Chapter 71 Rhea

Chapter 71 Rhea

RHEA'S POV

After Estefan and his father left, Queen Carina led me to sit on the couch as she settled beside me. "Tell me what happened and I want the truth this time," she ordered.

I sighed, knowing there was no point in lying to her. "Estefan took me to London so I could reconcile with my parents. After I spoke to my parents that day, I decided to talk to Leah too and try to sort out the misunderstanding between us. During our conversation, I brought up Estefan's partnership with Empire Fashion House which she used to model for. I told her I could help talk to Estefan to put in word for her to the CEO, so they could sign her back. But before I knew it, she threw a mug at my head, claiming that I was rubbing my marriage to Estefan in her face."

"Okay, that is so cruel," Esmeralda exclaimed. "How can a person be so wicked? What if something worse happened to you?"

"We should be thankful that it didn't get worse than this," Anna replied.

"You know, the hurt I'm feeling in my head is nothing compared to what I'm feeling in my heart. How could she hate me so much for something that was not even my fault?" Tears gathered in my eyes.

"Trust me, everything will be fine." Queen Carina pulled me in a hug. "One day she will realize her mistake, and come back to apologise to you."

"You think so?" I sniffed.

"I know so." She pulled away and held my face in her hands. "I used to be in your shoes some time ago. I was hated for something that wasn't my fault or in my control, but it only lasted for a while before he came to his senses and apologised to me."

"How did you cope all those times?" I asked.

"I kept paying the hate back with love and after a while, I was repaid with love." She smiled.

"Thank you." I smiled back.

"But you should know that hurting a member of the Royal Family is a big offence that attracts severe punishment, Estevan might want to get her punished," the Queen said with a worried expression on her face.

"Well, she deserves it." Esmeralda shrugged.

"She's already suffering enough for all her actions, I can't let this add to it." I stood up from the couch. "Let me go and talk to Estefan."

I entered the elevator and went up to the fourth floor with the hope that Estefan was able to convince his dad not to punish Leah. If she gets punished for what she did, it would only increase her hatred for me and I didn't want that to happen.

Stepping into our room, I met Estefan walking out of the closet shirtless. I tried not to let his perfectly sculptured body distract me as I kept my eyes on his face.

"What did your dad say?" I asked.

"He wanted to bring Leah to Spain and have her punished according to the law." My eyes widened in horror but he closed the distance between us and touched my bandage head. "But I managed to convince him not to even though I wanted nothing more than to punish her severally for hurting you."

A smile etched on my lips as I glanced up at him. "Thank you."

"I think I deserve more than a thank you for that." He leaned his face closer with a devious look on his face. "Do you know much effort it took me to convince my dad? Just a thank you would not be sufficient for that."

Who would have thought he could be so petty and demanding? But he did manage to get Leah out of trouble, so showing my gratitude for that shouldn't be a problem.

"Okay, what do you want?" I sighed.

"A kiss," he said casually, making me blink my eyes in surprise.

"What?"

"You heard me, Rhea." He stood at his full length, staring down at me. "If you can't do it, then I will just go and tell my father that I want Leah punished."

"No, wait." I held onto his hand as he moved to walk away from me.

Taking a deep breath, I positioned myself in front of him. It was just a kiss, nothing we haven't done before. I closed my eyes, stood on my tiptoe and gave him a quick kiss on the lap.

"There, I did it." I turned to leave but he pulled me back into his naked chest.

"You call that a kiss?" He raised his eyebrows at me. "Let me show you how to do it properly." He captured my lips in his as his hands tightened around me.

He bit my lower lips, making me gasp in surprise and he took that opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth. Like my hands had a mind of their own, they slid up from his chest to wrap themselves around his neck as I respond to his kisses.

A knock on the door made us pull away from each other. "Your Highness, your parents want you to come down to welcome the Royal Family of Denmark."

That must be Anna's parents.

Pulling away from Estefan's hold, I said, "I should go first." I turned to leave but he held me back.

"Is it safe for the princess to be there?" He asked the person by the door.

Wait, I didn't even think about that. All I thought about was how to get away from Estefan. Stupid me.

"Yes. There are only four of them, and Her Majesty said it would be safe for her."

I wiggled my hand out of his and made my way out of the room. On getting to the living room, I met a beautiful woman who was a carbon copy of Anna and three other men that looked similar to each other except one of them was much older.

Anna came toward me and dragged me over to them. "These are my parents." She pointed to the woman and the oldest among the three men. "And these are my elder brothers, Andrea and Damien." She referred to the other two men. "Guys, this is Rhea, Estefan's wife."

"It's nice to meet you guys." I bowed to them.

"It's nice to meet you too," Her mom said with a huge smile on her face. "Anna always talk about you wherever we were on the phone."

"It's nice to meet you." Andrea stretched his hand toward me and I took it in a handshake. "Are you in pain? I'm talking about the bandage around your head."

"No, I'm fine. It's nothing serious, thanks for your concern." I smiled.

"I've heard a lot about you on social media, it's good to finally meet you in person," Damien said as he put his hand out to me and I also took it. But I didn't expect him to bring it to his lips and kiss it. "You are such a beauty, Estefan is a very lucky man." He caressed the back of my hand with his thumb as his eyes raked down my body, making me uncomfortable. I tried to wiggle my hand out of his hand but he tightened his hold.

Out of nowhere, a hand slung over my shoulder followed by Estefan's cold intimidating voice. "My wife is not comfortable with you touching her, so I suggest you let go of her hand."

He smirked at Estefan before he dropped my hand. Anna gave me an apologetic look before everyone continued to chat among themselves.

"Are you okay?" Estefan whispered to me with his hand still around me.

"Yes, thank you." I glanced up at him with a small smile on my face.

"You don't need to thank me. I have to always look out for you." He smiled back at me, making a sweet-warm feeling explode in my stomach.

My plan of keeping my heart in check around Estefan was failing miserably, and I had no idea how to stop it.