They returned to the first floor and accepted glasses of champagne from Elena. She gestured them out onto the terrace and retreated to fetch the first course.
“This is beautiful,” Olivia commented, admiring the simple but elegant scene.
With the sunset long past, the sky had deepened to indigo. A row of white candles stretched along the low terrace wall, pushing back the darkness, their flames protected by glass containers. More candles had been placed in the center of the table, their flickering glow making shadows dance over the fine white tablecloth, beautiful china and colorful flower arrangements.
Gabriel led her to the table and helped her into a linen-clad chair before taking his own seat beside her. The romantic lighting softened his strong bone structure and brought out the sensual curve of his lips as he smiled. “Here’s to following our hearts.”
Olivia smiled as she clinked her glass to his and marveled at her good fortune. She never would have guessed that she had to lose everything in order to gain the one thing she needed most.
Setting her glass down, Olivia reached for Gabriel’s hand.
“A few weeks ago your sister told me to ask you something. I never did.”
“Ask now.”
“She said we’d met before six months ago. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“But I don’t recall meeting you. And I assure you I would. Were we young children? Is that why I don’t remember?”
“It was almost seven years ago at a masquerade party. Given the host’s reputation I was a little surprised to discover the young woman I rescued was none other than Lady Olivia Darcy.”
Gabriel had been her savior. The man whose kiss had set the bar for every other romantic encounter she’d had since. “You knew who I was?”
“Not until after you’d left and Christian informed me who I’d been kissing.” Gabriel’s fingertips grazed her cheek. “When I kissed you that night, something sparked between us. I wasn’t ready to get married and you were far too young, but something told me you were the woman I was destined to marry.”
“But that was one kiss seven years ago.” She couldn’t imagine how a single moment in time could impact him so strongly. And yet hadn’t she felt the magic between them? Compared his kiss to those that came after? “And my father approached you about building a plant in Sherdana.”
“That’s true, but Christian put the idea in his head. My brother is very clever when it comes to business dealings and had an inkling of how much you interested me.”
“But you loved Marissa. You would have married her if Sherdanian law had allowed it.”
“I never wanted to marry Marissa. She was my way of rebelling against duty and responsibility. I loved being with her, but I know now that I didn’t love her. Not the way I love you.”
His lips found hers and delivered a kiss that managed to be both incredibly arousing and spiritually satisfying at the same time. Olivia was weak with delight when he set her free.
“I can’t quite believe all that has happened today,” she murmured as his fingertips worked their way along her shoulder. “When I woke up this morning I was cautiously optimistic. Now I’m happier than I ever imagined I could be.”
Gabriel gifted her with a smile of resolute tenderness. “And it’s my intention to do whatever it takes to ensure you stay that way.”
* * *
After disappearing from the radar for a week, and then reappearing with a glowing bride in tow, Gabriel had anticipated a media frenzy, but he hadn’t expected the capital’s streets to be lined with people.
In the back of the limousine, Olivia waved at the enthusiastic crowd, looking every inch a princess. But by the time the vehicle pulled up in front of the palace, her nerves had begun to show.
“Are we going to be taken to the gallows and shot?” she questioned. “Is that why everyone turned out to see us?”
“A member of Sherdana’s royal family hasn’t been executed in almost three hundred years.”
“That’s not as reassuring as you want it to be.”
Gabriel squeezed her hand. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“Since when are you such an optimist?”
“Since marrying you.”
A footman stepped forward to open the limo’s door. Olivia nodded toward a glowering Christian, who was striding through the palace’s ornate main doors.
“He doesn’t look happy.”
“I think he’s realized the trap has been sprung.”
“You sound as if you’re enjoying this far too much.”
“Do you have any idea how many dossiers I looked through over the years, weighing my future happiness against what was right for the country, while my brothers ran around the United States and Europe following their dreams?”
“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.”