Free Courted: Gowns & Crowns, Book 1 by Jennifer Chance Page A

I want every single minute from the moment you arrived at the palace, which I know Em has memorized. But I also know Fran will add the juicy details that Em didn’t notice. So Fran wins.”
    Em’s laugh bubbled up in her throat as Frannie started talking. She felt like hugging her friends, despite all the craziness. Without them, she wouldn’t be in this paradise. Without them, she wouldn’t be soaking in this sunlight, roaming these streets—
    Kissing a prince.
    Now that they were safely out of range of the paparazzi, she allowed herself to relax. Not bothering to try to wipe the silly grin off her face, she pulled out her key card first, the others standing back because she was always the one to have the key card ready, just as she was always the one with the lists, the printed research pages, the multiple copies of directions. After only a couple of days, they’d developed a pattern in hotels, restaurants, even taxi stands. A pattern that was eerily similar to how they’d interacted as college friends, and yet different. Richer.
    Wanting to gather all her memories close to her heart, Em heard the locks give way and pushed inside—then stopped short, Nicki almost running her over.
    “What in the hell ?” Lauren herded them all into the room, closing the door quickly behind her.
    “What the fuck happened in here?” Nicki pushed past Em, picking up speed.
    Em could only stare, all the tension returning to her body, just that quickly. The room was in total disarray—suitcases pulled out and unzipped, papers spilled out over the ornate coffee table that was the centerpiece of the tiny suite, everything upended.
    “Who’s in here?” Nicki yelled, bounding through their small suite to one of the bedrooms. “I will kick your sorry ass is what I’ll do!”
    “Check the safe,” Lauren ordered, but Em was already on it. She and Frannie rushed into the second bedroom, and Frannie went on to the bathroom, calling the all clear to echo Nicki’s shout. But Em didn’t have to crouch down at the foot of the bed to know something was terribly wrong.
    “Empty.” She reached inside the safe to swipe her hands in the empty space. “Passports all gone. Everything’s gone.” She rocked back on her heels .
    She needed to call Kristos. She knew she needed to call Kristos. But right now, she couldn’t resist a completely irrational spurt of anger at the man. They had been simply Americans enjoying a beautiful day at the beach before he’d run into her. Since then, they’d become some sort of weird media sideshow that was turning seriously scary. “There’s nothing left in here.” She searched all around the safe, picking up the clothes that had been pulled from the hangers and tossing them on the bed. “Nothing in the safe, I mean. I think the only thing we had in there was our passports, though.”
    “Money?” Lauren asked sharply.
    “Carrying it,” came a chorus of responses, which meant they all had their driver’s licenses too—not that those would do them any good.
    “Good. That’s a start.” Lauren looked around, as if this wasn’t the first time she’d returned to find her hotel room ransacked. Somehow, that made Em feel even worse. Why had she let herself kiss Kristos at the beach? And why in God’s name had she gone back for more ? “We’re going to have to call the embassy in Greece. Garronia isn’t big enough to justify having one here. For fuck’s sake. Our passports.” Lauren kept muttering as she strode over to the phone. She picked up the receiver and punched the button for the front desk, but Em’s attention was on Fran.
    Frannie looked as shocked as she felt. This is all my fault.
    She didn’t realize she’d said it out loud until Fran’s gaze snapped to meet hers.
    “It most certainly is not your fault,” she retorted. “You didn’t ask to get rescued by the freaking King of Siam. You went for a swim . The rest is on him, and believe me,” she said resolutely, moving over