Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Pixelberry and I claim no ownership of them. Enjoy!
Riley went up to her room after the gala and was standing in her underwear looking through her suitcase for pajamas when suddenly Maxwell busted through the door with fury.
“LITTLE BLOSSOM!” He yelled excitedly.
“Maxwell, what the hell?!” Riley grabbed a dress and attempted to hide behind it.
“Oops! Sorry!” He covered his eyes.
“Can you just… give me a second?” She asked Maxwell as she turned him around.
“Yeah, sorry. I would have knocked but I was so excited I couldn’t wait. We found Tariq! Well, kind of. He’s in Los Angeles. Apparently, he’s been doing some serious damage at all the high-end retailers out there.”
“Leave it to him to go shopping while we’re stuck here cleaning up his mess,” she huffed as she pulled her shirt over her head. “Okay, Max, you can turn back around.”
“Anyways, we found a few places where he could be. If we hurry and get to the airport, we can go out there and track him down.”
“Tonight? How are we even going to get there?”
“Liam was gracious enough to let us borrow the royal private jet. He regretted not being able to join us but hoped this would be an appropriate consolation.” Bertrand said as he stepped through the door to her hotel room.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Riley grabbed her purse, taking out her phone to text Hana and Drake. “Let’s go.”
“I can’t believe we found him!” Riley bit her nails nervously.
“I know it’s unfortunate Liam couldn’t be here, but we have your back.” Hana smiled at her.
“That’s right.” Drake nodded.
“We narrowed it down to five places. We’ll start searching once we land. We’ll find him, Blossom. You’ve got the best detective on your case.” Maxwell gave her his signature grin and two thumbs up. Bertrand let out a long sigh and placed a conquered hand over his face.
“God, grant me strength.”
When they landed, they immediately went to the first address on their list. It was an older apartment above a shop on the edge of the city. Maxwell walked up a short flight of stairs and knocked on the door.
“Hello?” A young man answered, barely cracking the door enough to see Maxwell.
“Hey, have you seen this guy?” He held up a picture of Tariq. “About this tall. A member of Cordonian royalty. Smells like the inside of a Ralph Lauren store. I have a sample of his cologne!”
“You’re asking me if I’ve seen a member of Cordonian royalty? This is a joke, right?”
“Uh… yeah. Just kidding. Bye.” Maxwell quickly ran down the stairs to the waiting group. “I don’t think he’s here, and that guy seems a little sketchy. On to the next!”
They walked a little farther down the road before crossing the street. Drake walked up to the given address and pounded on the door.
“Open up, we’ve got some questions.” He shouted.
An older woman peered out through the curtains before stepping back and allowing them to fall shut.
“You’re coming on too strong.” Hana stepped up next to him and gently pushed him back. “Let me take this one.”
She knocked softly on the door and the woman answered it. They exchanged a few words before the woman let her inside. When she came back out, she held a plate of cookies in her hands.
“Well, he’s not here, but she did give me these cookies!”
“You’re the only person I know who could walk into a strangers house and leave with a gift.” Riley reached over and grabbed a still warm chocolate chip cookie. She took a bite. “Where to next?”
They went across town and up to a fairly plain apartment building. They took an elevator up to the designated floor and stepped out in front of an apartment door.
“Here goes nothing.” Riley took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Coming!” A voice called out.
A few seconds later, the door opened.
Slap.
Riley’s open hand connected with Tariq’s face.
“You have some nerve running away!” She shouted at him.
“I suppose I deserved that.” He leaned out of the door rubbing his face to see Hana, Bertrand, Maxwell and Drake, who had anger written all over his face.
“Please, come in.”
They filed in and Tariq closed the door. Riley looked around his apartment. Take out containers littered the kitchen and Tariq’s clothes were strewn all over the place. Clearly a life of luxury hadn’t taught him to clean up after himself.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding.” Drake said brazenly.
“Yes. I figured it’d be better for everyone if I left. I felt like I’d embarrassed Lady Riley. Surely, I had no way of knowing things would play out like this. For what it’s worth, I am truly sorry. It was an unfortunate miscalculation on my part.”
