Free The Royal's American Love by Sophia Lynn Page B

gorgeous monochromatic patterns, but they had never spoken
about how chilly it was. She hadn’t noticed when he was there, but there was
something lifeless about the place.
    Like it’s a place where someone sleeps, but not a place
where someone lives…
    The thought stuck with her. It felt like a piece of a
puzzle snapping into place. She didn’t have all of the pieces, not yet, but now
she could see the picture. She wished for her laptop, but it was across town in
her hotel room.
    The doorbell at the elevator chimed, and when she found the
release button, a young woman in the black uniform of the hotel came in with a
covered dish. Marianna managed to prevent herself from saying it was just like
in the movies. As the young woman got into the elevator, she cast a curious
glance back at Marianna. With a sinking stomach, Marianna hoped the staff of
building was discreet. There was nothing she could do at this point if they
were not.
    To soothe her worries, she dug into the food with a vengeance.
It was hot and delicious, but her mind was on the article she was going to
write. The manNikolos who smiled for the cameras and dutifully went to endless
charity benefits and meetings he was expected to go to was a good man. However,
so was the Nikolos who had so effortlessly charmed her in Los Angeles. They
were one and the same, and some part of her relished bringing that reality to
people who might have dismissed him before this.
    She finished the food, and though she was tempted by the
shops below, she wanted to get some thoughts down on the subject before she
forgot too much. She turned her phone on only to realize that there was a new email
message for her.
    It’s probably just Opal or Mei poking me to see if I’m
doing all right ,she thought to herself. Secretly she wished it was
Nikolos, though there was no reason for him to send an email when he could
simply ring her up.
    The email was titled “What You Should Know.”
    The subject line alone was spooky enough to send shivers up
her spine. She did not recognize the sender, but something prevented her from
simply deleting the email. She had a journalist’s instincts still, and suddenly
she felt a tingle at the base of her neck. Something in that message was going
to change her.
    Biting her lip hard, she clicked on the missive.
    You do not know me,the email began, and we are not
friends. However, we have someone in common, someone that you are disposed to
think well of. I know, much to my and my family’s pain and regret, that you
should not do so. Please. You may be our only hope for justice in this world.
Meet me at the All World Cafe at noon. It is easy to find downtown. Please.
Please.
    She wanted to dismiss the email as some kind of joke. She
had followed bogus leads before, and she had wasted time and money on them.
    But this doesn’t feel like a fake lead ,she
thought, her brow furrowing.
    She didn’t respond to the email. Instead she looked at the
time and frowned, biting her lip. Her dress was lovely, but it was undoubtedly
a party dress. It was hardly the thing that a discreet young woman would be
wearing to a busy cafe in the middle of a Saturday.
    She dressed quickly and made her way out of the building.
The shops close to Nikolos’s building were all as fancy as she feared, but a
friendly taxi driver took her to a large department store. From the way he
glanced at her in the rearview mirror, he obviously thought she was a party
girl coming in from a hard night out.
    Or he thinks I’m a prostitute ,she thought
grimly.
    The department store provided her with a becoming knit
dress in a deep forest green and a pair of Mary Jane flats. It was a good look
for her, and she stuffed her other clothes into the shopping bag instead.
    Now it was just twenty minutes to her meeting, which was
right around the corner. She took a deep breath and started to walk. Somehow,
she felt as if she was going to pay the piper for the pleasure she had enjoyed
that night.
    All things