Relentless: A Royal Secret Baby Romance (The Alabaster Club) Read online

  “You’re a doll!” Candy said cheerfully. “I’ve got to run, but good luck tonight!”

  Paige’s butterflies returned to her stomach as she picked up one of the trays of champagne, and she donned her best smile as she forged her way through the room.

  Men and women were everywhere, all wearing dresses or suits that looked like they cost more than her condo. They were talking with each other, laughing with each other, and many of the men were openly hitting on the women in the room—both those who seemed to be part of the party, and those working on serving them.

  “Excuse me, miss, but do you mind giving me a side of yourself with the next order?” one of the men asked her with a charming smile as she set the champagne down on the table.

  “A side of me? Oh.” Paige suddenly realized what he meant, and the other men at the table laughed. Her cheeks burned as she gathered the empty glasses and headed back toward the bar, but she told herself to forget about them. They were rich and entitled, feeling like they were able to say what they wanted to whomever they wanted just because they had money and power.

  Though she wanted to tell them off, she knew that it would be a bad idea. It hadn’t even been half an hour since she got there; she couldn’t mess it up so early. Plus, if she wanted to get paid, she had to bite her tongue and last the evening without causing trouble.

  These are billionaires, and none of them are worth your time. Just get through the night and take your paycheck home when you’re done. I can do this. Just a few hours and it will be time to go.

  Get through the night, and you can go home, your bank account will thank you.

  Paige repeated the thoughts in her mind again and again throughout the evening, telling herself that it would all pay off in the end.

  But it was still going to be an awfully long night.

  Chapter 4

  “Are you sure we’re at the right place?” Royce asked, not bothering to hide the incredulous tone to his voice. William leaned over and looked out the window, then quickly checked the address on his phone.

  “This is the address your father gave me,” he said.

  “Are you sure this is the right address, driver?” Royce asked, ignoring his advisor.

  “Yes, this is the Aurora, sir,” he replied.

  “This looks tacky as hell. What the hell are they doing here? Can’t they find a decent place to have a meeting?” Royce complained.

  “According to your father, this is the nicest place in town. Food might not compare to that of Luxembourg, but the event space is supposed to be nice. Costs close to a million a night to reserve,” he said as they stepped out of the car.

  “Americans,” Royce replied with a shake of his head. “They never cease to amaze me with what they call wealth.”

  They walked side by side toward the club, then Royce turned to William once more. “You’d better keep the drinks coming and be my entertainment for the night. I’m not going to get stuck listening to some old bastard talk about how he made his fortune selling God knows what.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be right by your side throughout the entire evening. You’re going to do the talking, I’m going to do the writing, and we’ll make some connections,” William said reassuringly, checking his phone with a small frown. Royce walked ahead of him, giving the bouncer both of their names before he confidently strode into the building.

  At once, he was taken with the sight that unfolded in front of him. It wasn’t nearly as nice as he thought it was going to be, and he almost called his father to tell him that there was no point to make any connections. But, with a single look from William, he knew that he had to carry on with the evening whether he wanted to or not.

  “So, who do we start with?” he asked with a resigned sigh.

  “I would suggest Mr. Boulder. We want to seal the deal with the bankers first, then see what we can do with real estate,” William replied, glancing at his phone.

  “I don’t see how that makes sense. Everyone knows that the real money is in real estate,” Royce retorted with raised eyebrows.

  “But you never know when the market is going to rise or crash. We want to secure wealth for the country, and the only way to really do that is to get in where the money is. So, bankers first and real estate after.” William insisted on having things his way, and though Royce wanted to argue the point further, he knew that he should listen to his advisor.

  After all, he was the one striking the deals, but William was the one who was supposed to point him in the right direction. The entire point of bringing along his friend in the first place was to make sure he made the right choice when it came to the other men. Plus, he couldn’t for the life of him care enough to continue arguing about this. Either way, the people he’d be interacting with tonight would all be boring, old tossers.

  Royce took a deep breath, then turned to William. “Alright then, find this Mr. Boulder and introduce me, and we’ll see if we can get this show going.”

  It didn’t take long for his advisor to single out the man, and soon Royce was engaged in a riveting conversation. He had seen his father negotiate with men often enough; he knew how to play the game. But it wasn’t as easy as his father made it look, and he found himself without the upper hand at the beginning.

  Royce was determined to turn the tables, and within an hour he had made several connections he knew his father would be proud of.

  “Alright then, let’s get some drinks and do some socializing, and perhaps we can get out of this hellhole they call a party,” Royce whispered to William after they had sealed another deal. William nodded and started for the bar, but Royce stood where he was, looking around the room with the removed superiority he so often maintained.

  Suddenly, he saw someone in the corner of the room who caught his eye. She was a gorgeous, curvy woman with long, brunette hair pulled into a tight ponytail at the back of her head. She stood with all the elegance of a queen, looking around the room with the same expression he had—removed boredom and criticism.

