Page 36 of Royally Matched

Chapter Twelve

Starla was still in her room when Max and Lily knocked on the door. When she opened it, her eyes grew round with shock.

“Surprised to see us together?” Max asked with anger. “I’m sure this wasn’t part of your plan.”

“What are you talking about, Max?” she asked with fake innocence. “I’ve just been in my room looking at baby registries.”

“You can stop the act, Starla. I know the truth. Lily overheard you talking to someone on the phone.”

Starla’s eyes snapped to Lily as she glared at her. “I don’t know what she told you, Max, but it’s all lies.”

“Save it,” Max stated with fury. “I don’t want to hear any more of your empty lies.”

“You can’t talk to me this way. I’m the mother of your unborn child,” she yelled at him. “Who are you going to believe, me or her?”

“Her, most definitely her,” Max said, taking Lily’s hand in his own. “I can’t believe you would trick me into marrying you and then fake a miscarriage. What type of horrible person does that?”

Pressing her lips together she said defensively, “You left me little choice, Max. When you just up and left me, I had no idea what I did wrong. I tried to contact you, but you wouldn’t even respond to me.”

Guilt over his mistreatment of not only Starla, but all the other women of his youth, washed over Max. His poor choices were coming back to haunt him in the form of one diabolical pop star; however, she was a monster of his own making. If he had treated her better then maybe all of this could have been avoided.

“I’m sorry I didn’t end things better, Starla. I was a different man back then. You deserved to be treated better than that. But that doesn’t excuse away your lies and manipulations.” Gesturing to her stuff he added, “I want you to pack and vacate the palace within the hour.”

“You can’t do this, Max. If you do, I’m going to the press with my story. I’ve still got the sonogram, and it did a good enough job to convince you, I think it will work on them.”

“Try it, and I’ll have you arrested for fraud upon the crown. You don’t want to see what it’s like on the inside of a Triola prison. I guarantee you they are not as nice as American ones.”

Shaking her head, she said, “You don’t have to do that. I’ll go quietly.”

“That’s the smart choice, and it should be clear by now, I don’t want to ever see you again.”

Narrowing her gaze at him, she spat out, “Likewise. I can’t wait to be free of this backward country, anyway.”

Lily and Max exited the guest room and made their way through the palace until they were alone in the royal library.

Max turned to Lily and let out a heavy sigh. “I’m so glad all of that is over.”

“Me too,” she said with a nod. “I can’t believe how hard and dirty she fought until the very end.”

“Thank goodness you heard the truth. I can’t even imagine being married toherfor the rest of my life,” Max said as his eyes went wide with revulsion.

“I guess that means I saved you from a life of misery then,” Lily said with a smile.

Reaching out, he pulled her towards him as he said in agreement, “I guess it does, which means I should probably thank you.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” she asked with a quirk of her eyebrow.

“Like this,” he said, placing his mouth upon hers. The kiss was like a healing balm, covering up all the wounds, not only from their distant past, but what had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

As Max pulled back and stared into Lily’s eyes, he realized he would do whatever it took to hold on to her and the love they shared.

* * *

Lily looked down at the newspaper in front of her. Scrawled across the front page was her engagement announcement to Maxwell Gerard Beaumont, the Crown Prince of Triola.

In six months, she would walk down the aisle, marry the only man she had ever loved, and promise to spend the rest of her life with him.

“That’s a great picture of us,” Max said as he entered the room. “I’m glad we went with your photographer friend rather than the royal one. He never seems to catch anyone’s good side.”

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