“I thought you didn’t drink while you gambled,” his brother said. He passed a casino employee and dropped the bag into the man’s hands. “Enjoy your evening.” He took his black suit jacket off the back of the chair and slung it over his shoulder. “I’m cashing out,” he said, standing and putting his chips into a velvet bag. Xander laughed and revealed his royal flush before leaning in and sweeping the chips into his stack. It was time for the cards to go down, and those who hadn’t folded earlier on in the round put their hands face up. “Yeah, well, you haven’t seemed to need me.” If you did, then maybe you would have had to come home a long time ago.” I don’t lose, either.” He eyed the men sitting around the table and pushed a pile of chips into the pot. “Doing what? Throwing away your fortune and drinking yourself into a stupor?” “I’m a little busy right now, Stavros,” he said into his phone. I’m not particular about which one you choose, but you’d better make a decision, and quickly.”Īlexander Drakos, heir to the throne of Kyonos, dissolute rake and frequent gambler, took a drag on his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray and dropping his cards onto the velvet-covered table. Christmas with a Billionaire – Snowed in with Her Boss.A Hunger For the Forbidden/The Highest Price to Pay 2-in-1.An Accidental Birthright/A Mistake, A Prince and A Pregnancy.The succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over the validity of marriages. In 1924, after Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia) was declared legally dead, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, a male-line grandson of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, declared himself Guardian of the Throne and later assumed the title Emperor of All Russia. In 1938, upon the death of Kirill Vladimirovich, his son Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich assumed the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. Vladimir Kirillovich’s only child, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna (born 1953), claims to have succeeded her father upon his death in 1992. Her claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family is based on a claim that all male lines of the Romanov family are either extinct, illegitimate, or morganatic, triggering semi-salic succession, and that she is the closest female to the last dynast. Maria Vladimirovna’s claim was disputed by the Romanov Family Association, a private organization of living male-line descendants of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia (except Maria Vladimirovna and her son). Pre-revolutionary Romanov house law allowed only those born of an equal marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house to be in the line of succession to the Russian throne. The throne could only pass to a female and through the female line upon the extinction of all legitimately-born, male dynasts. Maria Vladimiovna’s mother Princess Leonida of Bagration belonged to a family that had been kings in Georgia from medieval times until the early 19th century. However, no male line ancestor of Leonida had reigned as a king in Georgia since 1505 and her branch of the Bagrations, the House of Mukhrani, had been naturalized as non-ruling nobility of Russia after Georgia was annexed to the Russian empire in 1801. Therefore, after the death of Vladimir Kirillovich in 1992, Prince Nicholas Romanov claimed that he was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia. Except for Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, who said that the marriage of Nicholas’ parents was not in conformity with the house laws, Nicholas was recognized by the rest of the family as head of the Romanov family. However, Maria Vladimirovna seems to be more accepted by European royalty and she is sometimes invited to royal events.
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