Page 5 of The Royally Broke Billionaire
Proving herself to be considerate, the queen made a discreet gesture to one of the waiters and the basket closest to her was immediately presented to Piper. Bread had always been one of Piper’s biggest weaknesses, so she grabbed two of the warm yeast rolls. It was almost a shame to put a knife to the fancy, delicate, snowflake-shaped pats of fresh cream butter, but Piper couldn’t resist.
Although the waiter raised an eyebrow at her, he was too impeccably trained to make a comment about her double serving of bread.
After sopping one of the rolls in the soup and spreading the other with a thick layer of the soft butter, she alternated eating the delicious treats.
When the king cleared his throat and said to her, “There are additional courses coming,” the queen gave him a terse glare. Piper felt certain that if the table were shorter, the woman would have given her husband a swift kick to the shin.
“I’m sorry. It’s just so delicious.” Piper said before taking another big bite of the buttery roll.
The queen gave her a kind smile. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. The food here is divine. The king and I have just become spoiled by it and tend to take it for granted. It’s nice to see someone enjoying it so much.”
Piper finished off her second roll and set down her spoon. The king made a small gesture with his hand, and the dishes were efficiently swept away. The diners were quickly presented with chilled plates of Caesar salad topped with freshly shaved Parmesan and homemade croutons.
Even though she was beginning to worry about how many courses there might be to this meal, Piper couldn’t resist digging in to the delicious salad. As with the first course, the king and queen barely touched their food, even though they went through the motions of moving it around on their plates.
The awkward silence in the large, formal dining hall was only broken by the echoing crunch of Piper’s lettuce and croutons as she chewed. The loud sound made her feel uncomfortable, but the food was too marvelous to be wasted.
Evidently having her fill of the deafening silence, the queen asked her tablemates, “So, how did you two meet?”
The king looked like he would rather eat broken glass than participate in this discussion, so Piper put down her fork and answered the woman. “We were at a bar, and we barely knew each other before...” She let the sentence dangle, uncomfortable voicing aloud in front of the queen what had so obviously happened.
Realizing this made her sound like a bit of a hussy, Piper quickly went on. “I was trying to find a way to forget for a moment about the heartbreaking loss of my long-term boyfriend, Drew. I had been so worried about his safety after he went through basic training and was deployed on minor assignments as a soldier in the royal army, but it turned out that particular worry was in vain. He ended up dying young, but it was due to a terrible car accident.” Looking down, she added quietly, “He died upon impact.”
The queen’s previously aloof gaze immediately softened. Her voice was filled with sincerity when she said, “I’m so sorry, Piper.”
Piper nodded, holding back tears at the memory of her lost love. Not wanting to break down in front of them, and hoping to shift the queen’s blame away from the king, Piper distracted herself from the gnawing pain by continuing her explanation. “Something about Sebastian vaguely reminded me of Drew, so I made it my mission to hook up with him that night. Of course, I thought he was simply a royal steward then. I had no idea that he would soon become the king of our beloved island. My wish was that being intimate with him might feel almost like being held in Drew’s arms one last time.”
The king shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Piper knew this was the first time he was hearing any of this, too. It hadn’t been fair of her to put that kind of hope and pressure on a meaningless one-night stand.
“Did it work?” The queen’s eyes were filled with sad empathy.
Piper looked down at her lap and shook her head. “No. It ended up making me feel even more empty and alone.”
Realizing how harsh her words sounded, she faced the king. “Sorry.”
At his uncomfortable nod, she turned back to the queen. “It wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t have known the unrealistic expectations I had in my head. From his perspective, it was just an easy, no-strings attached night of fun.”
When the queen winced, Piper quickly realized that she shouldn’t be talking to the man’s wife about their one night of reckless debauchery. “Please don’t blame him for this. It was completely my idea, and I was in enough of a distraught state that I was rather insistent with him. He tried to be a gentleman, but I wasn’t willing to let him.”
Hearing her own words, it dawned on Piper that she was making herself sound overly promiscuous. She wanted to get the king out of trouble with his wife, but she didn’t want to make herself sound like an immoral floozy in the process.
Toning down her confession, Piper said, “This is probably why I almost always follow the rules. My one big night of rebellion got me pregnant.”
For some reason, her words were coming out all wrong. Her last statement made it sound like she viewed Liam as a liability, but that wasn’t the case at all. Her baby was a precious gift in her life. Wanting to make that clear to them, she added, “Don’t get me wrong, I love Liam with all my heart, and I wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world. Having a baby from a meaningless one-night stand just isn’t how I thought I would start my family.”
Nodding, the queen said, “I understand.”
Neither the king nor queen had eaten any of their salad when the chilled plates were whisked away and replaced with warm dinner plates. Piper was beginning to feel rather full, but there was no way she could resist eating the delectable smelling shrimp linguini that was presented to her.
Silence reigned as the king and queen finally ate a few bites of food. Piper felt slightly more comfortable after having had the opportunity to explain a bit to the royals about the circumstances surrounding Liam’s conception.
It was important to her that they understand what an out-of-character, one-time occurrence it was for her. She already knew, by the king’s initial reluctance to sleep with her, that it was an aberration for him, too. She hadn’t in any way forced herself on him, but she had been rather determined in her quest to be with him.
The relative quiet of the room as they ate, made the red-headed woman’s sudden appearance and loud proclamation that much more startling. Piper about jumped out of her seat when the lady yelled from the doorway behind her, “We’re back, and we have big news!”
6
“Mo!” The queen’s face brightened with the first genuine smile she’d expressed since Piper and Liam’s arrival.
