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‘Everything’s okay,’ he assured curtly. ‘Just wait here for a few minutes.’

‘Why…?’

But Rafa had already gone. He’d been acting a bit odd all evening but he’d not seemed unduly panicked. Tilly glanced about the small lounge above the gallery, honestly relieved to have a moment alone. While the night had gone well, it had been intense.

She turned as she heard the door. ‘What’s…?’

Alex walked in. Alex, as tall and handsome as ever but so much thinner in a fortnight. Alex, crushed by the bleakest expression as he closed the door behind him. Alex, who was carrying…

Oh.

She backed up a pace but there was a wall. No window. No escape. ‘Why are you here?’

‘I thought you were going to disappear into obscurity.’ He stared at her with pitch-black eyes that burned her tissue-thin skin. ‘Find your safe space and live an independent life.’

That had been his plan. Okay, hers to begin with as well, but her wishes had changed.

‘Did you come all this way just to berate me?’ Despite her pounding heart she slid straight back into their old combat mode. ‘Too bad for you, I’m not going to hide. I’m not going to be diminished—to be nothing to everyone. I’m human and it turns out I’m actually quite good at showing up for people.’

He froze in front of the door, not taking a single step towards her.

‘Surely this event never made your calendar?’ she added fiercely, working up swiftly. ‘If it did, it should’ve been colour-coded red. You said you weren’t leaving Montaurella for the foreseeable future—’

‘I said a lot of shit,’ he muttered. ‘And I didn’t say stuff I should have.’

Tilly stilled, wildly terrified by the starkness in his eyes, by the fact he was even here. He was the King. He had a country to lead and protect. ‘You shouldn’t be away from Montaurella right now—’

‘This is more important. You’re more important.’

No. She shrank. He’d not just said that. She wouldn’t believe this was even real.

‘I intended to berate you,’ he said softly. ‘I saw pictures of you at that gallery in London and was furious. I’d tried to free you from performing as a princess and I didn’t rip out my own heart just to have you throw it in my face. But when I got here I found out what tonight’s about and then I watched you walking in looking like a beacon of caring and hope…’

Tilly couldn’t breathe. ‘What?’

‘Do you miss me the way I miss you?’ A stricken whisper. ‘With every breath? At every moment? I lie awake all night, replaying everything you ever said to me, everything we ever did, hating what I said to you and wondering if you meant what you said to me. I wonder and wonder. Endlessly. Always.’ He sagged back against the door. ‘Even when I think I’m not, when I’m on calls or standing in front of a roomful of people, even when they’re filming, you’re still there. You’re always in my head and heart, in every painful breath. Your absence kills me. Do you miss me like that?’

She couldn’t comprehend that he was here, that he was saying this. ‘Alex…’

‘I made a mistake. I genuinely thought I was doing the right thing, like some damned hero—all selfless and noble and putting you first. But I wasn’t. I stood in the way of us having time together. Of spending time with someone truly important. We both know that’s a terrible thing. I’m so sorry, Tilly.’

She blinked as her eyes stung but still she couldn’t haul words together.

‘I’ve realised it’s not anger I feel constantly.’ He took a step towards her. ‘I’m scared, Tilly. I’m fucking terrified. I hate how and why we married. I bullied you into it—no, don’t argue—you know I did. You weren’t going to go through with it. Only then it became good—so good. It was the easiest, best thing in my life to be with you, but when you said something infinitely precious, it was impossible to believe and I bottled it.’ He dragged in a breath. ‘It’s hard to believe someone wants you that much, when no one else ever has.’

Her heart puckered. That was a feeling she knew. She’d not been sure she’d ever want a relationship, but with Alex every secret dream was unlocked.

‘I want you to do and have and be what you want,’ he said, moving a little closer. ‘I just hope that you still want what you said the other day, because I don’t want any of this without you.’

‘You’re a good king for Montaurella, Alex—’

‘It’s not enough for me. Not any more.’ He shrugged. ‘From the second I first saw you in the palace stable there were sparks. Shockingly inappropriate. I rejected it—you—for a long time. I was horrible. Then I was jealous of Erik. When that video hit I knew you’d ask him for guidance. I told myself I was protecting him because I’ve always assumed he saw you the way I do…’

‘As a threat?’

‘As stunning.’ He stopped right in front of her, gazing into her eyes with his beautiful, intense gaze. ‘Breathtaking and lovely and utterly infuriating because the Tilly I met that day was punchy and vibrant and wild. But then you became this docile, faded creature who would only shred me when I provoked you. I understand why now, but back then I didn’t. I didn’t see you properly because I was blinded by my own prejudice. Pain. Honestly, I came over all insane at the thought of you marrying someone else. It wouldn’t have mattered who Domenico said. I wanted it to be me and I made it happen. And your shield dropped. You were challenging, passionate, everything. What I feel for you terrified me, but I didn’t realise pushing you away would devastate me.’

‘And me.’