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The crowd by the door parts, and a handsome blond man strolls in. He’s wearing fashionable clothing, and his hair sticks up in one of those bed-head styles that were all the rage a few years ago. Two larger men stand behind him, frowning and competent, with muscles bulging from their muscles. They wear sunglasses despite the late hour and being indoors. Someone whispers in the blond man’s ear and points. The man follows the pointing finger and stares—at us.
Lina puts her lips close to my ear. “Eduard is the Hereditary Grand Duke of Freiberg. Heir to the throne. How do you not know that?” She gives a little finger wave.
The men by the door don’t acknowledge her greeting. The blond still stares at us—it feels like it’s directed at me, but that can’t be right. Unless he’s as impressed by my hair as Andi. The bodyguards look like statues.
“There’s a throne?” I frown around the room. I don’t see anything remotely resembling a throne.
Lina giggles. “Not here, silly.”
Teo rises on the rungs of his own chair, pulling his solid shoulder from my grip, and I sway. His arm slides around me, holding me steady. A surge of warmth pulses through my body, leaving me breathless. I glance at Teo, but he’s focused on the other guy.
The blond man’s gaze swivels to Teo, and he nods. Teo returns the curt gesture. The noise of the crowd picks up, people move, and the duke and his entourage are lost in the sea of bodies.
“Do you know him? The grand duke?” I whisper to Teo, then laugh. “The grand duke. Isn’t he the stuffy guy from Cinderella?”
Teo helps me down from the stool, and his arm slides away, leaving me chilled. What was that? I had a crush on Teo in middle school, but he never reciprocated my feelings. After all this time, we’re just friends. It must be the beer. I drop to my seat.
“I know him,” Teo confirms, and it takes a second before I remember who he’s talking about.
“Lina says he’s, like, king of Freiberg. How d’ya know him?”
“Yeah, how?” Lina asks, but it sounds more like a challenge than a question.
Andi bites her lip, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smirk. “Yeah, how?”
Teo stares down his sister. “He’s not king. He’s the Hereditary Grand Duke. That means he’ll be the grand duke when his mother retires. As to how I know him—Freiberg is a small country. We went to school together.”
Something is going on between the Feltz siblings, but I’m not sure what. Probably some family thing. I’m an only child, but I know brothers and sisters often fight over silly stuff. Odette and Suzie lean forward, demanding more information about the duke. Teo answers a few questions, clearly reluctant to discuss his former classmate.
One of the huge bodyguards—the one with dark skin and a shiny, bald head—appears behind Teo. “Excuse me, sir. The Hereditary Grand Duke would like a word.” His voice sounds like an abandoned well—exactly as you’d expect from a man who looks like he could crush a car with his bare hands.
Teo gives a jerky nod, then pins a glare on his sister. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t hurry on our account.” Andi picks up her beer and waves the mug at him, then turns to Hans. “Sweetie, get me another, will you?”
Hans watches Teo disappear into the crowd, then surveys the table, counting and pointing at half-empty glasses. “Two, three. Four?” He raises a brow at me, but I shake my head. He flashes his bright smile and slips away.
Suzie leans across the table, almost falling out of her low-cut blouse. “How does Teo know the Hereditary Grand Duke?”
“Weren’t you listening?” Odette rolls her eyes.
I turn to Andi. “What’s up with you and Teo?”
“Whatever do you mean?” Andi is a couple years younger than me, so I didn’t really know her back home. Like Teo, her English is astoundingly good—probably better than mine, if I’m honest—and her accent gives her a kind of elite sound. “He’s my brother. Surely you know how aggravating they can be.”
I shake my head. “Don’t have one. I’m an only child.”
“Lucky you.” Andi pauses, then frowns. “Not really. There are definite advantages to having siblings. They can take the attention off you in difficult times.” She yanks on her hank of pink hair.
“You don’t seem like the kind of girl who wants to divert attention.” The words tumble out of my mouth before I realize how rude they sound. I backpedal, waving at her hair and clothing. “I mean, you’re fabulous. Fabulous people don’t usually want to hide. Unless you’ve done something to get into trouble?” I lean closer, sensing a good story.
She laughs. “Not this time.”
When Teo returns, the girls pelt him with questions about the royal guy. Andi doesn’t say a word, just watching the discussion with sparkling eyes. Of course, she probably knows Eduard, too, if Freiberg is as small as they claim.
I lean closer to whisper, “Did you go to school with him, too?”
She glances at me, then toward the bar where a rowdy crowd has formed around the royal heir. “With Eduard? No. He and Teo went to Saint Rupert’s.” At my blank look, she continues. “All-boys school. Our younger brother went there, too. Bianka and I went to Edele’s Ladies’ Academy.”
