CHASED BY THE DUKE

6. Coffee date

CHAPTER SIX

Ah, Los Angeles. He had been here quite a few times before and up till now, he had had not been intrigued by anything before. Now, as the LA evening blew against his face, he found himself of full anticipatory chills. His heart beat with the anticipation at the thought of seeing her face thing when he walked into Carrington Jewelry Company. His phone rung, a sour look immediately pasted on his face as recognition flooded his features upon seeing the caller ID.

“Princess,” he pushed his hands in the depth of his knee length brown coat.

“Oh, please. Why all the formality? We did spend some time together in campus and you didn’t accord me any formality then,” Princess Mary of York chuckled vivaciously. At twenty-six, she was considered a jewel; not only for her looks but for her very good behavior. She was indeed a princess in the making.

“Well, we are tasked with duty now, aren’t we? And with duty comes proper acknowledgement of formality,” He smiled. It would be a lie if he said there was a time he did not have a tiny crush on her back when he was a teenager just like his most boys. Now, she was just another woman to him and never in a million years would he dream of marrying her despite his mother’s constant nagging.

“So, you mother informed me you are in LA. Did you come to pay me a visit for the sake of the old campus times?” she voiced in an airy tone.

“Of course, she informed you,” He muttered, trying not to sound too acrimonious by the news. He loved his mother to a great deal just like how a son would but sometimes he hated how she’d pry into his life in an attempt to control it.

“You don’t sound too happy about it,” She switched to an American accent.

“So a cup of coffee?” He questioned instead, knowing too well, his mother would want to see actual efforts before she left him alone.

“In thirty minutes. I’m staying at the Springs. They’ve got quite the service here,” She replied.

“Well, I should see you then,” He cut off the call, blowing an air of frustration from his lips.

He cast a look around the city, drinking in the beauty of the lit night. People walked by, none of them thankfully taking a glance at him. One could never be too careful.  Up ahead, he spotted a lavish club characterized by colorful lights written The Vatix at the entrance, reminding him of what he most wanted. Being spotted in a club, would not augur well with his mum and the reputation of the royal family but if he was going to sit through dinner with Mary of York, then he needed to at least take some bit of bourbon. He signaled to Sebastian parking a few paces away with two of his bodyguards.

“I’d like a private room at the club arranged in five minutes and make sure this doesn’t leak to the media,” He ordered.

Sebastian nodded before leaving with one of the bodyguards. Making sure his hat was in place, he blew out a breath, letting himself savor the night. In a way, he had missed being out in the evenings like this without the qualms of the responsibilities that came with his title. He let himself sink into the memories of Charlotte and him, sneaking out of his mansion without notice at night. The way she’d laugh at even the slightest funny things, or tag her hair back when she had the shy smile dancing along at the edges of her lips, had him swallowing down the hurt. Every memory of her sliced his soul into tiny pieces, serving only to torture him more. Charlotte had represented the one thing he lacked; freedom. She didn’t care about the rules while he had to live by them every second he was breathing on this earth.

“It is arranged, your majesty. There is a back entrance that we could use for extra precaution and it has an elevator that leads straight into a VIP lounge on the third floor,” Sebastian said, pulling Liam out of his memory lane.

He nodded, following Sebastian as he led the way. There were a few people around the back, minding their own business. He had just walked in when a familiar voice caught his ear, making him stop in his tracks, feeling a tremor run through him.

“R-Ryan. W-What are you doing here?” He turned towards the source of the sound, the familiarity of the woman hitting him like a brick. She stood before a guy a few paces away from the pretty loud ground floor, dressed in a champagne colored party dress.

“I think that is the Carrington girl, sir,” Sebastian pointed out, noticing the Duke’s gaze.

“Of course. Shall we?” He said, distracting Sebastian so he would not pin the dots of the Carrington woman being the same woman who puked her guts on him, almost revealing his identity to the bookstore owner.

The VIP lounge was exactly his taste but even still, his mind was somewhat taken by the Carrington woman. He wanted to f*****g see her again and this time, probably make an actual conversation with her. Something about her intrigued him in a way that left him wanting to spend time with her. She was a timeless beauty indeed and for a split of a second, he wondered if she’d recognize him if she saw him right now.

