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“I see. You thought you’d come to me and try to get ahead of mathematics.”
“No, it occurred to me that the math being what it is, I can expect that whether I wanted to involve you or not, you would end up involved.” She sniffed. “Now or later. I decided to come ahead of the inevitable exposé to let you know what my demands are.”
“See? I told you there would be demands.” He smiled benevolently at her and found it delightful when she gritted her teeth in response. Far easier to deal with that sort of thing than anyripening. Much less his response to it. He was going to have to sort himself out. Later. “There are always demands. It’s almost as if demands are the point of these little scenes.”
“I’ve researched Theosian law,” she said, without any indication she’d heard his comments. And Zeus was not used to being so soundly and repeatedly ignored. He couldn’t tell if he hated it...or if his reaction was a bit more intense. And was something more like admiration. “Apparently, one of your ancestors so enjoyed spreading himself about that it was written into law that all royal bastards must be given a certain stipend from the crown. To keep them in an appropriate style, though not under the same roof, as that might offend any given queen.”
Zeus laughed out loud. Of all the things he’d imagined she might say, it wasn’t that.
“Ah, yes, the bastard clause.” The clause that every young royal Theosian man was lectured about extensively as he set to head out into the world and misbehave. He hadn’t heard it mentioned by anyone outside the palace staff in ages—no doubt because he was considered such a lost cause. “It may surprise you to learn that the clause originated from the betrayed Queen in question, because she preferred to make public her husband’s indiscretions. I think you’ll find we haven’t used it here in generations.”
“Then I suppose I’ve come to ask for the usual amount of support,” Nina replied easily enough, though her chin notched higher. “I’m not one for charity. I’ve already spent a lifetime being force-fed it while being told how grateful I should be for each and every sour bite. If it were up to me, you would never have seen me again. I would have made my own way in this world, and happily. That was my intention.”
“So you have now stated twice.” Zeus sighed. “I do hope you’re not going to get boring on me. That would be a tragedy indeed.”
She did not look like she agreed. And the Theosian sun made love to her as she stood there, facing off with him. It danced over the spun straw of her hair and the sensual bow of her lips. It was the sort of light that most women of his acquaintance avoided, and for good reason.
But it only made Nina that much more beautiful.
Inarguably lovely.
You need to remember who you are, a stern voice within him piped up then.
“I found a perfectly decent situation in England,” she told him. “It would be hard, of course, but I’m not afraid of hard. I believed I could do it. I began to think Iwoulddo it, damn it...” Nina smiled a little ruefully. “Until it occurred to me that this baby is neither an orphan nor a prince. He or she should not have to pay for the sins of either.”
Zeus heard a swift intake of breath. It took him a moment to realize it was his.
Nina straightened her shoulders. “Just as this baby doesn’t deserve the lengths I’m willing to go to for freedom, it also doesn’t deserve to be cut off from the kind of life it could have, just because its father is you.”
An uncomfortable sensation worked its way through Zeus then, though it took him far too long to recognize it. Much less name it.
But he was fairly certain it was temper. When he had learned, so very long ago, that his own temper was useless and it was far better to poke and prod and play games, so that others could experience theirs and lose control.
He’d learned how to be very, very good at that.
And he had come to think of temper as weakness. Because what was it but emotion, twisted around and easily manipulated by men like him? He allowed himself none of that, either. Yet there was no mistaking it. The curl of a kind of smoke winding around inside him was very clearly temper.
How...astonishing.
“So, like every other woman who has ever pursued me,” he said, drawling out the words and making sure no hint of temper leaked through, because he didn’t know why it should. He refused to feel such things. Or any things. “You are after me for my money.”
And he watched, too fascinated for his own good, as Nina’s pretty brown eyes flashed. This orphan, this little brown hen, had never been what she seemed. He did not know how he had suffered through any number of interactions with Isabeau before he’d come to understand that.
But once he’d begun to see her, all too plainly, he couldn’t unsee her.
He only sawmoreof her.
She had pride, this creature. And if he wasn’t mistaken, a healthy dose of a burning need for retribution about her.
In other words, she was perfect.
“Yes,” she said, as if she knew the direction his thoughts had gone. “I want your money. I see no reason this baby shouldn’t be raised like the child of a prince it is.”
“Then I have some deliciously good news for you,” Zeus informed her with a little bow, because he couldn’t resist a flourish. Not when his endgame had just altered completely. “Assuming this isn’t all an elaborate ruse that will be uncovered shortly by the palace’s medical staff, allow me to be the first to congratulate you.”
“Why?” she asked, suspicion stamped all over her. “For what?”
Zeus only gazed down at her, that temper still curling around and around inside him, though he was happy to discover it did not inhibit his enjoyment. That would have been a tragedy.
