Page 46 of Royal Player
I keep Polly in my sight, though we’re keeping our distance here at such a public event. We don’t want the press or her chaperone to take notice. She’s sticking close to Anna, who is enthusiastically greeting her friends from home, her wealthiest salon clients here to try out all the services the spa has to offer. Anna looks like she’s going to give birth any moment, and Gabriel never leaves her side, determined she’ll give birth in a hospital in Paris with the doctor he’s arranged to oversee the event.
Polly glows. I mean, she always glowed with vitality and energy, but there’s a different glow to her now and a more relaxed stance in her body. I can’t help but think it’s because of our time together. Or maybe I just see what I want to see.
I’m in love with her. I can’t deny it any more. It was instant, love at first sight, and it only grew deeper the more time I spent with her. It’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever done in my life, falling for a princess destined to be queen with another man. Yet it never felt like a choice. She showed up and that was it. I fell hard. Completely wrecked. There will never be another like her for me.
I want to marry her, but the threat of Peter still stands between us. He could ruin her family if she doesn’t go through with it. Part of me wants to marry her and keep her safe here in Villroy, but I can’t ask her to give up the crown for me. And I don’t want to give up my own legacy either. I’m building something important here with Adrian. The casino is our contribution to the kingdom. Without me, he has no legacy either. I don’t know what to do. All I know is Polly can’t marry Peter.
I get the sense someone is staring at me and catch the eye of Marge, Polly’s chaperone, who’s better now from her illness. She frowns. I avert my gaze and turn to Lucas, Adrian, and Alice, who I suddenly realize aren’t standing with me anymore. I look around and spot them standing near the edge of the lot where the casino will go. I make my way through the crowd to them, a guard trailing me.
“Hey, Oscar,” Lucas calls. “Done daydreaming?” He’s in good spirits after meeting Alice’s parents in Oregon and getting their blessing for the marriage. It’ll be at the palace chapel in the spring.
“Shut it,” I say, but I don’t put any heat into it. Iwasdaydreaming. More like obsessing over Polly and what to do about her.
“Give him a break,” Adrian says. “When he got zapped with the electric pussy whip, it fried every last brain cell.”
They snicker. I don’t care. I love a woman who’s not mine to keep, and it’s all I can think about.
Alice perks up. “What did I miss?”
I haven’t told anyone about my nights with Polly, but my brothers know that I agreed to sell my vineyard and made her a partner in the casino. They’re not stupid. I’m sure it’s written all over my face every time she walks into the room. The casino isn’t a done deal until the funds come in, but we’re doing research anyway, deciding what exactly we want for it before contacting a few architects to bid on the design. I’m sure my funds will come in. I’m just not sure if they’ll be here in time to help Polly. I can’t let her go home and be forced into a marriage. She has to stay here until I can fix everything.
Lucas whispers something to Alice, filling her in.
Alice smiles widely and steps closer to me, whispering, “Such a lovely grand gesture, Oscar. Very romantic.” She’s a romance author, so that’s her thing.
I grunt. I wasn’t trying to be romantic selling my vineyard. I was rescuing Polly, and I don’t regret it. I just wish we could have the kind of love I see all around me—Lucas and Alice, Gabriel and Anna, Emma and Jackson. My brother Phillip, too, with his fiancée, Ruby, wherever they’re traveling right now. Even my parents, an arranged marriage, turned into a love match. Maybe Polly and I do have love. It’s just not the kind I get to keep.
Alice goes on. “Has Polly called off the thing with that man back home?”
I clench my jaw. “She will. Soon.”
“Oh, good. She sounded so resigned.”
Outwardly resigned. On the inside she was seething. She kept it a secret, trying to protect her family. Thank God she confided in me.
“Are you and Polly…” Alice trails off, the question hanging in the air.
I turn automatically to Polly. Why is this so hard? I want to be with her. I should get to be with her. I can keep her safe here at the palace on Villroy while I wait for the funds to get rid of Peter and Charles.
I stride toward Polly, my long legs eating up the distance between us.
“Oscar?” she asks the moment I stop in front of her. She glances at her chaperone, Marge, and back to me. I don’t care about her chaperone. I care about her.
“You have to stay here.”
She mouthsdon’t.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense.” I’m tired of standing idly by, hoping things work out.
Marge pipes up in a no-nonsense voice. “I’m not sure why you think you have a say, Prince Oscar, but Princess Mary knows her duty.”Mary.She prefers Polly. Even those closest to her don’t respect her wishes. “We must return home after the birth. She’s expected to have a brief courtship before the official engagement with Peter. He’s a business tycoon and will bring prosperity to Beaumont as king.”
Polly’s lips form a flat line. “It’s an alliance not so different from what they do in many other monarchies.”
I stare at Polly, a trickle of unease going through me. Is she putting on a show for Marge’s benefit, or has she resigned herself to her fate, not believing I’ll come through in time?
“Polly!” Gabriel calls, running over to us, his expression grim. “It’s time.”
Polly’s eyes go wide. “You mean the baby?”
