Page 3 of Royally Knocked Up (Princes of Passion #1)

HAILEY

L a Fantasia turned out to be a beautiful resort in the mountains.

The main building reminded Hailey of an old-fashioned log cabin, except that it was much larger than any log cabin she had ever seen.

The lobby was three stories high, the ceiling towering overhead, and flags she didn’t recognize hung from the rafters.

“You’ll be staying in an employee suite,” Romano said. “Your luggage has already been sent along.”

Hailey nodded. “The king mentioned that.”

“I’m sure you’re looking forward to getting settled in, but my instructions are to drop you off with Isla Meier. She’s the head of the events team, and you’ll be reporting to her directly while you’re here.”

Hailey nodded. This had been covered in the briefing documents she had reviewed in the car on the way here — she was to work on the events team as cover for what she was really doing here.

The truth was, she felt more nervous about trying to blend in as an events planner than she did about monitoring Prince Enzo’s behavior. What did she know about event planning?

Isla Meier turned out to be a thin, short woman with ice-white hair.

She had a warm smile, though, and she bestowed it on Hailey as they were introduced.

“So you’re the new member of my team,” she said.

“There isn’t much going on today, so I’ll have plenty of time to give you a tour of the place.

As a matter of fact, we do have one other new team member joining us, though he isn’t here yet.

But he’s familiar with this resort, as it’s owned by his family. ”

She spoke with a thick Dutch accent. Hailey found it charming.

“If you’d like to wait until the prince arrives, I’d be just as happy to take some downtime,” she told Isla. “I basically came straight here from the airport. I wouldn’t mind a shower.”

“Certainly. I’ll show you to your room, then,” Isla said.

“I think you’ll be comfortable. Our staff suites really are very nice.

Much nicer than some I’ve seen in my time.

” She led Hailey down a hall at the very back of the lobby.

The doors here were plain and marked with simple brass numbers, and Isla took her to number nineteen.

“You’ll be in here,” she said. “It’s been vacant for a while, but it has one of the best views on this side of the property. ”

She stood back so Hailey could go in.

The rooms were small, but they were cozy.

Someone had taken the trouble to light a fire in the fireplace, which made it feel very homey.

And there was Hailey’s suitcase, standing beside the door that led to the little bedroom.

Seeing the familiar bag allowed a bit of the tension in Hailey’s shoulders to evaporate.

“I’ll leave you to get unpacked,” Isla said. “There’s a house phone there on the table, and I’ll give you a call when the prince arrives.”

“Do we know when he’s due to get here?” Hailey recalled the king telling her that the prince had already set out from Luria. Surely that meant he should have made it here already.

“He was expected a few hours ago,” Isla said. “But I’m sure he’ll arrive in due time. For now, you may as well enjoy the facilities. Take a nap if you’d like.”

Hailey nodded. “That sounds great,” she said, unable to keep the relief out of her voice.

Isla smiled at her once more. “Don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s anything I or the staff can do for you in the meantime,” she said, handing Hailey a card.

“My direct number is on here, and you’re always welcome to give me a call.

The front desk team is also available to help you with anything you might need. ”

“Thanks,” Hailey said, accepting the card. “I really appreciate that.”

Isla left the room, and Hailey was on her own for the first time since touching down in Monteverde.

She went to the window and looked out. She could see skiers in the distance, soaring down the slopes of La Fantasia.

Hailey had never skied in her life and hoped she wouldn’t be expected to try it while she was here — it seemed like a likely way to break a leg.

Still, there was something beautiful about this view, and she knew she would spend her evenings in front of the fire watching the skiers for as long as she was here monitoring the prince’s behavior.

But where was the prince?

There was definitely something suspicious about the fact that he hadn’t arrived yet.

He had left long enough before her that he should have been here by now.

One of two things had to have happened — either there had been some sort of car accident, in which case he might be injured, or else he had made a voluntary detour.

Based on the press clippings she’d read, Hailey was pretty sure she knew which one it was going to be.

But that wasn’t her problem. Her job didn’t start until the prince arrived.

She stepped into the bathroom, which was large and luxurious, and after a moment’s thought, began to run a bath rather than the shower she had originally planned on.

She couldn’t think of any better way to relax, after everything that had happened.

She put a soothing playlist on her phone and sank into the warm water, closing her eyes, planning to stay here until her fingers shriveled.

Afterward, she would put on one of the thick bathrobes that hung on the back of the door and go sit by the fire to dry off.

It sounded idyllic, after the day she’d had.

But it wasn’t to be.

She had barely submerged herself in the water when she heard the sound of the phone ringing in the other room.

