“A hundred?” she offered.
“Try a thousand.”
“Surely there weren’t that many girls who wanted to marry you,” she teased.
“Oh, there were at least three times that, but only one girl I wanted to marry.”
“You really have become a smooth talker. No wonder I fell in love with you.”
Christian extended a hand to assist Olivia as she exited the car and kissed her on each cheek before glowering at Gabriel over a perfunctory handshake.
“How are things?” Gabriel asked, overlooking his brother’s surly mood. He kept ahold of Olivia’s hand as they made their way into the palace.
“Sherdana’s been doing just fine,” Christian muttered.
“I meant with you. Has Mother come up with a list of potential candidates for your bride yet?”
“You really are a bastard.”
“Don’t let our mother hear you say that.” He thumped his brother on the back. “But what do you have to worry about? Nic is next in line. The burden to produce an heir falls on him first.”
“Mother’s not taking any chances this time. She thinks both of us should be married.”
“I agree with her. Nothing like marrying the woman of your dreams to know complete and perfect happiness.”
Gabriel laughed heartily at Christian’s look of disgust and followed Olivia up the stairs. As they entered the suite of rooms she and Gabriel would now be sharing, she leaned close and spoke in a low voice. “Why didn’t you tell Christian there’s a potential we can have children?”
He shut the door to the suite, ensuring their privacy, and took her in his arms. “I think we should keep this development our little secret for the time being.”
“Are you sure?” Olivia reached up and threaded her fingers through Gabriel’s dark hair. “If it works, it will let your brothers off the hook.”
“There’s no reason to say anything until we have something definitive to tell.”
“That could take months,” she exclaimed, her eyes wide with uncertainty. “They could be engaged or even married by then.”
“Making you my wife has been the best thing that could have happened to me. I think my brothers deserve to experience the same.”
“You’re going to force them into a situation where they have to find wives so that they’ll fall in love?”
“Diabolical, isn’t it?”
“They’ll kill you when they find out the truth.”
“I don’t think so.” Gabriel leaned down and silenced further protests with a deep, soul-stirring kiss. “I think they’ll thank me for making them the second and third happiest men on the planet.”
“You being the first?” She arched her eyebrows at him.
Gabriel responded with a broad grin. “Absolutely.”
* * * * *