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‘She did,’ she said, challenge lighting her golden-brown eyes. ‘In between bouts of crying.’
Jag stared at her. He’d spoken to King Ronan personally ahead of the opening dinner, reminding the elderly King that he had never actually committed to marrying his daughter and now he wouldn’t be.
‘Princess Alexa and I—’
‘Please.’ Regan held up her hand dismissively, cutting him off. ‘Don’t feel as if you have to explain anything to me. It’s none of my business. I’m only the stand-in. Lucky that you find women so interchangeable, no doubt it’s water off a duck’s back for you.’
‘I do not find women interchangeable.’
‘No, you just see them as part of a package deal to be moved about according to your needs and political machinations. Is this her ring?’ She tugged at the diamond he had given her earlier. ‘She stared at it long and hard when she saw it. Did you choose it together?’
‘Would you stand still and listen to me?’ Her pacing was starting to give him whiplash.
‘It doesn’t matter. I find I can’t abide wearing another woman’s ring, even if it is just a prop.’
She held it out to him and Jag gritted his teeth, locking his hands around her wrists and jamming the ring back on her finger. ‘That is not Alexa’s ring. It is yours. I never chose a ring for Alexa.’ Unused to explaining himself to anyone, Jag found himself in unfamiliar territory. ‘A few months ago King Ronan approached me about marrying his daughter. I believed the idea had merit and said I would consider it. In the meantime someone from the Berenian Palace has been feeding information to the Press to create speculation and, I suspect, a way to encourage me to seal the deal.’
‘As far as I could tell, it was definitely sealed for her. She sounds as if she’s in love with you.’
‘I met the woman twice. Do you really believe that’s enough time to fall in love with someone?’
She hesitated a fraction of a second before staring down her nose at him. ‘Clearly it was for her.’
‘I doubt that. The woman is more in love with the idea of being Queen than being my wife, and her father wants easy access to Santara’s wealth.’
‘I find that hard to believe. She was incredibly upset.’ She tugged at her wrists and he released her to put some much-needed space between them. ‘But just say your version is the correct one and she’s only marrying you for political gain, I would have thought that was right up your alley. No messy emotions involved to muddy the waters.’
His jaw ached from clenching it so hard. Tarik had pointed the same things out to him the day before. So why, with all the political advantages it also offered, had he killed the idea completely? ‘I have explained as much as I am willing to explain to you.’
‘Oh, right, because I’m just one of your minions. I suppose you’re about to clap your hands next to make me disappear.’
‘Don’t tempt me,’ he grated.
‘I think it was really insensitive of you not to tell me about her. You knew that I was nervous about meeting all those people and you just threw me to the wolves.’
‘I did not throw you to the wolves. I made sure you were by my side the whole night. And I am not happy that Alexa approached you, but in the end no harm was done.’
‘To you maybe,’ she said, clearly not placated by his response. ‘But that’s because you don’t care about people. You’re so caught up in your duty and your wheeling and dealing you’ve forgotten the human element. You should make sure you donate your body to science after you die—you’ll be the only person in the world who has been able to exist minus a heart.’
‘I am not heartless and at the end of the day this is not about you and me as a couple. We’re not a couple. We are a means to an end.’
‘Yes, my brother’s end.’
Feeling an overload of emotion, Jag walked away from her. ‘I refuse to get into this with you.’
‘Why?’ she volleyed at him. ‘Because you’re selling Milena off the way King Ronan is his daughter?’
‘I am not selling my sister off.’
She gave him a look as if to say ‘dream on’ and Jag’s hands balled into fists. This woman was driving him crazy. ‘I’m getting very tired of you questioning my decisions regarding my sister.’ He watched as her eyes widened when he paced towards her. ‘When Milena was sixteen she became infatuated with an international farrier that had come to work a
t the royal stables. I assumed it was harmless. I assumed he would be a gentleman, given her station and her age. I was a fool. He tried to seduce her even though he was married and he ended up breaking her heart.’ He took a slow even breath, anger returning along with his memories. ‘Not long after he left she stopped eating and lost an enormous amount of weight. Then I found her with a bottle of sleeping pills clasped in her hand.’ He still remembered that feeling of having his heart in his mouth when he’d realised how gravely ill his sister had become, and he’d do anything to ensure that she was never hurt like that again.
‘Oh, poor Milena. And poor you.’ Regan’s sympathy was a tangible force that threatened to wrap around him and never let him go. ‘No wonder you’re so protective of her. I assumed it was just for political reasons.’
Jag moved away from her so that he couldn’t absorb any more of her warmth. ‘The political aspect is vital. But more than that Milena has always struggled with the need to feel wanted, to feel of value to anyone. She has always blamed herself for our mother’s defection. What she fails to realise is that our mother was never maternal. When this marriage arrangement was first presented to me I believed it would give Milena the stability and sense of purpose her life has always lacked. The last thing I need is you coming along and making me second-guess myself.’ Shocked to realise how much he kept revealing to a woman who was virtually a stranger, he strode to the windows and stared out at the black, starless night.
‘I’m sorry I probably brought back bad memories for you when I refused to eat the other day.’ Hearing the deep emotion in her voice, Jag couldn’t stop himself from turning to look at her. He’d never met a woman so open with her emotions and so willing to take ownership of her actions. ‘And I’m sorry for saying you were heartless. I can see that you really do care very deeply for your sister and it was wrong of me to suggest otherwise.’
