Page 126 of Tabloid Princess

He’d done this without asking me.

The sound of a medley of phones pinging filled the air.

Bill turned, his finger pressed to the earpiece in his ear. His gaze darted over me, his features remaining controlled. “I see,” is all he said. He turned back to me and the sympathy on his face said it all. “There’s been a development, Miss Lawrence. You will need to come with me while I can get you out.”

“Out?” I shivered.

“Leia!” Molly grabbed at her phone. “This just flashed up.” The torn expression of distrust and confusion on her face ripped me deep down inside.

I took her phone, my fingers shaking. The image on the screen showed Oliver and me in my back garden, Daisy hugging onto his knee, his lips on mine. Official news break. The Prince of England falls for commoner.

“That’s not official,” I stuttered. “That’s been taken from one of my neighbour’s gardens.”

“Leia!” Molly’s face drained of all colour. “Leia, have you been seeing the prince this whole time?”

I shook. Part nerves, mostly shame.

“I wanted to tell you, Molly. I promise I did. It’s just been so complicated. So difficult.”

She pointed at her phone still in my hand. “It seems very difficult.” She turned her back and I went to reach for her.

“Miss Lawrence. Now please,” Bill interrupted.

The burner phone in my bag began to ring and I fished for it almost blindly while I watched Molly walk away. Paula stared at me, her face one of utter shock. Even Janine, my saviour, looked at me like she didn’t know me at all.

“It’s just been a few dates,” I muttered, but my words were useless. The people in this office knew me better than anyone. There is no way I’d have had him in my back garden with Daisy if it were just dates.

My chest almost caved as I answered the phone. “Hi.” I whimpered. Molly turned around and shot me a glare. I leant down and put her phone on the nearest desk.

“Leia, you need to go with Bill now.”

“What’s happened? I thought you weren’t worried about my house.”

There was a pause and a sigh followed by some mumbled cursing. When he spoke, his words drilled into my brain. “I obviously didn’t pay enough.”

Pay enough…?

I gasped, and not for the first time, my existence spun on an axle the size of a pinhead. “You paid people to stop them talking?”

“That’s not important now, Leia. You have to go. I won’t have them chase you back through London.”

I couldn’t even think. “You’ve had people guarding me. You’ve paid people off, bribed them so you could come into my home?”

“Leia, please. I’m going to get the first flight back. I’ll see you soon.”

“Don’t bother.”

“Don’t overreact.”

“Don’t overreact? I trusted you.” Tears burned. Maybe my reaction was over the top, but it didn’t matter. “You made everything seem so easy. So effortless. You made me think we could be almost normal the way you kept turning up and no one talked.”

“Leia! I’m a goddamn prince. How normal did you expect it to be?”

I had nothing to say. His words said it all.

I hung up the phone and then glanced at my friends in the office. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry.” Then I let Bill edge me out the building to where a car waited for us. The press were encamped at either end, their shouts echoing down the road calling for Princess Leia, but none of them broke the court order around the building.

I’d been a fool.