“You were set up like I was. It wasn’t all your fault but leaving definitely didn’t help me any.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“You have to come back to New York with us and face the press. Tell them the truth. That’s the least you could do.”
“I’m not so sure, Lady Riley.”
“Listen, you played a part in getting her into this mess. I don’t think you’re in any position to call shots right now.” Drake sneered at him, taking a reflective step towards Riley.
“Indeed.” Tariq’s face shifted from regret to resolve. “Let’s go.”
They flew back to New York and quickly went into a conference room in the hotel. Tariq went into a bathroom to clean up while the rest of them conferred.
“I got us a few minutes alone with a reporter. They almost fainted when I offered them such a monumental story.” Bertrand turned to Riley. “Shall we release it straight away or would you like to warn King Liam and Madeline first?”
“What do you think?”
“That’s truly up to you, Riley. It’s really just determinate on how you’d like to continue your relationship with Madeline. If you would like to remain cordial, I suggest giving her a warning. If you don’t care how she feels about you one way or the other, I can have it released as soon as it’s ready.”
“I’d like to at least tell Liam.”
“Sure.” Bertrand replied curtly as Tariq walked into the conference room. The reported waved Bertrand over. “Looks like they’re ready. You should all head over to the wedding shower. I won’t be far behind.” He gave them a quick bow and took his leave.
“Where’s Liam?” Riley asked Madeline as she stood in the middle of the beautifully decorated ballroom. Drake, Hana, and Maxwell hung back by the door, carefully watching the situation unfold as Olivia strolled up to the group. Riley couldn’t make out what they were saying, but soon Olivia settled back with the rest of them, keeping a close eye on the two women.
“He’s currently tied up with a delegate from New Zealand.” She responded flatly. Riley looked over Madeline’s shoulder to see Liam next to a stage speaking to a man dressed in a creased suit.
“Listen Madeline, we found Tariq. He’s making a statement as we speak. It’s going to be released in the next 10 minutes. I just wanted to give the both of you a warning before it came out.” Riley watched as the color drained from Madeline’s face.
“I see.” Madeline swallowed. “I’ll come up with an excuse to cut the party short. Say Liam has an urgent meeting. Thank you for telling me, Riley.”
“Well I know how it feels to be publicly embarrassed. It’s the least I could do.”
Madeline walked up onto the stage, grabbing the microphone.
“Excuse me everyone, if I may have your attention…”
Liam looked up at her with concern as Madeline was cut off by her phone buzzing. One after one phone’s pinging went off around her.
“My God, they found him!” Liam exclaimed as he stared at his phone. His eyes scanned the room before landing on Riley. A wide smile grew across his face.
Riley took out her own phone to see a message sitting in her inbox. The headline of the attached article read, “Flirtatious Photos or Midnight Mix-up?” with a video embedded in the message. She watched as Tariq took a nervous step up to a wooden podium, fumbling a notecard in his hands which he dropped on the floor. He sighed in defeat and left it there. He cleared his throat, staring anxiously into the camera in front of him.
“Hello, my name is Tariq and I am here to make a statement regarding the photos of myself and Lady Riley Johnson. Many rumors have circulated about her since those photos came to light. I regret not coming forward sooner to corroborate the truth of what happened. And I regret, even more deeply, intruding on Lady Riley in the first place. It was a misunderstanding that led me to her room that night, mistaking it for my own. The photos that were taken of us reveal only this: a breach of privacy that I alone was responsible for. And an arrogant and unwanted advance on my part. Nothing untoward ever happened between us, at least nothing on Lady Riley’s part. Lady Riley, I offer my sincerest apologies for what I did that night. I hope this message begins to make amends for the harm I have done. As for the other members of the Cordonian court, I hope this will put an end to any unkind speculation about Lady Riley on your part. Thank you for your time.”
A low rumble of chatter and small gasps came from the crowd. All eyes fell on her and she simply nodded victoriously at all of them. A flurry of bows and curtsies were flashed towards her. She saw Bertrand fly in the room out of the corner of her eye.
“I got here as fast as I could. I wanted to see the look on everyone’s faces when they realized House Beaumont would never allow for a traitor in our court!” He looked around him, a large smile falling on his lips. “As glorious as I imagined.”
