Royal Wrecker: Barnes Family Romances Book 4 Read online

  I had promised I would wear a disguise and blend in just like any other young woman in Martinovia, and here we were.

  The concert lasted around two hours, and by the end of it, my feet were aching, and I was ready to go home.

  “But you know I've got backstage passes.” Jennifer tugged on my shirt. “You can't make us leave before we have a chance to meet Leo Barnes.”

  I didn't want to ruin her night, but I wasn't really in the mood.

  Jennifer nudged me in the ribs. “I know you're a princess and all that, but you can’t pass up the opportunity to meet Leo in the flesh.”

  I’ve never been as boy crazy as Jennifer, and I figured Leo Barnes was just like any other person.

  Granted, a bit hotter than most.

  Truly an amazing musician, but I wasn't the type to be starstruck.

  Just because he was famous wasn’t anything special to me.

  I grew up under that mantle, so it took a lot to impress me.

  But Jennifer was right. I couldn't ruin her one chance to meet him just because I felt like being lame.

  So I agreed, and much to the irritation of my security detail, we made our way backstage.

  When we got to the inner sanctum, we were shown into a special greenroom and they told us Leo and the band would be out in a few minutes.

  Central to the room was a table filled with a variety of alcoholic beverages, some congealed-looking cheese squares, and a vegetable platter that no one touched.

  I sat down next to Jennifer on a creepy maroon vinyl couch. Her knees were shaking so hard that I reached over and placed my hand on them. “Stop.”

  “I'm sorry. I can't help it. I'm just so excited. I mean to have the chance to meet Leo Barnes in person… Oh my God, I've been watching him on TV since he was a little kid practically.”

  “But then you were a little kid.”

  Jennifer pressed her hands to her cheeks and swooned. “I know. Isn't that romantic? We grew up together.”

  I rolled my eyes and started scrolling through my phone.

  “You know, that drummer was really cute too. Did you notice?” she asked.

  Actually, I had noticed. In the looks department he might even give Leo a run for his money. But then, all of the members of his family were gorgeous. Probably everyone in his entire life was good-looking.

  It was almost disgusting how perfect he seemed.

  Just when I was about to lose my patience and tell Jennifer we had to go home, the door burst open and Leo and his band members came out laughing and messing with one another.

  When I looked up, there he was, standing two feet away from me—Leo Barnes.

  I expected for him to be a larger-than-life, giant of a man who sucked out all the energy in a room the minute he walked in. That was the way everyone described Ziggy Barnes, Leo’s father who had been the biggest rock star on the planet before he was killed in a plane crash.

  But to my surprise, Leo seemed like a regular guy.

  A regular guy with the looks of Brad Pitt, but his energy was very low-key, casual.

  Not the kind of guy who needed everyone in the room to bow down to him.

  “Hi, I'm Leo,” he said.

  “Oh my God, I can't believe were meeting you! I'm Jennifer,” she gushed as she shook his hand.

  “And I'm Hannah,” I lied. He took my hand, and when our eyes met, something sparked inside me.

  I set my phone inside my bag.

  This might be interesting after all.

  “These are my buddies Will and DeMarcus.”

  Introductions were made, and the guys asked us if we wanted anything else to drink.

  They pulled a few beers out of a fridge in the corner of the room.

  I accepted, as did Jennifer.

  There was no drinking age in Martineau.

  Our culture dictated that children drank wine at the table with their parents from a very young age, so drinking beer was nothing for us.

  As I sipped my beer, I could tell Jennifer was really interested in Will, the drummer. He was cute with sandy-brown hair and dark, mysterious eyes. And you couldn't help but appreciate the way he played the drums with his shirt open, displaying a serious eight-pack.

  “We loved the show. I'm a big fan of your music,” I managed, knowing I sounded stupid, but I needed to play the role of a typical groupie.

  If my pink wig was not enough of a disguise, I certainly didn't think Leo would recognize me, but I was also starting to have a little fun pretending to be someone so different from myself.

  My world required me to be rather serious. There were a lot of responsibilities placed on my head, and it was nice to step out of that familiar role tonight and act like a normal twenty-year-old girl.

  “Really? You like to listen to us, too?” Leo asked shyly.

  “I do, especially Leave Me Now. That's one of my favorites. Don't you have a tattoo of that?”

  It was one of the things that everybody talked about when it came to Leo. His tattoos were legendary.

  He laughed. “Yeah, I do. But hey, you want to go swimming with us? It’ll give you a chance to see that tattoo.”

  The sly grin he gave me made my stomach do a flip.

  I had thought I was immune to the charms of celebrities like him, but maybe I was wrong.

  “Yeah, right. Hang on,” I said, stalling.

  “Hey, why don't you girls come with us to our hotel?” Will asked Jennifer with a raised brow.

  Jennifer's eyes grew wide as she looked over at me and gave a slow nod that said we better be doing this.

  I was just about to agree when I realized that there was no way my security was going to go along with this.

  “Can I talk to you a minute?” I smiled sweetly at Leo as I pulled Jennifer to the side and hissed, “There's no way my people are going along with this.”

  Jennifer chewed her bottom lip. “Can't we just ditch them?”

