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“Is this an obscene phone call?”
He laughed. “It could become one so easily.”
“Are you there yet?”
“In my palace apartment, yes. My secretary just delivered the tabloids. We are the main story.”
“Which tabloids?”
He named them. “I’m sure we’re all over the internet, as well. You are referred to by name. And also as my bride, the ‘Dallas Legal Eagle.’“
“Ugh. I was hoping to explain things to my partners at the firm before the word got out. Have you spoken with Princess Liliana yet?”
“No. But I will right away, this morning.”
“What can I say? Good luck—and call me the minute it’s over.”
He pictured her, eyes puffy, hair wild from sleep. It made an ache within him, a sensation that some large part of himself was missing. He said ruefully, “I’ll only wake you again if I call….”
“Yeah, well. It’s not like I’ll be able to go back to sleep now. At least, not without knowing how it went.”
He felt thoroughly reprehensible. On any number of levels. “I shouldn’t have called.”
“Oh, yeah. You should have. And call me right away when it’s over. I mean it.”
“Fair enough. Sydney, I …” He sought the words. He didn’t find them.
She whispered, “Call me.”
“I will,” he vowed. And then he heard the faint click on the line, leaving him alone, half a world away from her, with just his guilty conscience to keep him company.
Two hours later, he sat in the small drawing room of the suite Liliana always took whenever she visited the palace. He’d been waiting for half an hour for her to appear and he didn’t know yet whether she had heard about his marriage or not. Her attendant, one of Lili’s Alagonian cousins, Lady Solange Moltano, had seemed welcoming enough, so he had hopes that he’d arrived in time to be the first to tell her what she didn’t want to know.
The door to the private area of the suite opened. He stood.
Lili emerged wearing all white, a pair of wide-legged trousers and a tunic-length jacket, her long blond hair loose, her Delft-blue eyes shining, her cheeks pink with excitement. She was absolutely beautiful, as always. And he really was so fond of her. He didn’t want to see her hurt.
He’d never wanted to see Lili hurt.
“Rule.” She came toward him, arms outstretched.
They shared an embrace. He looked down at the golden crown of her head and wished he were anywhere but there, in her sitting room, about to tell her that a brilliant, opinionated and fascinating brunette from Texas had laid claim to his heart.
She caught his hands in her slender ones, stepped back and beamed up at him. “You’re here. At last …”
So. She didn’t know.
“Lili, I came to see you right away, as soon as I got in. I have something important to tell you.”
She became even more radiant than a moment before—if that was possible. “Oh.” She sounded breathless. “Do you? Really? At last …”
What if she fainted? She’d always been so delicate. “Let’s … sit down, shall we?”
“Oh, absolutely. Let’s.” She pulled him over to a blue velvet sofa. They sat. “Now. What is it you’d like to say to me?”
He had no idea where to begin. His tongue felt like a useless slab of leather in his mouth. “I … Lili. I’m so sorry about this.”
Her radiance dimmed, marginally. “Ahem. You’re … sorry?”
