Royal Ruse: A Sweet Royal Romance (The Kabiero Royals Book 1) Read online

  Royal Ruse

  The Kabiero Royals Book One

  Emma Lea

  Copyright © 2020 by Emma Lea Writer

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by Michelle Birrell

  Book design and production by Michelle Birrell

  Cover photograph licensed by Adobe Stock

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Other books by Emma Lea

  About this Book

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Bonus Offer

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Other books by Emma Lea

  Other books by Emma Lea

  This is Emma Lea’s complete book library at time of publication, but more books are coming out all the time. Find out every time Emma releases a book by going to her website (www.emmaleaauthor.com) and signing up for her Newsletter.

  SWEET ROMANCES

  These are romantic tales without the bedroom scenes and the swearing, but that doesn’t mean they’re boring!

  The Young Royals

  A Royal Engagement

  Lord Darkly

  A Royal Entanglement

  A Royal Entrapment

  A Royal Expectation

  A Royal Elopement

  A Royal Embarrassment

  A Very Royal Christmas

  A Royal Enticement

  Bookish Book Club Novellas

  Meeting Prince Charming

  Meeting the Wizard of Oz

  Meeting Santa Claus

  The Kabiero Royals

  Royal Ruse

  SWEET & SEXY ROMANCES

  In my Sweet & Sexy Romances I turn up the heat with a little bit of sexy. No swearing, or very minimal swearing, and brief, tasteful and not too graphic bedroom scenes.

  Love, Money & Shoes Series

  Walk of Shame

  Standalone Novels

  Amnesia

  HOT & SEXY ROMANCES

  Hot & Spicy Romances turn the heat way up. They contain swearing and sexy scenes and the characters get hot under the collar.

  Recommended for 18+ readers

  Brisbane City Hearts (formerly TGIF)

  Love to Hate You

  Want to Date You

  Hate to Want You

  Twelve Days

  Twelve Days of Christmas - Her Side of the Story

  Twelve Days of Christmas - His Side of the Story

  Collins Bay Series

  Last Call

  The Christmas Stand-Off

  Standalone Novels

  Learning to Breathe

  Romantic Suspense

  Hide & Seek

  TOO HOT TO HANDLE ROMANCES

  These are definitely 18+ reads and contain graphic sex scenes and high level swearing – not for the faint of heart

  The Young Billionaires

  The Billionaire Stepbrother

  The Billionaire Daddy

  The Billionaire Muse

  The Billionaire Replacement

  The Billionaire Trap

  Christmas with the Billionaire

  Music & Lyrics

  Rock Star

  Songbird

  Strings

  Sticks

  Symphony

  The Playbook Series

  In Like Flynn

  Manscaping

  Serendipity Trilogy

  The Wrong Girl

  The Right Girl (coming soon)

  The Only Girl (coming soon)

  About this Book

  Lucas Andino had been summoned by the king…the only problem? He needed a wife…or at least a fiancée, which wouldn’t have been a problem except…his girlfriend just broke up with him.

  In desperation, he turned to his best friend, Francesca—or Frankie as she was known to, well, everyone.

  Frankie needed a topic for her sociology dissertation, and she needed it yesterday. When Lucas suggested they become fake engaged so he could answer the summons of the king, Frankie saw the opportunity for what it was. Who else would have unfettered access to a monarch for their dissertation? Who else could do an up close and personal examination of an emerging nation? Besides, Frankie would do anything for Lucas. They were best friends for a reason and if he needed her, then she was his girl. So what if she had a tiny crush on him? They were both going into it with their eyes wide open. No one was going to get hurt.

  Author’s Note

  Raida is not a real alcohol :) When I started writing this story, I imagined Lucas’ family owning an ouzo distillery…it wasn’t until I did a bit of research that I discovered ouzo can only be called ouzo if it is made in Greece. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ So I decided to use a fictional alcohol to go along with my fictional island and my fictional country and my fictional monarchy and my fictional…okay, you get the idea.

  If raida was real, it would be just like ouzo :D

  For Aubrey

  My heart

  Chapter 1

  Francesca

  “Take a breath, Lucas,” I said as I flopped on my bed, holding the phone to my ear while simultaneously holding in the sigh begging to be let out.

  “Please tell me I’m doing the right thing, Frankie,” Lucas said. The tremor in his voice was a dead giveaway to just how freaked out he was.

  “You know I can’t do that,” I replied. “You love her, though, right?”

