Free Twice Upon a Time by Kate Forster Page B

of pillows. Perrette’s were thinner, and always painted. When she smiled they looked like a straight line.
    Stop it , he told himself. Cinda might be sexy, but she wasn’t well bred. He heard his mother’s voice in his head. She didn’t understand the way his world turned, she never would. So why couldn’t he stop staring at her?
    He had seen her and Ludo on the beach and he wondered what it would be like to be kissed they way she kissed Ludo.
    Perrette approached their love life just like she approached the rest of her life – determined, strategic, something that had to be done as well as possible.
    Gus worked through the rest of the morning, methodically getting through his tasks, but occasionally his eye line would travel to the sketch of that mouth.
    Is she still down at the beach?
    He told himself to stay focused.
    Have she and Ludo slept together?
    He was just reminding himself that it was none of his business when he heard his private secretary come into the room.
    ‘Excuse me, Your Highness? Your mail.’ He placed Gus’s correspondence on the silver tray on the desk, the envelopes wrapped in different-coloured ribbons. Red for important, green for personal and fan mail (it always struck Gus as odd that a prince would get fan mail), and blue for everything else.
    The green pile was low as always. This had never really bothered him, but today he picked it up as though to weigh it in his hands.
    ‘Can I see Ludo’s mail collection?’ he asked suddenly.
    The secretary allowed only a flicker of surprise to cross his face before walking from the room. He promptly returned with a tray. There were five piles of fan and personal mail for Ludo, and one of important. Almost the exact opposite of Gus’s mail.
    ‘God, he’s popular isn’t he?’ said Gus.
    ‘He is a very popular member of the family, yes,’ said his secretary politely, before leaving the room again.
    Gus sat in thought. Was Ludo popular or was Gus unpopular? He had never really considered being liked all that important, but something about Ludo being so loved by the people of Sardinia, so wanted by everyone, unsettled him now.
    Or was it the idea that Cinda wanted Ludo, and found Gus so lacking?
    He knew he hadn’t made a great first impression and he wished he’d handled things better. But then what?
    Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he settled back down to work. One of Gus’s main strengths was his huge reserve of willpower. He refused to move from his desk until his jobs were done – often he wouldn’t even go to the bathroom. And though he was itching to know where Cinda was, to check on what fun she and Ludo and Jonas were having, he didn’t leave his desk until his work was finished.
    When he stretched and headed downstairs, he found Jonas and Ludo still by the pool, now drinking what looked suspiciously like mojitos. He could smell marijuana in the air. Seeing the remnants of two joints in a crystal ashtray, he sighed. Why did Ludo need to get high to have a good time?
    ‘What’s happening, my brother?’ called Ludo. His accent made the words sound stupid, but Gus didn’t feel like reminding Ludo he was a prince, not a homeboy.
    ‘Where’s Cinda?’ he asked casually.
    ‘Here,’ he heard and he turned to see Cinda approaching in a red bikini and straw cowboy hat.
    ‘Jesus,’ he said, before he could stop himself. She looked like something he’d have dreamed up as a teenager. No wonder Ludo had it so bad.
    ‘What?’ she asked, frowning, self-consciously adjusting her bikini.
    ‘You gave me a fright, that’s all,’ he said quickly, turning his back on her.
    Cinda walked past him and poured herself a drink.
    ‘Play some tunes, bro?’ called Ludo, now standing at the edge of the pool. ‘Get out your guitar. It’s been ages.’
    Gus stood still. He didn’t want these people to know about his musical side, that was strictly for his – and sometimes Ludo’s – ears only. He used to play a lot when he was a