Chapter 4

Audrey

I had to get out of here.

“Ash, come on!” I pulled her hand, waking from my trance. Roman turned around and tapped a man’s shoulder before pointing his finger towards my sister and me.

“Ash, come on!” I spoke one more time, but Ashley held me by my arm to stop me from walking. “We won’t move, we’ll stay here, and we’ll see what he does.” She decided. I looked down at Mars, who was still in my arms and seemed completely unfazed.

“Ash, let’s g—“

“Audrey Sinclair?”

Ashley and I stared at the man who called out my name from a distance. It was the same man Roman had spoken to. I moved my eyes to the balcony, but Roman had already disappeared. Vanishing into thin air seemed to be his talent. What was his game? What was he up to?

The mysterious man made his way through the crowd and made eye contact. “Audrey Sinclair, that’s you, right?”

“Yes?” Ashley spoke. “I’m her sister. Can we help you?”

The man smiled brightly and bowed. “Audrey Sinclair, I’m Lenny. The prince has requested your presence.”

Before I got the time to process his words, I was surrounded by a bunch of squealing girls and several people from our cruise. All I had to do was run away. No one would notice.

I tightened my grip around Mars and looked for an escape route, but it seemed impossible. Running would make it seem as if I had done something suspicious, which was absolutely not the case. “Uh...sure,” I mumbled.

I hadn’t given a proper answer before Lenny called over the same guard who claimed to be working for the crown prince. “Dalton, get her to the prince.”

Ashley flipped her hair and pushed her bag into his hands while Dalton stared at me with big eyes. He must’ve been surprised, considering I didn’t have anything good to mention about the prince. “Y-you?”

“Yes...me,” I spoke awkwardly. “Are we really going to meet the prince, mommy?” The clueless Mars asked. I ignored him and watched as Dalton managed to create a path for us. Ashley grabbed my hand and showed me a big grin. “Just walk and smile. People are taking pictures.” Ashley waved her hands to the cameras.

She was fame-hungry, and she liked the attention, but I didn’t. It isn’t every day you find out that your baby daddy and ex-husband is supposedly the crown prince of Penevia. “Ash, I will kill you when we get back,” I spoke through gritted teeth.

“So, where are you taking us?” I asked Dalton. He turned his head and blinked a few times before completely ignoring me. “I read that Penevian guards are not allowed to talk to the prince’s female guests,” Ashley whispered.

“That’s a really weird rule, see—and that’s why I already want to go back,” I spoke as we had finally reached the main gates. Making our way to the palace was just as nerve-wracking as I had expected it to be. There were royal guards in every corner, and they were as serious as one could be. My mouth was widely opened as we entered the palace hall.

There was no better way to explain it other than a real-life fantasy. It was only a hall, but the amount of gold blinded my eyes. I looked up at the grand ceiling, decorated with several chandeliers. There were about fifty doors, for god knows what, and the walls were as shiny as they could get.

“Wow!” Mars admired the eye-catching interior. He was getting a bit heavier, but I did not want him to break anything—so I held onto him as if my life depended on it. “I only have three words to say, let him pay child support,” Ashley whispered in my ears.

“Those are five words, stupid!”

“What’s child support, mommy?” Mars, who had followed our conversation, wondered. “It’s nothing.”

It took a while before Dalton finally stopped in front of a massive door. “Please go in. The prince will be with you in a minute.” He spoke with his head glued to the floor. He seemed a bit more serious than he had been when we had first met him, but I suppose it had to do with that idiotic rule Ashley told me about.

Dalton opened the door to the room, which was supposedly the waiting area, leaving us once again with stunned looks on our faces. My ex-husband lived like this, and I had no idea. This room was probably nothing to the royals, but it was larger than my whole apartment.

“M-marsie, let’s not touch anything, okay?” I told him as I put him back on his feet. Mars seemed to ignore my words because the first thing he did was run to the sofa. “Wow, look!”

“Yes, we are,” I told him. “With our eyes, because looking is with your eyes—now get those hands from that sofa!”

“Sorry, mommy!”

Ashley shot me a side-eye. “Come on, give that poor kid a break—do you realize all of this is also his?”

Startled by Ashley’s unpredictable comment, I quickly looked over at Dalton, who had a suspicious look in his eyes. “Stop being silly. He might be a child—but it doesn’t mean it’s his.” I tried saving the situation. Who knew? Maybe I could keep Mars a secret and walk out of here freely.

Why would the crown prince even want to see me? It was probably to apologize for Vegas. That had to be it.

“Whatever.” Ashley rolled her eyes. “Dalton, tell me.” She turned to the royal guard. “Are you not speaking to us because you’re not allowed to talk to the prince’s female guests until he’s officially engaged? I read that somewhere.”

Dalton, who seemed uncomfortable by just Ashley staring at him, cleared his throat to speak, but just as he was about to open his mouth—we got interrupted by the same loud voice we had heard on the balcony.

“I announce, your royal highness, crown prince Romanus Edward Maximus of Pe—“

“Yes, I think they got it—Lenny!” I heard an all too familiar voice on the opposite side. I immediately ran over to Mars to pick him up and made my way over to Ashley, preparing myself for the door to open any second.

“Not a damn word about Mars,” I whispered so only my sister could hear. She was known to make bold comments, and that was the last thing anyone needed at the moment. I gulped as the door opened slowly, revealing Roman and his cousin, Brandon.

Seeing him from up close, without a pack of screaming females, felt way more intense than it had to be. The man in front of me wasn’t just the guy from Las Vegas or Mars’ dad anymore. The man in front of me was the future king of his country.

Roman straightened his jacket before his eyes moved from my sister and me to Mars, who stared right back at him. He whispered something into Lenny’s ear while we stood by in anticipation. Could he not speak for himself?

“The crown prince requests everyone, except for Miss Audrey, to step out for a moment,” Lenny spoke loudly. Still shocked by the situation, I pushed Mars into Ashley’s hands and stepped forward.

“You know the drill. Let him write you a fat check—before that cruise leaves!” Ashley instructed me one last time, with her mouth close to my ears. “And make it weekly!”

She patted my shoulder and followed after Dalton and Brandon while Roman, once again, whispered something into Lenny’s ear.

“Hold it!” Lenny called out.

“Who me?” Ashley turned around. Lenny nodded. “The little boy remains.” He ordered. I scoffed and chuckled loudly while furrowing my brow. Roman had so much to say in Las Vegas, but he couldn’t even talk on his own at the moment.

“The ‘little boy’ leaves.” I mocked the crown prince and Lenny. How were they going to tell me what to do with my son?

“Well damn,” Ashley spoke, rushing out of the room, leaving me with Roman and Lenny. The most logical thing would’ve been to tell Roman about Mars, but I did not know how much he had theorized, and he was extremely childish by not talking to me. Everything which had happened in the past had happened for a reason, and maybe it was meant to be this way. What if removing Roman from our lives turned out to be a blessing from God?

“Can he talk, or will you talk for him?” I asked after a moment of silence. Lenny and Roman looked at each other at the same time and shrugged their shoulders. Roman motioned his head to the door while Lenny gave him a nod.

“S-sure, your highness!” Lenny, who was probably unaware of my identity, grinned excitedly. He did a little dance and hummed before walking out of the room. What was wrong with that man?

I was trying to keep my cool, but it was just the two of us, and I did not know what would happen. There was no feeling to read behind that cold expression of his. Was he upset?

Roman held his hands behind his back and walked forward with a stoned expression on his face, while his eyes had not left mine.

“So, who is that little boy?”