Page 102 of Prince

Maxence was standing on the curb when the car pulled away. “All right, Dree. You can stop hiding behind the lampposts now.”

Dree had trailed them at a distance, though Maxence hadn’t lost sight of her for a moment.

She stepped out of the crowd, the Mediterranean sunlight glowing on her skin and hair even though it was late January. “Why didn’t you tell him that you’ve decided not to be a priest?”

Maxence said, “We should talk about this inside.”

“No, Maxence. If you can’t tell him you made a decision, we don’t have anything to talk about.”

Security guards crowded into formation around Maxence, their heads swiveling as they watched the crowd around him for any sudden movements.

“Chérie,”he said.

“I need to know right now. Do you choose me, or do you choose the Church?”

“Father Moses will talk to Pope Celestine. I’m sure I’ll have some clarification by tomorrow.”

“Theydon’t need to clarify anything. Father Moses was perfectly clear. They want you to come to Rome, and they want you to be ordained as a priestright now.”

“I’ve been studying for this for ten years, Dree. I’ve poured my whole life into studying theology and serving, trying to be a man of Christ.”

The commando near Maxence’s right shoulder frowned but didn’t stop surveying for threats.

“No,” Dree said in a voice that sounded like his hand was around her throat. “I understand you need to do the right thing, but I won’t do something I know is wrong. I can’t believe we’re having this discussion again. I’m not your sin, and I’m not your temptation.I deserve better.”

Dree bowed her head and stepped back into the crowd, almost instantly lost in the throng of tourists and Monegasque citizens.

“Dree!” he called after her.

One of the security guys on Maxence’s left shoulder glanced briefly at him and then resumed scanning the crowd around them. “Should I send someone after her, Your Highness?”

Sending someone to drag her back would break her trust even more. “No, Leo. I’ll return to the palace now.”

Maxence walked inside the palace, letting his security detail set the pace because he’d caused them more than enough trouble that day.

Back in his office, Maxence sat in his chair and stared at the empty room, trying to make sense of it.

In the middle of his desk blotter, a wrought iron metal key had been placed precisely in the center of the green felt.

He took a black velvet cube out of his pocket and set it beside the key.

Maxence stared at the antique key and the box for a long time before he slid them into his pocket and went back to his apartment to change into his tuxedo for the Sea Change Gala.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Cinderelly

Dree

Yeah, Dree was crying.

Dree had locked the door of her windowless bedroom in the basement of the palace, practically a dungeon, and was crying her eyes out.

Later, she would tell herself that farm girls don’t cry, but right then, everything was wrong, and she already missed Maxence so much that her arms tried to crawl on the floor and out the door to find him, but she absolutely wouldn’t.

Maxence had chosen the priesthood, and he’d chosen Monaco above that.

Dree knew where she stood in his order of priorities. She wasn’t at the top, and she wasn’t even in second place. Hell, Dree didn’t think she was even number three.