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‘Maman...’ Remi’s voice held a rumbling warning.
His mother turned sharply to him. ‘This isn’t how it is supposed to be. When I sent you to England to handle the Myers situation I pictured a lot more circumspection. Instead you’ve returned with this—’
‘Your Majesty, I would be so very grateful if you wouldn’t speak about me as if I’m not here.’
Two pairs of eyes turned to her, the male ones holding mocking amusement and the other a trace of shock.
Queen Isadora spoke first. ‘You have fire. I’ll give you that too.’
‘What else will you give me, Your Majesty? If we’re to be family, I’d like to know the best way to proceed without causing offence.’
Maddie caught the faintest twitch of her lips before the rigidness her son was so masterful at settled her features.
‘Let’s not be hasty. You are not quite family yet.’
‘But she will be. I have made my decision,’ Remi stated.
The implacable announcement made the queen exhale sharply. For several heartbeats silence reigned, her face paling slightly as she searched her son’s face. Then something extraordinary happened.
Queen Isadora gave a deep sigh, her ramrod-straight spine relaxed and she nodded. ‘Very well. If this is how it’s going to be, I will accept it.’
Maddie hadn’t been aware she was holding her breath until it rushed out. But then she discovered her ordeal wa
s far from over.
For the next two hours, in between the presentation of mouthwatering dishes, the queen grilled her on everything from her childhood pets to her mother’s desertion.
The discovery that Remi had kept nothing from his mother should have upset her, but having everything out in the open, a clean slate, was liberating. She was tired of carrying the burden of her family’s shameful secrets.
But even as that old weight dropped away she knew she carried a newer, more devastating one. One she didn’t want to give voice to yet. If ever.
Her gaze flicked to Remi as he escorted her to her suite. She intended to keep up a full emotional guard around him. Those same instincts that had screeched a warning the moment they’d met clamoured even louder now, telling her to heed his warning against falling for him. And for as long as this sham marriage lasted she intended to do just that.
CHAPTER EIGHT
MADDIE LOOKED UP from the report she was reading about her father as Remi walked into the large living room attached to her suite. As had happened increasingly alarmingly over her last five weeks in Montegova, she felt something wild and unfettered lurch in her chest at the raw masculinity that charged from him, his predatory prowl towards her sparking every nerve ending to life.
Comforting thoughts of her father’s progress gave way to a tense shakiness inside her as those eyes fixed on her with the unnerving intensity she’d come to expect. As she searched his face, Maddie also recognised other expressions, those she kept hoping would be absent when he looked at her.
She breathed out, unable to avoid the hard-edged detachment, the rigid wall he’d erected around himself almost from the moment they’d landed in Montegova. And with every day she spent in the palace she was made aware of how much Remi had loved and cherished Celeste.
From the suite of rooms in the east wing that no one entered to the Lipizzaner mare lovingly groomed each day but which no one ever rode, Remi hadn’t just erected a shrine to Celeste—he’d surrounded himself with reminders of his lost love.
Each discovery had triggered a bewildering ache to Maddie’s own heart, an ache that intensified the more she attempted to deny its power over her. That power was very much present right now, threatening her with a runaway pulse and shortness of breath as Remi stopped in front of her, towering and powerful.
She set the report down. ‘I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again today.’
They’d performed the last of their day’s engagements at midday. The charity rowing competition had been well-attended, and the crowds gathering outside the grounds of the royal lake had duly been introduced to Remi’s new betrothed.
To say that wedding fever had taken hold of the country was an understatement. It had even eclipsed the queen’s announcement that she was stepping down from the throne—an outcome that had brought a rare, wry smile to Queen Isadora’s lips.
For the first week Maddie had been stunned by her ready acceptance by Remi’s people, and the endless stream of gifts arriving from far and wide in celebration of their engagement.
But that euphoria had waned when, with each passing day, she’d realised the man she was marrying wasn’t in the least bit affected by the excitement, that the charm and attention he lavished on his future bride when they were out in public was just an act.
Behind closed doors Remi couldn’t get away from her fast enough.
Deep down she couldn’t fault him for that. He’d warned her against developing any untoward emotion. The trouble was, Maddie was beginning to think that her heart and mind had differing plans.