  “Clarissa is exactly what I need in a wife,” he said, and I rolled my eyes.

  Clarissa was annoying and vain and vapid and I didn’t like her at all, but I knew Lucas’ mother loved her and would be overjoyed if—when—Lucas asked her to marry him. Me, not so much.

  “But do you love her?” I asked again.

  Lucas was my best friend, and we’d been best friends since we met on the first day of college. Harvard was a big, scary school, and I’d glommed onto Lucas almost from the moment I bumped into him and spilled his armful of books everywhere. He was awkward and adorable and the sweetest guy I’d ever known. I, on the other hand, was a little more rough and tumble and had been accused of being too brash on occasion. We shouldn’t work as friends, but we did, which was why I’d never pursued the crush I had on him. No way was I going to jeopardize our friendship when I knew there could never be a future between the two of us.

  That didn’t mean I wanted him to marry Clarissa, though.

  It also didn’t mean I could tell him my honest thoughts on their future union.<
br />
  “I enjoy spending time with her,” he replied. “And we have a lot in common. Mother loves her and Clarissa loves Mother, so…”

  Should I point out to him he still had not told me he loved her? Probably not. I’d already pushed him enough, and I knew if I pushed too hard he would curl up in a ball like an armadillo and not speak to me for a few days.

  “So you’re going to ask her then?” I prompted. “You’ll propose to Clarissa tonight? I hope you booked a great restaurant. Have you bought the ring?”

  “Yes, yes, and yes,” he said, sounding more confident with each affirmative answer. “I booked a table at Menton months ago and I had the ring custom made. I stalked her Instagram feed for design ideas.”

  I rolled my eyes again. Of course Clarissa had been posting pictures of engagement rings on her Instagram feed. She was as subtle as a tank rolling down a hill.

  “Ooh, Menton, classy,” I said brightly. “So, you’re all set then. This time tomorrow you’ll be a fiancé!”

  “Oh God,” he muttered.

  It shouldn’t make me happy that he seemed to be doubting his decision to ask Clarissa to marry him, right? I mean, that would make me a bad friend…wouldn’t it?

  Before I could say something to assuage his fears, I heard a commotion on his end of the phone and the unmistakable voice of his mother.

  “Uh, Frankie? I have to go. Mother is here.”

  “No problem,” I replied, but he’d already disconnected.

  I groaned and tossed my phone onto the bed.

  “Why, God, why? Why did it have to be Clarissa?”

  I growled again in frustration and kicked my legs against the mattress like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum.

  I wanted Lucas to be happy. I wanted him to find someone who would love and adore him like he deserved, but that person was not Clarissa. And it might be selfish of me, but I wanted him to find someone I could be friends with too. Clarissa didn’t like me and she tried to drive a wedge between my friendship with Lucas every chance she got. I knew that if—when—he married her, it would be the death knell for our BFF status.

  But maybe that was the wake-up call I needed. I couldn’t pine away for him indefinitely. We would never be more than friends, so I had no right to wish away his happiness just because I didn’t get on with his significant other. I valued my friendship with Lucas above my pride, so if that meant making nice with Clarissa, then I would. I would do anything for Lucas.

  The alarm on my phone sounded, and I groaned again as I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I had an appointment with my dissertation supervisor and I couldn’t be late. I was so close to finishing my Ph.D. in sociology, if I could only decide on my final dissertation. Being me, I couldn’t just do sociology, I had to throw in a bit of psychology and anthropology as well, just to keep things interesting. Now I wished I hadn’t been so ambitious. Time was ticking and if I didn’t make some progress soon, all those years I’d spent studying would be for nothing.

  I turned off the alarm and tossed my phone back on the bed, taking one last look at the picture of me and Lucas that was my phone’s wallpaper. It was my favorite photo of us, of him. He was laughing, and completely unaware of just how good looking he was, although that wasn’t unusual. Lucas had no idea just how beautiful he was. Thick, ebony hair that was always just a touch too long and always a bit too unruly, and warm brown eyes that I could stare into indefinitely. He had the best smile, with deep dimples and the longest, darkest eyelashes I’d ever seen on anybody—male or female. He also gave the best hugs and although I wasn’t an overly affectionate person, I could never turn down being wrapped in his arms.

  It was just such a shame that he didn’t see me as anything other than his friend.

