Page 48 of Ways To Ruin A Royal Reputation

“I will stand behind you no matter what, Sofia. You know that.” He took her hand to impress the words into her with a squeeze of her fingers. “You could have told me. If anything like that ever happens again, you can tell me.”

“I know. AndIstand behindyouno matter what. Despite recent appearances,” she said with a quirk of her mouth. Then she waved at his tablet. “Look how strong she is, Luca. Do you really think she’s going to letanyman destroy her? No. She has publicly declared she’s keeping the life she has made for herself, and good for her. She is exactly the sort of woman you should be pursuing. She’ll keep you honest.”

You said it was only going to be an affair and I believed you.

He had tried to believe it himself, but he’d known that every minute with her was more than some flickering memory. It had been a stone in the foundation of something bigger. Something he wanted to make permanent. He’d already been contemplating going to London so they could continue to see one another.

“Do you have any idea how annoying it is that the women in my life are smarter than I am?” He rose.

“At least you’re smart enough to realize that.”

“Be warned, Sofia. If I’m going aftereverythingI want, for me and you and Amy and Vallia, blood may get spilled. I won’t always be nice about it.”

She smiled. “I’ve always known you would slay dragons if you were allowed to carry a sword and weren’t weighed down by a crown. You’ve made it possible for me to be who I need to be. I want you to be whoyouwere meant to be.” She offered her cheek for a kiss. “I love you and trust you.”

“Ti amo, sorella. Don’t wait up. I’ll be gone as long as it takes to win her back.”

I was going to resign, but you’ll have to fire me.

Amy wrote that to Bea and Clare as she prepared to go into work two days later.

Clare was uncharacteristically silent, not answering texts or emails for the last few days, which was worrying, but Bea called her immediately. “I vote you be promoted to Executive Director of Executing Bastards. You’re my hero. I love you.”

“Whereareyou? When are you coming back?” Amy asked her.

“It’s a lot to explain,” Bea began.

“Oh, God. Wait,” Amy said as her phone pinged with a text. “My mother is threatening to come see me. I haven’t spoken to her since before Tokyo.”

“You don’t have to see her,” Bea reminded her.

“That’s what I’m going to tell her.” Sort of. “I’ll call you back soon.” Amy signed off and tapped her mother for a video call.

Her mother looked surprisingly frail, not wearing her usual makeup and designer day dress. Instead, she was in her dressing gown. Her skin looked sallow and aged and, if Amy wasn’t mistaken, she was putting out a cigarette off-screen.

“There’s a lot of paps outside, Mom. And I’m heading into work so don’t come over here. I won’t drag them to you, either.”

“That’s fine, but Iwishyou would have seen all of that old business from my point of view, instead of airing it publicly. InNew York. Do you have any idea how traumatizing it would have been to put you through a court case over that prat? It was the best thing for you that we made it go away like that. You should be thankful.”

“You have a right to your opinion. Is that all?” Amy propped up her phone so she could use two hands to load her bag.

“I’ve spoken to your father. He’s arranging to release your trust fund as soon as possible.”

“I don’t need it, Mom.” She kind of did, but... “I never wantedmoneyfrom you and Dad,” she added with a sharp break in her tone that she couldn’t help.

“For God’s sake, Amy. Have you never realized there was none? It was a recession! Your father borrowed from the trust to keep his company afloat. He stopped paying me support. That’s why I married Melvin, so I could sell the house and make your tuition payments. You were adamant that you finished school with your friends. Then you got yourself expelled. I honestly didn’t know what to do. We both thought you needed a dose of reality.”

“And the reality was, I couldn’t count on my parents to be honest with me.”

“Do not play the victim here, Amy. You were an absolute pill.”

“This is not a productive conversation, Mom. Let’s take a break. A long one. I’ll call when I’m ready to chat. If you don’t hear from me by my birthday, you can call me then.”

“Infive months? No. That stupid Mason fool will not cost me my only child again. I swear, I want to track him down and stab him in the eye.”

“Let me know what they set your bail at. I’ll see if I can raise it online.”

“You think I’m joking.”

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