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‘It’s fine.’
The intensity in his eyes didn’t abate. ‘Did you take your medication?’
His brusque concern threatened to wrap itself around the protected core inside her. But, like the intricate web of lies Greg had wrapped around her for his own twisted amusement, she knew the Crown Prince’s guise was false too.
‘Can we dispense with the pretence?’
Silver eyes hardened. ‘Pretence?’
She nodded. ‘You pretending to care about me. I’m a conniving little gold-digger, remember? And, while we’re at it, I don’t think you touching me in public is strictly necessary, so let’s cut that false courtesy too.’
For the longest stretch he remained silent. ‘I will touch you when I deem it necessary in public. And you will not object because you have signed an agreement that ties you to me for the next six weeks,’ he stated, in a deep, imperious voice that drilled mercilessly into her senses.
The unshakeable knowledge that he could draw such a visceral, unfettered response from her any time he chose was shockingly unsettling.
Even more unnerving was the fact that a large part of her wasn’t recoiling from that thrilling possibility.
‘Then you won’t mind if I reciprocate?’ she dared, striving to ignore the anticipation firing her blood. ‘A gold-digger needs to earn her money, after all.’
‘It’s a shame I’ll never have the pleasure of seeing this insolence tamed out of you one day,’ he mused dryly.
The reminder that he would be out of her life in a few short weeks silenced her. And when his phone rang, she listened as Remi conducted a conversation in a tense but lyrical mix of French and Italian.
Montegovan.
She stared at his proud, unforgiving profile, reflecting the genes passed down by his warrior ancestors.
Whatever was being discussed wasn’t to his liking. His rugged jaw clenched multiple times before he squeezed the bridge of his nose. Then the phone call ended abruptly.
Miles went by in silence. Silence that gave her too much time to make dangerous observations, like how his strong, elegant fingers rested on his taut thighs, or the shape of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. The decadent sensation she’d experienced when his fingers brushed her back.
She shifted in her seat as low heat intensified in her belly. ‘Everything okay?’ she asked.
He glanced her way and she almost wished she hadn’t spoken. Those far too incisive eyes locked on hers in the semi-darkness. ‘The challenges of family rearing their head again.’
She nodded. ‘Your father?’
He blinked in surprise before his eyes turned a shade cooler. ‘My father died ten years ago.’
Her heart lurched. ‘Oh... I’m sorry for your loss.’
He acknowledged her sympathy with a regal tilt of his head.
Unwilling to let the dangerous silence return, she cleared her throat. ‘So who was that?’
‘That was my mother—the Queen. Doing what she does best,’ he said, with the faintest trace of bitterness.
‘Which is?’
‘Issuing edicts and expecting me to fall in line,’ he mused darkly.
Maddie hid a grimace. From their very first encounter she’d known that no one dictated to this man. Whatever was being asked of him, he would counter it with merciless determination.
‘What of your own mother?’ he asked.
She started in surprise. ‘What?’
He shifted sideways and her mouth dried as the stunning perfection of the Crown Prince was fully focused on her. ‘Your mother,’ he repeated.
