Stella’s pulse tripped as Antonio issued his wintry instructions. She recognised that look in his eyes. It was the same one she saw in her father’s. She was a disappointment. He didn’t want Eduardo to have married her. Yet again she was not ‘right’. Not for her job. Not for this relationship.
Was Antonio’s disapproval because she wasn’t nobility? Her father was the first General who had earned his position through work—not via his birth, name and lineage. Did that make her unworthy of the wretched sapphire Eduardo had hung around her neck?
Or was it just her?
Eduardo’s hand was firm on her back, guiding her out of the room. She didn’t bother saying goodbye to the Crown Prince, as protocol and common politeness dictated. She was too hurt.
‘Please excuse my brother,’ Eduardo said briefly, but he didn’t offer any explanation for Antonio’s frostiness. ‘I’m sorry, I need to leave you alone again for a while. Ask Giulia if you need anything.’
‘Of course.’
It wasn’t ‘a while’ that he was gone. It was hours. She dined alone in his apartment, waited up, but in the end sleep overcame her before he returned.
‘Stella...’ He woke her in the morning with a whisper and a kiss.
She opened her eyes and found herself wrapped in his arms.
‘I’d better get on that treadmill,’ she groaned.
‘You’d better get on me first.’
His gaze drilled into her. His body invaded. Devastated. It was so good. It so wasn’t enough. So much for easy.
As soon as she’d recovered some energy she left him in the bed and went to maintain her routine. She would resist when she wanted to.
She was twenty minutes into her time on the treadmill when he placed an iPad on the stand in front of her.
‘My assistant has prepared a dossier on many of tomorrow night’s guests. Photos, names, positions.’
‘That’s useful,’ she puffed as she jogged and swiped the screen. ‘Thank you.’
‘I have other duties I must fulfil,’ he said, a hint of apology in his eyes. ‘I’ll be back later tonight.’
Already she understood that he meant very, very late.
Was this to be her future? To be left locked in the palace with nothing to do but pretty herself for a ball and grow a baby, and at night be a sexual plaything for her insatiable husband? Sure, she was every bit as insatiable as he, but this wasn’t the life she wanted. She wanted her control back.
So she’d control this. She knew how to fight. She just needed different armour from her usual. Antonio had been right—in part. At the very least she needed ‘the sapphire, a dress and a smile’ and the ability to remember a couple dozen names and faces.
Because she wasn’t going to fail.
As she ran on the treadmill she memorised the names and faces. Then she called Giulia and requested a beautician and a hairdresser to be summoned for later in the day. She’d damn well become the Princess San Felipe had wanted for so long.
‘Can you get Dr Russo to come and see me at his convenience as well?’ she asked Giulia, trying to sound as relaxed as she had when she’d asked for the beautician.
‘Of course.’
The doctor arrived within twenty minutes. Because of that swift timing, Stella was certain Giulia knew about her condition.
‘Is everything all right, Your Highness?’ Dr Russo bowed as he entered the private sitting room.
‘Please call me Stella.’ She gestured towards the chairs. ‘I’m sorry to trouble you, I just wanted to talk to you about my pregnancy.’
‘No trouble.’ He sat down. ‘What did you want to discuss?’
She curled her hands into small fists, hiding the dampness of her palms, and smiled. ‘It sounds stupid, but where are my symptoms? I haven’t had any morning sickness, I haven’t been particularly tired, I’ve got no cravings... It’s like it’s not real.’
What if it wasn’t growing properly? Shouldn’t she hate the smell of coffee or something?
To her relief, the doctor didn’t laugh.
‘Perhaps you’re one of the lucky few,’ he suggested calmly.
‘Or perhaps there’s something wrong.’
He regarded her steadily. ‘Why would there be anything wrong?’
She hesitated. Her throat tightened. But this was the one person she had to speak to. ‘My mother died a few hours after giving birth to me.’
His eyes widened and the professional smile faded.