Page 49 of All the Gossip from Paris (Royal Fashion #2)

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Charles de Gaulle Airport

The following morning

“Ok. I’ll admit it. You were right to make us wait and take the morning flight,” muttered Liam. “Not that we got a lot of sleep last night.”

Seated in the First Class suite next to his, Sophie smiled sweetly at her man. He hadn’t complained when they’d gone for round three of hot and heavy sex. She wasn’t giving Liam an ounce of sympathy.

“You poor thing. I made you sleep in my Paris apartment and when you woke you had a long hot shower. Then we went to the Royal Resorts hotel with my sister and your brother for breakfast where you attempted to single-handedly eat the entire hot buffet.”

“Ryan helped me.”

She’d give him that. The brothers had attacked the bacon and pancakes like it was their last meal.

This morning she and Liam were flying to New York. They were going to spend a few days packing up his apartment in New Jersey. Anything he wanted to keep was going to be shipped to Sophie’s apartment in Paris.

Once they were done, they would fly to S?o Paulo, Brazil. To Liam’s next photographic assignment.

A heady mix of fear and excitement bounced around in her stomach. While the Collins brothers had eaten their fill this morning, Sophie had barely managed a coffee and a small pastry.

They had been one of the first people to board the plane. She didn’t want to sit in the First Class lounge, or even linger at the gate. If she was going to blow up her old life, she wanted to be started on her new one as soon as possible.

Sophie’s cell pinged. She glanced at it. The screen read the same name as the last ten messages had.

Papa.

Her father had been calling since just after dawn. No doubt he’d figured she wasn’t at the chateau. And if Sophie wasn’t at home, there was a good chance she might be late for their eleven o’clock meeting. The meeting where her father and Patrice intended to set out the rules of her future.

But Sophie wasn’t going to be able to make that meeting. By the time eleven o’clock rolled around, she would be somewhere over the North Atlantic. On her way to New York.

It was fun to ignore his calls and delete his voice messages. It was also a little bit childish. “I’m going to have to call him,” she said.

Liam nodded. He knew who she meant. He sat forward and gave her a smile. “Whatever you decide to tell Francois, I will support you. This is your life, Sophie. We will figure this out as we go. Just remember what we both said last night.”

Last night, he’d told her he loved her. That he wanted them to share this adventure. She loved him too. And no one was going to bully her into going back to a life that wasn’t truly her own.

“I love you, Liam.”

“Sophie, I love you too babe.”

Sophie hit dial and put the phone to her ear. Francois answered immediately. “Where are you?”

“I’m seated on flight AF2 which is currently boarding at Charles de Gaulle airport. Liam and I are flying to New York. In a few days we are traveling to S?o Paulo, Brazil.”

Her father’s heavy sigh came down the line.

“And just how long do you intend on staying in Brazil? I mean Haute Couture Week might be over, but we will have many fittings and orders to go out in the next few months. Clients are already asking about the gown you slipped into my show. What am I to tell them?”

He was working the guilt angle perfectly.

In days gone by, she would have abandoned her dreams and gone back to the chateau. She would have picked up her needle and thread, and done as she was told. But Sophie Royal had officially handed in her ‘people pleaser’ card. There was no going back.

“The assignment is for two weeks, but after that who knows where I’ll go. As for the gown. It is my farewell gift to you. If any clients want the dress, it’s yours to make.”

She didn’t expect her father to understand. The gown would always be something she was proud to have created. But she no longer considered it as hers.

“So I can count on you being over this crise de colère by late February. Then you will come home.”

Not a question. A statement. A command.

She took the glass of champagne which Liam offered her and downed a mouthful. It helped settle her nerves.

“It doesn’t matter when return to France. I’m not coming back to work at the atelier. I am no longer an employee of yours, Francois. I am just Sophie Royal, your daughter.”

He wasn’t the only one who could throw some emotional blackmail into the mix.

“And what about Patrice?”

She was sorely tempted to simply answer back “What about Patrice?” But she was determined not to let this conversation descend into a bitter argument.

“Patrice works for you. He is your number two. As for me, he is merely a member of your staff. Any connection I had with him is long buried in the past.”

Let her father find out for himself just how useless his golden boy Patrice really was, and how little he knew of the business of fashion. She could admit to a sense of guilt over that part of her leaving. But not a lot.

Francois was going to be in for a readjustment of his views. But perhaps it had always been something inevitable, something he would have to learn first-hand. Only then might he finally accept that Patrice had never been all that good at his job.

“I’m disappointed in you.”

Sophie closed her eyes. Like always, his words stung. But having made her decision to walk away, they no longer held her captive. It was time to speak her own truth.

“I’m disappointed in you too, Papa. You could have recognized my efforts for the runway show. Instead you chose to keep my light hidden. As you have always done.”

“But we were going to discuss your future this morning. Instead you have thrown a tantrum and are now leaving the country.”

“No tantrum, Papa. I just know that you would have expected me to be grateful for whatever small graces you intended to grant today. And that is not enough.”

Sophie could only hope that if the day ever came when her father sat and wondered why both his daughters had left the family business, this conversation would bubble up in his memory.

“But I still love you, Papa. I hope that when I see you again you will be fully recovered.”

Her father was silent for a moment. Recalling how badly things had gone between Francois and Camille when she’d left, Sophie held her breath.

He cleared his throat. “We will talk when you come home. Make sure you call your mother when you land.”

And then he was gone.

Stubborn man. I suppose I should be grateful he didn’t threaten to cut me off like he did with Camille.

At least that was one lesson her father had learned. When he’d cut Camille’s finances off, she’d turned to other members of the Royal family for help. From what Sophie understood, Francois had been deeply embarrassed. And if there was one thing her father held dear, it was his pride.

She set her phone on the table which sat between her and Liam.

“He said he and I should talk when I come home. We will. I just don’t plan on telling him exactly when it is that I intend to return to France.”

Liam came to sit on the plush arm of Sophie’s armchair. “Will you promise me something?”

“What?”

“Promise me, that you’re not leaving Paris because you are angry with your father. This has to be about you and me. The two of us seeing the world together. It won’t work if you all you are doing is trying to punish him.”

He was still a little unsure. Sophie could understand Liam’s need for reassurance. He’d been badly burned by someone he trusted.

She held his hand. “I will admit to a teeny tiny bit of this being about punishing him. I want my father to see what Patrice is really like. The rest is all about you and me. About stepping off the path I have walked since I was a child. About sharing new adventures with the man I love.”

Liam bent and placed a tender kiss on Sophie’s forehead. “Ok. That’s all I need to know.”

He trusted her to tell him the truth. It was a precious gift. One she would never take for granted.

The flight crew was now moving about the cabin. Closing up the various lockers. Checking that curtains were open.

Sophie was leaving home. Leaving behind all the things which had held her back. But with Liam by her side, she was ready to take on the world.

She rose from her seat as he shifted from the armrest. “From that very first night, you’ve been opening doors for me. And now I’m ready to step through this next one with you, Liam.”

They shared a long kiss. Then just before Liam went to take his seat, he bent and whispered in Sophie’s ear. “Buckle up, Ma chérie. You and I are in for a fun ride.”