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‘No! His affair with Jules’s mother wasn’t a fleeting thing. It went on for years. And while he was busy letting his family down, others were plotting behind his back. He put his kingdom in peril, gave a platform to those who would destabilise the government,’ he seethed.
Violet’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘I...didn’t know that.’
His lips twisted. ‘Very few people do.’
Silence stretched tight between them. Then she laid a hand on his forearm. He looked into her brilliant blue eyes. Yearned to lose herself in them.
‘Do you hate him for that or hate that he died before he could give you the answers you seek? I know I felt...robbed of the need to understand why my father would risk everything just for money.’
Damn this woman
! From the very first she’d seen too much, burrowed far deeper than he’d allowed anyone else to go, save perhaps the father he now condemned.
‘What does it matter?’ he rasped bitterly.
‘Because if it’s the latter, you’ll have to learn to let it go some time, Zak. To forgive and move on before it consumes you. Be the better version of the man your father couldn’t be.’
The urge to rail, issue commands, assert his royal will rose fast and furious. But he knew he would be wasting his breath. Violet had no fear of him or his station. If anything, she would laugh in his face. So he pursed his lips, even as her words seeped deep into his soul, the truth of it ringing in his ears.
For the first time Zak knew real fear. Because what if he couldn’t be a better man? What if Violet and his child found him...lacking?
With a ferocity that would’ve done his ancestors proud, he cut off the weakening train of thought. He was a prince. The blood of warriors ran through his veins. He’d never cowered before anyone. He wasn’t about to start now.
‘Are we done with this sharing or do you have more questions?’
Violet barely managed to stop herself from gasping at the transformation from vulnerable man to imperious prince. The loss, even more than baring her soul about her past, caught her on the raw. Because she’d glimpsed beneath the power and majesty, seen the real man who, like her, had been let down by his parent. One he’d put on a pedestal.
This was what she’d feared.
That his revelations would end up costing her even more emotionally.
Because even now, watching his stony face, she wanted to wrap her arms around him, lay her head on his chest and just...be with him. Be the cushion his hard edges landed on. But he was distancing himself even as she watched, his gaze growing impenetrable as he stared down at her.
Wasn’t it wise to do the same?
‘You said there hadn’t been illegitimacy in your family besides Jules. But what about divorces?’
Grey eyes bored into hers, his attempt to read between the lines clear in his incisive gaze. ‘A few, yes.’
Why did that not bring the relief she’d hoped for?
Slowly his face hardened. ‘If you’re already contemplating the end of a union before it’s even begun—’
She forced a laugh. ‘Please don’t pretend what you proposed is some sort of love match. We both know it was only because I’m pregnant.’
‘It’s a very powerful reason. One not to be dismissed, as you seem so hell-bent on doing.’
‘On our first day here you took pains to spell out what you wanted. Let me tell you what I want. I want the freedom to choose who I spend the rest of my life with. I won’t settle for you simply because you happen to be the father of the child I’m carrying.’
A storm brewed in his eyes. ‘Settle? Perhaps you’ve been blind to the fact that all of Europe and large swathes of the Western world consider me a very big catch indeed.’
‘Then they’re more than welcome to you!’ she responded heatedly, hurt and jealousy and the yearning for the man who’d bared himself to her minutes ago creating a wild, volatile tornado in her heart.
His eyes gleamed and Violet knew something had changed. For one thing, this was the most animated she’d allowed herself to be in his presence for quite some time. And he was savouring his triumph. ‘Are you awakened at last, my sweet?’
‘Don’t call me that, I’m not your anything.’
Keen speculation brimmed in his eyes. ‘But you could be, if only—’