  “I don't know. I'm not really used to doing that.”

  “I hear about it all the time with the president's kids. They are always ditching their Secret Service people in America. I saw it online.”

  I sighed. Just what those kids of families outside of America loved most—to be compared to a country where they had a turnover every four years. In Martinovia there was only one royal family, and it didn't change. If you screwed something up here, it stayed with you for life. You couldn’t just wait for the next bunch to come in and make mistakes of their own.

  I had grown up with security my entire life. It wasn't just a new nuisance for me to have to get used to.

  Glancing over at the guys, there was something about the way Leo smiled at me that made my brain take a vacation.

  The next thing I knew, I heard myself saying yes.

  Then I walked over to Leo and asked, “Is there a back way we can get out of here?”

  “I like the way you think.” He grinned. “Ditch those freaking paparazzi, and we’ll get an Uber to the hotel. Hey, DeMarcus, give that guy a call who drove you to get that pizza yesterday.”

  “Sure thing.”

  And just like that I graduated from a perfect princess to a wild party girl.

  I slammed the rest of my beer.

  “Damn, girl.” Will looked at me admiringly, while I successfully held back a burp.

  I could only go so far outside my upbringing.

  To my surprise, it was fairly easy to leave out a back door. We headed down a corridor that led to a side exit to the building where the guy with the van showed up to give us a ride to the hotel.

  During the ride over, Jennifer climbed into the back with Will who had already planted one hand on her knee and an arm around her shoulder.

  It didn't take long for them to couple up.

  DeMarcus climbed in the middle, and Leo and I climbed onto the first bench. He didn't put an arm around me, but I was pleased by the way he gazed into my eyes so intently as we talked. It made me feel like I was the only girl in the world.

&n
bsp; “So do you live in Martinovia?” he asked.

  “Yes.” I appreciated him asking me about myself, but that was the last topic I wanted to discuss so I put it back on him. “I know you travel quite a bit and do lots of tours, but where is it you call home?”

  “My mom's got a house in Beverly Hills, but you're right. Sometimes it feels like home is on the road.”

  My brows furrowed. “That doesn't sound too good.”

  He shrugged.

  “What about your sister Ivy? Do you miss being on tour with her?”

  “Yeah. But we can't stay joined at the hip forever. Our interests are starting to go in different directions, you know? It is what it is.” He turned and looked out the window, indicating it was not a topic he really wanted to discuss.

  “So are you enjoying Martinovia?”

  “Yeah, it's a pretty cool place. We haven't done as much sightseeing as I'd like to, but so far I like it. This is my first time coming here.”

  We continued with the small talk until we got to the hotel—the most upscale hotel in the capital.

  A doorman helped us out and showed the five of us to one of the back elevators, which transported us to the very top floor. There, we were let into a penthouse suite that took up at least one half of the entire top floor.

  I had heard there was an outdoor pool on the roof of the suite, but I had never seen it for myself.

  Maybe I could catch a peek of it while we were here.

  Leo had mentioned swimming…

  3

  Honoré

  The party wound up in the penthouse’s kitchen, where DeMarcus previously made Jell-O shots.

  “These things are good!” Jennifer said after downing two of the bright-red blobs of alcohol.

  She handed me one, and I took it.

  It seemed like the kind of thing that everyone else my age had tried, but I hadn't.

  To hell with it. Tonight was a night for firsts and stepping out of my comfort zone.

  “Why not?” I let the blob slide down my throat. It kind of tickled as it went down, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

  The guys wandered into a huge living area where DeMarcus turned on some heavy metal music.

  “Aww, man, how about some Logic?” Will asked.

  DeMarcus was about to switch the music when Leo stopped him. “Why don't we ask our guests? What kind of music do you want to listen to?”

  I thought it would be stupid to ask for them to play their own music, so I was thrilled when Jennifer piped up with, “Imagine Dragons.”

  Leo nodded. “Good choice.”

  Music filled the room, and we all started dancing.

  Normally, I would feel terribly self-conscious in a setting like this, but that Jell-O shot was strong, and on top of the beer, I was feeling kinda buzzed.

  To the extent that I was considering removing my pink wig. It was starting to cut into my head.

  But I wasn’t drunk enough to forget about my disguise.

  A game of beer pong started, and I did my best not to participate. Instead, I stood to the side cheering the rest of them on. I didn’t want to drink too much more.

  Meanwhile, Jennifer was having a blast. After one of her turns, Will pulled her down on the nearest couch into his lap and the two of them started making out.

  On another night this would've made me angry, but I was having so much fun that I just looked over at Leo and DeMarcus and giggled.

  They laughed too, and we started debating the merits of cricket and rugby.

  I did my best to explain both games to the Americans who had no clue about either. It baffled me how they had a completely different name for what the entire rest of the world called football.

  It wasn't long before DeMarcus said he needed to get to bed.

  “Don't leave,” I implored him.

  DeMarcus was really funny, and I was enjoying his company.

  “I’m going to bow out of this third-wheel thing, or in this case fifth wheel. You know what I'm saying?”

  Tipsy as I was, I knew what he was talking about.

