Resisting the Crown: The Crown Series, #5

By Violet Paige

Prince. Fixer. Playboy.

The king brings me in when things go wrong.

Only this time, I think it's oh so right.

Someone has inherited our family's darkest secrets.

Kira Auclair is the kind of woman I should stay away from.

Politician. Brilliant. Opinionated. Gorgeous.

She hates everything my family stands for and has the power to try to bring us down.

As a minister in the King's Cabinet, she has political reach in Galona.

I'll do what my brother has ordered to fix this problem, but I'm going to do it my way.

That means convincing Kira I'm not her enemy.

Earning her trust is going to be the hardest mission I've ever accepted.

 

For her, I'm willing to do anything.

 

**Resisting the Crown is the fifth book in the Tempting the Crown royal romance series. It has a HEA and NO Cliffhanger. It is recommended to start with Tempting the Crown, but the series can be read in any order.**

• Language: English
• Publisher: Violet Paige
• Release date: Aug 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201395384

Book preview

Chapter 1

Donovan

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The mist clung to the stone walls like something out of a gothic novel. It clawed its way higher and steeper one block at a time, digging into the crevices and divots. It should have been ivy scaling the walls, not ominous thick fog. This house. My mother’s house had always been creepy as fuck. Fitting for someone with the title of Dowager Queen.

I was sent on this mission by default. I didn’t want to participate in family politics, but I was beginning to think this assignment made me the brother they didn’t like. This was a shitty way to find that out. There wasn’t a Sauvage sibling who would volunteer to take on Queen Caroline.

Your Highness. The driver opened the door to the backseat. The temperature dropped the moment I stepped from the car.

I stared at the turrets spiraling toward the clouds. Fuck. Was that a crow squawking? I ignored the chill wrapping around my spine. I had a simple plan—make my announcement, get a good night’s sleep, and sneak out before she ordered her first cup of tea in the morning.

It never got easier coming to this house. Maybe grief and darkness weren’t things that diminished over time the way I thought they should. But my mother wasn’t one to shrug and turn away from the muckiness of life. She liked to wade into the middle of it and bring the rest of us down with her. How I would suddenly change that, I wasn’t sure.

Look at this place. She had turned a fun seaside home into a morbid hideaway. She had perfected staying out of the spotlight while keeping her tentacles in our lives.

Sir? The driver closed the door behind me, urging me toward the front landing. Your Highness, do you need assistance?

I glowered at him. No.

I buttoned my jacket and jogged up the steps. I tugged on the massive iron handle and walked into the estate. Every tapestry, every portrait, every marble statue was in pristine condition. One of the servants gawked when she saw me. I smiled.

Here to see the queen, I explained. She bowed, lowering her eyes. Normal people dropped in on their parents, didn’t they? Why was this always such a production?

She’s on the west veranda sunroom, Your Highness. Would you like me to escort you to her?

No. I know where to go. I smiled at the nervous woman.

I strolled through the house. The rooms were stocked with art and books. Shelves were lined with gifts from foreign dignitaries given to my parents. I tried to remember the last time I had been here. It seemed eerily distant and unfamiliar.

The contrast between Liness and Greysmoor was stark. Isabel’s light and joy shone through every inch of her estate. What did it say about my mother that Greysmoor was ten degrees cooler and five shades darker than it should be?

She didn’t bother to turn around when I entered the room. She sipped her tea without pause. Maybe she thought I was a servant checking in on her. Maybe she already knew it was me. She prided herself on believing she knew all the ins and outs that made her children tick. I thought it was a weird compliment she gave herself, especially for a mother as emotionally removed from our lives as she was.

Your Majesty. I walked around the chaise and bowed in front of her.

Her eyes lifted. Donovan.

My brow furrowed. She rested the teacup on the saucer. I realize my visit is unannounced—

She was quick to interrupt. I expected you. Her eyes traveled over my formal suit. I expected one of you. I wondered who it would be.

I took a seat across from her. Her eyes drifted to the window and the steep drop-off from the cliff into the ocean.

Then you know about the wedding? I asked.

The wedding of Princess Isabel of Galona?

I sighed. Don’t pretend that your feelings aren’t hurt or that you are somehow suddenly detached from Isabel by using titles. I knew this tactic. We all knew how our names could become her weapons.

She lifted the teacup to her lips. Detachment to my own daughter? My only daughter? This country’s only princess of royal blood? There was both ice and ire in her voice.

