Page 74 of Cross Me

“She’s doing a damn good job despite that,” I said with a rueful smile. “She needs time.”

“She needs you.”

I wanted to believe him, but right now, it felt like I was the last thing my wife needed. She certainly didn’t need me to burden her with any more trouble. What would I tell her if she was here? Nothing would come of the parliamentary council except an increase in editorials calling for the end of the monarchy. Personally, I might welcome an early retirement. It was best to give her the opportunity to process things, even if I would rather she was here distracting me with her perfect body.

Instead, I had Norris, who was good company, but not half as sexy.

“What day of the week is it anyway?” I asked.

“Wednesday,” he said pointedly.

“And that’s important because?” I didn’t have the energy to decipher the hints he was dropping.

“It’s less the day of the week so much as the date.”

“Just tell me,” I begged. “What am I forgetting?”

He considered for a moment before taking pity on me. “A rather important doctor’s appointment.”

I was on my feet before the last syllable left his mouth.

“Keys,” I barked.

“I’ll have the car brought ‘round.” Norris stood, straightening his jacket with excruciating care. Sod his goddamn suit when I was wrecking my marriage—again!

“Keys, Norris,” I said, hoping to make myself clear.

“Alexander, I can’t allow you—”

“There is nothing more dangerous than failing her right now,” I said in a low voice. I needed to be there not as a king but as her husband. “Some things a man has to face alone.”

His wife was one of them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CLARA

I peppered the doctor with questions for the next hour and refused to leave until we had an appointment with the specialist arranged within the week.

“You can exercise, eat normally, have sex,” he reassured me. “Anything that reduces your stress will help the baby.” He tacked on the last bit with a sort of forced hopefulness. We both knew there was no avoiding stress in my life. It was a given.

But I could try to de-stress, and I would do whatever it took to see my child safely into the world.

Dr. Ball paused outside the exam room door and placed a hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Clara. You have an army of specialists at your fingertips.”

“Dr. Ball,” I didn’t know where to begin, because there was one more question that haunted me. “The placenta with Elizabeth and now this—I’m not very good at being pregnant.”

Belle, who had kept a firm hold on me throughout, hugged me around the shoulders.

“It has nothing to do with you,” he said, but he didn’t sound sure.

I couldn’t press him further. Since Alexander had become a father, it had changed him. The man who had never wanted a baby would happily see me barefoot and pregnant for the rest of my life. Having a child had done more to help him become a better man than I ever could. Even he had acknowledged it. He’d also made it clear he’d happily fill every empty room in the palace. I couldn’t imagine telling him I was damaged goods—unfit to bear his children—when he wanted them so badly.

Before we reached the waiting room, I pulled Belle aside.

“Don’t say anything, please.”

She searched my face for a moment. “Clara, we’re all here to support you and you’re going to need that more than ever.”