Read Leopold: Part Five for Free Online Page B

leave me the fuck alone.”
    His eyes widen at my use of the word fuck . “Your language alone makes you entirely unsuitable to even enter the palace, let alone sleep here. I’ll not have anyone here who—”
    “But it isn’t really your choice, is it? I mean, you might think you run this palace—”
    “Miss, I do run this palace.”
    I glare at him again. “ Doctor. You may call me Doctor . I worked pretty goddamned hard to get through medical school, and I fucking well earned that title.” My heart pounds again—mostly because I hate doing that. I never make anyone call me Doctor, and I’ve always sort of hated people who insist on hiding behind their title. But it seems my medical degree is the only thing I have to hold up as some sort of evidence that I’m worth anything at the moment—because Stephan certainly doesn’t seem to think I’m even worth the time he’s taken to come here.
    The sneer he gives me does nothing to make me think otherwise. “The only titles that matter in Montovia are those of the Royal Family.” He glares at me again. “Considering you’re little more than a courtesan, you’re very lucky I haven’t had you arrested and thrown into the local jail.”
    The little fucker just called me a whore . And my mind begins to race, the same old song playing through my head again. Undeserving . Unlovable.
    Worthless .
    My stomach drops to my toes. He’s right. I mean, maybe he isn’t right, but it doesn’t matter. I definitely don’t deserve to be here. There’s nothing even remotely redeeming about me. There’s no way Leo is going to be able to turn me into some quasi-princess, fit to accompany him or anyone else to some fancy thing where he can rehabilitate his reputation. The only thing I’m going to do is drag him down.
    “You’ll collect your things at once. A driver will be waiting at the servant’s entrance in one hour. I’ll not have you seen at one of the family’s entrances…”
    I nod, but I’m not even listening to him. I’m already planning my next move.
    Leaving Leo. Again.
    And this time, it will be for good.

Leo
    I t’s torture leaving Elle , now that we’ve finally come together again and knowing she wants me to return to her tonight.
    If it were any other commitment pulling me away, I’d have no qualms about breaking it and spending the rest of the evening with Elle in my arms. But it’s for her sake that I need to do this. I won’t put a foot out of line while I’m under this roof—except for visiting her room tonight, of course. I don’t think I could stay away from her if my very life depended on it.
    I slip back to my suite to prepare for supper. After a quick—and very cold—shower, I slip into a suit with the royal shield and scepter embroidered in gold thread on the pocket. Supper with my father is always a formal occasion—an old tradition he should have dispensed with long ago. Sometimes I think my father still believes this to be the nineteenth century—while he has the latest technology at his fingertips, he rarely handles any of it himself. It’s a small miracle that Andrew convinced him to upgrade from horses to cars and solar-powered carts. I wonder if perhaps my father believes that formal, outdated traditions are the only thing separating our family from the masses.
    I’ll have to give Elle a few lessons in Montovian table etiquette , I think as I pull on my gloves. She’ll be eating with us soon enough—if I have anything to say about it, at least—and it’s important that she impresses my father. I might love her passion and the way she isn’t afraid to speak her mind, but my father is a different story. Until our three months are up, she and I need to do everything in our power to win his approval. Even if it kills us.
    I continue this train of thought as I head out of my suite and down the corridor. Besides table manners, Elle will probably need to learn some general etiquette—and dancing, of course—to prepare for