Excerpt...
Henry’s hand shot out, closing around her arm, firmly enough that her breath caught. “Stay…” He stood beside her, close enough that she could feel him without touching him. 

“I…” Livia’s voice broke before it found strength. “I didn’t flee.” She still would not fully look at him. Her eyes remained on Bella. “This is not my fault,” she whispered.

“No,” Henry said at once. “It isn’t.” He looked away, then back at her. “Do you love him, Livia?”

“Please,” she cried. “Stop calling me that.”

“Do you love him?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“So soon after me?” he asked. “I thought we…” He stopped. “I assumed you…”

“That I what?” Livia asked, her voice trembling. “That I loved you? Henry…” she began then she caught herself. “Your Highness. I did seek solace in your arms... Yes. I will not lie about that. I wanted you. I trusted you. In a sea of sharks and wolves, you were the safest thing I could find.” Her eyes filled again. “You made me feel as though I could breathe. Turns out, you are no better.”

“Why?” Henry asked quietly. “Because I am the king?”

“Because you lied to me. You let me trust a man who did not exist.”

“I existed.”

“Henry the merchant existed because you created him.”

“For good reasons, I had to keep my identity hidden,” Henry said. “The king moving around London without security,” he continued, “what do you think would happen?”

“You speak as though I was asking you to announce yourself in the middle of Cheapside with trumpets and a crown. It doesn’t matter anymore,” Livia said, looking away from him. “I am getting married.”

“Yes,” Henry said, the word leaving him like a blade drawn from flesh. “To my best friend. Did you tell him?” Henry asked.

Livia’s brows drew together. “Tell him what?”

“That I fucked you. Did you tell him I was your first? Did you tell him you once trusted me? That you once promised yourself to me because you thought I was the safest thing in your miserable world?”

“That is not fair.”

“Then tell me is it fair that Richard gets to call you his intended while I stand here pretending I do not know the sound of your moan? Is it fair that he holds your hand while I cannot even say your name without ruining you?”

“Please stop.”

“Did you tell him,” Henry pressed, unable to stop himself now, “that you were mine before you were ever his?”

“How could I?” she asked, the words breaking. “I did not even know who you were.”

“Then let me ask you this,” he said, leaning down just a little, his lips a hair’s breath from hers. “Has he fucked you? Has he touched what is mine?”

.....

Sold into slavery and trapped in the brutal underworld of London, Livia Valenti is placed on the auction block. She makes a desperate choice and places her fate in the hands of the mysterious man who once caught her stealing.

She does not know he is the King of England.

Then comes Richard, Duke of Kingsmere willing to offer Livia the one thing Henry cannot easily give her— a future outside the shadows.

Caught between the king who awakened her heart and the duke who may be her safest escape, Livia is pulled into a dangerous court.

Livia becomes Diana Bellamy, the woman another man intends to wed, King Henry must decide how far a king can go before love becomes scandal, obsession, and war.

From the author who brought you:

1. Undressed by the mafia God 
2. Undressed by his arrogance 
3. The Vampire's Luna

It was not easy. The Queen Mother had a way of speaking that made even compliments feel like fingers closing around the throat.


"Thank you for the compliment, Your Grace."


"Bella," Theodora said, turning her head, "would you excuse us?"


Bella's hand found Livia's again, briefly, urgently.


Livia turned to her at once. "It is all right."


Bella's eyes flashed. No, they said. No, it is bloody not.


"I will be with you shortly," Livia added, making her voice gentle enough to soothe and firm enough to convince.


Bella looked from Livia to Theodora and back again. Her worry was painfully plain. At last, she curtsied to the Queen Mother. "Your Grace." Bella turned toward the door, her steps stiff with reluctance.


Livia watched her go, wishing she could follow. The room felt colder already. Without Bella beside her, Theodora's attention seemed heavier. More focused. A hawk no longer distracted by a smaller bird.


Chapter 170 - Thank You For The Compliment