  I felt the heat rise in my cheeks as Leo clapped him on the back, and they did some bro-style handshake.

  It was nice to meet you, DeMarcus,” I said, feeling bad that he didn't really know the real me.

  He seemed like the kind of guy that I would like to be friends with.

  “You too, Hannah. See you in the a.m., Leo.”

  “Bye, Will. Jennifer,” DeMarcus called to the lovebirds.

  Will and Jennifer were so busy sticking their tongues down each other’s throats that Will barely gave them a wave of his hand.

  “Those two need to go get a room. I mean there's one right there,” DeMarcus said.

  Leo and I both laughed.

  Once DeMarcus was gone, Leo glanced over at Will and Jennifer, shook his head then turned to me.

  “Hey, you want to go outside? There's a pretty wicked pool out on the deck.”

  Feeling bold from the alcohol, I gave him my sexiest smile and said, “I thought you'd never ask.”

  We stepped outside onto the terrace. We each had a drink in our hands as we walked over to the edge of the balcony overlooking the twinkling lights of the city.

  “It's really beautiful here. No wonder you like it.” Leo brushed his hair back in a way that made my heart race. He was more handsome in person than I could have imagined.

  He was magnetic on stage, but even more so in real life.

  That focused way he looked at me… Well, it was unnerving.

  And intoxicating.

  “It is lovely, isn’t it?”

  Suspecting the alcohol could be the culprit for my suddenly weak knees, I inhaled the fresh night air, hoping that more oxygen would clear my head.

  Leo took a sip of his drink and wandered over to the small pool. “I was in here a couple nights ago. The water’s nice.”

  I followed him over to the steps.

  Illuminated from the inside, the shimmery blue water did look inviting.

  He proceeded to whip off his shirt, and in a flash, he ditched his shoes and pants.

  For a split second I needed a reality check.

  I was standing just inches away from a mostly naked Leo Barnes.

  He still had on his underwear, which fit him like a glove and didn't leave much to the imagination.

  Making sure my mouth wasn't hanging open, I drank in his incredibly fit body.

  But before I could commit it to memory, he jumped into the pool.

  I had no intention of following him into the water, but I didn’t want to be a complete party pooper either, so I took off my shoes and sat along the side of the pool, dangling my feet in the water.

  It was a reasonable compromise.

  I could enjoy the view of both Leo and the city while I remained dry and dignified.

  Leo burst out of the water and shook his head in that weird way guys do where they shake their hair like dogs.

  It was a move I never understood. Probably because I didn’t have any brothers.

  “Come on in. It feels great.”

  God it was tempting. The way his mouth curled up on the sides when he talked was so hot.

  It was a dreamy invitation, but I kicked my feet in the water to assure him. “This is fine.”

  Before I could think up a good reason why I shouldn't get wet, Leo swam over to me. Like a seal, he popped his head under the water.

  When he surfaced between my legs, I almost died of embarrassment.

  Modesty had me closing my legs so that my underwear didn't show, but because of his proximity, I clamped my legs around him.

  Taking this as an invitation, he rose to standing, his face just inches from mine.

  Then he reached out and touched my chin, then pressed his lips to mine.

  Any resistance I might have had melted away.

  The fact that he was kissing me was a shock.

  I wasn't accustomed to people being so forward with me. There were numerous protocols
that would normally ensue before someone of the opposite sex was allowed within close proximity of me.

  But once that jolt of surprise dissipated, I found myself relaxing and kissing him back.

  My lips parted, allowing him entry, and soon I was tasting him.

  Instinctively, my arms curled around his neck and his wet body pressed up against my clothes. I could feel the wetness seep through the fabric and onto my skin.

  The proper princess inside me who would be horrified for a man to get her clothes damp had taken a back seat to my new alter ego, party girl Hannah who loved every second of it.

  I was somewhat uncomfortable now that my crotch was pressed against his abdomen, but something inside me wanted to let go, wanted to let this happen, whatever it was.

  For just one night I wanted to be Hannah and forget I was a princess with all the responsibilities that went along with that.

  I craved being a typical young woman without a care in the world.

  Encircling the back of my neck with strong fingers, he held me firmly in his thrall, making me gasp with pleasure.

  His tongue darted into my mouth, and we explored each other, hungering, thirsting for more contact until he finally pulled back and whispered, “Get in the water with me.”

  “I don't have a bathing suit.” My voice was so breathy I hardly recognized it.

  “You could just swim in your underwear.” He nibbled on my ear which fueled my desire and threatened my ability to think clearly.

  I gulped. Swim in my underwear? What would I do with all my wet clothes?

  No good answers came to mind, and when he started to unbutton my blouse, I couldn't imagine finding the words to stop him.

  I wanted to be in that water with him.

  Naked.

  But I would have to be content swimming in my underwear.

  When he undid the last button on my blouse, he pushed my shirt back over my shoulders. Then he leaned back and took me in. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

  I was used to people fawning over me.

  My entire life people had been showering me with compliments, telling me what they thought I wanted to hear. Through some hard lessons, I learned that it was important for me to take the compliments people gave me with a grain of salt.

  There were a lot of people who wanted things from a princess.