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He tucked her hair over one ear. ‘You need to do better at hiding your reaction, cara mia. A less scrupulous man would take advantage of it,’ he murmured.
With more strength than she’d thought herself capable of, Violet drew away from him, her hands dropping to clench at her sides. The observation stung far deeper than it should’ve. Made her lash out. ‘You think yourself scrupulous? Enlighten me again as to who kidnapped whom?’
The briefest glimpse of regret flashed in his eyes, then he was back to being the imperious Prince who expected everyone to fall in with his wishes, whether they wanted to or not.
‘That was different. And necessary.’
‘Why?’
Thunder gathered on his brow. ‘Besides taking steps to safeguard my child?’
What had happened to him to fuel this raging mistrust? Was it even worth her attempting to find out the reason?
‘We agreed on reciprocity, Zak. Are you going back on your word already?’
The gleam in his eyes was almost...approving. Saluting her for turning his words back on him. ‘Very well. Ask your questions.’
Given the freedom, she almost feared his answers. Not because they would turn her off him...but because they might not. Nevertheless, she couldn’t resist. ‘When I told you I was pregnant, you reminded me of your half-brother and what his arrival did to your family. But Europe is littered with royal scandals and no one even blinks at them any more. So what am I missing, Zak?’
Dio mio, but she fired with both guns and aimed for the heart, didn’t she?
He tensed, anticipating that bolt of anguish. On cue it arrived, accompanied by a heavy dose of bitterness. He considered deflecting her question, but how could he? This truce had been his idea, a way to end the deadlock between them. He couldn’t backtrack now.
Hell, perhaps baring himself a little might work to his advantage, just as he’d hoped for and witnessed her genuine appreciation for the better qualities of his island during their tour.
Still, the exercise was...hard.
‘Is it really that bad?’ she enquired, her voice soft, oozing sympathy he perhaps didn’t deserve but couldn’t help absorbing regardless. Because he realised that when it came to her, he was extremely selfish. Wanted more and more and more.
Everything?
He clenched his gut, denying that horrifyingly damning word that required far too much self-examination. ‘Your family isn’t without its own...challenges, no?’ he stalled, brazenly buying himself time before reopening old wounds of disgrace and betrayal.
Pained shadows flitted across her breathtaking face and fleetingly he regretted his parry.
She stared down at her knotted fingers, then met his gaze. ‘No, it isn’t, but mine is an open, ugly secret. And before you dig deeper, I’ll confess that I’ve hated every single moment of it. Finding out my parents would do just about anything, even risk bankruptcy, for the sake of social ladder-climbing was...horrifying. Being whispered about, mocked and sometimes openly taunted about a fall from grace and being regarded as scum isn’t fun. Neither is being paraded about like a prized heifer at a meat market.’
‘No. I don’t believe it is,’ he found himself answering, for the first time catching a glimpse of what her mother’s actions had done to her. He recognised the torment. But he also saw the fight in her. The ferocity it took to stand her ground. Against him. Against the world. Zak couldn’t deny that the flame this added to her allure continually drew him.
Her chin lifted, eyes swimming with anguish striking him deeper than he wanted to admit. ‘I can’t escape my past neither can I disown my parents, but, regardless of what anyone believes, I’ve no wish to follow in their footsteps. If nothing else, please believe that.’
He believed her. If the past two weeks had achieved anything it was the revelation that she wasn’t holding out for more. That, should he feel inclined to grant her passage off this island, Violet would walk away from him without a backward glance, his proposal and enticements and his increasing need to bestow the title of Princess on her be damned.
Again that hollow feeling of dismay threatened to consume him. He ruthlessly stemmed it. Aware that the spotlight was firmly back on him, he gritted his jaw. And bared himself. ‘I looked up to him. Perhaps that was my first mistake.’ He couldn’t contain the deep bitterness that spilled out.
She frowned. ‘Your father?’
He nodded. ‘He was flawless in my eyes. The embodiment of my every aspiration. I wanted to be just like him. I wasn’t going to inherit the throne, but I could walk in his footsteps.’ He stopped, the words sounding foolish in his ears.
‘No one is flawless, Zak,’ she replied gently. ‘He may have been larger than life itself to you but he was still human. Nothing more.’
Zak swallowed hard, heat and ice cascading through him at her hushed words. Hadn’t he fallen for temptation himself after swearing he never would?
Had he held his father up to stricter standards than were warranted? Idolised him when he should’ve remembered he was mere flesh and blood? No.
‘He was a king. He was supposed to have been above reproach. Beyond base flaws—especially flaws that caused harm to his family,’ he gritted out.
‘You’ve accepted Jules into your family. Can’t you find a way to get past what your father did?’
