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The boy remained quiet, still staring.
‘Third, you are the Crown Prince and I am here to protect your interests. Everything I do here, I do for you. Do you understand?’
Matias continued to stare for so long that Rafael wondered if the boy would ever talk. Then finally he said, ‘Why? Why did you say yes?’
Rafael knew what he was asking and it was the same question he’d asked himself when Gian De Vita had called him out of the blue not long after the news of his father’s death had broken, asking him if he would consider ruling Santa Castelia.
‘I said yes, because someone had to do it. Because I am not our father and I didn’t want the crown. And because someone had to teach you the right way to be King.’
There was anger in Matias’s gaze, though whether it was for him or something else, Rafael couldn’t tell. ‘Why not Gian? He could have been Regent.’
‘Santa Castelia needs money. And Gian doesn’t have the financial understanding that I do.’ He paused. ‘Are you angry with me?’
There was a silence, then Matias said suddenly, ‘He always liked you better. He said I was weak.’
Rafael didn’t need to ask who Matias meant. It was obvious.
‘Well,’ he replied mildly, ‘let’s prove him wrong.’
And they had. They both had. Matias had grown into his strength, gaining a quiet sort of confidence and authority that wasn’t Rafael’s hard edge, but had a power of its own.
And by taking Lia, you’ve undermined everything you tried to build. And you thought you were nothing like your father...
Bitterness coiled inside him, but he shoved it down.
Hewasn’tanything like his father. At least Rafael acknowledged his own mistakes and took ownership of them.
Not that his child was a mistake. Never that.
‘Your Excellency,’ Constanza said from the doorway. ‘Your Highness, your brother is calling. Do you wish to speak with him?’
‘No,’ Rafael said, staring down into the fire. ‘Tell him I cannot be contacted.’
First, he would fix things with Lia.
Then, he would confront his brother.
CHAPTER FIVE
LIAKEPTHERback straight and her chin held high all the way up the stairs that led to the second floor of the house and all the way down a wide hallway with discreet recessed lighting and low ceilings. She didn’t falter as Constanza stopped outside a door of dark wood and opened it, gesturing her inside. She simply inclined her head in thanks and swept into the room.
It was only when the door had closed quietly behind her and she was alone that she gave in to the trembling that shook her entire body.
She was aware of every inch of her exposed back, of how flimsy the hold of the fabric on her shoulders was and how easily it could slip. Downstairs, all she’d had to do was shrug slightly and her gown would have fallen into a pool of silken tulle and lace at her feet.
She would have been naked but for her white silk lacy underwear.
What would he have done then? Would he have touched her? And if he had, what would she have done in return?
‘...every night was a constant battle against the urge to touch you. And I was losing...’
She shut her eyes, feeling again the gentle tug on the buttons of her gown and the warmth of him at her back. So close, so achingly close.
That’s why he hadn’t come to any more of their nightly meetings.‘I wanted you more than I’d wanted anything in my entire life.’
She might have been sheltered, but she’d recognised his desire for her. She’d known. But to hear him say it out loud...
The stern, controlled Regent, so cold and so commanding, had wanted her, had burned for her...
