Carrying the King's Pride(35)

“A bit overwhelming, is it not?”

She turned at the sound of the smooth, lightly accented voice. The countess. Dammit. She had done her best to avoid the woman all evening, yet here she was as if she’d specifically hunted her down.

“I needed some air,” she acknowledged, turning back to look at the formal gardens, breathtaking in their color and symmetry.

The countess joined her at the railing, balancing her champagne glass on the ledge. “Akathinians are not the most welcoming to outsiders. Oh, we appreciate the influx of foreigners and the money they spend here, but when it comes down to it, they are not Akathinians. They will never achieve the same station, the same acceptance as a native with the right bloodlines.”

Sofía’s eyes widened. The countess held up a hand. “I’m not trying to be cruel. One could say I have, what do you Americans call it? Spoiled grapes? But in actuality, I’m telling you the truth. It will not be an easy ride for you.”

Hot color filled Sofía’s cheeks. “It seems that’s the case. But since Nik has made his choice, I think the point is irrelevant, don’t you?”

The countess shrugged. “Maybe so. It’s unfortunate, however, that he has been forced into this course of action. It would have been easier for him to have had the Agieros on his side. A wife who understands the intricacies of what he is facing instead of one who will detract from his popularity.”

Her breath caught in her throat. The countess shrugged. “The king will, at some point, realize his mistake.”

“And you, Countess?” she challenged, her control rapidly dwindling. “Would you have been happy being married off for political expediency? Knowing a man was only sharing your bed because he had to? I would find that rather hard to swallow.”

The countess’s head snapped back. “It’s preferable, then, to be the woman who trapped him into marriage with a baby? What else would have prompted him to break an alliance with my family?” She shook her head. “Relationships burn brightly, then they extinguish. I’ve had enough experience in my life to learn that. So yes, Sofía, I would have been fine with a political match. It would serve you well to lose some of your starry-eyed perspective if I can give you one piece of advice. To recognize the reality of what you are walking into.”

Starry-eyed? She would have laughed at how far that was from the truth of her and Nik if it wouldn’t have hurt too damn much.

Turning on her heel she stalked inside. Had she stayed she would certainly have ensured herself a position on Akathinia’s persona non grata list. If she wasn’t there already.





CHAPTER EIGHT

IT WAS THE early hours of the next morning before Nik and Sofía bid farewell to their final guests on the front steps of the palace. Sofía stood by Nik’s side, so tightly strung underneath the hand he had placed at her waist he knew he had another battle left to fight tonight. It was in every veiled look of hostility she’d thrown at him for the past couple of hours. She’d only done it, of course, in those rare moments when it wouldn’t be recorded by the cameras or hundreds of sets of eyes, but the message had come through loud and clear.

His fiancée was unhappy. Desperately so. And while he couldn’t blame her given the reception the Akathinians had supplied, he had expected her to be tougher about it. Sofía had always been tough. It had been one of the things that had drawn him to her.

The senior event staffer nodded at him that they could quietly melt away. He guided Sofía into the palace and up the stairs toward their rooms. She shrugged his hand off and continued up the stairs, cheeks rosy, hair slipping from the knot atop her head, the enticing curve of her back arched above her delectable bottom as she charged on ahead of him. She was the most stunning female on the face of the planet in that moment, a curvaceous red flame any man would be wild to possess.

Including Aristos Nicolades. He had clearly been besotted with his fiancée.

Sofía threw open the doors to their suite and stalked in, headed toward the bedroom. Sitting down on the bed, she yanked her shoes off and flung them toward the closet.

Nik followed, shrugging out of his jacket and losing his tie. “So they gave you a hard ride. You knew from the press that was going to happen. We prepared you for that. Why let them get to you so?”

Her eyes darkened. “That was not a hard ride. That was a bloodbath. They chewed me up and spit me out, Nik. I am humiliated. No,” she said, waving her hand at him, “that’s not a strong enough word. I feel...annihilated.”

He narrowed his gaze on her. “I think you’re exaggerating.”