Page 74 of Prince

“Oh, of course not, but when everybody congregates on someone’s yacht or there is a wedding to go to, you are never anywhere to be found. You skipped your own brother’s engagement party last year. God rest his soul.”

Bringing up Pierre was an odd choice in the conversation.

Nora had steered Maxence over to one of the open bars where they claimed flutes of champagne. The effervescence popped and fizzled in Maxence’s mouth and sinuses. “My life after school has been a busy one.”

As was usual for boarding-school friends, they gossiped for a few minutes about other alumni, discussing who was doing what and who was in trouble with whom.

When Nora brought up one of the odd ducks in their class, Triston King, Maxence told her, “I heard Twist was hanging out at the yacht club here in Monte Carlo. Caz said he’s algorithm-trading global stocks and utilizing Monaco’s 5G network to outfox competitors.”

Nora batted her dark eyes up at him. “So unusual that you have the inside scoop on our classmates, but of course it makes sense that you know everything that’s going on in Monaco. Have you seen anyone else?”

Still odd. Max didn’t like it. “I saw Micah Shine in Paris a month or so ago.”

Nora smiled. “Slumming it with the scholarship kids, are you?”

“He was at a ball at Versailles. Micah looks like he was doing quite well for himself, not slumming it at all.”

Nora finished her champagne and set it on the tray of a waiter who was bussing tables as they passed. She cuddled herself closer to Maxence’s side. “I just meant that the scholarship kids aren’tlike us.”

Maxence wasn’t sure if her comment was mere classism or an attempt to emphasize what the two of them had in common, which was enough royal blood to turn the floor sapphire blue. “They always seemed like good chaps.”

“You said you talked to Casimir. How is he doing these days?”

Casimir was a prince of the Netherlands, and another example oflike-us.“Living the quiet life in California as his sister pushes him down the line of succession with each new baby.”

“How terrible for him.”

“I think he’s rather enjoying his life. His wife is an absolute delight.”

“Marriage can be so good for people ofourstatus, don’t you think?”

The whole conversation with Nora felt forced. “I have some business to attend to, Nora. It was so lovely to meet you here tonight.”

“Yes, well, I heard that you are back in Monaco after one of your extended missions, and I wanted to be one of the first to welcome you back to society.”

“I can’t say I’m back in society,” Maxence said. “I’m only in Monaco for a few weeks, a few months at the most. I’ll have projects lined up all of next year, I dare say.”

She blinked again, but this time it was less fluttering her eyelashes and more trying to expel the grit of astonishment. “But you won’t be able to go away on extended charity projects when you’re the sovereign prince of Monaco.”

Her motives became clear. “Nora, I’m not sure who you’ve been talking to, but I have no intention of allowing myself to be crowned the sovereign prince. I have a vocation to the Catholic priesthood. I will be following that path. I am only back in Monaco to make sure that the succession is a peaceful and successful one.”

Nora’s eyebrows flinched downward, and her voice lowered in disgust. “You’re throwing away athrone?”

“Not throwing away a throne so much as dodging a bullet.”

Nora glanced toward the upper corners of the room with what seemed to be an aborted eye roll. “If Antonius got out of my way, I’djumpat the chance. I don’t knowwhyyou’re walking away.”

Maxence swallowed hard. “We have different priorities. I wish you well, and do say hello to everyone from Le Rosey at the next yacht party for me.”

Maxence shook off Nora’s hand and resolutely made his way toward the blazing rectangle of the exit.

Chapter Twenty

Downstairs

Dree

Dree was sitting on her bed in the dorm-style room deep in the Prince’s Palace, looking at social media on her phone, when her door rattled faintly with a hesitant knock. She wiped her eyes and yelled, “Come in! It’s open!”