Page 46 of Scandal Queen
Oh. Fuck.
The walls were lined with slender drawers, row upon row of them, in perfect formation. Tilted at an angle, it was easy to see what the drawers contained. Jewellery. More of it than Tiffany’s.
“Oliver, please don’t. I don’t want to give the press any more reason to criticise me.”
“It’s not for them; it’s for you.”
I shook my head, drawing my lower lip in between my teeth. “No, I don’t think so. Let’s just go and get this over and done with.”
I turned back for the door, but he held me back by our joined fingers. “Here.” He stepped for a row of drawers and scanned them until he found what he wanted. “It would do me an enormous honour.” Pulling out one velvet drawer he lifted a row of pearls out.
“Oliver, please.”
Ignoring me, he turned me around and then gently hung them across my collarbone. His lips followed, brushing across the surface of my skin. “These were Queen Anne’s. They are incredibly rare; rather like you.” He turned me back for the mirror. The pearls captured the tone of rose-gold from the dress and they shone against my pale skin, peachy and rich. “And they aren’t diamonds or anything flashy so people will complain, and anyway, we’re just borrowing them for the night, then we’ll return them here. My father gave permission for me to use them.”
“I think they are going to complain anyway.” I tried not to let my trembling show.
“But I’m not, Leia.” His voice rumbled low, reaching deep inside me and connecting with my soul. “I’ll never be prouder than I will tonight stepping out with you and Daisy at my side.”
“Ollie,” my voice caught, “if they destroy her in the press, I don’t know what I will do.”
He clutched me tight, his hands sinking into the skin of my arms. “I won’t let them. It’s the only promise I can make to you, but I give it with all of my heart. I won’t let them touch that girl again.”
I nodded, almost numbly. “I trust you.”
He flashed me a killer smile and made my tummy flip. “Good.”
“Okay, let’s go and do this.”
I turned for the door, ready to go to battle, but he held me back, his lips landing on mine insistent and sure. His left hand fiddled with my right and he pushed something into my palm. When he broke the kiss, his eyes shone. “Humour me.”
Glancing down in my palm, I found a slender platinum band lined with square cut diamonds and emeralds. The diamonds weren’t the brilliant cut so popular now. In fact, they barely shone at all. “What’s this?”
“An old family trinket.” He picked it up and slid it down the ring finger on my right hand.
“A trinket?”
“Yep.”
“And…?”
“And nothing. Come, let’s go and get Daisy.”
“Oliver.”
He grinned but didn’t say anything else.
Outside on the front steps, the rest of the family waited. The Queen held Daisy’s hand. I flushed as I went to my daughter’s side. “Apologies for keeping you waiting.”
John made a harrumphing noise, but the Queen shot him down with a killer look. Isabella, who looked utterly stunning in a black evening dress happened to glance at my hand. She sniggered, which in my humble opinion completely undermined how magnificent she looked in her dress. “I see someone’s been at Granny Alice’s goodies.”
I went to ask her what she meant, but Oliver steered me around to the other side of one of the waiting limousines. Vanessa waited there with a black umbrella held up against some light drizzle. She handed me the all-important handbag. “Ma’am, everything you need is in here. Remember, swapping your bag into your left-hand midst conversation means you want someone to come and move you on.” I nodded. There was no chance in hell, I’d remember that.
Oliver chuckled low in my ear and planted a kiss on the sensitive skin there. Molly and Emilia came out and gave me a wave. The whole situation stilted with utter awkwardness.
I almost fell into the car as the rest of the royal family moved to their own limos. Daisy clutched my hand and I made myself focus on her face. If I could just concentrate on her I’d be able to ignore everything else going on… sort of… maybe…
“You do look very beautiful, Mummy.”
