A Night of Royal Consequences

‘That’s your hormones talking.’

‘Don’t you dare,’ she warned him. ‘What was your plan, Luca? We marry, I have the baby, and then your people organise a convenient divorce? You don’t have much time to play with, do you? Pregnancy sets a clock ticking, and so does the constitution of Fabrizio, Max tells me. Tonight was the perfect opportunity for you to announce our engagement. I imagine you’d have had us married by the end of the month, so that everything would be finalised before my pregnancy becomes obvious.’

He couldn’t argue. So much of what she said was true, but his feelings when he’d discovered Callie was pregnant had been real and strong. A baby. A child. A family. Everything he’d always dreamed of had been suddenly within his reach. For a man used to subduing or ignoring his emotions, he’d been overwhelmed, and not just because Callie would provide him with the longed-for heir. She was the perfect woman, who would become the perfect mother. She would be his perfect bride, and would transition seamlessly into a much-loved princess. ‘What’s so terrible about becoming my wife?’

‘If you don’t know,’ she said, sounding sad, ‘I can’t tell you. I suggest you forget about me, and ask one of those princesses to be your wife. You’ll hardly be short of replacements for me.’

‘Aggravating woman!’ he roared. ‘I don’t want a replacement. I want you.’

‘You can’t have everything you want, Luca.’

‘Are you saying no?’ he demanded with incredulity.

‘I’m saying no,’ Callie confirmed.

‘But you’ll be a princess.’

‘Of what?’ she demanded. ‘All you’re offering is a temporary position, an empty life in a foreign country with a man who only wants me for my child-bearing capabilities.’

‘That’s Max talking. Don’t listen to him.’

‘I don’t want that for our child,’ she said, ignoring him, ‘and I don’t want to be a princess in a loveless marriage. I can’t snuggle up to a tiara at night. I’d rather be back home in one room with my baby.’

‘That isn’t your choice to make,’ he said, adopting a very different tone.

‘Are you threatening me?’ she said quietly.

‘I’m reminding you that you’re carrying the heir to the principality of Fabrizio, and that neither you nor I can change that fact.’

‘And thank God for it,’ she whispered as blood drained from her face. ‘But there is something I can do.’

‘Which is?’ he demanded suspiciously.

‘Unless you intend to keep me here by force, I can return home to spend Christmas with friends I can trust. You took my trust and abused it,’ she accused. ‘And tonight I learned that you took my body and used that too.’

‘What? Dio! Never!’ He raked his still-damp hair with frustration. ‘Don’t we know each other better than this? Yes, passion drove us initially. And yes, your pregnancy was convenient. I won’t deny it. But it means so much more to me now. You mean so much more. I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I feel—’ He stopped. He couldn’t even put into words how many feelings he was dealing with. For a man who’d spent most of his life avoiding emotion, he was drowning in them. ‘I respect you and I always will,’ he stated firmly. ‘Please give some thought to what becoming my wife will mean.’

‘I have,’ Callie assured him quietly, ‘and it’s not what I want.’

‘What do you want?’ he demanded fiercely. He’d do anything to put this right.

‘I want love and respect on both sides,’ she said without hesitation. ‘I want friendship that makes both of us smile, and I want trust like a rock we can both depend on. I want to honour the man who is my lover, my friend, and the father of my child, as he honours me. And I want my independence. I’ve fought too hard to lose that now.’

‘You’ll have it as my wife,’ he asserted confidently.

‘And as your Princess?’ When he didn’t answer, because he knew only too well the restrictions that royal life imposed, she continued, ‘I’ve spent too much of my life caged, and I won’t exchange one cage for another, however big an upgrade that might seem to you. And it’s not what I want for our child. I want us all to be free. I know I’m a fantasist,’ she added in a calmer voice, ‘and I know I want too much. I should have realised that from the start.’

‘Callie!’

‘No. Don’t try to stop me,’ she called back as she ran back to the lake. ‘We were never meant to be together. Max is right. I can’t marry a prince—this is over,’ she flared, trying to shake him off when he caught up with her.

‘It doesn’t need to end here,’ he said firmly, holding her still.

‘Yes, it does.’ With a violent tug she broke free. ‘Goodbye, Luca—’

‘But I love you.’

She stopped on the edge of the lake. Whether she intended to swim back or row back, he had no idea. He did know she was furious. ‘You love me?’ she said tensely. ‘Yet you didn’t think to tell me this before tonight? It sounds like you’re desperate to keep me here.’