unsuccessful…”
Despite everything, her treacherous heart leaped. Her father had seen it too—the way Achilles looked at her, the tenderness in his dark eyes. It hadn’t been her imagination, hadn’t been wishful thinking, despite her father’s efforts to cheapen what was between them… and still how could she deny her own ears?
“Let’s see how long you can hold his interest.”
The casual cruelty of using his daughter as a honeypot made her flinch. Why did none of this feel real? And still what choice did she have but to let her father talk, let him believe that their love was a common political maneuver?
“I need you to extract information from him while you still hold his attention. The Myrdons are planning something big—Aggie Mnon is only a distraction. His brief liberty was proof that they’re working with someone with an astronomical bank account to make your rule… uncomfortable. Now, can I trust you, my dear? You won’t throw a childish temper tantrum when I tell you the truth?”
What could she say to that? No?
Her father wasn’t waiting for an answer, only dangling bait. She knew this, and yet, his every taunt still bruised her. “I rushed you and Achilles into this marriage because my sources told me how Aggie Mnon was out of prison and threatening to hurt our political ambitions. Had I known…? Well… anyway, it was worse than I thought. There’s a reason Atreus Mnon pushed this marriage—he wants to install Achilles on the throne. Then afterwards, he plans to replace you with someone more pliable… after you met your untimely end, of course.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Aggie Mnon had hinted as much, but not in so many words.
“Let’s see—who would he replace you with after an acceptable amount of mourning? A neighboring princess? The daughter of a titled Tirrojan oligarch? An… American heiress?”That threat felt very real.Her heart sped up, not able to grasp even half of what he was saying. “Now that your groom has run to your protection against the diabolical Aggie Mnon, he’s wormed his way into the hearts of our people. A brilliant strategy, of course.”
Was her father actually suggesting that taking down her cousin was all part of a strategy to make Achilles look good before stealing the throne from her?