A hush fell over the room as Liam joined Madeline on the stage to address the crowd. Madeline sat down a flute of champagne, her hand trembling.
“That was quite illuminating. As I’ve said before, the press has treated Lady Riley incredibly unfairly since this whole business began. On behalf of myself and King Liam, I would like to congratulate her on clearing her name.” Madeline slightly pushed a hand towards Liam as to try and hold his but stopped short when she saw the apologetic smile on his face. He stepped forward to address the crowd.
“Countess Madeline is right. I believe apologies are in order from anyone who has been less than welcoming to Lady Riley since the Coronation Ball. I propose a toast to Lady Riley!” Liam raises a glass.
“Hear, hear” echoed around her from her friends. Even Olivia raised a glass with a sharp-toothed grin. She was basking in what was sure to be the downfall of Madeline. Riley looked over to see Drake eyeing her. He kept a straight face as he nodded, walking towards her.
“We should probably get out of here before the press shows up and starts asking questions.”
Drake placed a hand on the back of Riley’s arm and started towards the door. She looked back to try and find Liam, who was currently being cornered by nobles. She’d talk to him later. Drake was right. The press would be here soon, and she was too overwhelmed to deal with them right now.
Riley opened the door to her room and let her friends come in behind her. Just as she was about to close it, a hand jarred the door back open slightly. She looked out to see Liam with the biggest smile she’d ever seen.
“I thought I’d find you all here,” he said as she let him in. “I can’t believe you guys did it! It’s over. All the trouble my father has caused is resolved. You’re finally a free woman, Riley. How does it feel?”
“It’s a huge relief. I’m glad it’s over,” she said through tearful eyes.
Saying the words out loud felt better than she expected. A wave of anxiety soon washed over her. She knew this meant her and Liam could be together. She’d thought she wanted it for so long, but Drake had complicated things. She felt guilty for not even caring all that much that they’d found Tariq. A small part of her was hoping they wouldn’t so Liam would just marry Madeline and she could be with Drake. She knew it wasn’t fair to Liam to be stuck with such a snake, but she felt like all she’d cared about was what Liam wanted. This time she wanted to care about herself.
“As we all are.” Bertrand chimed.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m whipped. I could hardly sleep on the plane with Maxwell practicing his ‘Hip-Hopera”. I’ll collapse if I have to stand much longer.” Riley tried to stifle a yawn.
“Understandably so. We’ll leave you to rest.” Bertrand gave her a slight bow.
Liam stood next to Riley as the rest of them filed out. When Hana closed the door he turned to her.
“There’s so much to say and discuss, but I have other business to attend to tonight. Can I see you tomorrow evening?” He wrapped his hands around hers, kissing the inside of her wrist.
“Absolutely.” She smiled at him.
“Excellent. See you then. Sleep well.” He kissed her cheek and left.
Riley stripped off her clothes and climbed into bed. Tariq’s speech played in her head as a lullaby and she quickly fell asleep.
The next morning she was downstairs getting breakfast when she bumped into Maxwell.
“You look in good spirits!” He bounced on his heels next to her.
“I am. Liam want’s to meet with me tonight. He wants to talk.”
“Oh! About what?”
“I’m not sure, but I have a feeling.”
“What’s your feeling say?”
“That he’s going to break off his engagement with Madeline.”
“Don’t you think that’d cause a bit of a ruckus?”
“Probably. At this point, I don’t think he really cares, Max. We’ve worked so hard to get to this here.”
“That we have. We should get you to the boutique. Such a special occasion requires a special dress!”
Riley and Maxwell hurried into the boutique where rows of beautiful dresses sat lining the wall. They spent hours looking over dress after dress before finding one they both loved. It was a floor length charcoal number. Intricate bead work sparkled in the light. The neckline dipped low, revealing the most cleavage decorum would allow.
After picking out her dress, Riley went upstairs to finish getting ready. As she stepped in the shower, she began to grow more and more anxious. What if he purposes tonight? What do I say? She shook her head of the thought. She’d say yes, right? Isn’t that what this whole fiasco was about? Her getting engaged to Liam and saving House Beaumont from ruin? Becoming a queen? If he asks, I’ll say yes. It’s my obligation to say yes.
And that was that.