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‘Of course it does,’ Henna replied lightly, still holding on to the ease of conversation they’d had just moments ago. An ease that couldn’t be allowed to continue.
‘No, it really doesn’t. Anyone will do,’ he stressed. Henna’s eyes were focused on where his hands were firmly braced against the edge of the table. He needed her to understand this, not because she was going to help him find his future bride, but because they had blurred the boundaries he had worked hard to put between them.
He should never have asked her to stay for the meal. If he hadn’t seen her dressed like that, if he hadn’t seen the way she had looked at him...desire, curiosity, need.No. He couldn’t,wouldn’t, place the blame for this on her at all. He knew his limits. They had been hardwired into him the moment Kristine had told him what she’d done. The moment that he’d realised the devastating loss of what could have been and never would be.
‘Henna, let me be clear. Whoever I marry will have to know that love is not on the table. It is not a possibility. I will provide them with whatever they need or want, and they will provide me with an heir. But beyond that? The only requirement is that under no circumstances whatsoever will they engage me emotionally.’ Aleksander had given up, lost, too much to allow for any other possibility. ‘All I have, everything I do, it is for Svardia.Nothingelse matters.’
He watched the lovely flush that had coloured her cheeks drain away, the spark from her eyes dimming as if the night sky was readying for the palest dawn, her fingers released her knife and fork onto the plate quietly and none of it touched him. It couldn’t. He’d told her the truth. He’d loved once and would never again be so foolish because he honestly didn’t think he’d survive the loss and betrayal that love always led to.
She nodded, her gaze on her plate.
‘Tell me you understand, Henna. I need to hear you say it.’
The look in her eyes when she raised her gaze to his was a slap to the face. Sharp fury burned him from across the table.
‘It is clear that you feel the need to pursue this path for your own needs. But that is a harsh punishment to inflict on your future fiancée,’ she accused, her words striking hard and fast.
‘If they know what they’re getting into, then it is their decision to make,’ he responded harshly, lashing out because of the damage he’d caused himself. He had lowered himself in her estimation and he’d done it on purpose.
‘I understand, Your Majesty. But I am afraid that I will not be any part of this.’
Aleksander pressed his teeth together to stop himself from taking it all back. Instead, he nodded once and she placed her napkin on the table beside her unfinished meal. Sliding the chair back, she stood and with a quiet, ‘Your Majesty,’ she turned and he watched her leave the restaurant.
It was only when the waiter arrived some time later that he realised he’d stared after her for so long that the food had gone cold. And still he told himself that he’d done the right thing. He’d done what he needed to. And he might even believe it if the scent of her perfume hadn’t lingered to tease him that he was lying to himself.
CHAPTER FOUR
HENNASTAREDATher computer screen, trying to read the words in the email in a way that would make some kind of sense. It had been two days since ‘the meal’ with Aleksander, which had suited her just fine. She’d hoped that a bit of distance between them would put things back to the way they had been before. But then she would remember the way his eyes had drawn up her body, heating her skin and making her heart race, how his eyes had sparked with a desire that inflamed a need she’d thought long gone, but instead revealed itself to be simply dormant. Back then, her feelings had been nothing more than a teenage crush. This? This was a different beast altogether. This lived and breathed fire, and had wings to make it soar and was absolutely impossible, she warned herself every time she felt it stir. So she’d pushed Aleksander and his terrible plan for a loveless marriage to the back of her mind. Until she’d started receiving the calls.
‘Henna, rearrange my meeting with the Russian consulate.’
‘Henna, arrange a video conference with the British Prime Minister for Thursday afternoon.’
She had fielded ten such directives the first day and it had doubled yesterday. So she’d started screening her calls. And then the emails had started. And the last had her screaming at the screen, causing a member of staff in the corridor to duck suddenly and run away.
From: Restad, HRH Aleksander
To: Olin, Henna
Subject: Urgent
12th April 11:45 a.m.
My current meeting is overrunning by twenty mins and the CEO of Nordstad Enterprises is already waiting. Distract him?
From: Olin, Henna
To: Restad, HRH Aleksander
Subject: Urgent—not really
12th April 11:47 a.m.
Your secretary is more than capable of doing this.
From: Restad, HRH Aleksander
To: Olin, Henna
