Prince's Proposal (The Exiled Royals 1) Read Online Free PDF

interim, Ray almost had a heart attack.
    “Raymond, old friend, it’s been far too long. After six months in the States, I was beginning to think you’d forgotten my number.”
    “I haven’t,” Ray said, having the decency to feel contrite. It had been a rocky half-year and the only people he’d kept in contact with were his equally screwed cousins, Alexander and Xavier. He was always afraid his family would tap or record incoming calls. Low profile had been best while he was nursing his wounds. “It’s just complicated.”
    “For the record, my friend, my line is clear. I also have more respect for you than to report you directly to your mother.”
    “Mother is the one who came up with this insane and unfair punishment.”
    “Well, she’s yearning for grandchildren, and, to be fair, the spectacle you made with the Hiltons…”
    “Someone has to be on my side!”
    “I am on your side, old friend. But even you have to admit you were pushing your luck.”
    “Well, now I’ve up and broken it. I’m sick of being stranded in America, and I’d like to be back home in the palace, where I belong. But I need your help to do that.”
    “Well, if you can prove yourself responsible, I’m sure your mother and father can be negotiated with.”
    Ray sighed and looked at himself in the mirror. His shoulders couldn’t be slumping that badly, could they? It had to be his imagination. “I might have blown the ‘being responsible’ part.”
    “What do you mean?” Gregory asked, all humor draining from his voice.
    “I mean that I got married. I’m in Vegas, and there was a lot of champagne involved, and I woke up this morning to find my mother’s engagement ring, and an actual wedding ring, on a woman’s hand!”
    “A woman?”
    “Well, my wife, at least for now. Her name is Melissa Speights.”
    “American, I assume?”
    “Yes,” he said, not sure if he could trust Gregory not to mock him.
    “Damn it! You can’t just get it annulled today. There are rules. If you ever want to prove to your parents that you’re ready for the crown – and that you’re no longer a womanizer – then you’re going to have to play the marriage out.”
    “I suspected as much. Do you know how long I have to go along with everything?”
    “There are some precedents from the 1930s – from your great-great uncle. The minimum a marriage must last for you to stay in your family’s good will, and in their will, is one month.”
    Ray shook his head. “I was hoping for something a little less drastic.” 
    “Sorry, you have a whole month to go for it to be a legitimate marriage in the eyes of the court. Or...you could request permission for an annulment from the king. I’m sure that will go well for you.
    “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
    “I’m merely relating facts to you. Thirty days to go, and then I’ll help you draw up the dissolution paperwork myself.”
    “I don’t know if I can do this.”
    “Can you live without the throne of Yagovia?” Gregory asked. “So you only wine, dine and spend time with one woman for a month. So what? That’s what the rest of us do. Maybe you’ll enjoy domesticity. And, think of it this way, it’ll be a novelty, something to try for the first time in your life – a new experience.”
    “No, you don’t understand. Melissa is special. I don’t want to drag her through that. She’s honest and passionate, and she deserves more than a farce for a month.”
    “Look, you do this, and you’ll eventually be prince again, and then king. I’m sure once you’re back in the bosom of your family, you’ll be able to reward her. Keep up the deal, and everything will be fine. I promise. I’ll handle everything.”
    “Great, so this is all about deals and the letter of the law.”
    “Well, what else is it supposed to be about? Love?”
    Ray hesitated and glared at the cell, frustrated, but it was his mess. He’d gotten himself into it, and he had the responsibility to get