Page 49 of The Royal Contract

Everything the group talked about, her mind went back to him. The talk about tequila shots reminded her of how patient he was with her as she threw up. The time when she slipped and fell in the bathroom, she was a complete stranger, and yet, instead of letting the hired help take care of her, he was the one who took care of her.

With that finesse and care combined with how explosive it was when they gave into their attraction, she saw no hope for her. How could she not think about him and secretly want to be with him all the time?

Shortly after, they headed to the club, where a specific area had been reserved for her cousin’s party. The party bus was loud with cheers, and the music blasted her ears, but she was still zoned out. She looked out the window, debating if she should head back to the palace. She knew her security was following the vehicle, and she could hitch a ride back to him.

How can you do that to your cousin?

Feeling guilty about her random thoughts, she killed them. She shook away the strumming she was feeling and tried to immerse herself into party mode. A short ride later, the bus pulled up in front of the hotel, where the club took up a couple of the top levels of the building. The plan was to stay over at the hotel after the party, so there was no shuttling around late at night.

Just as the doors to the party bus opened, she saw a sudden flow of people holding cameras.Paparazzi? Even without Jai being here?

Her heart leaped with joy at the thought her prince was around, but soon she realized the reporters were there for her. How in the world did they know she was there? She was thankful for the security and knew they would keep the photographers away from her.

Most of her cousins were out of the bus before she stepped out, and then a gazillion flashes went off. She suddenly didn’t know what to do and raised her hand to her face to block her eyes from the blinding lights. She didn’t think anyone cared for pictures of her without Jai, so she didn’t stop or pose for them in spite of the calls.

The security kept the people taking pictures at a distance, but at some point, one of her cousins was suddenly pushed to the carpeted floor outside the hotel lobby. Sanjana saw it was one of the reporters trying to get a picture of her and had pushed her cousin out of the way.

Outraged at the man’s behavior, she stepped closer to him. “Why did you push my cousin? Apologize to her.”

Instead of doing what she asked, the man kept clicking pictures of her, and that set her off even more. Annoyed and in an effort to stop the person from clicking pictures that were blinding her, she waved her hand in front of the camera, causing it to fall on the ground. The person who dropped their camera let out a loud cry.

Shocked by what happened, everyone seemed to be stunned for a moment before the cameras went off again, capturing videos and pictures of that reporter as she continued to reprimand him.

She was still pissed even as her security moved the group indoors. She apologized to her cousin, who laughed it off, but Sanjana could not accept her relative’s treatment because of her. She was no longer in the mood to have fun and decided to take some time away to calm herself.

As all her cousins headed to the club, she headed to one of the rooms reserved for the night. She quickly headed there and stepped into the dark room, her chest heaving with anger. She was not proud of her behavior, but when the person continued to click pictures, it ticked her off.

She took some time to gather herself and was about to join her cousins when a notification beeped on her phone. It was her assistant, and as she was opening the message, more were coming in.

Sanjana shocked when she saw the title of the first article and the picture of her with her hand on the camera as she pushed it away.

Not so regal, after all.

Her heart sank, and she slowly walked to the bed to sit down. She started to shake all over as she read the comments on the posts. What should have been an enjoyable thing to read was very upsetting. It felt like the entire social media was raining down on her with their harsh comments on her behavior, chastising her for preventing passionate photographers from doing their job was what they were portraying online.

Sanjana fought back tears as she read the messages about how she was a disgrace to the royal family and that the prince had made a mistake in choosing to marry her. She threw the phone away and stared into the room, sorting out her emotions. A few minutes later, she decided not to let what had happened earlier ruin her evening. She left her phone in the room and headed to the club.

For the next couple of hours, she tried hard to keep her thoughts and concerns at bay about what had happened. She didn’t know how this would impact everyone around her, especially when the media had decided to go rogue on her.Will they take this opportunity to take a dig at the entire royal family?

She was on the dance floor, smiling even as she felt a hammer beating inside her head. The internet posts had ruined her evening, but she was glad she was able to spend some fun time with her cousin.

When she stepped away from the dance floor to take a sip of water, one of the security staff approached her. “Ma’am, we have a call for you.” The man pointed to another man who stood by the door, holding a phone.

It must be Jai. Was he mad at her for her behavior? He had every right to be upset about how things transpired.

Sanjana approached the man, and instead of handing a phone to her, he opened the door of the club, gesturing for her to step outside. She walked out of the noisy space and was about to ask who had called when she caught sight of a tall figure in her peripheral view.

Her head jerked in that direction, and she let out a cry of joy when her eyes met with those of the man she could not stop thinking about all evening. “Jai.” She ran to him, throwing her arms around him. She didn’t know what it was about being in his arms, but the weight she felt was burdening her all evening seemed to melt away. She sobbed into his chest like she had pent-up emotions.

“Baby, stop,” he whispered as he held her head in his hands, planting a kiss on her head. “I’m here. I got you.”

“I’m sorry, Jai. I was the reason for all the mess…” She pulled back to look at him, and he placed a finger on her lips and hushed her.

“Let’s go,” he said before looking at the security and giving them a nod. “Security will make sure everyone gets to their rooms after the party.”

She held his hand and stopped walking. “Jai, I can’t leave. My cousin will be upset if I leave before the engagement party tomorrow.”

He smiled, taking a step closer to her, his lips yet again running over her temple. “Would it be okay if you spent the night with your husband?”