‘I love her, Lisa,’ he said simply.
For a moment there was silence before she nodded. ‘I kn
ow. Me, too. It’s funny, isn’t it?’ She gave a little laugh, as if she was embarrassed to hear him say the words out loud. ‘How you can feel it so instantly and completely.’
Luc drew in a deep breath as he met her eyes. He thought about the first time he’d met her and that rare glint of shared understanding which had passed between them. The way he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head in all the months which had followed. When he’d seen her again, the chemistry between them was as explosive as it had ever been—but what he felt now was about more than sex. Much more. Because somehow he’d come to realise that his spunky designer with the clear green-gold gaze treated him as nobody else had ever done.
She treated him like a man and not a prince.
So tell her. Take courage and tell her the words you never imagined you’d say.
‘And I love you, too, Lisa,’ he said. ‘More than I’d ever realised.’
At first Lisa thought she must be dreaming, because surely Luc hadn’t just told her that he loved her? She blinked. But he had. Even if the words hadn’t still been resonating on the air, she knew she hadn’t misheard them from the look on his face, which seemed to be savage yet silky, all at the same time. She felt a shiver whispering its way over her skin as she tried to ignore the sensual softening of his lips and to concentrate on facts, not dreams. Be careful what you wish for—that was what people said, wasn’t it? And suddenly she understood why.
Luc had let his cold mask slip for a moment. Or rather, it hadn’t slipped—he had just replaced it with a different mask. A loving mask which was far more suitable for ensuring he got what he wanted.
His baby.
Yet she wouldn’t have been human if her first response hadn’t been a fierce burst of hope. If she hadn’t pictured the tumultuous scene which could follow, if she let it. Of her nodding her head and letting all the tears which were gathering force spill from her eyes before telling him shakily that yes, she loved him, too.
And, oh, the exquisite irony of that—even if it happened to be true. Admitting she loved a man who was cold-bloodedly trying to manipulate her emotions by saying something he didn’t mean. What about all the lessons she was supposed to have learnt?
He was looking at her from between narrowed lashes and she knew she had to strike now. Before she had the chance to change her mind and cling to him and beg him to never let her go.
‘Do you think I’m stupid?’ she questioned quietly, her voice low and unsteady. ‘Because I would have to be pretty stupid not to realise why you just told me you loved me. You don’t love me, Luc. You’ve fallen in love with your daughter, yes—and I’m over the moon about that. But this isn’t like going to the supermarket—which you’ve probably never done. We don’t come as a two-for-one deal! And you can’t smooth-talk me into staying on Mardovia just because you’ve trotted out the conditional emotional clause which most women are brainless enough to fall for!’
He went very still, his powerful body seeming to become the whole dark focus of the room. ‘You think I told you I loved you because I have an ulterior motive?’ he questioned slowly.
‘I don’t think it—I know it!’
He flinched and nodded his head. ‘I had no idea you thought quite so badly of me, Lisa.’
Something in the quiet dignity of his words made Lisa’s heart contract with pain, but she couldn’t retract her accusation now—and why should she? He was trying to manipulate her in every which way and she wouldn’t let him. She couldn’t afford to let him. Because she’d crumble if he hurt her, and she never crumbled.
‘I don’t think badly of you,’ she said. ‘I think you’re a great dad and that’s what’s making you say all this stuff. But you don’t have to pretend in order to make things work. I want things to be...amicable between us, Luc.’
‘Amicable?’ he bit out before slowly nodding his head, and in that moment Lisa saw a cold acceptance settle over his features. ‘Very well. If that’s what you want, then that’s what you’ll get.’ There was a pause. ‘When exactly do you want to leave?’
* * *
Lisa and Rose’s journey was scheduled for the end of the week. She was to fly back to London with Rose and Almeera and two protection officers, who would move into a section of Luc’s large London house, which would now be her home. The idea of two of Luc’s henchmen spying on her filled her with dread and Lisa tried to assert her independence.
‘I don’t need two protection officers,’ she told Luc.
‘You may not, but my daughter does.’
Lisa licked her lips. ‘So I’m trapped any which way?’
He shrugged. ‘Trapped or protected—it all depends how you look at it. And now, if you’ve quite finished, there are things I’d like to do while Rose is still in residence, and today I’d like to take her into Vallemar to meet some friends.’
Lisa told herself she didn’t want to be parted from her baby and that was why she asked the question. ‘Can’t I come?’
‘Why?’ he questioned coolly. ‘These are people you are unlikely to see in the future—so why bother getting to know them? No point in complicating an already complicated situation.’
So Lisa was forced to watch as Luc, Rose and Almeera were driven away in one of the palace limousines while she stayed put. She paced the gardens, unable to settle until they returned—with an exquisite selection of tiny Parisian couture dresses for Rose, from someone called Michele—and Lisa could do nothing about the sudden jealous pounding of her heart. But she didn’t dare ask Luc who Michele was. Even she could recognise that she didn’t have the right to do that.
At last, after a final sleepless night, it was time to leave. Lisa stood awkwardly in the main entrance of the palace, feeling small and very isolated as she prepared to say goodbye to Luc. Already in the car with Almeera, Rose was buckled into her baby seat—but now there was nothing but a terrible sense of impending doom as Lisa looked up into the stony features of her royal husband.