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“You don’t have a choice,” she whispered, blinking rapidly. “You are going to be king. You must do what’s right. And so must I.” With surprising strength, she wrenched her hand free and turned to flee.
“Olivia.” He started after her, but realized nothing he could say at that moment would persuade her to change her mind.
Releasing a string of curses, Gabriel pulled out his cell phone and dialed. When the call connected, he said, “She won’t budge.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Your Highness. The arrangements you asked for are complete and awaiting your arrival. Are you still planning on traveling the day after tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
With the upheaval of the past several weeks, this was probably not the best time for him to leave the country, but he’d let the impossible situation with Olivia go on too long. She’d been right to say he didn’t have a choice about his future. Fate had set him on a path and he needed to follow it to the end.
He found his parents together in the garden. They were strolling arm in arm, pausing here and there to greet their guests and enjoying the warm afternoon. He almost hated to spoil their peaceful moment.
“It was lovely of Olivia to come today,” his mother said.
“She wanted to wish Bethany and Karina a happy birthday.”
“You spent a lot of time with her.” The queen’s voice held a question.
Gabriel wondered how much his mother knew about his intentions. “It was her first social appearance since our engagement ended. I thought she could use the support.”
“Of course. What happened with her was tragic and we cannot be seen turning our backs on her.” Although the queen had spoken sympathetically about Olivia’s plight, her priorities were her family and the country. “But you must not encourage her.”
A bitter laugh escaped him. “She’s well aware that I need a wife who can have children. If you think anything different, you don’t appreciate her character.”
The queen gave Gabriel a hard look. “Of course.”
Gabriel shifted his gaze to his daughters. A trio of preteen girls were chasing the twins through the gardens. They laughed as they ran and Gabriel’s heart lightened at the sound.
“I wanted to let you know,” he began, returning his attention to his parents, “that in a couple days, I’m going out of town for a week or so.”
“Is this the best time?” his father asked, echoing what Gabriel had been thinking minutes earlier.
“Perhaps not, but I have the future to think about and Sherdana still needs a princess.”
The king frowned. “What about the state dinner for the Spanish ambassador?”
“Christian can take over while I’m gone.” Gabriel forced his shoulders to relax. “I’m not the only prince in this family, you know. It’s about time my brothers remembered that.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re ready to move forward,” his mother said. “Can you give us some hint of your plans?”
“I’d rather wait until everything is finalized before I say anything.”
“Very sensible,” his father said and Gabriel wondered if the king would feel that way if he had any idea where his son was going and why.
* * *
Two days after the twins’ birthday party, Olivia sat in an examination room, awaiting the doctor and fighting sadness. She was flying back to London in the morning. Back to her flat and her friends.
Her return would be far from triumphant. She’d been stripped of the ability to have children and because of that lost the man she loved. Thinking about the future only intensified her grief, so she’d spent the past few days finishing up the tasks she’d left undone such as the finalization of the menu for the hospital’s children’s wing gala taking place the following month and writing to cancel the invitations she’d accepted when she was still Gabriel’s fiancée.
After ten minutes of waiting, Dr. Warner entered the room and interrupted her thoughts. Olivia was glad he accepted her assurances that she wa
s getting along just fine in the wake of her hysterectomy and didn’t voice the concern hovering in his expression. If he’d encouraged her to talk about her emotional health she might have burst into tears.
“Everything looks good,” the doctor announced. “No reason you can’t travel whenever you want.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she said.
