Innocent’s Wedding Day with the ItalianBack to Claim His Crown by Michelle Smart & Natalie Anderson

Author:Michelle Smart & Natalie Anderson [Smart, Michelle & Anderson, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2023-07-06T22:01:11+00:00

CHAPTER THREE

ZARA CLOSED HER eyes and tried once more to unfasten her wretched wedding dress. She’d managed to rip the veil from the intricate hairstyle but the rest—the bobby pins, the earrings and the millions of tiny buttons down her back were all too much. Contortionist she was not.

Hours had passed since those horrific moments in the cathedral in front of millions, in which her fiancé had brutally rejected her. Hours since Prince—King—Lucian Monrayne had returned from the dead.

The very distracted bishop had shown her to a tunnel and promptly abandoned her. To her amazement, the tunnel had emerged within the palace walls. After a couple of wrong turns she’d passed that portrait and finally found the suite she’d been staying in. Since then she’d been transfixed by the constant televised coverage. All those efficient palace assistants had vanished—presumably too fascinated by the return of the long-lost King to bother with an unwanted bride. She truly didn’t blame them.

But while she’d appreciated the chance to be alone, she’d not expected it to be this long. Why hadn’t her mother and sisters come to check on her—to take her home, even if it were to be in disgrace and mortification? She’d been rejected by her fiancé, dismissed from the King’s presence and instantly forgotten by everyone. No one had knocked on the door in eons.

But then the world had plenty to occupy its collective mind. King Lucian’s declaration at the front of the cathedral only moments after she’d left had been everything. It had been on repeat for hours and caught her attention every time it replayed—he caught her attention. Completely. In the cathedral when she’d stood before him the rest of the world had disappeared. All she’d been aware of was him—those ice-blue eyes, the scarred, angry, visceral strength of him. He was so cold. He’d been utterly expressionless as he’d personified the grenade which had decimated not just the day but obliterated the expected succession with a short couple of sentences.

Most of the foreign dignitaries had abruptly left. There was an endless series of private jets flying overhead, stoking an air of danger and political uncertainty. The world was agog with curiosity as to where Anders had fled. But the crowds outside the palace had continued to swell. Any citizens who’d not bothered to line the streets for Anders’s wedding were now out in force for the return of Lucian. There was continuous chanting, cheers and revelry. It seemed the public were pleased.

The King had issued a statement asking everyone to go home and rest. That there would be formal televised announcements over the coming days, together with a full explanation of what had happened all those years ago and where he’d been for all of this time.

It didn’t seem as if Garth had been altogether pleased to see Lucian, despite his acknowledgment of him. Zara’s doubts about Anders intensified. She had the horrible feeling some of those more outlandish conspiracy theories about Lucian’s disappearance all those years ago might not have been so outlandish after all.

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