Page 76 of Mercenary Princess

Chapter 26

Royal Palace, Porenza

Sprawling green lawns came into view as Sophia was driven through the stone gates to the palace. The road curved, allowing her a good view of the place in which she’d grown up. Four stories of white-and-gray stone stood before her, its storybook turrets mocking fairy tales far and wide. Wings spread out, surrounding the massive courtyard in which her mother hosted elaborate garden parties.

She took a deep breath as memories assailed her. She let them come. This wasn’t a place of happy memories. As a child, she’d spent hours perched on a concrete bench at the edge of the grounds, looking out to the sea, wishing she were a mermaid in an exciting underground world filled with glittering coral and sea creatures who doted on her.

The quiet inside the sedan was rife with tension. Even the guards were on edge at the summons home. Sophia clung to the papers in her hand. They were the only thing she held in her grip as the car slowed to a stop at the front steps.

The door of the sedan opened, and she stepped out into the humidity. The air was charged with the coming storm. Her hair whipped around as the winds carried to her the sound of crashing waves.

“The king is awaiting you in his study.”

She nodded as Mary took Sophia’s purse and makeup bag. But Sophia held on to the paperwork in her hand as she strode purposefully through the arched doors of the front entrance.

She was grateful for the calm that settled over her. It was better than the fury. Anger wouldn’t achieve anything. She held her head high as she strode through the ornate halls of her childhood. They were the walkways where she’d learned firsthand what men and women in power did when the world wasn’t watching.

She let out a breath and forced the old ghosts to stay where they were, then headed straight for her brother’s study.

The moment the door snicked shut behind her, he leveled a dark gaze in her direction. William, the brother who’d embraced the monarchy and his position with ease, sat there, assessing her coldly and finding her lacking. She didn’t care what he thought of her.

He didn’t bother to stand as he handed out his judgment. “You will no longer see Viktor Popov. Since you have proven once again that you cannot choose companions, you will be marrying France’s minister of foreign affairs. He has convinced me that he can and will keep our family name scandal-free.”

Sophia’s calm was nearly destroyed by her brother’s words. “Are you going to at least tell me how you came to this judgment?”

“Jean Luc is well connected to have stopped this information from going to the media in London, not even in France.” As he spoke, he turned his massive computer monitor around, and she saw several videos on the screen, all playing in tandem. One showed her and Viktor at the gala, his eyes on her. Nothing damning, but the look he gave her was definitely heated, as was hers. Had she really been so transparent? There was thankfully nothing showing them in the library. Another video played of her and Jen inside the car, driving toward Viktor’s gates. Her and Jen’s faces had been illuminated, so the camera had to have been positioned near a streetlight.

Jean Luc had been stalking her. That knowledge sent a chill down her spine.

Videos with later time stamps showed Viktor leaving those same gates. She assumed it was an attempt to prove who owned the property. Even with the car’s license plate number visible and faces in vehicles, it only said they could have been in the same residence. Nothing showed what they’d done inside the home, thank God. But none of what she said would make a difference to her brother.

“If you don’t find the video clips interesting enough, then there is an audio file the media had of you and your female guard.” He spun the computer back to him and keyed in something else. This time, sound filled the room. She forced the shock back as she heard herself ranting about Viktor cornering her at the gala. Her ears were buzzing with fear and something else as she heard herself talking about going to Viktor. Jen’s responses implicated her in the affair.

Sophia remembered the conversation. Bile twisted her gut as she realized the conversation had happened in her room—her presumably secure room in her rented London home, a place only her private guards had had access to since she’d arrived. The violation made her sick, but the guilt that she hadn’t been cautious enough made it all worse. Her hands shook with worry at what else she’d divulged in that room. The audio was missing a great deal, if she remembered right. That fact only added to the buzzing in her ears.

“Do you deny this is your voice? Or that of your guard? A guard who is currently being relieved of duty,” he spat. “Jean Luc said he destroyed the most scandalous videos the reporter had. He hadn’t been able to help himself, they were apparently so damning.”

She didn’t say anything. It wasn’t true. Jean Luc sparing her brother the dirty details was definitely a bluff. If he’d had more, he would have shared it with glee. It would have only given him more power where William was concerned.

“If Jean Luc hadn’t been so interested in marrying you, he may have let this information get to the public. Instead, he protected the interests of both our families, and now he will be the one to keep you in line. He arrives in Porenza this weekend to finalize the arrangements. I suggest you be on your best behavior.”

Her brother laid out what she would do, as if she had no say in the matter.

“No.”

He cocked an arrogant brow. “Do you believe you’re being given a choice now? I thought you’d gotten the rebelliousness out at university. I see that’s not the case.”

University. Her brother had taken her graduation away. She’d nearly earned her degree, but instead, he’d made a call, and she’d received a fake version. Then he’d changed her guards as if she’d done something heinous, all because her friends had posed for a scandalous magazine cover. The cover was sexy, but they weren’t naked, and Sophia hadn’t been in the pictures or even there when they’d been taken.

Sophia took in a deep breath to calm down as her fingers tightened on the forgotten papers in her hand.

Her brother’s tone chilled the room. He leaned back in the chair, calculation clear in his cold assessment. “You have nothing, Sophia. No money, which means no security, in case you’re thinking about storming off. Whatever affair you had with Viktor Popov is over. Or do you think he’ll sweep in and marry you?” William’s snort said he thought that scenario unlikely. “Would you really disgrace your family—your country—if he wanted you? He would eventually discard you, and you would never be welcomed back. Think about that. Is it worth the risk?” William seemed far more dangerous than she’d ever thought him.

The man before her thought of her like property he could buy and sell. He was worse than she’d ever given him credit for. He was indeed her father’s son. Instead of protecting her, he’d calculatingly taken advantage of her dependence on him and the crown, and used it against her without any pretense of caring. She was to be a good little princess because he thought she valued jewels and titles over her freedom. She would gladly be destitute before staying in that place.

She settled the papers on his desk before sliding them toward him as she spoke the only words she could force out. “I, Sophia Helena Loredan, crown princess of Porenza, formally abdicate my title and any and all holdings under the crown.”

Her brother’s eyes flashed with chilling fury. “Do not test me today. I am in no mood for dramatics. Do you really expect to walk from the palace?” There was challenge in his tone, and she didn’t like the glint in his eyes. The way he’d so casually acted as if she were trapped settled like a stone in her gut. Would he try to imprison her next? He wouldn’t be that insane, would he? A cold sweat started to form on her neck.

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