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One black brow rose. ‘You really think I’m going to let the mother of my child out of my sight? No, that’s not what will be happening.’
Yet more shock rippled through her. ‘But...you’re in the middle of your engagement party. I’m sorry about the timing, but I thought you’d want to know immediately.’
‘And indeed I did.’ He had that lazy drawl again, the one that was deceptive because it hid so much steel. ‘Eleni is going to be very relieved.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re carrying a lion or lioness of Axios, Calista. What do you think I mean?’
She frowned, picking up her glass again for another sip of water. ‘I think you’d better be clear, Your Highness.’
His beautiful mouth curved in another of those smiles that held no amusement. ‘Very well. You’ll not be going anywhere tonight, Calista Kouros, because in approximately half an hour I will be informing my brother that I’ve had a change of heart.’ The gold in his eyes flared, bright and fierce, his smile like a wolf’s, white and predatory. ‘I won’t be marrying Eleni after all. I’ll be marrying you instead.’
The glass dropped from Calista’s nerveless fingers and shattered on the floor.
CHAPTER FIVE
SHE’DGONEEVENwhiter than she’d been when he’d first seen her on the terrace, but then, that was to be expected. It wasn’t every day a woman got a proposition of marriage from a prince, after all.
Not that it was a proposition as such. It was more of an order, though that wasn’t a bad thing when it came to Calista. She was a soldier and she obeyed orders.
And if she doesn’t obey this one?
Oh, she would. There would be no disobeying him this time. This time his word would be law.
The moment Calista had told him she was pregnant with his child, it had felt as if something had clicked inside him. A key turning in a lock. A sense of rightness, of certainty. Because it had come to him very suddenly thatthiswas why he was here. Why he’d answered his brother’s call to come back to Axios. This was his second chance, his purpose.
This was his destiny.
He’d failed at so many things—protecting his brother, protecting his country, protecting his men. But he would not fail at this. He would not fail to protect his child.
Which meant that letting her go was out of the question. He wouldn’t let any child of his be born away from him, where he couldn’t protect them or look out for them.
The way your father failed to protect you.
Yes, that was a lesson he couldn’t ignore. He’d be a better father than his own had ever been. He wouldn’t torture or betray his child under the guise of ‘training’. He wouldn’t banish them for not ending their life when they should have. He wouldn’t call them ‘weak’.
No, he would be different. And he would not fail.
As for the marriage, there was no question it was necessary. He wanted his child to have a mother, a family. Legitimacy. He also wanted her. Returning to Axios had involved a certain loss of choice about a great many things, including marriage. But this changed things. This gave him the perfect excuse to choose his own wife, and so he’d choose Calista. It was true that Eleni bought political benefits to Axios, but an heir was more important. And he would marry the mother of his heir.
All that fire and passion...all that feeling will be yours.
And why not? Hadn’t he sacrificed enough? Didn’t he deserve something for himself?
His brother wouldn’t like it, but Adonis wouldn’t argue. Not when he found out Calista was pregnant.
He won’t like that, either.
Marriage would solve any doubts Adonis had about his reputation. His brother couldn’t say that Xerxes didn’t take responsibility for his actions.
‘Oh, dear,’ he murmured. ‘You appear to have dropped that glass.’
Calista didn’t notice the glass. She’d shoved herself upright, her eyes gone dark, the dusting of freckles across her nose and cheekbones standing out against her pale skin. ‘You can’t be serious.’
Xerxes got out of his own chair and strolled casually over to the door. He pulled it open, spoke a word to the staff member standing outside then turned back as one of the housekeeping staff scurried in and set to work cleaning up the broken glass.
‘I’m completely serious.’ He thrust his hands into the pockets of his trousers. ‘As you can tell from my very serious demeanour.’
