“Is it true?” he demanded.
Her stomach twisted at the hard suspicion in his eyes. “Is what true?”
“That you’re infertile?”
Of all the things that had raced through her mind, this was the last thing she’d expected. How had he found out? Libby was the only person who knew about her condition and Olivia knew her private secretary would never betray her.
“Where did you hear that?”
He stalked across the room toward the television and snatched up the remote. Dread filled Olivia as he cued the power button. She’d not imagined he could look so angry.
“Sources inside the palace confirm that the future princess has little to no chance of producing an heir for Sherdana’s throne. With her medical condition you have to wonder what the prince was thinking to propose.”
The words blaring from the television were so horrifying that Olivia would have crumpled to the floor at his feet if Gabriel hadn’t seized her arms in a bruising grip.
His gaze bore into hers. “Tell me the truth.”
“I had a condition,” she began, and at his dark scowl, rushed on. “But I had surgery to correct the problem. I should be able to get pregnant.” But after these past few days and the return of her old symptoms, her confidence had waned.
“Can you or can’t you?”
“Six months ago when you proposed I thought I could. At this moment I honestly don’t know.”
“You should have told me.” He set her free as if the touch of her was distasteful. “Did you think you could keep this a secret forever?”
“I really didn’t think it was going to be a problem.” Olivia clasped her hands to keep them from shaking and looked up at Sherdana’s crown prince, who stood there like a granite statue. Little about his current demeanor encouraged hope that he might listen to her with a rational ear. “I would never have agreed to marry you if I believed I couldn’t have children.”
“But your doctor warned you the chances were slim.” It wasn’t a question.
She didn’t ask him how he knew that. The reporter on the television was divulging her detailed medical records. Her privacy had been violated and yet she was being treated like a villain.
“He never said slim. He said there was a good chance I could get pregnant, but to do so I had to stop taking the pill and he wasn’t sure how my body would react since I’ve been on it almost ten years.”
“But you were a virgin. I can attest to that. Why were you on birth control?”
“I had severe cramps and bleeding. It helps control those problems.” Olivia wrapped her arms around herself. “I quit taking the birth control before I left London. I wanted to get pregnant as soon as possible. Provide you with your heir. I knew that’s what you all would expect.”
Gabriel’s expression didn’t change, but his lips tightened briefly. “We expected you to be truthful, as well.”
She flinched at his sharp words.
“I intended to tell you tonight. I haven’t felt right these last few days and thought I needed to discuss the situation with you.”
“I need an heir, Olivia.” His harsh tone softened.
“I understand completely.” Their marriage was an arrangement, an exchange of her hand in marriage for her father’s business. But she was also expected to be a mother. “I never would’ve agreed to marry you knowing I might not be able to have children.”
He needed to marry someone who could provide the next generation of Alessandros. At the moment she wasn’t completely convinced she could do that.
A sharp pain lanced through her and she winced. Her cramps had been a dull ache all through the morning, but now they gained in strength.
“Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “It’s been a hectic morning and I’ve done too much. I should probably take something and lie down for a while. Can we continue later this afternoon?”
She barely waited for his agreement before heading toward the bathroom and the bottle of pain medication she hadn’t needed earlier in the day. She shut the bathroom door, hoping that Gabriel wouldn’t come to check on her, and braced her hands on the vanity top. The woman in the mirror had dark circles beneath her eyes and white around her mouth.
The pain in her body was vivid and icy, very unlike her usual cramps. The difference scared her.
Forcing herself to take deep, even breaths, she fought back nausea and swallowed her medication. Within minutes, the sharp edges came off the ache in her pelvis and she was able to return to the bedroom. There she found Libby waiting for her with the queen. Helpless tears filled Olivia’s eyes. She blinked them away.
“Have you tried pineapple juice?”
The queen’s suggestion confused Olivia. “No.”
“There’s something in it that will help with your cramps.”
Olivia clasped her hands as her stomach flipped sickeningly. Why was the queen being nice, given the news?
“Thank you. I’ll try pineapple juice.”
“You aren’t the first woman in this palace to grapple with reproductive issues. I was young when I came to marry the king and eager to give him the heir he needed. Unlike Gabriel, Matteo had no male siblings to take over the throne if something happened to him.”
“You had trouble getting pregnant?”
“There’s a good reason why Gabriel has two brothers so close in age.” The queen gave a fond smile. “I wasn’t able to get pregnant without help. We did in vitro fertilization twice before the procedure was successful. Gabriel, Nicolas and Christian are the result.”
“And Ariana?” The princess was six years younger than her brothers, close to Olivia’s own age.
“My miracle baby.”
Olivia liked the sound of that. She hoped her own miracle baby was on the horizon. Because the way she felt at the moment, a miracle might be exactly what she needed.
“Do you love my son?”
She rolled the engagement ring around and around on her finger. “Yes.”
“Good, then you’ll do what’s best for him.”
And leaving Olivia to ponder what that was, the queen took her leave.
When the door opened a short time later, Olivia looked up, expecting Libby, and saw a maid instead. “I really don’t need anything right now. Perhaps you could check back in later this evening.”
“I thought you’d like me to pack your things. I’m sure you’ll be heading back to England now that the prince knows you can’t have children.”
The woman’s snide tone wasn’t at all what Olivia was expecting and she sat up straighter, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Of average height and appearance with brown hair and hazel eyes, the woman looked like any of a dozen palace maids. But there was a frantic energy to her movement that made Olivia apprehensive.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, feeling at a disadvantage as the maid stalked toward her. “I’m not leaving.”
Olivia pushed to her feet. The sudden movement sent pain stabbing through her. She swayed and caught the back of the chair. Her breath came in labored gasps. Something was very wrong.
“Of course you are.” The woman’s hazel eyes burned with a crazy zeal. “The prince won’t marry you now that he knows you’re damaged.”
“That’s for him to decide.” It was hard to keep her mind on the conversation when it felt as if hot pokers were being driven into her lower abdomen. “Get out.”
“What makes you think you can order me around?” the woman spat. “Because you have a title and your father has money?”
Step by deliberate step, Olivia backed away from the maid’s furious outburst. It was then that she recognized the woman’s face. She’d been the one who’d been searching the desk the night the twins arrived.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“My sister was twice the woman you could ever hope to be.”
The woman made as if to rush at her and Olivia stumbled backward.
“Marissa was your sister?” Impossible. This woman was as plain and dull as Marissa had been beautiful and vibrant.
“My younger sister. She was beautiful and full of life. Or she was until Prince Gabriel destroyed her.”
“What do you mean?”
Olivia knew she had to keep the woman talking. Somewhere behind her was the bathroom with a solid door and a lock. She just needed to get there.
“In the months following her trip to visit him in Venice, she grew more and more depressed. She couldn’t live with the fact that he wanted nothing more to do with her.” The sister glared at Olivia as if she’d been the cause of Marissa’s heartache.
“I’m sorry your sister was upset—”
“Upset?” The woman practically spat the word. “She wasn’t upset. She was devastated. Devastated enough to try to kill herself. I was the one who found her bleeding to death. She’d slit her wrists. It was at the hospital that she found out she was pregnant. She loved her girls. They were everything to her.”