  Then, the person directly in front of him moved, and he realized she was holding a tray of champagne. A server. No one important, and no one worth his time. But for that one moment, he swore she could have replaced his mother as duchess, with all the regality and certainty she held in her expression. She was gorgeous in a way that set her apart from all the other women in the room. He could feel his stomach drop in disappointment. If only she were someone of importance and power.

  “Here you are, sir,” William said as he held out a glass of brandy. “They were insisting on champagne, but I let them know they are in the presence of a duke, and they were quick to change their minds.”

  “Well done.” Royce sipped on his drink and once again looked around the room, but this time scanning for the woman he had just seen. William was too wrapped up with the other wealthy people to really care what was holding Royce’s attention, which Royce greatly preferred.

  He was an heir, and he could do what he wanted, but he knew his friend would heavily advise against him becoming entangled with a woman of such common status. Even bedding her for a night was risky, as women in low places tended to sell stories to tabloids for money or their fifteen minutes of fame.

  But still, he found himself wanting to see what she was doing throughout the night. Her beauty was incomparable, and he wasn’t ashamed to say so.

  She was stunning.

  Chapter 5

  You have no idea how much you owe me! You said that this was supposed to make things up to me, and here I am getting hit on all night by old sleazebags! I’m saying that I deserve another lunch date—on you!

  Paige hit send and slipped her phone back into the pocket of her jacket. She quickly learned if she stood by the coat racks, she could slyly take pictures of the party and text them to Candy, showing her what was going on in there. Of course, she didn’t have the time to stand there and wait for a response. She would have to discreetly check her phone later.

  Grabbing another tray
, Paige made her way toward the door, wondering how much time she had left on the shift. This place was open long into the wee hours of the morning, and she knew it was likely she would be there until the event was over.

  Work would be hell the next day, but it would be worth it if she got the paycheck Candy told her she would. Not to mention, she was already getting more tips than she could count. It was likely she had made enough money in this one night to cover more than two weeks at her other job.

  And that was something she could put up with for a few hours.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry!” she cried out as she pushed through the door. She came perilously close to spilling the entire tray on a tall, dark stranger in a crisp suit that was tailored to fit his form perfectly. He gave her a look that showed her how annoyed he was, but he held up his hand.

  “Don’t worry about it. No harm done,” he said shortly in a European accent she couldn’t quite place. “Be careful, there are a lot of suits in here that are worth more than your year’s salary.”

  Paige’s eyes widened in shock—did he really just say that? This person she didn’t even know? He didn’t give her time to respond and was walking away before she could even blink. She felt her cheeks get hot with anger. How dare he say such a thing to her? And with such a casual tone, too! He had no idea how much money she made, and though she knew he was right, it wasn’t his place to say. God, if he wasn’t the epitome of an arrogant, rich man, she didn’t know what was. He and his fancy suit could go to hell.

  Brushing off the incident, Paige started for another corner of the room, focusing on clearing her full tray of wine instead of dwelling on the nasty comment and equally nasty man. She had impressed herself that not a single glass had so much as dripped down onto the silver platter in her hand, nor had any of them toppled to the ground. Of course, she knew if any of them had, she would have been sent home immediately, and she didn’t want to think about what would have happened if she spilled any of the dark liquid on that man’s fine suit.

  Paige handed drink after drink to the people in the party, but she found herself looking back toward the man—Suits, she decided to call him—in the corner of the room by the kitchen door. He seemed drawn and aloof, not engaging with others, and he also seemed to be keeping an eye on her.

  I bet he’s trying to watch me to see if I mess up again. These billionaire bastards like to make mountains out of mole hills, He’s probably waiting for me to make a mistake so he could go complain about me to Jethro.

  It didn’t take long for Paige to make up her mind: she was going to confront the man. She didn’t care if he made more money than she could ever dream of having. He was just another person, just as she was, and he made his own fair share of mistakes as well. As much as she tried to ignore what he had said, she couldn’t get it out of her mind. She had never encountered such a rude person. She didn’t care if she almost spilled wine on him; she was going to tell him to mind his own business.

  She walked quickly toward the kitchen, but stopped before she pushed her way through the door. Suits ignored her at first, but she turned and looked him in the eye to catch his attention. “Look, I’m sorry I almost spilled that tray on you, but I didn’t, and you can stop watching me to see if I do it again. Accidents can happen to anyone, and there’s no need for you to keep an eye on me!”

  To her surprise, he didn’t snap back at her as she expected. Instead, he put his hands up apologetically and his mouth tilted up in a small smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I wasn’t watching to see if you were going to make a mistake, I was watching you because I think you are beautiful, and I was admiring you. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, though, I’ll stop.”

  Paige’s eyes widened. It was the last thing she thought he was going to say, and she immediately felt awkward for being so rude to him. “Look, I didn’t mean to snap at you, but if you spent the night getting asked for sexual favors in the bathroom, you would be a little tense, too.”

