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Her insides twisted. She hadn’t known Akathinian law well enough to draw that conclusion. Hadn’t wanted to know.
She took a deep breath, inhaling past the tightness in her chest. For the first time she noticed how deep the lines bracketing Nik’s eyes and mouth were. How stressed he looked. This pregnancy was a disaster in the current circumstances and she had made it worse by keeping it from him.
Guilt slammed into her, swift and hard.
“Come with me,” he said flatly. “Before my actions set off a national security crisis. We’ll talk and figure this out.”
She pursed her lips. “I would need to see if Katharine can handle the shop by herself.”
“Call her.”
She fished out her mobile and dialed her partner. Katharine assured her she’d be fine for a couple of days.
“All right,” she said to Nik. “I’ll go. We talk. And then you fly me back.”
He nodded. “Efharisto.” Thank you.
It occurred to her as they boarded the plane at a small private airfield outside of the city that she was putting herself on Nik’s turf, where he yielded complete power. The power of a king. Perhaps not the wisest of decisions, she acknowledged as the tiny jet took off and left the lights of Manhattan behind. But she couldn’t add any more stress to his life. Not now.
She waited until she’d endured what was always a white-knuckle affair for her in the takeoff before curling up in one of the chairs in the seating area of the luxurious jet. Then she attacked the elephant in the room. Or aircraft, as it would be...
“I know this has huge ramifications for you, Nik, but it does for me, as well. How do we deal with the distances? How am I going to juggle a baby and the shop?”
He leveled his gaze on her. “You aren’t. You’re the future Queen of Akathinia, Sofi´a. Queens don’t work.”
She stared at him. Queen? That would entail her being married to him... “You can’t be serious.”
His mouth flattened, the determination on his face making her heart pound. “Unless this baby turns out to be someone else’s, which I highly doubt, then yes, I am entirely serious.”
She didn’t like the edge to his voice or the look on his face. “Of course it’s yours. How can you even ask that?”
He looked at her as if she was naive to be asking the question. “How far along are you?”
“Eight weeks.”
“A blood test will confirm it, then.” He lifted a brow. “Funny how we were obsessively careful not to allow a pregnancy to happen and yet, magically, it happened on that last night when you asked me not to wear a condom.”
She stared at him. “Tell me you are not suggesting I manufactured this pregnancy.”
He shrugged, his face as hard as she’d ever seen it. “It wouldn’t be the first time in history it’s happened.”
The blood drained from her face. She yanked off her seat belt and launched herself at him, her palm arcing through the air toward his cheek. He caught her hand before it got anywhere near his face and yanked it down to her side, pulling her onto his lap.
“Bastard,” she hissed at him. “I can’t believe you have the nerve to say that. To me, Nik. Me of all people. I was perfectly fine with the rules. I ended it.”
“After you told me how you wanted to end it.” His eyes scoured her face. “Were you using a little reverse psychology on me, Sofi´a? Being the one to end it first so I’d realize my mistake? Then along comes a baby?”
“You are insane,” she gritted out, unable to free her hands to claw his eyes out. “Have you lost your mind over the past few weeks, Nik, because clearly you know me well enough to know I would never do that.”
His mouth flattened. “I thought I knew you. But I also know how you were acting that night. I know the signs. You were getting too attached. Women can do uncharacteristic things when they want to hang on to a relationship.”
Her head felt as if it was going to explode. “I ended it.”
“You knew I was going to.”
He was crazy. She tugged hard on her arm but he held her tight. “I am not marrying you.”
He gave her a weary look. “We will. It’s the only solution.”
“No, it isn’t. I don’t want to get married. I live in New York. I have a business there. I’m not leaving it.”
“What we both want doesn’t figure into this. The only thing that matters is that you are carrying the royal heir. End of story.”
