The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain

“I do not, but we have other things on the agenda.”

“Like what?”

“Like the fact that there will be no divorce.”

There was no chance to respond as they met up with Tomasso and Maggie in the corridor and walked down together. Marcello and Danette were waiting in the drawing room when they arrived.

He smiled when he saw that Claudio was with Therese. “I am glad to see you have decided to eat a decent meal for a change.”

“I have been eating,” Claudio said with a frown.

“In high stress, business environments or at your desk. Time with your family is more relaxing.”

Claudio smiled, making Therese’s heart twist in her chest. “Are you so sure about that?”

His affection for his brothers was so strong. All she had ever wanted was for a little of that to rub off on her, but it never had and now he had some harebrained idea they had to stay married. But she knew it would be for all the wrong reasons…reasons she could not give in to.

The Scorsolini guilt gene at work, but that was not enough to carry a marriage facing the challenges theirs would. Not for long anyway.

“But of course,” Marcello said drolly. “Would you deny it?”

“No,” Claudio said quite seriously. “It has been a hectic week all told.”

Marcello and Tomasso both nodded, frowning. Tomasso said, “I wish there was more I could do to carry Papa’s burden.”

“But there is not.” Claudio smiled, but it was rough around the edges and Therese wondered if his brothers saw that. “I am his heir. I alone must fill many of the gaps left by his absence while in hospital.”

“You are doing an amazing job,” Maggie said softly, her sweet smile warming Therese despite the dragging pains in her lower pelvis.

“I forget what kind of pressure you all live under when Marcello and I are in Italy. The world seems so normal there. I can almost forget I’m married to a prince…being a tycoon is enough, I guess. But the minute we arrive here, the burden you all carry becomes apparent.” Danette shook her head. “I pray it will be easier for our children.” She rubbed her tummy as if comforting the baby within.

When Marcello reached over to do the same thing, something painful twisted inside Therese.

“I think it will be,” Tomasso said.

“Yes,” Marcello added. “You must remember, amante, that our baby has only a prince, not a king for a father.”

“This is true,” Tomasso said, “but even the children Claudio will have one day will have the benefit of more extended family to help carry the burden of office. Our father had no brothers to help carry his burden. I see a marked difference already in Gianni and Anna’s childhood to our own.”

“But Claudio’s children will still have a harder time of it than ours will.”

Tomasso agreed with a sigh. “I feel selfish in my gratitude, but I am glad that my son will not grow up to one day rule Isole dei Re.”

“It’s strange to think that our children will get to choose their own paths, while their cousins will have most of their future determined by their birth,” Maggie said with a thoughtful frown.

“Did it bother you to know growing up that you had no choice but to be king?” Danette asked Claudio as the men led their wives into dinner.

Claudio waited until after he had seated Therese to answer. Then he looked at Danette. “I never rebelled against my future. I remember only knowing from the earliest age that one day I would be king and that that role carried with it grave responsibilities. It has meant at times that I had to put my life as an individual man aside.”

Therese felt there was a message for her in his words.

“I don’t envy Therese her position,” Maggie said with a smile for Therese. “It’s got to be hard to share your husband in such a big way with the people of his country.”

Therese could not deny the words, but something was not right about them either. If Claudio loved her, she did not think sharing him with the people and problems of Isole dei Re would bother her at all.

“It is a difficult role, but my wife has always been more than equal to the task,” Claudio said, approval for her lacing his voice.

She turned to face him and for several seconds the other occupants of the room seemed to fade away. There was just her and Claudio and some message was being spoken between them without words.

For no reason she could discern, tears burned the back of her eyes. “I cannot regret marrying you.”

“It is not my intention that you ever shall.” Then he leaned forward and did something he had never done before.

He kissed her softly and full on the lips right there in front of his family. Afterward, he straightened and began talking to his brothers as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.