It was a question he hadn’t wanted her to ask. A question he hadn’t even wanted to ask himself because there really was only one answer. ‘I would have married someone else. When you’re wealthy and well connected there is always someone who is willing to sacrifice romance for reality. And now, no doubt, you will go away and add that to your armoury of reasons why our marriage would fail. No doubt you will hear the voice of your mother warning you that a man who needs to marry is a man whose marriage is doomed.’ He threw it out there and waited for her to throw it back at him, to tell him that of course she didn’t think that, but she was ominously silent and he saw the telltale sheen in her eyes.
‘Mal—’
He was afraid to let her speak in case this was the moment when she told him it was over. ‘Has it occurred to you that your mother could have been wrong? You’re not even willing to entertain the idea of contacting your father, but it might be helpful. It might shed light on their relationship. Perhaps it wasn’t all him, perhaps it was her; have you thought of that? Perhaps she killed her own relationship, the way she has tried to kill all of yours simply by the way she raised you.?
?
Her face was white, as if he’d suggested something shocking.
Watching her with a mixture of exasperation and despair, Mal wondered why this was such a block for her.
Was she afraid that she’d track down her father, only for him to reject her all over again?
Was that what he was seeing in those beautiful blue eyes?
She stood still as if she wanted to say something and then she gave a little shake of her head, turned and walked towards the door.
Mal resisted the temptation to stride after her and turn the key in the lock. ‘This isn’t about the fact I didn’t tell you about my deadline to get married. It isn’t about any of that. It’s about you, Avery. You. Once again you are looking for excuses to run. You are expecting it to fall apart, just as your mother no doubt did with your father. Are you really going to kill what we have in the same way that she did?’
Say no. Say no and stop walking.
But she didn’t stop walking and he felt a heaviness in his chest, an ache that refused to go away.
‘I will be there tomorrow, ready to marry you,’ he said in a thickened tone, ‘because that is what I want and because I believe in us. Despite everything, I believe in us. The question is, do you believe in us too, habibti?’
Finally her steps slowed. He saw her shoulders move as the breath rippled through her and then she increased the pace again and walked from the room without a backward glance.
CHAPTER NINE
IT was a night without sleep. She stayed up. Saw both sunset and sunrise as she sat alone in the water garden, feet bare, hair loose, tucked away in a place that no one would think of looking, apart from Mal, and he hadn’t bothered.
I will be there tomorrow, ready to marry you.
But how could she do that now that she knew he had to get married? It explained everything. The speed with which he’d put that ring on her finger; the fact that he’d asked her so quickly after his relationship with Kalila had collapsed. It wasn’t to do with the depth of his love for her. It was all to do with his uncle’s will.
He hadn’t been honest.
Avery turned her head. Inside the Palace, lights burned as an army of staff busied themselves with final preparations for the wedding of the Crown Prince and Miss Avery Scott. Miss Avery Scott, the woman who’d been raised to believe that a woman was stronger without a man, that a life was happier, and more secure, if it were lived alone. That the only guarantees and promises worth believing were the ones you made to yourself.
No, he hadn’t been honest with her. But she hadn’t been honest with him either, had she?
As if on cue, her phone beeped and she found a text from her mother. They hadn’t spoken for months. She opened it—there was only one line
Heard rumour you’re getting married. Don’t do anything stupid.
Don’t do anything stupid …
Her eyes filled. It was exactly what she needed to see. What had she been thinking? What had she been doing? There was no way she could put herself through that pain again.
Avery stared at that message for a long time. Then she slipped on her shoes. Even the tranquil sound of the fountains in the water garden couldn’t soothe her.
Her mother was right.
It was really important not to do something stupid.
She found Mal sprawled on the balcony of his bedroom, apparently oblivious to the buzz of excitement that gripped the rest of the Palace. But that was because only the two of them understood that this wedding might not happen.
He took one look at her, his dark gaze sweeping over her, taking in her jeans and the casual shirt she was wearing and his sensual mouth hardened. ‘So that is your decision. Thank you for not waiting until I was standing in front of a thousand guests to break the news to me.’