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He would not.

“I suppose there is only one course of action, then,” he said after a moment, when the air in the old room, so much like a mausoleum, grew tight. “To put the final nail in my coffin.”

“Not literally, I hope.” Because Ricardo would always do what was asked of him, Cairo knew this as well as he knew his own heart within his chest, but that didn’t make the man any less of a loyalist at heart.

He made himself smile, and pretended, as he always did, that he didn’t know how deeply the other man longed for Cairo to stand up one day and announce he’d had enough—that he was taking back the kingdom. That day would never come. Cairo had made certain of that, as surely as he’d made sure to become exactly the sort of creature his beloved father would have loathed.

“Indeed, that is what we always hope, Ricardo,” he said instead, and for the first time in a long while, he found he actually meant it.

Cairo turned his attention back to his laptop, telling himself that he was perfectly calm, because he should have been. That his heart was not beating too hard, that he was not tense with sheer anticipation—for all the wrong things—because he should have been as composed as he was when he handled his investment portfolio.

That he was not should have concerned him a great deal more than it did.

Because it was finally time to propose to Brittany, his inappropriate consort who functioned as the perfect sucker punch against his splendid ancestry, royal blood and claim to the throne of Santa Domini.

He would make her his wife and ruin the dreams of all those loyal to him, once and for all.

He should have viewed this necessary step with a measure of satisfaction. Possibly with a touch of nostalgia for the country he’d not laid eyes on since he was small boy.

But he found that instead of his kingdom, what he thought about was Brittany. Copper fire and the sweet, hot insanity of her slick mouth against his. Her lean, muscled curves in his lap and her scent all around him like a fist. The torture of these last weeks, of having her so close and yet so far away. Every touch he stole in front of the cameras that he relived for another sleepless hour when alone at night. The agony of her smile, of that mysterious distance in her eyes. It had been unbearable from the start.

But the time had come at last.

He would finally, finally make her his.

Cairo found he couldn’t wait.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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