“Your Majesty, its an honor that you’d visit my club,” A new voice said, grabbing his attention. The duke had been spacing out a lot within the past one hour, his thought centered around Charlotte and now on the woman downstairs.

“Francis, is it?” The duke was pretty no-nonsense and he made no exception to the young man that looked slightly younger than him.

“That is right,”

“Well, I admire the fact that you happen to own such an extravagant club at such a young age but you know as well as I do, how much my privacy means to me. I do hope you keep your promise of no media out of the club,”

“You have my word,” He promised.

The owner walked away, leaving two waiters to serve the Duke and his driver. The guards had remained outside to keep an eye out. As he relaxed on the comfy couch, a half glass of bourbon in his hand, he let himself wonder about the Carrington woman again. Who was that guy with her? The man who broke her heart perhaps?

“I’m going to step out for a few minutes,” He suddenly stood up.

“But your Majesty-“

“Do not worry, I’ll be very careful,” he said, already heading out. After asking his guards not to tail him, he made his way to the elevator. Someone must have gone down and as he waited for it to come back up; he couldn’t help his anticipation of seeing her again. All he wanted was to know if she’d be able to recognize him. The elevator opened, only for her to stumble out, already slightly tipsy. How the hell did she get drunk that fast?

She stumbled past her, barely glancing at him.

“Miss,” he called, in a bid to get her attention.

She turned around, an irritated look on her face as she blew a strand of her of hair away from her face. As she covered the distance between them, he felt the anticipation in him build.

“For the millionth time, no, I do not need a man buying me drinks. I can do that on my own, thank you very much,”

“What?” He questioned, slightly confused by her reaction but at the same time glad he didn’t know him.

“That’s all I’ve been hearing since I got here. So save it for the next desperate woman who wants nothing but to have you all over her. And unless, you happen to know where that Duke is, do not talk to me,” That f*****g prick. He was supposed to keep his identity a secret.

“The Duke?”

“Yes, the Duke. I heard he is supposed to be on this floor. This is supposed to be some super big secret with no media, so don’t you tell anybody about it. I can be a little crazy sometimes,” she warmed.

“Well, the duke left barely a minute ago. With his privacy violated, he could not stay,” He answered carefully, trying to gauge her reaction.

“No one violated his privacy. Why does he gotta be such a baby?” She rolled her eyes, her hands falling on the arc of her hips.

“How did you know he was here then?”

“Maybe because I’m the co-owner of this club. I must have signed up for it during one of my drunk episodes in a bid to unleash my anger on my father,” she shook her head then grew serious,” Why are you being so inquisitive, English man?”

“Maybe because I’d like to help you if you could tell me why you want to see the duke. He and I are pretty close friends,”

“And you want me to believe some stranger I met just a few minutes ago? No thanks,”

“Right now, I’m the only one who knows where the Duke is. Who do you think arranged for him to come here? How do I know he left if I wasn’t here with him? Besides, you seem like a decent lady and I’d like to score a coffee date with you sometime soon,”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion but then she sighed, taking out her phone and turning on the video camera.

“What are you doing?” He questioned, already panicking.

“Just getting evidence. If any of this leaks out, I’d know who to come after and trust me, you do not want a pissed off me,” she paused,” Let’s say I actually trust you, then tell me how I could make the Duke drop the business he has with my father?”

“Your father?”

“I know it is supposed to be top secret but the Queen of England called my father, stating that the duke was here to see the jewelry for himself. Something about some pretty expensive wedding jewelry for the Princess,” Damn his mother. Was this not supposed to be super-secret? No one, not even the Carringtons were supposed to know.

“Why would you want him to drop that business?” As far as he was concerned, this would earn the Carringtons, not only a big reputation but a chapter in the family royal history and a huge amount of money.

“That is none of your business. So are you helping me or not?” she questioned, hands crossed.

“I will but only if you agree to go on that coffee date with me,”

“Fine. Just give me your number, business card or whatever it is you use to pick girls in club,” damn, she was a bitter one but that even intrigued the Duke more.

“Trust me, I do not pick girls in clubs,” he said.

As he keyed his number in her phone, he knew he wanted her. Maybe she was the indication that he could get over Charlotte. For the first time in two years, he found himself in the dire need to want someone who not Charlotte.