Crowned for the Prince's Heir

‘Of course I did.’ He fixed her with a cool stare. ‘Do you really think I would tolerate that kind of subversive attitude in my palace? Or have an aide actively trying to make trouble for my wife?’

Lisa didn’t know what to think. She’d been stupid and gullible in agreeing to Eleonora’s suggestion that she ‘surprise’ Luc, but she shouldn’t allow herself to forget why she had embraced the idea so eagerly in the first place. She had wanted to impress him. To show him she was willing to be a good wife and a good princess. And if she was being brutally honest—hadn’t she been secretly longing for some kind of answering epiphany in him? Hoping that the emotional tide might be about to turn with her first public presentation?

But it hadn’t and it never would. If anything, the situation was a million times worse. The sex had awoken her sleeping senses but highlighted the great gulf which lay between them. And wouldn’t she be the world’s biggest fool if she started demanding something from a man who was incapable of delivering it?

She stared at him. ‘So what do you want to talk about?’

Repressing another frustrated sigh, Luc met her gaze, knowing there was no such thing as an easy solution. But had he expected any different? She was the most complicated and frustrating woman he’d ever met. He gave a bitter smile. And never had he wanted anyone more.

When she had walked towards him at the Mardovian Embassy in her subdued wedding finery, he had made a silent vow to be the best husband and father he possibly could be, and he had meant it. Yet now he could see that it might have been a challenge too far. Because he didn’t know how to be those things. And for a woman who was naturally suspicious of men— He suspected that he and Lisa were the worst possible combination.

So did he have the strength to do what he needed to do? To set her free from her palace prison? To release her from a relationship which had been doomed from the start? It wasn’t a question of choice, he realised—but one of necessity. He had to do it. A lump rose in his throat. He could do it for her.

‘Do you want to go back to England?’ he questioned quietly. ‘Not straight away, of course. But once the baby is born.’

Lisa jerked back her head and looked at him with suspicious eyes. ‘You mean you’ll let me go?’

‘Yes, Lisa.’ He gave a mocking smile. ‘I’ll release you from your prison.’

‘And you’re prepared to discuss shared custody?’ Now she was blinking her eyes very hard. ‘That’s very...civilised of you, Luc.’

His mouth twisted. ‘None of this sounds remotely civilised to me—but it’s clearly what you want. And I am not so much of a tyrant to keep you here against your will.’

She lifted her clear gaze to him. ‘Thank you,’ she said.

He walked away from her, increasing the distance between them, removing himself from the tantalising danger of her proximity. But once he had reached the imposing mar

ble fireplace, he halted, his face grave. ‘I guess we should look on the bright side. At least now we’ve had sex, it means that our marriage has been legitimised and our child will be born as the true heir to Mardovia.’

She stiffened, her lips parting as she stared at him. ‘What did you say?’

‘I was just stating facts,’ he answered coolly. ‘Up until the other night our marriage wasn’t legal because we hadn’t consummated it.’

‘Was that why you did it? Why you let me make love to you?’ she whispered, her face blanching. ‘Just to make our marriage legal?’

‘Please don’t insult me, Lisa. We both know why I had sex with you that night and it had nothing to do with legality.’ He met her gaze for a long moment before turning away from her. ‘And now, if you’ll excuse me—I have a meeting with my ministers, which I really can’t delay any longer.’

Lisa watched him go but it wasn’t until he had closed the door behind him that she collapsed on the nearest chair as the significance of his words began to sink in. He was letting her go. After the baby was born, he was going to let her leave the island. She would no longer be forced to stay in this farce of a marriage with a cold man who could only ever express himself in bed. He would probably give her a house, just as he had given one to her sister, and she would be free to live her life on her terms.

So why did she feel as if someone had twisted her up in tight knots?

She forced herself to be logical. To think with her head instead of her heart. As Luc’s estranged wife, she would never again have financial worries. And she would work hard at forging an amicable relationship with Luc. That would be a priority. They wouldn’t become one of those bitter divorced couples who made their child’s life a misery by their constant warring.

But Lisa couldn’t shake off her sudden sense of emptiness as she went to her studio and looked at her sketches she’d been making for her next collection. Maybe she should make some more. Because what else was she going to do during the days leading up to the birth? Prowl around the palace like a bulky shadow, staring at all the beauty and storing it away in her memory to pull out on lonely days back in England—as if to remind herself that this hadn’t all been some surreal dream.

For the next few days she immersed herself completely in her work. She began drawing with a sudden intensity—her designs taking on clean new lines as she liaised with her workshop back in London about an overall vision for the new collection. She worked long sessions from dawn to dusk—punctuated only by brisk walks in the gardens, where sometimes she would sit on a stone bench and watch the sunlight cast glittering patterns on the sapphire sea far below—and tried not to wonder what her husband was doing.

Mostly he left her alone, but one evening he came to her studio, walking in after a brief knock, to find her bent over a swatch of fabrics.

‘Don’t you think you’re overdoing the work ethic a little?’ he observed, with a frown. ‘One of the servants told me you’ve been here since sunrise.’

‘I couldn’t sleep. And I’m nearly finished. I just want to get this last bit done.’

‘You’re looking tired,’ he said critically. ‘You need to rest.’

But this single concerned intervention had been the exception, because mostly she only saw him at mealtimes. Perhaps he was already withdrawing from her and preparing for the reality of their separation. And in truth, it was better this way. She spent a lot of time convincing herself of that. It was how it was going to be and she had better get used to it.

Dr Gautier visited daily, pronouncing himself quietly satisfied at her progress—and if he wondered why Luc no longer attended any of the appointments, he made no mention of it. That was yet another of the advantages of being royal, Lisa realised. People just accepted what you did and never dared challenge you—and that couldn’t be a good thing. It would make you grow up thinking that you could fashion the world according to whim. Wasn’t that what Luc had done by bringing her here and forcing her to marry him?