Max and the Prince Read Online Free PDF Page A

his parents. He should be respectful.
    “We’ll need the tutor’s name.”
    “What for?”
    “The list of people close to you.”
    “Next you’ll want Nanny Hilda’s name,” Lucien said in
disbelief.
    “Of course. You had a tutor and a nanny, so I assume you’re not
close to your family?”
    “No. Yes.” He sighed. “Not really. What about your family?”
He glanced sideways to see the faint tightening of Max’s jaw.
    “As I said, we’re not talking about me.”
    “Sorry.”
    “Stop apologizing.”
    “Sorr—jeez…” Lucien felt the heat rise in his face. This was
going to be one hell of a long car journey.

Chapter 3
    Max listened to the story again from the beginning and tried
not to interrupt with questions. He’d found that long rambling descriptions of
emotions and events worked well to get the communicator to think about what he
was saying.
    Not to mention Lucien had the softest accent and Max loved
to listen to him talk. As he drove, Max catalogued the people in Lucien’s life.
The parents who appeared to deal with the death of their youngest son with
stoicism, somehow forgetting that Lucien had been so close to Sebastian. Teddy
who looked to have been a fixture in Lucien’s life since he was a baby, and
Lucien’s older siblings, two brothers and a sister, two bankers and a lawyer,
in that order.
    Then there was Edward the government guy who Lucien had spent
time with, Eric the cook who appeared to make the best omelets in the entire
world. Add to that the staff in the main house. Then the tutor the family had
poached from Oxford University who was with Lucien from eleven to sixteen. Bryce
Norman was his name, and according to Lucien, he was more than a tutor. He was
the companion that Lucien needed because his family wasn’t there for him. And
then Seb’s live-in nurse/nanny, an older lady by the name of Hilda Carlos, who read
him stories and had endless compassion. The list went on and on, but it was bereft
of one thing: people that Lucien described as friends or lovers. It didn’t seem
like Lucien gave any single person the label of friend, apart from Jamie his
housemate, but even that seemed a loose connection because Lucien didn’t have
much to say about Jamie. In fact, he was tightlipped on the subject, which
raised red flags immediately. And as for lovers? He only mentioned Edward.
    Now Lucien was quiet. They were only ten minutes from Max’s
place, and he had one more question. A really personal question that he needed a
more complete answer to.
    “Tell me about your lovers.”
    Silence.
    Finally Lucien answered. “Uhm. I did.”
    Max thought back over what he’d heard on the journey so far.
He couldn’t have missed anything, he never missed anything. “I only recall Edward.”
    Max caught Lucien shrugging in his peripheral vision, the
shrug being the only indication he’d heard Max. “Just Edward.”
    “Just Edward? Lucien, you’re twenty-five.”
    “I kissed Tommy—well, he kissed me.”
    “Tommy? You mean the boy who dropped out of Cardiff Uni, the
one you shared a house with?”
    “Yeah, we went on a date, saw a movie, and we kissed, but
when we did, we realized we were better off as friends.”
    “How soon after this kiss did he leave Cardiff?”
    “Christ, are you implying there is a link between the kiss
and him leaving?”
    “No.”
    “Well, it was a good couple of weeks. He just packed and
went overnight, sent a letter in to the uni.”
    “Do you keep in touch?”
    “No. I emailed him, but he never answered, so I assume he’s
washed his hands of Cardiff.”
    “I’ll add him to the list.”
    More silence that was heavy with upcoming angst if Max
didn’t change the direction of this conversation. It was too late when Lucien
finally spoke.
    “Look, you have to understand something. I’m not the most
confident of people, and when I lived at home…”
    “You’ve been at university over two years.” Max hadn’t done
the university thing, joining the