Page 1 of Broken Prince

Prologue

Delaney

“Are you sure you have everything?” Mom asks, standing at the front door of our penthouse suite as the bellboy loads our bags onto a luggage cart.

After one of the best weeks of my life, we’re leaving, setting off to Rose Briar Hill to begin our new lives. I’m both excited and nervous about all the new changes to come.

Mom’s fiancé, James, is crazy rich and owns a chain of resorts. He was kind enough to give us the best room at one of his Florida locations for free... because that’s the perk of knowing the owner, I guess. Something that’s going to take some time for me to get used to.

Not that Mom and I were poor, but we’ve never been this well off. I’m not sure how I feel about being around this kind of money. Mom said not to overthink it. Thing is, I don’t care about James’ money. As long as he loves my mom and is good to her, that’s all that matters to me.

I’m just grateful he’s giving me a place to live while I go to school.

As fun as this cross-country trip with my mom has been, I’ve made some interesting choices.

Like sleeping with three sexy strangers. I don’t regret it, not at all. It’s my life, my body, and I was owed some fun. After having my nasty ex cheat on me, I deserve to take back my life and enjoy it.

However, I need to be a little bit more careful when it comes to letting loose and having fun, which was made glaringly clear when I had a slip-up with one of the guys and forgot to wear a condom. It had me staying up most of the night while thinking and decidingon a few things.

I’m going to enjoy myself, enjoy my life, and do what makes me happy. But sleeping around with men that I don’t know—as much fun as it was, and while I don’t regret it—it’s just not my thing. And even though I am on birth control, it doesn’t protect me from other things like STDs.

I do plan on casually dating and seeing where things might go if someone catches my eye, but I’m not setting out to find a boyfriend. I also won't turn away from love if it happens to fall into my lap. Everything with Kyle, my ex, has made me realize that I shouldn’t settle. That I deserve respect and someone who won’t sleep around on me. Someone who is kind and caring. Not someone who controls me or belittles me.

I’m single, and as of right now, I plan on staying that way. I’m going to go to college and spend the first year finding myself before picking a major. Because it’s okay to not know what I want to do for the rest of my life right out of high school, but I won’t waste my time being idle while I find out.

“Yup,” I tell her. “You know me. Checked every inch of this place at least three times, and then another for good luck.”

She laughs, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and kissing me on the side of the head. “Your over-checking has saved us a few times.”

“I mean, you almost left your credit card that one time, your phone that other time, and then your whole damn purse in the last hotel before we got here.” I grin, raising a brow.

“Okay, okay, don’t rub it in.” She messes up my hair before walking away.

“Butthead,” I mutter, making her laugh harder. Taking one last quick glance around, I follow her out and down to the lobby.

“Hope everything was to your liking, Miss Jones.”

“It was, thank you.” Mom smiles at the valet. The bellhop helps us load up the car, and when we're done, Mom tips him well.

“Ready to start the rest of our new life?” Mom asks, holding her hand out. I smile back and take it, weaving our fingers together.

“I am. As long as I’m with you, I’ll go anywhere.”

Her eyes well with tears. “I love you, Laney girl. You're my world.”

“You're mine too, Mama.”

She kisses the back of my hand, and I try not to cry too as we pull away from the resort.

Over the next two days, we pretty much stop every twenty minutes to eat, use the bathroom, gas up, or do some sightseeing.

We wind up staying in a hotel another night before making it to Rose Briar Hill the next afternoon.

As soon as we pass the sign welcoming us, the whole vibe changes. It’s like we step over a threshold into some fairy tale world.

My head is hanging out the window like a dog in awe. I’ve done a little research on the place. It’s not as big as a city, but it's not something you would call a small town either. It has a school and tons of houses that range from middle-class to mega-rich, along with a few hotels, a hospital, restaurants, shops, and other things to make living here comfortable. It’s only an hour from Orlando, so anything else we might need isn’t far away.

“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” Mom asks me as we drive past the shops and turn off onto another road.