  I sighed and stalked into the bathroom for a shower. He was only hours away from proposing to the woman of his dreams. I needed to stop mooning after him and get on with my own life…specifically, decide on the subject for my dissertation. If I could distract myself with work, then maybe I could finally get over this childish crush.

  I snorted. Not likely, but it was a wonderful goal to have, at least.

  Lucas

  “Lucas!”

  I disconnected from Frankie and looked up at my mother. She was a striking woman, her dark hair rich and glossy and stylishly swept up on top of her head. She wore a designer pants suit in white and accessorized with gold jewelry. Even her heeled sandals glittered gold.

  “Lucas,” she said again, barging into my office waving around an envelope.

  Annabel, my assistant, gave me an apologetic look before she closed the door and left me alone with my mother.

  “Mother,” I said, standing and stepping around my desk to greet her. I angled my head to accept her kiss on the cheek and then guided her to a chair. But she didn’t sit. Instead, she shoved the envelope she’d been holding into my face.

  “Lucas,” she said, barely keeping her voice at a respectable decibel. “It’s from the king.”

  I pushed my glasses up my nose and took a breath to steady my nerves. My parents had kept me informed with all the goings on in Kalopsia. I barely remembered the Mediterranean island where I was born, as we’d fled from the ‘troubles’ twelve years ago. My parents had taken their raïda distillery business and moved it, and our family, to America, the land of promise. Raïda was an intense spirit, similar to ouzo or sambuca, and had a reputation for being a modern day absinthe. The company had grown exponentially since moving to America and my parents had never looked back.

  “You need to open it,” my mother insisted urgently. “Right now.”

  I took the envelope and turned it over in my hand. I knew the prince had returned to Kalopsia—he was the king now—I just didn’t know why he would send me a letter. Why me and not my parents? They were the ones with the title; I was just the son, and not a very impressive one at that. My younger sister was far more accomplished and the jewel in the Andino family. Me? I was just the accountant.

  “Lucas,” my mother encouraged. “Open it.”

  “Why haven’t you opened it already?” I asked, moving back around to the other side of my desk and falling into my chair. I adjusted my glasses again and looked to my mother. Her cheeks flushed. “You opened it already,” I said with a sigh.

  “Just read it,” she said, finally taking her seat.

  I turned the envelope over in my hands and looked at the wax seal which had been cracked and then clumsily re-sealed. My stomach cramped and my knee bobbed nervously. As if I didn’t have enough to be nervous about today. The ring I’d had made for Clarissa sat heavily in my pocket, and the words I’d been practicing all day ran around in my head and got incredibly jumbled. Now I had a wax-sealed missive from a king. It felt like getting sent to the principal’s office, although I had no idea what I could have done wrong.

  I slid my finger under the seal and cracked it for the second time. The envelope was made from a heavy card stock and so was the folded, handwritten letter inside.

  I skimmed the letter, just to check I wasn’t being sued or scolded or…I didn’t know what else. I just needed to know I wasn’t in trouble for something. But when I got to the end, I had to go back to the top and start reading again because I couldn’t actually believe what I’d just read.

  “I don’t understand,” I said, looking up at my mother after reading the letter a second time.

  My mother vibrated in her chair, barely able to keep still. This was exactly the type of thing she craved. She took her place in society very seriously and for the king to reach out and request my presence as part of his court was just the thing she needed to climb another rung on society’s ladder.

  “The king needs you,” she said, clapping her hands.

  I didn’t know about that, but the request intrigued me. King Christophe was asking me to travel to Kalopsia and consider taking up a position in his royal court.

  “Why me?” I asked. “Why not you and Father?”

&
nbsp; Mother shrugged. “I suppose he wants to start fresh, surround himself with people his own age.”

  I could tell she was a little miffed that she and Father were not being asked to return, but having a son in the royal court was the next best thing. Besides, why would she want to give up the luxury she lived in to go back to an island that had suffered under the regime of a greedy and fiscally irresponsible usurper? Kalopsia was not the jewel it used to be, and my parents liked the finer things in life. Not to mention, my parents had fled, abandoning the former-king to his fate. It was a surprise the new king wanted anything to do with any of us.

  “Of course you’ll go, and you will take Clarissa with you.”

  “What?”

  “You can’t go to Kalopsia without a wife,” Mother said. “And you are planning to ask Clarissa to marry you, aren’t you?”

  I didn’t know how my mother knew I was planning to propose to my long-term girlfriend, but I’d given up trying to figure out how my mother knew any of the things she did.