Page 85 of Duke, Actually

He tracked Marie’s progress down the aisle, staying with his strategy of not looking at Dani. He needed to not miss his best friend’s wedding.

And he needed to stop staring at what he could never have.

Chapter Eighteen

Where the hell was Max?

Dani looked around the ballroom. She was seated at a head table on a raised dais, so she had a bird’s-eye view with which to confirm that the answer wasnowhere. She had survived the wedding—it had been lovely, but she’d been nervous—and now all that remained of wedding-party duties were the toasts. Which, as she eyed the dwindling receiving line Marie and Leo were helming, were supposed to happen soon.

She was getting annoyed. Every time she and Max talked about this wedding, going all the way back to their first conversation about it atThe Nutcracker, he had assured her he would look out for her. Not that she needed him. Mr. Benz was hovering and could be hailed. But Mr. Benz could not buoy her the way Max could. She brooded as she reviewed her notes. When the royals and Leo—did Leo count as a royal now, even though he’d declined the formal title?—entered to a great big cheer, there was still no Max. After the new couple was seated, Marieleaned over Leo and Gabby to speak to Dani. “Do you know where Max is?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t.”

Marie frowned, and once more, Dani surveyed the ballroom. He was nowhere. But his parents were here, which both relieved and annoyed Dani. If they were here, it meant they weren’t somewhere else being beastly to him. But that also meant he was AWOL for no reason.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Mr. Benz, handing her a microphone.

“I thought the baron was going first?” she whispered. Her protocol lessons had taken—she’d been instructed to address Max as Lord Laudon and refer to him as “the baron” when in public.

Which was fine. Because that was what he was. It was good to remember that.

“There’s been a slight change of plans,” Mr. Benz whispered. “Lord Laudon is delayed, so I think it’s best if you go first, which means you need to welcome everyone and thank them for coming before you start.”

Great. Winging it at the royal wedding.

“I have the utmost confidence in you,” Mr. Benz added, and when she turned to look at him, he smiled sincerely. He seemed to mean it.

She wondered what the delay was if it wasn’t Max’s parents. It wasn’t like him to—

Oh, but there he was. Slinking in a side door.

With Lavinia.

Which was fine.

Lavinia was a nice person.

She was also quite the sight to behold, dressed in a long, jade-green column of a gown with matching emerald earrings. Her hair was done in an elaborate updo.

Max had his head bent as they walked so she could speak into his ear, and whatever she was saying was making him smile.

Well, crap.

Dani had been thinking it wasn’t like him to go missing from a responsibility, but that wasn’t right, was it? It wasn’t like the Max she knew. But itwaslike the Depraved Duke to be late to the royal wedding reception because he was busy chasing after a goddamn cousin to the Austrian archduke who also happened to be anextremely nice person.

“Unless you feel you can’t?” Mr. Benz prodded.

“No. I can.” She accepted the microphone, took a fortifying breath, stood, and said, “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. If you would indulge me in a few words?” She glanced at Max, who had taken his seat, hoping for an encouraging nod or a wink of solidarity, but he wasn’t looking at her. All right. She was on her own.

She did everything she was supposed to do. Welcomed the guests. Introduced herself. She was confident with a dash of self-deprecating humor thrown in. She told funny stories about Leo and segued into a less humorous and more heartfelt ending. She actually made a few people get misty.

She did a damn fine job. Take that, Your Royal Highnesses.

She sat to an enthusiastic round of applause, and as Max started talking, she picked up her drink and took a big, relieved gulp.

“Welcome to my wedding. Ah, no! I jest. It’s not my weddinganymore, is it?” He smiled at Marie and Leo with a mix of affection and impishness as the crowd laughed. She supposed he wanted to address the elephant in the room. He made sure, though, to telegraph his love for the couple and his genuine excitement over their union. He did a bang-up job, handling what could have been a fraught situation with his signature breezy humor and emotional intelligence. Dani cast a glance at the crowd. Lavinia, seated next to Max’s mother, was rapt.

When Max was done, he sat on the other side of Marie, which meant Dani no longer had to look at him—and that she was done with her official duties. She was relieved on both counts.

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