The wedding was sudden. It was to curb any paparazzi getting tipped off, I explained.

Don’t make ridiculous excuses. I know Liam flew in. I know Damon was there. I know everyone who was there. Her lips puckered. Was she holding in a total tongue-lashing or fighting back the hurt she felt? And why so sudden? Her eyes narrowed.

Maybe you and Isabel should talk when she is back from her honeymoon.

She shifted in her chair. I’m not sure why we would.

I groaned. Mother, you had the man she was in love with deported. Did you expect him to invite you to the wedding?

I see. On their side?

I shook my head. I know the man. He was my Royal Guardsman for two years. He’s a good guy. He’s serious, maybe more than I would expect for Isabel, but he makes her happy. She’s never had that before. That’s what is most important.

That’s what you were sent here to tell me, isn’t it? I’m sure the king had planned to attend himself, but sent you as an emissary? Is that what you are now, Donovan? I felt my skin prickle. Her attack was fully focused on me. I was the wrong person, but the only one willing to step-in for Isabel.

I didn’t come here to fight with you. I came out of respect and to maybe broker some peace between you and Isabel for when she does get back from the honeymoon. Flynn is a good man and he’s going to serve the palace well as the new director. Why you interfered and put that Minx woman in charge, I don’t know. But if you want to repair what you did with your daughter you’re going to have to admit the role you played and apologize, or it won’t be just the wedding that you miss out on.

Is that a threat?

I rose from the chair and straightened my dark tie. The white rose buttoned to the lapel was wilted. I began to remove it, holding it between my fingers. I was exhausted. I had traveled to Liness early in the morning for the wedding, stayed through the afternoon for the celebration, and then left for Greysmoor. I hadn’t paused to change out of my suit. I was tired. Uncomfortable. And not in the mood for family drama bullshit.

I would never threaten you, Mother. I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek coolly. Someone needed to deliver the news in person. I was planning on staying tonight, but if you’d like me to leave I can fly back to Freychon tonight. I waited for her answer.

No. Dinner is at seven. I expect you to be there.

All right. I’m going to change for dinner, and I’ll see you in the dining room at seven.

Your Uncle Casiano will be joining us, she announced as I turned to leave.

What? Uncle Cas is here?

Casiano did not receive an invitation to the wedding. There were no senior royals present. None, she snapped. I’m sure he will have questions for you. See you at seven, and remember it is formal. A rough wind rattled the windows in the sunroom.

Isn’t it always?

Her gaze returned to a book in her lap. She turned the page with careful attention. It was her dismissive tone that told me I’d be wasting my time if I engaged in pressing for more details. I would have to wait until dinner to find out why my uncle was visiting at Greysmoor. Damn it, I was going to be the one to face his rapid-fire line of questioning. They owed me. Every one of my siblings owed me for this. I would make sure to collect.

I jogged down the master staircase as the grandfather clock chimed. I had three more seconds to make it to the sliding doors in the dining room. I adjusted the cufflinks beneath the sleeve on my jacket just as I entered the room.

I was the first to arrive. The candelabras on the buffets were lit. The centerpieces were fresh cut flowers. The table was set with china, crystal, and silver. Was this going to be a five-course meal?

My uncle strolled in immediately after I had a chance to survey the room.

Donovan, so good to see you.

Uncle Cas. I nodded. It was remarkable to me how he could look nothing like my father. They were two years apart in age.

The doors opened and my mother walked in wearing a long beaded gown. I noticed the expression on Cas’s face when he saw her and I tried to pretend it wasn’t there.

We stood in front of the Dowager Queen, each bowing as she approached.

It’s nice to have my son here tonight. She smiled. As well as one of my favorite dinner companions, Casiano. What the hell was my uncle doing as her dinner companion?

Thank you, Your Majesty. We waited for her to be seated before we joined her at the extended dining table.

I truly wondered if she dined like this every night at Greysmoor whether or not she had guests. I hoped Cas wasn’t here as often as she made it sound.

Once the napkin was in her lap, the servants moved from the shadows and began to serve us. The wine was poured.

My phone vibrated. I tried to ease it from my pocket.

Donovan, the queen warned.

I looked at the number. I’m sorry. I have to take this.

Phones are not allowed in the dining room.

I pushed back from the table. I can’t ignore this one, Mother. It’s the king.

I tapped the screen and walked out of the dining room. Hello, brother. I’m not sure if I should thank you or curse you right now. I gritted my teeth together as I paced in the foyer.