  Suits chuckled, but she gave him a look. Evidently, he thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. When he realized his mistake, he looked at her with a whole new look on his face.

  “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t believe it. The men here may be rich as hell, but they’re still pigs. I know that. I just would never treat a woman that way even if I thought I had a real chance with her,” he said, shaking his head. Paige was once again taken aback. Here was a man who was wealthier than she could ever imagine, but he was treating her with dignity and respect.

  There was something very forward about him, but she didn’t mind. He wasn’t hitting on her nor was he trying to use his power and money to get her to sleep with him—or do anything else with him for that matter.

  “Well, I appreciate that you aren’t spying on me,” she said at last. “I’ve got to get back to work now. Enjoy your evening.”

  “You as well,” he said with a smile, tilting his head slightly. Paige managed to keep the blush under control as she pushed her way back into the kitchen, but as soon as she was alone, her cheeks started to burn uncontrollably. She’d been prepared to deal with a night of assholes, but she hadn’t been prepared for an interaction like that.

  She wanted to figure out how she felt about it, but she didn’t have time. There was a tray of champagne waiting for her on the counter, and she had to gather the empty glasses that were already piling up in the dining room.

  The tall, handsome strange could wait. She had work to do.

  Chapter 6

  Feisty and spunky. Royce liked that in a woman, and he certainly never thought he’d get it out of a waitress who nearly ran into him with a tray full of champagne. At first, she had been so timid and apologetic, but the fact that she had come back over to confront him about his staring was nothing less than a turn-on in Royce’s mind.

  He’d already been gazing at her fairly incessantly before, but now he was staring at her even more. He had an inexplicable urge to talk to her more, but he couldn’t shake the disgust of what she had mentioned out of his mind. Whenever he had taken women home from an event, he made sure they were single and treated them with respect.

  He could bed any woman he chose, and he knew it. There was no reason to make any of them feel like they were less superior than he was. Even if that was the truth in some cases.

  “William, I need to talk to you,” Royce said as soon as his friend was within earshot. William had been in the corner by himself, typing furiously into his phone, but he quickly put his phone away when Royce reached him.

  “What is it? What happened?” he asked as soon as he was nearby. He knew enough to stand in a way no one else could hear their conversation. They were both used to keeping their matters private, and William had the practice to know how to do this naturally and easily, without drawing attention of anyone else in the room.

  Royce frowned. “What’s with the secrecy?” he asked, nodding at William’s pocket, where his phone was tucked away.

  William sighed. “You know how your parents get. I didn’t want you to see their messages and get in a bad mood. You need to be in top shape for networking.”

  Royce rolled his eyes. Of course his parents would be checking up on him. “Well, you can tell them to shove it because there’s nothing to worry about.”

  “What is it that you need, sir?” William reminded him.

  Royce stood up straight, remembering why he approached his friend. “One of the waitresses I spoke with told me that there are men in here who are soliciting her for sex in the bathroom. Now, I know there are only a few other single men in here, and we both know who is married to whom, so I want to know if this is true. Keep your eyes and ears open, and let me know at once if you hear anything like that, alright?” Royce was looking straight ahead as he spoke quietly, and William nodded.

  “But there is one thing I think you should take into consideration, sir,” he said.

  “What’s that?” Royce asked, turning his attention back to his friend.<
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  “I think that you should consider the low upbringing of all the waitstaff in here. They aren’t the ones who are coming from wealth, and it is quite possible that she has misinterpreted what was said. I’m not saying that is what happened, but I do think that it is something we both need to keep in mind.” William was now looking straight ahead as he spoke, and it was Royce’s turn to nod.

  “That is true, and it’s something I will consider, but nonetheless I want you to keep your ears open. If that sort of thing is going on in here, I want to be selective about who we choose to work with ourselves. You don’t want scumbag men in with the secretaries. That can end up in all sorts of a mess.” Royce crossed his arms and William agreed, then started for the other side of the room.

  Royce watched as his friend lingered first at one group, then another, and he knew his advisor was doing what he asked. If there was one person Royce could count on, it was William.

  “Oh, there you are! So, it is true, the great duke’s son is here!” A man in a black suit came walking over to Royce, and he turned his attention away from William.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Royce said politely. “And who might you be?”

  “I own a multi-million-dollar shipping company based out in Michigan, and I think you and I can have an excellent partnership,” the man said. “They call me Blake Harvey.”

  Royce hadn’t been looking to make any more deals that night, but he knew it would be foolish of him to turn away someone in such a position. If his father heard that he had, he would never hear the end of it, despite the fact he had already discussed many good deals for the country that evening. He scanned the room once more before speaking.

  “Tell me, Mr. Harvey, what makes you think that you and I would be good partners? What does your company have that I’m not going to find with someone else in this room? I’m sure you are aware there are a lot of people in here who are in the shipping business.” He turned slightly, using his nonchalant technique.