ROYAL BRIDE (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) Read online

  “Don’t listen to her, she’s always bragging.” Elisabeth blushed at the attention.

  Antonio glanced at Isabella as he sipped his drink. He didn’t look irritated to her, but she didn’t see the sparkle of approval she had that morning after the shower. It was unsettling to think he wasn’t happy with her at that moment.

  “It’s not bragging when it’s the truth,” she muttered into her wine glass as she took a sip.

  “Though she never brags about herself.” Elisabeth must have sensed the change in Antonio’s demeanor.

  “What would she brag about?”

  Antonio’s words cut Isabella. Not that he was completely wrong—she really hadn’t accomplished much. As a princess, she had ignored almost all of her royal duties, spending her time with her nose in a book or tanning on the beach. She attended functions as demanded and accompanied Raphael on several of his trips to Europe for his fundraising activities, but she was merely present, more on vacation than doing actual work. Of course Antonio wouldn’t think she was something to brag about. She couldn’t think of anything at that moment, either.

  “I’m not very hungry.” She pushed her plate aside and rose from the table. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to use the restroom.” Before he could give her leave, she walked way. Keeping her head up and her hands relaxed at her side became her life’s work. She would not allow him to see how much his words hurt her. She wouldn’t give him that.

  ANTONIO

  Antonio sat beside his silent wife on the bed. Isabella was propped up against the headboard, reading a magazine, her hair pulled back in a sloppy bun and the covers over her legs.

  She had barely said three sentences to him after leaving the restaurant. Dinner had been awkward because he had messed up. What was meant to be a joke, a little ribbing, had completely upset her. She held herself regally, but he saw the pain in her eyes after his comment.

  Elisabeth must have seen it as well. She didn’t comment, but the rest of the evening was spent exchanging quiet pleasantries. He’d had deeper conversations with his pet turtle as a child.

  “Isabella.” He flipped on to his side to face her, removing the magazine from her hands. She glared at him in response but kept her mouth sealed. He should apologize. He knew he should.

  “Fine.” She sighed and pushed the covers back from the bed. Sliding out, she stood before him in a satin night gown that hugged her hips and showed her pert nipples through the fabric. Before he understood her intentions, she grabbed the hem of her nightgown, yanked it over her head, and tossed it to the foot of the bed.

  “What are you doing?” He sat up. Not that he didn’t love seeing her naked body, but he didn’t enjoy the implication. Had his comment worn her down so much that she reduced herself to a sex slave?

  “I thought you wanted sex.” She shrugged, no longer showing as much confidence as she had earlier in the day.

  “I wanted to talk.” He reached for her, but she moved quickly out of his grasp, grabbing her nightgown and throwing it back on with flash-like reflexes.

  “Would you mind if we talked tomorrow? I’m really tired and just want to sleep. You have a busy day tomorrow, too,” she pointed out. He had his calendar synched to her phone so she would know what they both had upcoming. She was right, he had three meetings over the course of the day, none of which he would force her to attend. Politics, mostly military concerns, didn’t warrant his wife’s presence.

  “Your day—”

  “I was hoping you would reconsider allowing me to go to with Elisabeth for lunch.” Her eyes didn’t meet his at first, but when they did, there was a distance there that turned his stomach.

  “The reason I said no was because I was hoping to meet with you for lunch between my meetings.” This elicited no change in her expression. He sighed. “I do have a busy day tomorrow. We can meet at dinner. Don’t make any plans for the evening. Once my meetings are over, you belong to me.” His voice dipped, but she showed no reaction to his authoritative tone. The day before, her eyes would have dilated and he could have smelled her arousal at his domination. But at the moment, she looked at him with a cool expression.

  “Very well.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her.

  “I thought you were tired,” he said to the empty room.

  ***

  Walking into their rooms later the following day, he expected to find his wife still sulking, but instead, he found her on her phone, laughing and peeking out of the curtains at the city skyline. Feeling the tension ease in his shoulders, he walked to her and tapped her gently on her shoulder.

  Isabella spun around with wide eyes, obviously surprised to see him. Her smile faltered slightly before recovering. Had he not been studying her reaction to his appearance, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all. She held up one newly manicured finger and pointed to her phone.

  Nodding, he went over to the couch to plunk down and scroll though his phone. The day had been completely daunting and full of political crap that irritated him to no end. He could not get simple-minded leaders to agree that unified efforts to keep international kidnappings from rising would be more productive than squabbling about who stood to reap most of the rewards.

  While he scrolled through his social media accounts, he half listened to her conversation. As far as he knew, she had met with Elisabeth for lunch. According to the security team, she spent the rest of her afternoon in a bookstore and getting her nails done.

  “I’m not sure. I’ll have to get back to you on that. I think what we have so far is great. If you’ll email me the application, I can get started on it right away.”

  His ears perked up. Application?

  “Yes, of course. I’ll have it sent back right away. When is the start date? Oh, that soon? Excellent. Thank you!” He watched her finish the call and click off. She gave him a smile. “I wasn’t expecting you until dinner.”