I realize you’re at Greysmoor, but you need to fly home immediately. There’s a situation.

What kind of situation?

It’s Lesage.

Theodore? What has the bastard done now? I asked. I peered between the doors into the dining room. Cas was leaning closer to our mother. I shook my head and turned around.

He’s dead.

What the fuck? I almost choked. How the hell is that possible? Was he even sixty? What happened? I stopped pacing in front of the grandfather clock.

I’m waiting on the details, but it seems the bastard was battling cancer for a few years and never told anyone about his illness. It happened this afternoon at home. He died in his sleep.

No one knew. This is fucking unbelievable.

Obviously, this has to be handled the right way. Flynn is with Isabel. I’m not going to stop them from going on their honeymoon, otherwise I would put this on him. The new director should handle this.

Of course not, I agreed. Isabel would never forgive him for tearing her new husband away from her.

There is no one else in the Royal Guard right now. I need you to get back here and take care of The Titan. You need to get any records and documents that could be a fatal blow to the family. If the wrong person finds them, they could destroy our legacy. There’s so much more at stake here than just our reputations. We have families now. The future of the entire royal family is at stake.

Shit. I shook my head, trying to get a handle on what Lesage’s death meant.

I didn’t have a wife or kid to worry about, but it wasn’t as if I wanted my business at The Titan on the news or in the tabloids. We all had our share of raucous wild nights. It was the secrets that bound us together. The tallies. The royals. The elites. But without Lesage, it was a potential powder keg of explosive misdeeds that would ruin each one of us. The press didn’t care about consent or contracts. All they would focus on was the women and the men who paid to have them share a bed for the night.

I don’t know what Lesage has on any of us inside that club, but we can’t let it fall into the wrong hands, Damon cautioned. My brother sounded level-headed. Kings didn’t panic.

I exhaled. I heard our mother and uncle laughing in the next room. I’ll take care of it. I had no fucking clue how, but I would.

Give my regards to the Mother before you leave, Damon added.

I huffed. You have no idea what’s going on here.

Oh?

We’ll talk about it once I get control of The Titan. There wasn’t time to explain the gut feeling I had about Uncle Cas. I had to get to Freychon and return to the palace.

There is one thing, Donovan.

I had already climbed the stairs to the second story. What is that?

Lesage didn’t have children, but I believe there is an heir.

I walked into the bedroom and threw a few things into my suitcase. Let me guess, an affair that ended up with a surprise?

No. It seems he has a goddaughter.

I blinked. That didn’t sound like the man I knew. Who would entrust their child with him? All right. I’ll see what she’ll accept for The Titan. I’m sure it can be handled quickly. As long as the estate was turned over to her in a short period of time, I would be able to purchase it before she had a chance to walk in his office. We had nothing to worry about.

She’s one of my cabinet members, Kira Auclair. You’re going to have to keep me as far away from this as possible.

Fuck. Why didn’t you start with that? I growled. This was a new problem.

Would it make a difference?

I shook my head. No. I’m leaving Greysmoor. I’ll be back in Freychon tonight.

Good. Thank you.

Just so you know… I began.

Yes?

You might want to prepare for the war that the Dowager Queen is about to unleash for not being invited to Isabel’s wedding.

He paused. I would expect nothing less from her, but this will be far worse if we lose control of The Titan. He was right.

Exposing The Titan could destroy us all.

And I was the only one who could stop it from happening.

2

Kira

Why wasn’t I one of those girls who dreamed of wearing diamonds around my neck and a crown on my head? All the other girls did. Every time they blew out the candles on their cakes or tossed a coin in the fountain, they wished that one day they’d walk the palace of Freychon as a princess. They saw Galona’s princes as their ticket to a perfect happily ever after. But that was never going to be my future. Why not? There were five brothers to fight over.

I didn’t want that kind of future.

Maybe I was an odd child. Okay, I’ll admit I was. It didn’t mean I wasn’t a dreamer. It didn’t mean I didn’t have fantasies or fairytales floating around in my head. But they were different than all the other girls’ dreams I knew. They sighed and blushed when Prince Damon’s face was on the cover of a magazine. Me? I huffed and picked up a copy of Galona’s history. I’d rather know my roots than worry about a stuffy castle and a boy who was never going to notice me.

There was only one thing to blame for my head being in books and not in the clouds.

