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‘She did.’ He took her face between his hands. ‘Because she knows that I’m totally and utterly in love with you.’
Oh, God...
Alexa groaned softly. She knew Milena would have meant well, but she really wished the other woman hadn’t interfered. ‘I’m sorry she said that.’ She shook her head, her hands trembling. ‘She mentioned the same thing to me at Jag’s party but I knew not to believe her. I knew—’
‘You should have believed her.’ Rafe placed a finger against her lips. ‘Because she’s right. I do love you.’
Alexa’s eyes flew to his. ‘How is that possible? At the hospital, when I handed you Princess Jana, you looked at me as if you never wanted to see me again.’
‘That was shock. When I saw you holding the baby all I could think about was how it would feel if Jana had been ours.’
‘You did?’ Her eyes turned watery because she felt so emotional hearing him say that. ‘But you said you don’t need love in your life.’
‘I didn’t want love in my life,’ he corrected. ‘Which is why I didn’t go after you when you left. It was easier to let you go than to face how much I had come to need you. Especially since my mother left in the middle of the night and I woke the next morning to find her gone.’
‘Oh, Rafe, I’m so sorry I reminded you of that. I didn’t know what else to do. I was so afraid I’d blurt out how I felt and that you’d... It was cowardly.’
‘I didn’t exactly give you a lot of reasons to stay. I am now.’ His hand smoothed over her jaw, tilting her face up to his. ‘Tell me what you didn’t want to blurt out last night.’
Alexa’s smile was tremulous. ‘That I love you, of course. That I think I’ve always loved you.’
Rafe crushed her lips beneath his, and for a moment all Alexa could do was cling to him. Then reality intruded with a thud.
‘Rafe, wait...’ Her voice shook and her knees threatened to give out as she eased back. ‘This can’t work. You know it can’t. Your life is in London and I’m the future Queen, and unless I abdicate to my cousin I—’
‘Abdicate?’ Rafe took her face between his hands. ‘Princess, nobody’s abdicating. You’re perfect for this role.’
‘Then what are you suggesting? That we have a long-distance marriage?’
‘Alexa, you’re my wife. You’re going to stay my wife, and I’m going to be your husband and support you in any way that I can. In Berenia.’
‘You’ll move to Berenia?’
He gave her a wide smile. ‘What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment. But my life is no longer in London. It’s wherever you are.’
‘But your business, your clubs...’
‘I can run my business from anywhere if I choose to but seriously, Alexa, you’re not hearing me. If you want it, my life is with you and wherever you are.’
‘If I want it?’
‘Yes. Do you? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me as much as I want to spend the rest of mine with you?’
‘Yes.’ Finally giving into the insane level of happiness welling up inside her, Alexa laughed. ‘Yes, yes, yes.’
She let out a shriek as Rafe wrapped his arms around her and swung her into the air. ‘Rafe, I love you so much it scares me.’
‘Only because you haven’t come to trust how I feel yet. But you will. I plan to tell you every day so that you’ll never feel insecure about your self-worth ever again.’
‘I can’t quite believe this,’ she said, holding him tight. ‘You were supposed to be the most unsuitable man on the planet.’
Rafe eased back so that he could look down into her face. ‘And now?’
‘Now I never want to let you go.’ Giddy with emotion, she reached up onto her toes to kiss him and then pulled back at the last minute. ‘We shouldn’t. You’ll catch my cold.’
‘Princess, I don’t think you have a cold. Your nose isn’t even red.’
‘My nose doesn’t have to be red to have a cold. But I am sick. I feel dizzy sometimes and my stomach is unsettled a lot.’
