Royal Wrecker

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Leo

“You must marry her, that's not up for debate.”

The shrill tone of my mother’s voice made me want to throw something.

“You've got to be f*****g kidding me. I don't have to marry anybody.”

She glared at me, but I didn’t give a s**t.

“I'm perfectly happy being single, and if I wasn't I sure as hell wouldn’t marry her. I barely even know her.”

Heat emanated from my body. If Lucinda kept this up, I feared I might spontaneously combust.

My brother Eduardo ran a hand through his thick, dark hair and implored, “Let's take this down a notch.”

The guy had a head of hair like McDreamy that he must've gotten from his mother. None of the other Barnes offspring had hair like that.

I balled my fists. Genetics were the last thing I wanted to enter my head now.

“If you don't marry her, you will create an international incident, Leo.” Lucinda widened her stance and placed her hands on her hips.

Battle ready.

But she intimidated me less and less the older I got.

For years my mother could convince me to do anything she wanted, but I was a man now, and this was my f*****g life.

No way she was going to force me into a marriage with a virtual stranger.

“I'm not doing it.”

Eduardo made a face that read, “Please don't say that.”

The guy was a former priest, so now I guess he had to get all high and mighty on me.

“What?” I asked him. “You are buying into the crap? You think I've got to marry this girl too?”

“Leo, she is a princess, and you did take her virginity, didn’t you?”

I threw my hands in the air. “Oh my God! She didn't f*****g tell me she was a virgin. In fact, she pretended to be just the opposite. How the f**k was I supposed to know the groupie cozying up to me had royal bloodlines? Tell me—how the f**k was I supposed to know?”

Eduardo shook his head, turned his eyes to the floor. “I'm not sure. It's an unfortunate situation. But honestly, I think you owe her something.”

“That's exactly what I've been saying.” Lucinda looked triumphant. “Her parents are talking about lawsuits, even diplomatic actions against the United States. Sanctions. Leo, do you really want to be responsible for some war starting just because you couldn't keep it in your pants?”

“You’re exaggerating,” I said, though I wasn’t sure she was. Martinovia was a very different place than the United States. World politics wasn’t my forte, but from what I did know about them, she could be telling the truth.

“I’m not,” Lucinda said through pursed lips.

“This is so unfair. f*****g sucks!”

I sounded like a petulant child even to my own ears, but the whole situation was unjust. I was the one who had been duped here.

I was the one whose whole life was going up in flames.

My brother who was supposed to be my ally wouldn’t even look at me.

My mother was practically dancing on the grave of my bachelorhood.

“What if we could work out a sort of compromise?” Eduardo asked.

“Like what?”

“What if you pretended to get married or had an arrangement where you would be married for a short period of time? Then we could arrange an annulment or something. That way the royals could save face, and you could get your freedom back after a short time.”

Eduardo was starting to make sense.

“I don't know about that,” Lucinda said. “I don't think it looks good to leave a royal once you're married to them.”

“Maybe not, but it's better than stealing her virginity and leaving her ruined and alone,” Eduardo continued. “Even the British royals divorce these days. Surely the Martinovians cannot expect more than that from Leo. After all, he’s right. The princess did misrepresent herself.”

I was torn. On one hand, I hadn’t expected my brother to go along with this, but considering his religious background I shouldn't be too surprised at him coming down hard on premarital relations. On the other hand, he made a good argument for compromise. If they forced me into this nonsense, I needed an out. He was right about that.

“From what I can tell she's a lovely girl. Beautiful, in fact,” Lucinda said, trying a new approach.

I rolled my eyes. “Mother!”

“Hey, buddy, it could be worse.” Eduardo patted me on the back.

“How do you f*****g figure?”

He shrugged. “Lucinda, what do you say? Can you broker something where he makes an honest woman out of the girl, and then he gets out of it?”

Her face darkened. “And why would I do that? Having a son married into a royal family … that’s media gold! Why the hell would I give that up?”

A haze of red drifted across my visual field, and I charged at her, hands raised, with every intention of strangling her.

Lucinda stepped back, a glimmer of fear in her eye.

“Leo! Stop it.” Eduardo stepped in, grabbed me by the arms and restrained me.

“You are the sorriest excuse for a mother in the world,” I snarled. “As soon as I can, I’m getting the f**k away from you. Nick had the right idea. You’re a f*****g monster.”

She took a deep breath. “Calm down, Leo. You’re completely overreacting.”

“I’m overreacting?” I fought against Eduardo’s hold.

“Leo!” Eduardo barked. Then he shoved me down on a couch he deemed a safe enough distance from Lucinda. “Get a hold of yourself. Look, this situation is one that will require some give and take from all parties. Tell your mother what it is that you want.”

Sitting up straight, I braced myself for a fight. Only this time I’d use my brain, not my hands.

It shook me that I lost control a minute ago like that. As enraged as Lucinda made me, I felt bad about trying to attack her.

That wasn’t me.

This situation was already turning me into a person I didn’t know.

“What I need is to get the hell away from you,” I said to Lucinda. “Out of all of my contracts with your managing companies, everything. I don’t want to work for you ever again.”

