Read Online MAID FOR A PRINCE: (Book 1) (Point St. Claire, where true love finds a way) by Robyn Grady - Free Book Online

said.
    “The uncle who abdicated?”
    “He was a kind man. Patient.” There was a time Darius had wanted to grow up to be just like Uncle Galen. He’d been way less strict than his dad. “I loved Galen. So did my father. But when he renounced the throne, he was banished. No member of the family was permitted contact. I haven’t seen him since.”
    “All because he fell in love with a woman who’d been married before?”
    She set down the plates while he centered the platter. “People can be protective of their royals. There were rumors that she’d seduced my uncle in order to drain funds from our modest coffers to funnel to her ex-husband in Germany.”
    “Like you said. Rumors.”
    “Right. There’s no proof. But things got hairy.” Downright dangerous, in fact. “My uncle chose his personal life over his sovereign duty. It was up to my father to hold it all together.”
    After they sat down, he poured the wine.
    “I was in his office when he got word that a mob with guns had formed downtown.” Darius remembered that day vividly. The uncertainty. The fear. “My mother was out at the time. She got caught up in the crush. A special guard unit got her back safely. But after that, my father always made sure we understood. Never underestimate whispers that can turn into cries.”
    “Wait. Your uncle had left. Your father had stepped up to help. Why would anyone want to hurt your family?”
    “There was an element that saw my uncle’s mistake as a way to end Vasily rule forever.”
    She seemed to think that over. “I guess there aren’t too many absolute monarchies left.”
    He rubbed an ear. “I’m partial to them myself.”
    She leaned across to pop a blueberry into his mouth. “And you’ll make one very cute king. Word on the main island is you’re pretty special.” When he put his head down and gave a modest laugh, she laughed too. “You don’t believe me?” 
    “I’m just thinking about my sister. In her eyes, I’m a tyrant.”
    “Teenage years are hard. And your sister’s lost both her parents. When my father passed away, I remember thinking that suddenly no one seemed to understand me. My mother was always nitpicking, always demanding that I listen. She didn’t understand that I deserved respect, too.”
    “I don’t try to take my parents place where Tahlia is concerned. I only want her to finish her education before getting sidetracked, thinking about boys.”
    “Um, sorry to tell you, but all teenage girls stress over make-up, clothes, hair, and boys—not necessarily in that order. How old is she exactly?”
    “Just turned eighteen.”
    “At that age, you want to stretch your wings, be your own person, to feel as if you can make your own decisions.”
    He placed food on a plate and passed it over. “She likes a boy. A member of my staff.”
    “Likes?”
    “She says loves .” Grunting, he filled his own plate. “Tahlia’s naïve. Little more than a child.”
    “That’s something my mother would say.”
    “A person needs more than butterflies chasing around in their stomachs to make a relationship work.”
    “My parents married at a young age and they were happy.” She shrugged. “Maybe your sister truly is in love.”
    “Young love comes and goes. An education lasts a lifetime.”
    She sat back. “Oh, dear.”
    He frowned. “Oh dear what?”
    “Haven’t you read Romeo and Juliet? The more you try to keep star-crossed lovers apart, the more they’ll fight to stay together.”
    He set his jaw. “Tahlia will go to university in England.”
    “Right. She’ll be safe from boys there.”
    “I don’t want her to make a mistake.”
    “Like your uncle made a mistake all those years ago?”
    Darius’s gaze sharpened. He knew what Helene really wanted to say.
    Like we made a mistake today .
    “Where’s your uncle now?” she asked.
    “Living in the States.”
    “Happily married?”
    “I believe so.”
    “Three cheers for love.”
    “Not when it costs a man his