Hailey closed her eyes and suppressed a groan. Even now, she wasn’t going to get to relax. She heaved herself up out of the water and hurried into the main room to grab the phone.

It was Isla. “I’m awfully sorry,” she said. “I know you were just starting to relax. But the prince has arrived, and he’s insisting on meeting the whole events team right now. Everyone is getting together in the lobby, so you have about five minutes to come and join us.”

As annoyed as she was, Hailey knew she needed to get off on the right foot. “I’ll be there,” she said. “I just need to get dressed.”

She raked a comb through her hair — there was no time for the dryer, so she was just going to have to meet the prince with a damp head.

It wasn’t what she would have wanted, but then, what that had happened today had gone according to any sort of plan?

She wrapped her hair into a tight bun, pulled on a fresh change of clothes, and hurried back out to the lobby.

She spotted the group right away, gathered in a tight circle at the front of the space, and she hurried to join them. Isla had begun to go around and have everyone introduce themselves, but she paused as Hailey hurried up.

“Ah,” she said. “Here’s our other newcomer — Hailey Jones. We’re thrilled to have Hailey joining the team all the way from America.”

“I’m really excited about having the opportunity to work in Monteverde,” Hailey said, wishing she’d had time to plan a more elaborate sentiment.

“Hailey, you’ll be working closely with the whole team, including your fellow new member, Prince Enzo.” Isla nodded in his direction.

Hailey’s eyes widened in surprise. This was the prince?

She mastered herself quickly, not wanting him to see what her initial reaction had been, but she couldn’t help the shock that had momentarily coursed through her.

He wore faded jeans and a plain white V-neck that had clearly seen better days.

His sunglasses, on the other hand, had probably cost more than her month’s rent — she recognized the designer logo on the side of the frames.

Did everyone in this country wear sunglasses indoors?

No — he was probably drunk. That would fit with everything she had read about him on her way up here. That would explain why he had stopped on his way, making him late to arrive even though he had set out before she had. He had stopped at a bar for a drink. Of course he had.

This was going to be more difficult than she had bargained for.

“All right,” Isla said. “Now that we’re all introduced to one another, why don’t we step into the events room for some lunch? Enzo’s father, the king, has been kind enough to arrange catering for everyone.”

Enzo smirked but said nothing.

Hailey noticed people glancing curiously at him as they made their way into the events space, but no one said anything.

That was a shame, because it meant that she couldn’t speak to him either — not unless she wanted to stand out among the crowd, and she very much did not want that.

She didn’t want him to notice her. Not yet.

Blending in was vital if she was going to be able to do her job effectively.

There were trays of food set up in the event space. Everyone formed a line — but as they watched, Enzo walked to the front of the group, picked up a plate, and began to fill it with food.

No one said a word. No one tried to stop him or send him to the back of the line.

He thinks he can do whatever he wants , Hailey thought. He thinks that because of who his father is, and because his family owns this resort, rules don’t apply to him and he can just treat us all like we matter less than he does.

And then she thought, That’s probably entirely true. He probably can do that. What’s going to happen? He won’t lose his job, and everyone here knows that. No matter what he does, he isn’t going to face any consequences .

She took her plate and went through the line, collecting food.

As the group split up and chose tables to eat at, Hailey made her first move toward completing the assignment she had been sent here for. Instead of choosing a seat at the table closest to her, she followed Enzo over to his table and put her plate down across from him.

He didn’t even look up. He began to eat voraciously, as if the food was the only thing at the table that mattered — as if getting to know his new team members wasn’t the point of this whole exercise.

The other people eating with them exchanged glances but said nothing.

I’m going to have to be the one to break the ice, Hailey realized. If she didn’t say something to him, nothing was going to be said at all, and she would lose out on her first opportunity to make a connection with the subject of her investigation.

That was, if you could call a job like this an investigation .

She cleared her throat. “Are you going to wear those sunglasses while we eat?” she asked him.

His eyebrows lifted behind them. “Are they bothering you?”

“A bit.”

“Is anyone else here bothered by the shades?” Enzo asked.

Murmurs of no went around the table.

Hailey despaired. There went her attempts to blend in — now she was the only person who had pointed out the sunglasses. He was bound to pay closer attention to her now than he might have otherwise. She was going to have to figure out a way to walk this back.

The trouble was that everyone else had been too intimidated to stand up to a prince, she realized. Nobody else would dare criticize him. The king had warned her that it would be like this, and she had still managed to be taken by surprise somehow.

She was disappointed in herself.

She turned her attention to her food. It was delicious — Italian fare. At least the lunch was good. That was something.

And when it came to Enzo… well, she would find a way to get close to him without raising his suspicions.

After all, it was what she did best.