I couldn’t forget the way Parliament Hall smelled. It was like walking volumes of a book the way the heavy scent of old book pages filled every nook. Blame my mother for taking me to work with her when I was six-years old. She pointed out ministers’ offices and the lounge where she made them coffee. She explained how important it was that the files were typed correctly and that she reminded them to make their meetings on time. She laughed when she did her impression of how she scolded them when they were late. My eyes widened. My mother told them what to do. The entire world inside that building seemed bigger than me. Bigger than all of us. Everything about the heart of Galona spoke to me. Called to me. I never shook it.

Especially not twenty years later when I walked the halls as a minister in the King’s Cabinet.

If I held the glass of wine any tighter, it could crack into tiny splinters in my hand. I exhaled, staring at my TV screen. I released the death grip on the glass of red. I decided to take a sip. I needed something calming. Soothing. Possibly a memory eraser.

What a day. What a damn day.

I turned the volume up to hear what it was the broadcasters were saying about me.

Parliament’s newest minister needs a lesson on Galonian history. The commentators chuckled together. Yes, seems as if she’s making a few enemies in her first weeks. Maybe the kind of enemies that could be fatal to her young career. It was a milestone to be on the King’s Cabinet, but now I’m not so sure she’s representing young women her age.

I leaned forward, raising the volume a little higher, as if louder meant it would make the words they spoke make more sense. It felt like I was having an out of body experience. I saw the square with my headshot float over the woman’s shoulder. Why that picture? My blond hair was in complete disarray. The picture had been taken when I was descending the Parliament House steps. The frustration was visible on my forehead. It was visible in the way I clutched my files and shied away from the press.

Auclair is ambitious. But lofty goals rarely translate into moving Parliament’s intentions. I’ve never seen it happen before.

True, it’s better for these younger ministers to learn from those around them, especially when the royal family is involved. Royals first. We are Galonian after all. We are a country steeped in centuries of tradition and regal custom. They exchanged a sideways glance, sealing their alliance to the royal family. Did they already forget this wasn’t the Royal Advisory Board? This was the King’s Cabinet they were talking about. We were elected.

I huffed, sitting back on the cushions. These buffoons weren’t in the meeting today. They had no idea what happened and no right to speculate like this. They didn’t hear the arguments or see the proposed budget. The bill had not been released in full detail yet. Did they really believe millions and millions should continue in the direction of just one single family?

I fought and stood my ground. How did these two manage to twist something I was proud of into a suicidal career move? The more they talked, the more it sank in how disastrous today had been for my future as a minister.

I retraced the sequence of events.

I’m not signing that. I will never put my signature on it. I looked at the bill sprawled out on the table in the center of Parliament Hall.

I turned and walked away from the document. There was an immediate uproar when I turned my nose up at the proposal.

Quiet! The judge slapped the gavel three times. Minister Auclair, you were speaking. Let the minister have the floor, he warned the committee.

Thank you. I nodded. There has been a debate about allocating our tax dollars for years, far longer than before I was elected to this office. I glared at the official scroll on display. I was not elected to continue to support the royal family above and beyond what they are worth. I’m not going to sign a bill that pays for an extravagant lifestyle when we have children in this country who want to go to universities. It’s immoral. I’m not extending our citizens’ tax dollars to cover more parties and balls for the Sauvages.

The king is part of our government, Minister De Leon argued. He is a leader, not a loafer like you are suggesting.

I set my eyes on him. He’s only a leader because he can’t be voted out. The royal family has a permanent place in our country, but it doesn’t mean we have to pay for them. I had long been walking the line of upholding Galona’s traditions and taking care of its people. The royal family was a constant subject of debate at these committee meetings. I was tired of them. Tired of their money. Tired of the weight they carried that was placed on all our shoulders.

I have a salary. You have a salary. I spun to face the men in the room. Let’s change this to give the king a salary.

The gasp reverberated around the room. It was a bold statement to make. I knew there would be pushback, but not to have a single ally in this fight surprised me. Couldn’t they see what I saw?

The royals took up every headline. All the top new stories. What the king and queen were going to name their daughter was more interesting than the new education initiative starting in the fall. They were smug and infuriating. I’d never be able to diminish their place in the country, but I was going to push them to the farthest corners of the government. The king would always have a seat at the table, but why did the nurse at the hospital or the man driving his taxi have to pay for the queen’s next ballgown? It was an absurd waste of money that came with strings no one should have deal with.

I was willing to support a bill that did not include excess royal family spending money. Until this proposal changed, I wasn’t going to be a part of it.

I will not support another round of funding, I stated. "There won’t be