  “It’s nearly five o’clock.” Antonio tossed his phone on the coffee table and pushed off the couch, needing to touch her. He pulled her into his arms, feeling her body relax beneath his touch. “Who were you talking with?” he asked, placing a kiss to her forehead.

  “An admissions counselor. Where are we going for dinner?”

  “Admissions for what?” He released her and followed her into the bedroom when she walked away.

  “The University of Chicago. Are we meeting any more of your political people or is it just us for dinner?” She slid open the closet that housed the dresses she’d purchased.

  “University? What for?” He had to follow her again when she disappeared into the washroom, nearly knocking into her when she stepped back out.

  “For school,” she answered and went back to the closet. “If it’s just us, I think I’ll wear a simple dress.” She paused and turned to him, giving him her best sarcastic look. “Unless, of course, you’d like to approve my choice? I wouldn’t want to embarrass you with a plunging neckline you find unsuitable.”

  “I’ll let you know once you’re dressed.” His ire with her attitude was returning. The guilt he felt over hurting her feelings the night before still lingered beneath the surface, but if she wanted to pretend that it hadn’t happened and go back to sparring with their words, who was he to deny her?

  She snatched a black dress from the closet and disappeared into the washroom. He decided to leave her be. He’d talk with her at dinner.

  When she finally emerged from the bedroom and met him at the door of the suite, ready to go, his jaw would have dropped had he not checked himself. The number she wore didn’t have a low neckline, it didn’t have one at all! The black dress covered her breasts but did not actually create a neckline. The two pieces of fabric ran down over her chest and her belly and joined the skirt of the dress without ever actually meeting each other. The gentle swell of her breasts could be seen peeking out from the dress, and her defined stomach was also on display.

  “The car is ready, Your Highness,” Ju
lian stepped into the suite to inform him, but he too stopped and stared at the vision before him. “Um… if you’re ready, I will inform the men downstairs.”

  “We are not ready,” Antonio ground out. It was obviously a new dress… Well, she could just take the damn thing back to the store.

  “Sure we are.” She beamed and snapped her clutch closed. Walking around him, outside his reach, she walked past Julian, who looked confused and a bit torn as to what to do next.

  “Isabella.” Antonio expected her to turn around and come back inside. When she didn’t, he stepped out the door to find her chatting with a young couple at the elevators.

  He marched over to her, intending to grab her and drag her back into the suite, but her laugh stopped him. It wasn’t forced or polite, it was genuine. She had her hand on the woman’s shoulder and was laughing at something she had said. When he stepped up to them, she gave him a warm smile and introduced him.

  “My husband,” she said. “Antonio, this is Silver and Maria.”

  “Very nice to meet you.” Antonio shook the hand that Silver offered and inclined his head to Maria. He noticed that Isabella hadn’t used his title when introducing him.

  “Your wife was just telling us about the afternoon she’d had. Sounds like she had quite an adventure.” Silver grinned.

  “Oh, it was nothing. Just a little mishap at the taxi station.” She waved a hand in the air. His security team hadn’t told him anything about trouble with a taxi, so he continued to stare at her, hoping she would clarify. “I’m not used to so many people. I accidentally jumped into a taxi that someone else had been waiting for. Which isn’t so bad, really, except the man didn’t see it as humorous as I did. He completely lost his patience with me. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand him because of his thick Italian accent! The poor cab driver had to inform me what he was yelling about.”

  Maria laughed softly. “There is no end to the different accents you will find here in America,” she explained. “Your accent is so beautiful… exotic. Where are you from?”

  “A small island in the Caribbean,” Isabella answered before Antonio could. The elevator signaled its arrival, and they stepped inside.

  Silver wedged himself between Antonio and his wife, separating the women from him, and began a conversation. By the time they had reached the lobby, Isabella had invited the young couple to join them for dinner.

  ISABELLA

  Her husband wasn’t as difficult to handle as she first imagined. He wanted to believe he controlled her and their marriage, so she could give him that pretense easily enough.

  After a long lunch with Elisabeth, she felt much better about her situation. Although Antonio had struck a nerve by pointing out her lack of accomplishments, it had put a fire under her ass to start thinking of her future. Of course, she was going to be queen someday—hopefully not for many, many years, but eventually, she would be taking the seat beside her husband’s throne. In doing so, she would need to be able to help his country grow.

  She’d grown up watching Raphael take on charitable causes, and as an adult, he still threw himself into the business of helping others. She would need to start being able to do the same, if only to busy her schedule and keep her away from Antonio.

  Isabella tried to convince herself that his comment stung only because it was true and because she was faced with having to grow up. But when she sat down and was more honest with herself, she realized it was actually because he was not proud of her. The fact that he saw nothing of worth in her made her want to do more, to become something he could take pride in. Just the admission of those feelings made her angry with him and with herself. Never had she sought the approval of anyone. If someone wasn’t happy with her, they could move along. She didn’t need them.

  Antonio was different. When he looked at her, pleased with her, she felt shivers run through her body, as though he had just touched her or kissed her. She could admit she loved his hands on her, and his kisses… She was a woman after all, and Antonio was a gifted lover. It was the sinking feeling she felt when he was displeased with her that made her worry.

