While she may have lapsed into mutinous silence following his announcement that he was in effect kidnapping her, he wasn’t in any doubt that this was merely the calm before the storm.
Zak shoved his hands into pockets, refusing to acknowledge the act was to stop him from tracing his fingers down her smooth cheek, then running them through silky hair loosened by sleep. Long eyelashes curled against her paler than normal cheeks, her make-up having failed at its job of disguising the shadows under her eyes or the weariness turning down her sensual lips.
He’d spotted the signs of strain long before he’d approached her at the reception. Had spent far too long wondering if he’d overworked her.
He frowned, belatedly realising he hadn’t asked after her health. How was she coping with the baby? Was his child the reason she looked so pale?
His child...
He exhaled long and hard, registering that with the passage of time the icy dread was receding, and in its place was an even greater clamour. One that demanded immediate and definitive resolution to her claim with a claiming of his own.
As if she could intuit his thoughts, she shifted in her sleep, angling her body away from him and cradling her belly with her right hand.
Another hard smile curled his lips.
Whether she knew and expected it or not, she’d sealed her fate by informing him that she carried his child. No Montegovan child born of the royal family had ever gone unclaimed. When his father’s indiscretions had come home to roost, they’d been forced to accept his half-brother, despite Jules’s existence creating chaos within the royal household.
Even the very thought of a small part of history repeating itself made him grit his teeth. He turned and strode to the nearest window. They were still hours away from landing at their final destination. He needed to return to his seat, ensure his plan was firmly in place.
But even as the thought rippled through his mind, he was looking over his shoulder at Violet as she tossed again in bed. For a moment he entertained the notion of joining her there.
Almost immediately he rejected the idea.
Temptation was what had led them here in the first place. Temptation was what had driven him to Australia for the last two months, pursuing his trust’s interests on the other side of the world secure in the knowledge that she was on her way out of his life.
Except she hadn’t been. And she couldn’t have found a more permanent solution if she’d tried.
Bitterness twisted inside him. She’d well and truly pulled the wool over his eyes.
But no more.
If the child she carried was his—and he was still of the opinion that she wouldn’t dare to attempt to foist another man’s baby on him—Violet would be left in no doubt that he fully intended to claim what was his.
That thought settled deep within him, finally erasing any doubt or apprehension about the course of action he was taking.
Slowly retracing his steps back to her, he paused long enough to pull the light coverlet over her body before he exited the master suite. Passing the sitting area, he made his way to the conference table on the lower deck of the plane. Within the hour, he had temporarily relocated the hub of his trust, prioritised the most urgent matters, and effectively rearranged his immediate future in anticipation of what was to come.
By the time the plane touched down on his private runway, Zak was ready and armed with every weapon he needed to ensure the outcome he wanted.
The thought that ripped through him, the one that boldly hinted that claiming his child was no guarantee that he would be a better father than his own had been, he pushed away, and rose when the plane slowed to a stop.
First he would claim his child. Then he would attempt to do what his father hadn’t been able to do. Not irreparably shatter his child’s life with lies and callous betrayal.
Even more determined, he headed for the master suite to wake Violet.
It was time to face this thing head on.
‘Where are we?’ Violet asked, blinking at the blinding sunshine pouring through the aircraft windows.
She hadn’t expected to sleep for this long. Was sure she looked a sight.
The strain of delivering the news of her pregnancy and what had come afterwards had been too much to withstand. And once she’d realised there had been no way to escape Zak, she’d barely been able to contain her composure, seeking solace in silence as a way to counteract the wild hysteria simmering just beneath the surface.
When Zak had offered the master suite, it’d been all she could do not to race from his presence and lock herself in the room as quickly as possible. Expecting to stay awake from her churning thoughts, she’d fallen into a deep sleep, the most restful she’d had since discovering she was pregnant.
Now she was awake, the enormity of the situation was even more overwhelming, not less. Aware he hadn’t answered, she sucked in a breath and glanced his way.
He was waiting for her, incisive gaze devouring her as he answered, ‘We’re at my private island in the Caribbean.’