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‘He called a family conference about it earlier.’
Bile filled her throat again and smothered her taste buds. She had no idea how she was able to talk through it. ‘And did he agree to you being the one to tell me?’
‘No. He requested you not be told.’
‘So why are you telling me?’
‘Upon reflection, I decided you deserved to know. Walls have ears, even castle walls—I didn’t want you to hear about it through exaggerated whispers. I thought it best to talk directly to you so you understand why we are taking these measures and to reiterate that this isn’t personal.’
She jutted her chin. ‘It feels personal.’
He raised a shoulder in apology. ‘We are indebted to you for agreeing to marry Marcelo and sparing us a diplomatic war with Monte Cleure, but you yourself observed early on that you’re not princess material.’
Taking a deep breath, she looked him straight in the eye. ‘Then you must be relieved I’m only going to be a part of your family for a year.’
It was the flicker in his eye that gave him away and, in one fell swoop, everything became clear.
Amadeo had sought her out not to chastise her but to warn her off his brother. He didn’t want her to be a permanent member of his family. This was his way of telling her she had to stick to the one year of marriage as had been originally agreed.
Rising to his feet, he said, ‘We are indebted to you, Clara, and we want your year with us to be as happy and as comfortable as it can.’
‘As long as it’s far from the public eye and only for one year?’
He gave a faint smile. ‘Marcelo said you had a quick brain. I thank you for your understanding.’
She waited until he was about to leave the room before calling his name. ‘Amadeo?’
He turned back to her.
She summoned her brightest smile. ‘Has anyone ever told you that you’re a pompous ass?’
Marcelo swam harder than he’d ever swum before. Length after length he drove his body, determined to work the guilt out before he returned to his quarters.
By the time he’d exhausted himself, his mind was clearer.
There was no need for guilt.
He wasn’t lying to Clara by keeping the family conference from her. Their wedding was five days away and she was fizzing with excitement for it and their subsequent honeymoon. Why dampen her spirits and hurt her feelings? She’d put in so much hard work that he didn’t want her feeling like she’d failed.
He found her in the garden training Bob to walk to heel under the shade of the cherry blossom trees.
‘I thought you were going to do that earlier?’ he said, striding to her.
She smiled then looked down at the growing puppy. ‘We did do it earlier, didn’t we, Bob, but we got distracted.’
‘By what?’
‘A text message from my brother. He asked where his invitation to our wedding was. In far more many words, I told him to do one. How’s your morning been?’
‘Boring. How did your brother get your number?’
‘Who knows?’ She tapped her thigh and Bob stopped at her ankle. Feeding him a tiny piece of a treat, she casually said, ‘So, what boring things did you discuss at your meetings?’
‘Nothing important. Just the usual staff meetings.’
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Marcelo knew he’d made a mistake.
