Ways to Ruin a Royal Reputation by Dani Collins

Author:Dani Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-01-08T16:16:02+00:00

* * *

Sofia shot him a look, but Luca avoided her questioning gaze and held the door for Amy.

From the moment the photos had emerged, he had been buried in meetings, phone calls and demands for his attention. He felt as though he’d gone twelve rounds, taking hits from every angle.

It was not in his nature to throw a fight. Keeping his mouth shut while his sister called for an HR investigation had been particularly humiliating. To protect the integrity of that report, he hadn’t spoken to Amy.

While they’d awaited a determination on whether Amy had been harassed by Luca, other factions had proposed throwing her to the wolves of public opinion to save Luca’s reputation. Several voices on the council had tried to cast him as the victim of a scheming woman, eager to make excuses for Luca’s lapse in judgment so they could maintain the status quo.

Sofia’s supporters had been equally quick to question what kind of queen Amy would make, forcing Luca to declare his intentions toward her.

“We seized a moment, that’s all.” He hated to reduce her to a one-night stand, but it was what they had agreed and it was better for her to be seen as collateral damage, not a contributor.

“The media storm will rage forever unless we take decisive action,” Sofia had pressed. “No matter how we attempt to explain it away, the photos will be reposted every time the king of Vallia is mentioned.”

“I’ve become synonymous with our father,” Luca said grimly, hating that it was true, hating that this was the only way, but he threw himself on the proverbial sword. “I won’t have his transgressions pinned on me.” On that he wouldn’t budge. “Vallia’s queens have always been bastions of dignity and honor. If I step aside, that’s what you’ll have again.”

That had been the turning point. Discussions had moved from if to how.

Luca had spared a thought to ensure Amy’s comfort, but he hadn’t allowed memories of last night to creep in. It would have destroyed his concentration.

That fog of desire was making him light-headed now, but he continued to fight it. He had sworn his misstep wouldn’t be repeated. His libido might have other desires, but tomorrow his sister would take the crown and Luca would once again become the Golden Prince, honorable to a fault.

Nevertheless, he owed Amy an explanation for how things had played out today.

“It’s standard protocol to shut down all the open networks and allow only secure messaging when incidents occur,” he told her as they walked. “And I wanted to shield you from the worst of what’s happening online.”

“I understand.” She nodded jerkily, looking like a ghost.

A pocket of gravel formed in the pit of his gut, a heaviness of conscience he wasn’t familiar with because he so rarely made mistakes.

“I assumed you would have an idea what was going on behind the scenes.”

“I did.” She was nothing but eyes and cheekbones and white lips, her profile shell-shocked.

It hit him that she did know—all too well.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.