Page 16 of Royally Wed
Once woman and dog were both out of earshot, he turned toward James. “Is she always like that?”
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, sir. Like what, exactly?”
Asher’s jaw clenched. He searched for an appropriate adjective.
Erratic.
Demanding.
Bonkers.
They all applied.
But for some crazy reason, the word on the tip of Asher’s tongue wasbreathtaking. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying it out loud.
“Frustrating,” he said at last. “Completely and utterly frustrating.”
James gave him a barely perceptible nod and murmured, “I’m afraid so, sir. Always.”
Somehow, Asher wasn’t a bitsurprised.
DUE TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY’Stourism schedule, music rehearsals for the wedding ceremony were taking place at Cadogan Hall. Home to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cadogan was located in Chelsea, just a ten-minute drive from Buckingham Palace. James had arranged for a driver for Asher, but he declined. He needed to clear his head before practice—a walk would do him good.
Even withhis cello case strapped to his back, the walkwas a pleasant one. His route took him straight through Eaton Square, with cream-colored mansions and lush gardens. London was definitely gray, but the city’s perpetual dampness created some of the greenest parks Asher had ever seen. The cool, quiet journey enabled him to steer his thoughts back to the reason he was here in the first place—his cellosolo. His music was the only thing that mattered. Not Serena. Not Jeremy. Certainly not the princess.
Whatever she’d been crying about had nothing to do with him. She was obviously fine. At least she wanted him to think she was.
Whatever you say, Princess.
He yanked open the door to Cadogan Hall and stepped inside. Stained glass windows with Celtic patterns decorated the perimeter, floodingthe smooth foyer floor with soft blues and greens—the building had clearly been a church in a former life. He stood and stared, transfixed by a pool of shimmering emerald light on eggshell tile. He followed it to its source—a Celtic love knot in one of the windows overhead—and wondered if stained glass would always remind him of that strange, unexpected night at the Abbey.
“Hello, Asher.”
Heclosed his eyes for a moment. Paused. Then he opened them and met his former lover’s gaze. “Serena.”
Her name tasted bitter on his tongue.
“You look good.” She almost sounded surprised, which probably should’ve irritated him. In fairness though, he hadn’t gotten out much lately. He hadn’t seen anyone from the Philharmonic in weeks. Apparently, they assumed he’dgone feral or something.
“Thankyou,” he said.
Around them, other musicians Asher recognized were moving from the foyer into the auditorium. He’d played alongside many of them before, and others he knew purely by reputation. They came from every corner of the globe. The best of the best.
His chest grew tight.
Serena was still talking, but he was barely paying attention to the words coming out of her mouth. A trickle of uneasehad begun winding its way through him. Already. He hadn’t even set foot on the stage yet.
“Asher? Did you hear me?” Serena rested a hand on his shoulder.
The intimacy of the gesture caused bile to rise in the back of Asher’s throat. He swallowed it down and pretended nothing was wrong. Two months had passed, more than enough time to get over their broken engagement. He shouldn’t feel angry anymore.And he didn’t. Not at Serena, anyway. Looking at her now, he felt...
Nothing.
He’d been numb for a good long time. When the numbness first wrapped itself around him, he’d reveled in it. It was so much better than the fury that had consumed him when she’d first announced she was leaving him for Jeremy. If it had been for anyone else, he would’ve let her walk right out the door without a secondthought. Which probably meant he shouldn’t have ever planned on marrying her to begin with.
But that was beside the point now.
Asher had no qualms about letting Serena walk out of his life, but Jeremy was another story. He was like a father to Asher. And so much more. His maestro. A paternal figure and a god all rolled into one. And it hadn’t been a one-time thing. They’d been sleeping togetherfor nearly a year.
