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“Apparently they didn’t. Because everyone but King Patek knows you’ve been hooking up with Ibanez over the years.”
Emmeline flushed. “That’s not true. We never hooked up.”
“So you’re not pregnant?”
“Yes. Yes, I did sleep with him. But it was only one time, and he was my. first.” Her voice wobbled. “I was a virgin until then.”
Makin snorted with derision.
Emmeline’s flush deepened, heat spreading through her body until she tingled all over. “Believe what you want. I don’t have to answer to you, or impress you, or try to make you like me. You and I will never see eye to eye—” She broke off abruptly and turned away, horrified to discover that she was about to cry.
Thank God he didn’t say anything right away, or laugh. Thank God there was just the bubble and splash of the fountain. But the silence stretched too long. Emmeline glanced at Makin and saw his expression.
Hard. Unforgiving.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat and lifted her chin, refusing to be cowed by his judgment, knowing that others would look at her the exact same way. Including her parents. It would hurt. But it wouldn’t kill her. Over time she’d learn to weather the disapproval without letting it get to her. She’d learn she could stand on her own two feet just fine.
“I know you don’t think much of me,” she said. “But I will be a good mother. I will do what’s right for my child, starting with seeing a doctor as soon as I get back to Europe.”
“Then let’s stop wasting time and get you on a plane for Brabant—”
“I’m not going to Brabant. I’m going to London.”
“Not back to Brabant?”
“No. Never.”
“But that is your home, your country—”
“Not anymore.”
“You can’t change your birthright, Your Highness. You are descended from one of the oldest royal families in all of Europe. Your bloodline ties you to the very country.”
“I will find a new country to call home. Lots of royals do it.”
“Yes, in countries where monarchy has been replaced by democracy or socialism, but Brabant is still a constitutional monarchy and as far as I know, you are the rightful heir to the throne. Why would you give that up?”
“Because I’m not the rightful heir,” she said huskily, walking away from him to approach the pool. “I’m not a true heir at all—”
“That’s ridiculous.”
She shrugged. “But true. And that’s why I won’t be going home, and why I won’t be asking for forgiveness or mercy. I don’t have to tell my parents anything. I’m twenty-five, of majority, and have access to the trust set up for me by my late grandfather. If I am careful, it’s more than enough for me to live on.”
“And your child?” he asked. “If you walk away from them, he or she may never be accepted by your family.”
“I am sure he—or she—won’t be,” she said after a moment.
“Certainly not, if you plan on running away … hiding in the English countryside?”
“I wouldn’t be hiding. I’d be living quietly, raising my child with, I hope, some privacy and dignity—”
“You hope?” His mouth tightened. “Is that your bright plan? To hope to have some privacy and dignity?” He made a rough, low sound of disgust. “Good luck, Your Highness. You’re going to need it.” With another low, derisive snort, he turned around and walked away.
She drew a quick breath, feeling as if he’d slapped her. “I might be running away but you’re great at walking away,” she called after him, hands curling into fists, her voice vibrating with emotion.
“What?”
“You can do it because you have power,” she said as he turned to face her. “Most of us can’t. We have to stand there and take it. But you don’t have to. You’re a man, and one of the world’s richest. Everybody needs you. Everybody wants your approval or your protection. It must feel good.”
He started back toward her. “How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice? You are a guest in my home. You are completely dependent on me—”
“I didn’t ask to be.”
“No, you didn’t ask. You forced yourself on me by impersonating my assistant.”
“Then let me go.”
“I would love you to go.”
She visibly flinched, stung. And yet, why did she care what he thought? Why did he have the power to hurt her? Swallowing hard, she walked around the pool and toward the house. “Great. That makes two of us. If you’ll have a driver take me to the airstrip, I’ll fly out immediately.”