She shrugged like that was perfectly fine with her. “I’ll talk with the king and queen and see what I can arrange.”

It was too easy.

“So you’re saying that if I agree to marry Honoré, you’ll let me out of my contracts?”

Her eyes widened impatiently. “I’ll see what I can arrange.”

With a huff, she got up and left the room.

“Where’s she going?” I growled.

“To negotiate with the king and queen. On your behalf.” Eduardo sat in the seat across from me.

“Don’t you think you might need to be there?” I asked. “She’s not all that trustworthy.”

He shrugged. “Look, I got called here to be the officiant at your emergency wedding. This is not my thing. I’m no lawyer or politician.”

I exhaled. “Sorry, bro. This whole thing’s got me undone. Didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

He nodded. “No problem. Hey, does this hotel have good channels? I think Nick’s playing.”

I hadn’t tried out the hotel’s TV selection yet. “If not, we can try a tablet. Internet’s good.”

Eduardo scrounged for the remote control, and I went to the bar and poured myself two fingers of bourbon.

Closing my eyes, I knocked it back, letting the smooth jolt of alcohol hit my bloodstream before pouring another.

“Want anything?” I asked.

“Nah. Here it is.” Eduardo jerked his head in the direction of the TV screen, which now showed my brother’s professional basketball team running up and down the court. They were playing his former team, and I knew how much he loved to beat them.

It only took me a second to home in and find Nick hustling down the court.

I’d been watching him play basketball for as long as I could remember.

As a little kid I pushed my trucks around under the bleachers, and even though I was never a big baller myself, the smell of a gymnasium always made me a little nostalgic.

It was smart of Eduardo to distract me like this.

Feeling a little calmer, I returned to my seat, propped my feet up, and tried to get absorbed in the game.

I was always so proud of Nick. His athletic gifts seemed to come so easily. It wasn’t the way it was for me.

Everyone said I was a gifted musician. Gifted songwriter. But the words didn’t always come easily.

And performing for me wasn’t “fun” the way it was for Nick.

Hell, basketball was a game. Games were fun.

Performing, for me, was a grind. And I’d had more than enough of it.

The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became—I’d do anything to have control of my life back.

To be able to say when and where I performed. If I even chose to.

“And one!” Eduardo called out, jarring me from my ruminations. Nick had just made a three-point shot and gotten fouled.

We watched in silence as he sank the free throw.

“Ha! Four-point play,” I crowed, and let myself get lost in the game.

As soon as the game was over, Lucinda marched back into the hotel suite.

“So, what happened?” I stood, running my hands down the legs of my jeans.

Looking past me at the TV screen, she ignored me. “Oh, did Nick win?”

“Yes,” Eduardo responded.

“Mother! Goddammit. Answer me.” The woman was insufferable.

Impatiently, she redirected her attention to me. “Goodness, Leo, you’d think you were the only person in the world. I’m getting to you.”

Struggling to keep my composure, I crossed the room and began pacing the floor next to the wall of windows that overlooked a Martinovian park. The view was beautiful, featuring lush green foliage, pristinely kept gardens, and numerous public art installments. But the charm of the locale was the last thing I felt like thinking about.

“They didn’t like the idea of you ending the marriage in a matter of months.” Lucinda breezed over to the bar and got out a bottle of water.

Eduardo clicked the TV off. “They wouldn’t.”

Lucinda waved a hand in front of her face, dismissing the concern, and took a big sip of water.

I bit the inside of my lip, determined to get through this conversation without blowing up again.

She finally continued, “So I told them we’d just leave. They really didn’t like that.”

A soft laugh escaped her throat. “But once they realized we were holding all the cards, they gave in. Leo, you can have your divorce, annulment, whatever the lawyers decide.”

“But I’ve still got to marry her?” I asked.

“Of course. I told you from the very beginning that you had to do that, but this way it won’t be a life sentence.”

“When? When can I get divorced?”

“After the honeymoon.”

Eduardo and I both looked at her like she was nuts. If we weren’t required to be together longer than the honeymoon, the point of a marriage seemed like a ridiculous farce. Anyone would be able to see through a sham like that.

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, it will be a three-month-long honeymoon, and we’ll film it.”

“What? No way! I’m not agreeing to that!”

The last thing I wanted was to be a part of another of Lucinda’s productions. Her reality TV shows were all she cared about it seemed, and she would profit off the backs of everyone around her to make them happen, especially her family.

“I can’t imagine the royals are thrilled with the idea of their daughter’s honeymoon being a reality TV show.” Eduardo said what I was thinking.

“Not at first. But once I explained to them that this was the only way for their daughter’s marriage to appear real in the eyes of the public, they began to see things my way.”

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “I won’t do it.”

“Suit yourself, but if you want out of our contract, you will.”

Eduardo tilted his head at me in a this-sounds-like-a-good-deal-man way.

“You’ll let me out of all my deals with you, recording rights, performance, everything?”

“Yes, Leo. That’s what I said.” And with that, she picked up her phone, pressed a few keys, and held it to her ear.

“Who are you calling?” I grumbled.

“Everyone! I’ve got a wedding to plan.”