Scandal: His Majesty's Love-Child

Had she lost her grip on reality as she struggled with one shock after another?

She stumbled to her feet when he approached and he stopped. Her heart pattered an unfamiliar rhythm.

‘It’s good to see you, Annalisa.’

She wished she could say the same. The traditional robe he wore emphasised his height and rangy power. He was too big, too confronting, too attractive.

Her breath expelled in a silent hiss as she realised her weakness for this man hadn’t ended.

‘Are you all right?’ Her body came alive under his roving gaze. How did he do that?

‘Yes,’ she lied. ‘I’m okay. And you?’ The words were stilted but she had to know.

‘Fighting fit.’ His lopsided smile squeezed her heart and she looked away, frightened by the intensity of her feelings. She should be over him. He wasn’t the man she’d first thought him. Besides, he came from a different world. He was royalty.

‘I didn’t expect to see you here.’ He paced closer and she forced herself to stand her ground.

‘I got to Shafar last night. I’m booked on a flight to Europe tomorrow.’ But should she go? This morning’s news changed everything. She bit her lip, wondering what to do for the best. A doctor’s appointment was her first priority now.

‘Something’s wrong. What is it?’

His concern drew her gaze to his. If she didn’t know better she’d think he cared.

She shut her eyes for a moment, willing herself to be strong. To snap the curious hold he had over her. When she opened them he was closer, a pace away. She swallowed at the illusion of warmth she read in his eyes.

Annalisa darted a look at the closed door the Queen had used. How long would they have in private?

‘I needed to see you.’ Only to herself did she admit she’d wanted to see him, craved it. She couldn’t drag her eyes from him.

His brows tilted down. ‘So this isn’t a social call.’ He paused. ‘And it’s obviously important. Not about the care of our stray goat?’

‘It’s gone to a good home. The youngest daughter of one of my cousins has made a pet of it.’ Annalisa paused, aghast at her nervous babbling.

She shook her head, feeling her hair swirl from her ponytail, wishing she’d put it up so she looked more in control.

‘You said…’ She swallowed and made herself go on, lifting her chin to meet his gaze head-on. ‘You said if there were…consequences I should let you know.’ Something inside shattered as his expression remained cool and aloof.

‘Well, there are consequences. I’m pregnant.’

Her words echoed in growing silence. His brilliant blue gaze grew laser-sharp but no warmer.

If she’d needed proof she meant nothing to him it was there in his shuttered expression and tightening jaw. The only sign of life was his throbbing pulse. Otherwise he might have been carved from stone.

She told herself it was what she’d expected.

Abruptly she turned, blinking at the view of a manicured courtyard bathed in the glow of afternoon sun.

‘What are your plans?’ His voice was harsh, grating her frayed nerves.

No talk of our plans or his involvement. What had she expected? For him to sweep her close and say he’d missed her? That leaving her was the biggest mistake of his life?

Bile rose in her throat as she realised some forlorn part of her had wanted just that. Had clung to the mirage of the man she’d fallen for before he’d shown his true self. As if it was possible to fall in love like that!

Annalisa shrugged, anger surging at her foolishness. ‘I don’t know. But I am having this baby.’ Her hand inched protectively across her abdomen.

Silence.

Her lips twisted as she imagined his horror. He wouldn’t want this complication. Unless he already had a trail of illegitimate children. The things he’d said that last morning made it possible.

She hunched as pain battered her.

‘How convenient you found me here.’ Something in his tone made her swing round. He looked more commanding than ever. Daunting.

‘You told me to contact you.’

‘And how could you pass up the opportunity when you found out who I was?’ His lips thinned.

‘Opportunity?’ Annalisa groped for understanding.

He shrugged. ‘To cash in on my position.’

For a full thirty seconds Annalisa stared into a face grown harsh with suspicion. Then his meaning registered and fire exploded in her bloodstream, rippling through every artery and vein.

She drew herself up straight.

‘That doesn’t deserve an answer.’ Yet an outraged response bubbled up. ‘You have some ego! A woman comes to tell you you’ve fathered a child and it’s all about you?’