The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain

She had been wrong. Finding out she had no option but to let Claudio go had hurt, but discovering he wanted out…that he was bored with her had destroyed her. She no longer had any doubts about whether or not she was a survivor of their private war. She knew she had not survived, that her heart was dead inside her.

Only if it was dead, why did it still hurt so much?

When they arrived at the hospital, Claudio grabbed her arm to stop her from stepping out of the limousine. “Therese…”

She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. “What?”

“My family is under enough stress right now.”

“Yes.” So was she, but he’d made it painfully clear he didn’t care about that.

She’d had the audacity to ask for a divorce and that made her persona non grata where he was concerned.

“I do not want them further distressed by news of our imminent breakup.”

Did he have to put it that way, as if he couldn’t wait to be rid of her? “Of course.”

“I expect you to behave as you always have toward me.”

“I’m sure we will have no trouble maintaining the status quo.” She glared at him. “It’s not as if we have a marriage like your brothers. No one expects us to be affectionate.”

She shook his hand off with an angry jerk and stepped out of the car, her public mask firmly in place. Then, showing that she had indeed been raised by a mother who had drilled her to the point where she had once sat out the whole second half of a girls basketball game in the sixth grade with a broken ankle rather than cry in public and let the coach know the extent of her injury, she waited for Claudio so she could walk with him into the hospital.

It was expected of her. She would do her part to display the outward appearance of solidarity. She directed her gaze straight ahead, her body only a few inches from his, but it might as well have been a mile.

How many times had she walked beside him and wished he would put his arm around her or take her hand…to show her in some way that he felt the connection between them? But he never did. It made her furious with herself, but she wished for that physical support even more right now.

She had no idea what they would find inside that hospital and she was scared, her heart bleeding and battered from all sides.

They walked toward the building through a barrage of noisy reporters and flashing cameras.

One man broke through the security barrier and got right into her face. “What will it mean to you if King Vincente dies, Princess Therese? Are you looking forward to being queen?”

She put her hand up and averted her face, but her feet faltered and she had to force herself to keep moving. The insensitivity of the question shouldn’t have surprised her. She knew how intrusive the press could be, but she was in no way up to handling that thoughtlessness right now. She did her best to hide it, but she flinched when another reporter got close with a flashing camera.

Suddenly Claudio’s big body was there, shielding her from the reporters, his arm strong around her shoulders and his voice barking orders at the security team to do a better job at keeping the paparazzi away.

Despite feeling like she was leaning on the enemy, she turned into the comfort his human shield offered and let him lead her past the clamoring reporters and continuously flashing camera bulbs. She couldn’t help thinking it would be like this, or worse if the press got wind of her inability to get pregnant without IVF. What kind of rotten questions and accusations would they throw at her and Claudio then?

It didn’t bear thinking about. Not if she wanted to maintain her sanity in the face of her fear for King Vincente’s health.

Once they were inside the hospital and the solid steel door had closed behind them, Claudio let her go as if he could not stand being close to her for another second.

They walked down the hospital hallways in silence. The head of the hospital himself came to meet them and lead them to the waiting area designated for King Vincente’s family. He and Claudio talked, but when she realized he was saying nothing she hadn’t heard before about her father-in-law’s condition, she tuned the two men out.

Somewhere within these quiet walls, her father-in-law lay in a bed fighting for his life. Stabilized, or not, his condition was what could hardly be termed safe if a bypass surgery was necessary. She’d read of people, perfectly healthy people dying of a second heart attack before the surgery could be performed. She could only give thanks that the first one had not killed the country’s ruler.

CHAPTER FIVE

MAGGIE came rushing to Therese the moment she and Claudio walked through the archway that led to the waiting room.

The other woman took one look at her and grabbed Therese, hugging her hard. “It’s going to be all right. He needs a bypass as I’m sure you know, but he’s a strong man. He’ll be fine.”