Page 85 of Royal Icing

The cork popped out of the bottle and flew across the room. The people who hadn’t been staring before definitely were now.

Emma took a swig before holding the bottle out in front of her.

A dozen people scrambled to grab desserts, and a few more pulled out their phones and started filming.

“You wouldn’t dare,” the queen said with a voice that would curdle milk.

Emma leaned forward and made steady eye contact. “Watch me.”

She swept the tarts and croissants into the food storage bins in the blink of an eye, then dumped champagne over the macaron courtyard.

“Merry Christmas, Your Majesty. Oh, and I fucked your son.”

With that, she picked up the poker and smashed it into the gingerbread turret. The castle crumpled, chunks of gingerbread and sugar glass flying everywhere.

She brought the poker down again and again until it was nothing but crumbs.

“What thehellare you doing, Emma?” Maya, wearing a glittering black gown with a neckline cut to her navel, pushed through the crowd. “Your Majesty, I’m so sorry,” she simpered to the queen. “Emma’s not quite right mentally. You know it’s her fault that her mom is disabled now.”

Emma froze. A gasp rippled across the room.

“Get out.” That was Leo.

Maya looked at him like he was a cockroach. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

“I’m the prince of the country you’re currently trespassing in. Leave. Now.”

“Hey, man,” John began. Great, now the king-dipshit-to-be was here.

“Enough,” the queen said. “All of you, out. Now. Guards?—”

Maya raised a shaking finger and pointed it in Emma’s direction. “You’ve embarrassed me for the last time. You’re fired.”

“Sounds great,” Emma said in a strangled voice. “Good luck running the bakery on your own.”

She marched toward the ballroom door, arms laden with food storage containers, but stopped next to a terrified-looking maid. “Gina, I’m so sorry about the mess. I tried to mitigate it with the tablecloths.”

Gina shot a furtive look at the queen, then leaned forward. “Don’t be. She deserves it.”

Emma shot her a smile, then strode out through the foyer and out to the courtyard with her head held high. Leo jogged to catch up with her.

Panic was setting in. Everything had come crashing down in a matter of minutes. Her job and her healthcare were gone. She wasn’t going to be able to afford rent, let alone her mother’s medication. They were worse off than they had been before this horrible trip. If she had just kept her head down and done the work, avoided Leo, it would have been fine. But she’d lost control and ruined everything.

“Why did you do that? I told you I would handle it.” His voice sliced like the tip of an arrow.

She whirled around. She didn’t need his judgment. “I did it because your mom’s an asshole, Leo. I’m done being pushed around by assholes. I wish I had never come here.” Her voice broke, and she ran up the gatehouse stairs to the apartment.

Leo didn’t follow her. She would never see him again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

LEO

Leo stalkeddown the castle corridor with his laptop in hand. Fatigue clung to him like a winter coat. He hadn’t slept a wink the night before and instead spent the night pacing his suite, marveling at how horrifically everything had spiraled out of control. Emma had left, and she hated him. By the time he had come to his senses and pounded on her apartment door, she and Cooper were already gone.

And of course his family wasn’t about to console him. His sister had concealed who she really was. John was a certified wanker who had slept with the woman who degraded Emma. And his parents were probably on the brink of disowning him.

The community project was the only thing he had left. There were people counting on him. He couldn’t let it die without trying.