“Brother.” He held up one hand, and Artur dropped his foil to the ground. Frustration boiled. It had been his part. He’d played his part, and it had backfired. “That never had to be your role. Your family never doubted there was more to you than that. I hope you know that.” Rafael looked him directly in the eye. “The press and the people will be interested in you because you are royal. They don’t need parties to keep their attention.”
“They’ll want—”
“You don’t have to give them everything they want. They don’t need tabloid stories about you on some tropical island. They don’t need tabloid stories about anything. You could do anything you wanted, maybe even show them how smart and capable you actually are. Focus their attention elsewhere. And I don’t mean on the baby—I mean your work for the people.”
“My work? My work is going on tours. To repair our image.” Artur had never felt more bitter. It had all gone so wrong.
“The tours were a success. They set in motion all manner of goodwill between our family and the people. The number of meetings focused on fixing immediate problems is nothing but good. You did that.”
“Amy did that.”
“Amy planned that. You’re the one who used your skills and talents to connect with all those people. You are valuable, Artur. For far more than entertainment.” Rafael raised his foil so quickly that Artur had to scramble for his own. He barely got his foil upright before Rafael danced in, scoring the final part.
“You bastard.”
Rafael checked his watch. “I have a meeting. But think about it. Things are not as awful as they seem.”
Maybe Rafael was right.
Artur turned the conversation over in his head as he headed back to his offices. He’d taken a long, hot shower, washing the sweat from the battle away from his skin, and trying to decide what to do.
Maybe it wasn’t too late to make another try for what he wanted. After all, Amy hadn’t left the country yet.
He was hardly watching as he came into his office. The only plan in his mind was to sit behind his desk and keep thinking while he responded to whatever requests had come in while he was with Rafael.
But someone was already there.
“Hello, Prince Artur.”
The voice brought him out of his thoughts like shattering glass.
“Tatyana.” It was a shock, seeing her here, standing in front of his desk as if she belonged there. “Hello.” He stepped forward and shook hands with her, leaning in to brush a kiss an inch from her cheek.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m here,” she said, pulling back. Artur was on high alert, every inch of his skin attuned to her. If Amy walked in right now...
He walked around to the other side of his desk, but stayed standing. “I am, in fact, wondering that.”
“I heard about your news. Congratulations.” Tatyana looked at him coolly. “I can’t imagine you planned that announcement well in advance.”
“No,” he admitted. “The tabloids got ahead of us.”
“So that’s why your Amy was arranging dates with women all over the country.” A little smile quirked her lips. “A good ruse.”
He bowed his head in acknowledgment, and she took in a deep breath. “That’s why I’m here. I wanted to offer my services.”
“Services?” This was a bizarre conversation.
“Yes. I know you wanted to deflect attention from the press in order to protect Amy and give her some privacy during the pregnancy. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have worked so hard on that tour to—to give the impression—” She laughed. “Oh, I’ll come out with it. I’m here to help in any way I can. Including drawing press attention.”
Artur kept his mouth from dropping open, but it was a near thing. “Are you offering to pose as my girlfriend? Give the press a whiff of a love triangle?”
She snorted, and for an instant Artur saw the girl he had spent so much time with in high school instead of the woman who stood in front of him. “My god, Artur. No. I meant fixing a few of the problems we discussed at the gala. It’ll give the press positive news to focus on. They’ll still talk about the baby, of course—everyone loves a royal baby—but getting straight to work on the real issues will keep them from fixating on the fact that you appear to have no relationship with the baby’s mother.”
“The tabloids will argue with you on that.” Those pictures had been heartbreaking. His joy, splashed on the front page for all the world to see. He was no stranger to appearing on the covers of tabloids, but it was different when it was something so private.
“The tabloids didn’t know how to read your face when you made the announcement. As for me, I’m not surprised,” Tatyana said. “Relationships have never been your forte.”
He raised his eyebrows. “What are you getting at?” There was a bitterness in her voice that he couldn’t quite understand.