Lessons in Trust

By Kate Davies

Princess Lucia du Charbonneaux has worked hard to create her life of relative autonomy. But her new bodyguard refuses to play by her rules. Even worse than him cramping her style are the heated looks he gives her that threaten to melt her carefully constructed Ice Princess facade.

The princess may a royal pain, but Eric Delmonico is a professional, and he promised her brother he’d keep her safe. No matter how much sleeps he loses while protecting her sinfully sexy body, he’s determined to stay until the threat against her is neutralized.

When an attempt is made on Lucia's life, Eric whisks her away to where he can best keep her safe, but they have to learn to work together before Lucia's safety—and their connection—are lost forever.

Each book in the Royals and Rebels Series is STANDALONE.
Lessons in Love
Lessons in Trust

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Aug 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640633001

Kate Davies

Kate Davies is a novelist, screenwriter and author of children’s books. Her first novel, In at the Deep End, won the Polari Book Prize and was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize. She lives in East London with her wife and son.

Book preview

1.png

Lessons in Trust

Royals and Rebels Series, Book 2

Kate Davies

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2007 by Kate Davies. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Entangled Publishing, LLC

2614 South Timberline Road

Suite 109

Fort Collins, CO 80525

Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.

Indulgence is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

Edited by Angela James

Cover design by Liz Pelletier

Cover art from iStock

ISBN 978-1-64063-300-1

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition September 2007

Republished August 2017

Table of Contents

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

About the Author

Also by Kate Davies…

Lessons in Love

Discover more category romance titles from Entangled Indulgence…

Masquerading with the Billionaire

The Prince’s Bride

Protecting His Assets

The Colonel’s Daughter

For Ginny. A family friend turned dedicated reader, and I appreciate it so much! You’ve been there through choir practices and potlucks, through camping trips and singalongs. And now, part of my journey as a published author! I hope you like this one as much as the others. You’re the best.

Chapter One

Princess Lucia Anastasia Mirabella du Charbonneaux wanted a foot massage.

Or a nice hot basin of scented bubbles, perfect for soaking her aching feet. Or, barring that, a new pair of shoes.

But none of those items appeared to be in the offing, so she pasted on her best royal smile and turned to greet the next guest.

It was a lovely ceremony. The contessa gave her a bone-crushing handshake, her myriad rings cutting painfully into Lucia’s hand. "So when will we be hearing an announcement regarding your wedding?"

At least now that Lucia was an adult the contessa had abandoned the habit of pinching her cheeks. Lucia gritted her teeth in a close approximation of a smile. She’d been dodging the same question for the past hour. You’ll be among the first to know, she said politely, and passed the busybody down the line to her mother.

Oh, you know young women today. Her mother air-kissed the contessa on both cheeks. So busy with their careers.

At least you have one child married, the contessa said with a commiserating smile. That must be a relief.

Mercifully, another guest came forward at that moment, distracting her from yet another highly public discussion of her unmarried status.

Forget a foot rub. What Lucia wanted was a drink.

In one respect, the contessa was right. The wedding had been lovely, with just enough pomp and circumstance to keep the royal-watchers happy, and personal touches that highlighted the absolute joy and adoration her brother and his new bride shared.

She glanced down to the head of the receiving line. Brynn was fairly glowing, her love for Alex shining out for all to see. Her dress, a confection of lace and beading, was not merely beautiful. It captured her personality so perfectly, so delightfully, that she was the absolute picture of wedded bliss. Lucia had no doubt it would be the most-copied gown of the season. After all, didn’t every bride want to look like a princess on her wedding day?

At least, Lucia assumed that was the case. She’d never been a bride. And after spending her entire life acting, dressing, and looking like a princess, she was heartily tired of it.

Auntie Lucia, how much longer do we need to stand here? Lucia’s five-year-old niece was starting to droop. My feet hurt.

Ignoring her mother’s censuring frown, Lucia crouched down. So do mine, she whispered behind her hand.

I’m tired, Carissa whimpered.

We’ll be done soon, sweetheart. She nodded surreptitiously at the end of the line of well-wishers. Then we get to eat.

Good. Carissa’s face lit up. I’m totally starving.

Lucia laughed. You sound more like an American girl every day, She tweaked her niece’s nose. Must be that new stepmother of yours.

She’s not a stepmother, Carissa said with a frown. She’s my mommy.

Lucia smoothed a hand over Carissa’s sleek blonde hair, swallowing back a surge of emotion at the heartfelt statement. Yes, she is, she agreed. Standing, she turned back to the line of wedding guests.

And as she straightened, she caught another glimpse of the stranger across the ballroom.

Lucia prided herself on remembering names and faces. The skill had been drilled into her from an early age, since a princess could ill afford to cause insult to someone by failing to remember them. The circle of royalty was a small one, and she had grown up with many of the people in attendance. Acquaintances of her parents, boarding-school classmates, people she knew from years of charity functions and social events. Add in the world leaders and celebrities that rounded out the guest list, and Lucia could identify nearly everyone in the room.