  They bickered and fought for power that, obviously, he would have with or without her consent, but she found a comfort in the bickering. When he was truly displeased with her, she felt the most down. It was fun to tease him. The dress she’d worn to dinner the night before had been solely to punish him for being such an ass. Meeting Silver and his wife at the elevator had been a great stroke of luck. Antonio hadn’t dared embarrass them in front of the couple, which did surprise her a little. He didn’t seem to be the type to back down simply because of an audience. But perhaps it had more to do with Maria’s short dress showing just as much cleavage that made him hold his tongue.

  Now, sitting in the suite alone, she perused the information Elisabeth had been able to procure for her. A bit of information the women didn’t give Antonio during their dinner was that Elisabeth’s older brother was a member of the royal military. Claudio had returned to the small island their mother grew up on shortly after graduating high school, living with their grandparents for a short time until he joined the military.

  Claudio had been able to get information regarding the kidnapped woman and sent the information to his sister, with strict instructions to allow no one to know how she had obtained it. Working his way up the ranks over the past several years, he had earned a position in high security, but all of that could easily be taken away if he were caught giving away intelligence.

  Isabella would never ask him to sacrifice all he had worked to achieve because of a favor he did for her. The intelligence he received on her behalf could not have been very easy to obtain, since he needed to tap into resources that extended outside of his country. If her brother were to find out she’d asked Claudio for his help getting information, he would punish Claudio for his part in the scheme, but he would have to inform Antonio as well. Their union had been made to help strengthen the peace between their two countries. Asking Claudio could have very well put that in jeopardy.

  Opening the folder Elisabeth had given her, she came upon a photograph of the woman. Large, beautiful brown eyes smiled up at her from the photo. The softness of her smile reached her eyes. Happy. The woman looked happy. Not like the last time Isabella had seen her, screaming and clawing for her freedom.

  Shaking her head, she put the photo to the side and moved on to the latest report. The woman’s name was Karen Vega, daughter of a high-ranking councilmen sitting on the royal advisory board. Isabella read over each paper, trying to make sense of the military jargon and political mumblings. After nearly an hour of poring over the documents, she understood that the woman had not been found, although the government was actively looking for her. There was more talk of keeping her kidnapping out of the media than there was about saving her life. Could his government care so little for the life of one of its people? So far, there was no mention of a ransom, only speculation as to which terrorist group held the woman.

  Isabella was so engrossed in her reading that she didn’t hear Antonio enter the suite or walk toward her. “Where did you get this?” he barked into her ear, startling her. She jumped up, bumping his chin. He gripped the spot where she’d hit him and picked up the folder. “Where did you get this information?” He shook the papers at her.

  Her heart sank into her stomach. She couldn’t tell him. She would never betray Elisabeth or her brother. “Antonio.” She tried for a smile but felt it wavering the longer he glared at her with his angry eyes. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon.” She smoothed down her skirt.

  “Obviously.” He looked down at the file in his hand. “I’ll ask once more. Where did you get this?”

  She worried on her lower lip for a moment then shook her head. “I have resources, just like you,” she decided to say. It wasn’t a lie. She did have resources. Hell, she had a fortune at her disposal if she chose to use it.

  “I told you to leave this to my men.”

  “You haven’t do
ne anything to try to find her. You won’t tell me anything about her. You must have known who she was. And I think you know who her kidnapper is as well!” She hadn’t meant to let her voice rise, but the way he stared at her—as though she were the one at fault—made her angry.

  “I told you to leave this to me and my men,” he said again, his teeth showing as his lips tightened around his mouth. With narrowed lids, he pulled the chair away from the table so she couldn’t sit down again. She took a tentative step back, noting the amount of anger in his expression.

  “Antonio… I was worried, and you won’t tell me anything.” She tried to placate him with a soft voice and wide eyes.

  He wouldn’t be deterred. “Remove your dress.” He tossed the file back on the table. She stared at him with an opened mouth. “I said to remove your dress, wife.” His eyes darkened before her gaze.

  “I—what?” She put her hand to her throat. Had she pushed him too far? Would he actually spank her as he threatened to do on several occasions?

  “I said to remove your dress. I want you naked.” He unbuckled his belt and pulled it through its loops, tossing it to the floor.

  “Antonio—”

  “Now, Isabella. If you disobey me at this moment, I will rip it from your body.”

  Unsure of how logical he could be in such an angered state, she unzipped the dress slowly and slid it from her body. She hadn’t bothered with a bra as the dress didn’t warrant one. He pointed to her panties, and she pulled those off as well. Once she was nude, he gripped her upper arm and pulled her into the bedroom.

  He gave her a gentle nudge toward the bed and went to the closet. “The woman is the daughter of one of my father’s favorite council members. The terrorist group that took her is bartering for a change of the borders. They want open borders between our country and several of the smaller islands that openly traffic drugs and slaves. Of course, my father won’t do it, and the woman is in grave danger if my men don’t find her soon. There are a few leads.”