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Rachel stared at him helplessly. ‘Mateo, this is crazy.’
‘I know it’s unexpected—’
‘I have a job,’ she emphasised, belatedly remembering the life she’d built for herself, just as Mateo had, on her own terms. She’d won her place first at Oxford and then Cambridge, and finally her research fellowship, all on her own merit, not as the daughter of esteemed physicist, William Lewis, with his society wife Carol. She’d made no mention of her parents in any of her applications, had made sure nobody knew. She’d wanted to prove herself, and she had.
And Mateo was now thinking she might leave it all behind, everything she’d worked so hard for, simply to be his trophy wife, a mannequin on his arm? She started to shake her head, but Mateo forestalled her, his voice calm and incisive.
‘I realise I am asking you to sacrifice much. But you would have limitless opportunity as Queen of Kallyria—to promote girls’ involvement in STEM subjects; to fund research and support charities and causes that align with your interests; to travel the world in the name of science.’
‘Science? Or politics?’ she asked, her voice shaking with the enormity of it all. She couldn’t grasp what he was asking her on so many incredible levels.
‘Both,’ Mateo replied, unfazed. ‘Naturally. As king, one of my priorities will be scientific research. Kallyria has a university in its capital city of Constanza. Admittedly, it is not on the same level as Cambridge or Oxford, but it is esteemed among Mediterranean countries.’
‘I don’t even know where Kallyria is,’ Rachel admitted. ‘I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of it before.’
‘It is a small island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It was settled by Greek and Turkish traders, over two thousand years ago. It has never been conquered.’
And he was asking her to be its Queen. Rachel felt as if her head were going to explode.
‘I don’t...’ she began, not even sure what she was going to say. And then the front doorknob rattled, and her mother shuffled into the house, looking between her and Mateo with hostile suspicion.
‘Rachel,’ she demanded, her voice rising querulously. ‘Who is this?’
CHAPTER FOUR
MATEO STARED DISPASSIONATELY at the old woman who was glaring back at him.
‘Mum,’ Rachel said faintly. ‘This is...’ She glanced uncertainly at Mateo, clearly not sure how to introduce him.
‘My name is Mateo Karavitis,’ Mateo intercepted smoothly as he stepped forward and offered his hand. ‘A former colleague of your daughter’s.’
Rachel’s mother looked him up and down, seeming unimpressed. ‘Why are you visiting here?’ She turned back to Rachel. ‘I’m hungry.’
‘I’ll make you a toastie,’ Rachel said soothingly.
She threw Mateo a look that was half apology, half exasperation. He gave her an assured, blandly unfazed smile in return.
So Rachel had a mother who was clearly dependent on her care. It was a surprise, but it did not deter him. If anything, it offered her an added incentive to agree to his proposal, since he would be able to offer her mother top-of-the-line care, either here in England or back in Kallyria.
Not, Mateo reflected as Rachel hurried to the kitchen and her mother harrumphed her way to her bedroom, that she needed much incentive. Judging from everything he’d seen so far of her life outside work, there was nothing much compelling her to stay.
He fully anticipated, after Rachel had got over the sheer shock of it, that she’d agree to his proposal. How could she not?
He came over to stand in the doorway of the kitchen. Rachel was looking harassed, slicing cheese as fast as she could.
‘How long has your mother been living with you?’ he asked.
‘About eighteen months.’ She reached for a jar of Marmite and Mateo stepped forward.
‘May I help?’
‘What?’ Rachel looked both frazzled and bewildered, her hair falling into her eyes. ‘No—’
Deftly he unscrewed the jar of Marmite she seemed to have forgotten she was holding. Plucking the knife from her other hand, he began to spread the Marmite across the bread. ‘Cheese and Marmite toastie, yes?’
‘What?’ She stared at him blankly, then down to the bread he was preparing. ‘Oh. Er... Yes.’
Mateo finished making the sandwich and placed it on the hot grill. ‘Shouldn’t be a moment.’
