Read Online King and Kingdom by Danielle Bourdon - Free Book Online Page A

at least, she slouched into the plush seat of the limousine and concentrated on what she was going to say to Sander when she got back to the castle.
    Obviously, someone had slipped something into her champagne. That knowledge presented itself as her mind began to clear away the cobwebs of sleep. Had it been Damon? He'd been the one to offer her the glass before sweeping her onto the dance floor. Up until his traitorous lies at the end, after Sander caught them together, he'd been courteous and polite. Surely he'd had no other ulterior motives. He didn't even know her, what could his agenda have possibly been? Not to pursue her hand—there were much less drastic ways of getting her attention. And he'd ensured at the end that no woman in her right mind would want him after lying so blatantly about what happened.
    Her gaze fixed on the gloomy landscape beyond the window. She didn't really see the terrain, it was only a backdrop for the inner film rolling through her mind's eye. Nothing made sense. The entire evening had been fraught with tension ever since she and Sander had arrived, from Valentina's little wedding announcement to the sudden declaration that security had been breached at the hotel.
    Or something to that effect. Diplomats and Royalty alike had been scattered away from possible danger.
    It wasn't for another half hour, until Chey caught a glimpse of sparkling lights of the approaching cityscape, that she realized something was wrong.
    There shouldn't be any cityscape against the skyline.
    The Ahtissari family seat sat amidst acres upon acres of wild, untouched land.
    Sitting up straighter, Chey peered out the window to see if it was Kalev, the main city of Latvala, they were entering. To her shock and dismay, she realized a few minutes later that they weren't in Kalev at all. Not in Latvala at all.
    She stared at the outline of Seattle in disbelief.
    “Wait, why are we in Seattle? Where's Sander?” Chey blurted out her questions to either of two guards sitting in the limousine further up near the dividing window. One turned his head to glance her way. Fair haired, blue eyed, he was not a guard Chey was intimately familiar with.
    “Miss Sinclair, Prince Dare ordered us to bring you back here. He regrets things did not work out as planned, and hopes you understand that this was for the best regarding both of your futures.”
    Chey stared at the guard as if he'd grown a second head. Sander had done this? Was he so upset, then, that he'd dismissed their relationship completely? He'd given her no indication last night that this would be the end result. Didn't they at least owe it to each other to discuss things? Or had seeing her with another man, along with Damon's damning words, been enough?
    After all, Sander could have his choice of women. He didn't need one that cheated on him at the first sign of trouble.
    “No, I don't really understand,” she said, upset at the tremor in her voice. “He wouldn't have just dismissed me like this.”
    The guard's mouth quirked to the side. It seemed he struggled to find a diplomatic way to answer, instead of coming off with Well he just did, didn't he?
    “Prince Dare was very certain of his actions, Miss Sinclair. There was no doubt, no question. I'm sorry.” The guard turned his attention back to his companion.
    “So this is it? What about my contact with the Royal family?” Nausea hit Chey like a ton of bricks. Not only had she lost Sander, but now she would be required to pay back money she'd already spent. One of her worst fears.
    “Prince Dare has kindly covered the money you were advanced before your arrival. The rest will simply not be paid, since you won't be continuing with your photography of the family,” he said.
    Kindly covered your advance. Chey wanted to chew nails at how that grated on her nerves. On the one hand, she should be grateful that she didn't have to sell her soul to pay these people back. On the other—it galled her to know that Sander