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

Tabitha did not like it. That much was clear from the way she tied Livia's cloak. She tugged the woollen shawl around Livia's shoulders, adjusted the hood, frowned at the fabric, then adjusted it again. "Keep this close about you."


"If His Majesty insists on carrying you through London after dark with no fear then the least you can do is avoid catching a chill." She stepped back and looked Livia over, still dissatisfied. "You both must be careful."


Tabitha gave her a flat look. "A night in town for royals is not the same as a night in town for ordinary people."


"No," Tabitha said, reaching to tuck a loose strand of Livia's hair beneath the hood. "You are only the king's favourite, leaving Whitehall at night with the king himself. How royal can one woman get? Come. You should not keep His Majesty waiting." Tabitha walked behind her through the passageways.


Chapter 247 - Keep This Close About You