That included staff. As the personnel director for the palace staff as well as the government, she was acquainted with just about everyone who might be working at the reception, from chauffeurs to musicians to wait staff.

Except she had no idea who the stranger could be.

Perhaps he was a friend of Brynn’s? She’d met the group who had arrived from America last week, but this man might have shown up later. If that was the case, though, why wasn’t he mingling with the other guests?

And why, for heaven’s sake, did he keep staring at her?

She glanced at him again. Yes, he was still watching her, his eyes shadowed but unwavering. He lounged against a pillar on the other side of the ballroom, his dark suit stretching enticingly across broad shoulders. His chocolate-brown hair was on the short side, trimmed with a military precision that somehow made him look dangerous.

No, it wasn’t the haircut. The man himself exuded strength and power. Combined with a raw sensuality that almost oozed from each pore, he was definitely someone who would be hard to forget.

She turned to the next guest, feeling unsettled but masking it through the skills learned from a lifetime in the public eye. Soon, this endless receiving line would be over and she could sit. And, hopefully, the disturbing man across the room would find something else to pull his attention away from her.

…

For the thousandth time, Eric Demon Delmonico wondered what in the world he’d been thinking when he had agreed to take this job. He could be training the new recruits. He could be traveling. He could be fishing at the lake, relaxing on the flybridge of his Tollycraft.

He could be spending his injury-required downtime doing something he actually enjoyed. But no, he’d signed on to protect a princess.

A princess who, if he didn’t miss his guess, would be less than appreciative of his efforts.

She stood in the receiving line in her maid–of-honor dress, a slim blue gown that matched her eyes. He’d bet money that it was a designer original. Unlike her mother, she wore only the bare minimum of jewels, pearl drop earrings and a matching pearl choker that emphasized her long neck. The only concession to her rank was a thin gold band around her upswept blonde hair. No flashy tiara for this reluctant royal.

Her posture was impeccable, her smile gracious if a little distant. She wasn’t known as the Ice Princess for nothing. Her patrician features could have been carved by a master artist. He wondered if she was as cold as she looked, or if fire lurked below the cool exterior.

Not that he was in any position to find out.

Eric crossed his arms over his chest. The receiving line was winding down; it was almost time for dinner and then dancing. Princess Lucia would take her place at the lead table, still in the public eye but not quite so vulnerable. Especially since he would be at her back.

She’d noticed him, he knew. He’d seen the flash of—something—as she glanced his way. But she didn’t know who he was, or why he was here. He’d agreed to keep his acceptance of the job quiet until after the wedding, as requested by Prince Alex. He suspected that the prince had wanted to keep things calm until he and his new bride could escape on their honeymoon.

All the precautions led him to believe that once the truth came out, there was going to be hell to pay. Because Lucia wasn’t going to like this. She wasn’t going to like it one bit.

…

Of all the wedding traditions, Lucia disliked this one the most.

Come on, Carissa urged, pulling on her hand. Mommy Brynn is going to throw her flowers.

Reluctantly, Lucia followed behind, more unwilling to make a scene than to avoid the archaic tradition. A group of single women stood in a half-circle, angling for a good spot. Her new sister-in-law stood at the center, holding her bouquet. Great, she called out, flashing a smile at Lucia. We couldn’t start without you.

Despite the urging of the bride, Lucia took her place at the back of the group, well out of catching range. Laurivenia’s newest princess shook her head, then turned her back to the group and lifted the bouquet. The gathered crowd counted down, all eyes on the unmarried women waiting for the toss. Flashbulbs turned the room white with light as the press captured the moment for posterity. Then Brynn tossed the bouquet over her shoulder.

Immediately Lucia realized that she had made a drastic error. The bouquet sailed over the heads of the other women and hit her smack in the face. Almost unconsciously, she put her hands up and caught the silly thing. This was no accident of chance—Brynn must have expected her to take the furthest position. Lucia wouldn’t have put it past her to practice just to make sure she could reach the back.

Lucia gripped the bouquet tightly, trying to maintain a polite smile as the photographers went crazy again. The last thing she wanted was more attention on her single status. But the damage was already done.

It appears that you will be planning another royal wedding soon, the contessa brayed to her mother, her voice carrying over the sound of the assembled revelers.

Wonderful. There would be no stopping her mother now. As Dowager Queen, she had far too much time on her hands, and a decided interest in her children’s love lives, or lack thereof. Lucia had spent the majority of her adult life dodging the eligible bachelors her mother insisted on parading in front of her. And although her brother had been a target as well, Lucia had always borne the brunt of it. Alex had even been lucky enough to meet and woo Brynn while Mother was out of the country, giving the relationship time to flourish outside the intense pressure and scrutiny their mother could create.

Now that Alex was safely wedded, all that focus would be on her. And the catching of the bouquet would give her mother the extra ammunition she desired.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught her sister-in-law’s grin.

Ooh, Brynn was going to pay.

But first she was going on her honeymoon. Niles, Alex and Brynn’s chauffeur and bodyguard, had appeared in