The Prince's Bride (Modern Fairytales) Read Online Free Page B

over her back then.”
    That had obviously been a one-way type of thing. She didn’t remember him. Why would she? They were kids. But he’d never forgotten her. In many ways, she’d been his first love, and no one had ever lived up to the standard she set. He’d dated enough since then to know that even though they’d been kids, what they’d had was special. Crazy, but true.
    Leo didn’t say anything in reply.
    There was nothing to say.
    He never should have touched her last night.
    “Release a bulletin immediately, Harry,” the king said. “Under my command, not his.”
    “No,” Leo said, stepping forward. “If we’re going to do this, then I’ll take full responsibility for it. After all, it’s my fault she’s being forced to stay here.”
    And he’d pay the price.
    If his actions made Alicia hate him in the end? Well, then, so be it. He’d made his choice. She was free to make hers.
    Harry frowned. “We could just pretend it never happened. She’s an American. Who cares if there’s a baby, anyway?”
    Leo studied Harry. He’d always been a bit of a snob, but that was cold, even for him. “I do. And so will the people of this country.”
    His father crossed his arms and gave Harry the death stare. The one no one ignored, not even Leo. “Her nationality is a moot point.”
    “The bulletin, Harry,” Leo said, his voice hard with annoyance at his aide’s attitude toward Alicia. “Now.”
    After the other man picked up his iPad and nodded, Leo said, “Alicia Forkes needs to be captured, and brought to me, unharmed .” Leo tugged on his collar, knowing once he released his statement…there was no going back. “Immediately.”
    She was going to kill him.

Chapter Four
    A little before dusk, Alicia made her way through the crowd, struggling to unwrap her buttered croissant as she juggled her coffee in the other hand. After a long night of tossing and turning and not enough sleep, she needed all the caffeine she could get.
    Something about having sex with a random stranger who may or may not have been selected by her subconscious simply because he reminded her of her first love did things to her mind. Like bringing back memories she’d tried to forget long ago.
    Good and bad.
    Being in love with Leo had been like riding a fast tidal wave through to the end, the kind that went higher and higher, until it crashed and you were left lying broken and trembling on the ground, wondering what happened. But when you rode that wave to the top, laughing the whole time with Leo at your side? It was freaking amazing.
    They’d been too young to know what life would bring them, or how cruel it could be when it was cut too short. After her father died, she wrote to him. Told him of her loss. And when she ran away from her cruel foster parents, she told him of that, too.
    And then he’d left her alone.
    In an airport.
    Waiting for him.
    Finding a table in the corner of the busy cafe, she settled in and bit into her heavenly croissant. The official royal music played on the television, and she ignored the all too common occurrence that kind of reminded her of the Capitol from the Hunger Games …creepy music and all.
    Setting her croissant down, she picked up her phone and swiped her finger across the screen. After bringing up the notes section, she pulled up her bucket list and placed a checkmark next to the second item: Have a one-night stand, and ditch him after .
    The first had been to visit a foreign country.
    Check, and check.
    The crowd inside the cafe gasped in union, and for a second it was as if they saw what she’d checked off and were as scandalized as she was about it.
    But then she lifted her head, frowning as a low murmur spread out among them. Alicia took another bite of her croissant and followed their line of vision. They all stared at the television with wide eyes, even the workers, so she turned, too, curiosity getting the better of her.
    It was a different guy on the screen this time, one who