Heavy Crown - Bellerive Royals 3 [Sample]

3. Alex

My driver and guard, Kane, opens the rear of the black SUV for me after another disastrous arranged marriage match. This one, Catherine, was Brice's suggestion. Next time, I'll ask more questions. At eighteen, yes, she's legal, and along with the fact she was born in Bellerive, they're the only things which qualified her to meet me. We had nothing, absolutely nothing, in common. The hour we spent together was painful.

Besides, I'm not having a child bride. I'm thirty-three and that age gap, among other things, led to the disaster of Charles and Diana's marriage. No thanks. I thought no child brides went without having to be said, but I guess I'll need to say those words to Brice.

The reality is I might also need to be more involved. I'm so disinterested in the whole wife-finding affair it's hard to muster any enthusiasm when someone in the royal circle suggests a match. 

Kane catches my gaze in the rearview mirror. "Another one bites the dust."

"Do you have any sisters, Kane?" I muse.

"One. But she's already married. We don't qualify anyway."

I sigh and stare out the window as he drives us back to the palace grounds. Not much I can say to that. I already knew, as a first-generation immigrant family from Japan, that no one in his family would fit the narrow criteria.

"What was that process like?" I ask.

"My parents said it was very hard. Bellerive doesn't make it easy to move here permanently. There are other countries that are much easier, but my parents fell in love with this place."

One of the chief complaints of people who come here on a work visa are the strict rules limiting their length of stay. I've never agreed with them, but I understand it's a form of population control. We're an island. There's only so much room to grow. We do let people stay beyond the limits sometimes, but it's unusual for a family to achieve permanency, like Kane's family has, without a clear connection to a native Bellerivian.

"Why, Your Highness? Are you considering chucking it in and immigrating elsewhere?" Kane's expression is lit with mischief.

"Should I? Would save me having to explain an NDA and its consequences to an eighteen-year-old over a bottle of wine she's barely legal to drink while in the back room of a restaurant so no one sees us together." Out loud, the evening sounds like the farce it was.

"That's a mouthful," Kane agrees. "The one the other night was all right."

He's referring to Anna Samuel's younger sister who has just come back to the island from law school. We did have an okay time considering I fucked her sister on the regular in my early twenties. Seems a bit awkward to me, but Kara glossed over the connection as a non-issue. The family is happy to chase The Crown any way they can.

"I'm on an international wife-finding tour starting next week," I say.

"Bit of a whirlwind, isn't it?" Kane agrees. "Seven countries in seven days."

"Royal speed dating. A high tea here, a royal ball there." We're nearing the point where Kane either continues our well-worn path home or takes the West Shore Road. On impulse, I lean forward. "Let's take the long way home. I'm not keen to get back to Brice's intrusive questions."

"There's fog," Kane says, his hesitation clear.

The sensible thing is to tell him never mind and carry on the normal way. But I can't ignore the sensation in the pit of my stomach. Any time I've tried to quiet an instinct this strong, I've regretted it.

"Take it anyway," I say.

Kane grimaces and makes the turn. As we drive, there's a thick fog, but it's sitting at the surface of the road and no match for the SUV which is higher and has excellent fog lights. Anyone in a compact or low to the ground vehicle would struggle. Despite our advantages, we still can't see very far ahead of us, and I'm sure Kane is cursing me under his breath.