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He could put his PR department to work. Get them to create another story about her and where she came from. Perhaps explain that she hadn’t died after all, and he’d reunited with her. It would be a sensational story and it would need to be rock solid to stand up to Kostas’s scrutiny, but maybe he could swing it.
Are you really thinking of lying to your people yet again? So many lies...
Galen pushed his hands into the pockets of his trousers, staring out of the window at the rocky cliffs and the sea beyond, his jaw tight. Yes, another lie to fix another mistake. But he now had a debt towards her. He’d caused her a deep and lasting pain on top of a life that had been awful to start with, and, even apart from that, she was the mother of his child, and his child needed his mother.
His own had died not long after having him, and he’d always felt the lack. Especially when all he’d had was Alexandros, who’d actively hated him because he hadn’t seen Galen as his son.
You might have been.
Tension crawled across Galen’s shoulder blades. That was true. Hecouldbe Alexandros’s son. He’d just never taken a DNA test to find out for certain, because if it was proved he wasn’t the true King of Kalithera, he hadn’t wanted any record of it anywhere. Better to go on assuming what everyone thought to be true, that he was Alexandros’s son and heir, even if deep down he knew he wasn’t. His father had hated him for a reason and that reason could only be that he wasn’t his son.
Not that thinking about his father was a good use of his time now, not when he had more important problems to consider. Such as what he was going to do with Solace.
He stayed like that, staring out towards the sea, turning plans over in his head, until he heard someone say his name.
Turning, he saw Solace standing in the doorway. She had her hands clasped together and the vibrating anxiety he’d sensed in her in the car, that he’d put his hand over hers to try to calm, had gone. In its place was a determination even more steely than she’d radiated in his office earlier.
Her grey eyes met his, sharp as a shard of glass. ‘I am not leaving him. Never,everagain.’
Again, he was conscious of the respect she’d earned from him earlier, with her stubborn insistence on fighting for their child, only deepening. It complicated things that she was so set on being with Leo, but all he could think of was how fierce she looked. A small white tiger baring her teeth in defence of her cub. And how he liked that. How it made the desire inside him, that was still there no matter how he tried to ignore it, begin to coil and tighten once more.
He’d thought taking her to see Leo had been the right thing to do, a way to at least start to put right the wrongs that had been done to her, all the while suspecting that seeing her child would only entrench her determination. Sure enough, it had. But he wasn’t as unhappy about that as he’d expected. In fact, it had even cleared a few things up.
Yes, why not marry her? He could handle his uncle, and his PR department would do the rest, then his son would have his mother back while he could have a woman in his bed that he had magnificent chemistry with and whom he could have whenever he wanted. This was the one solution that would fix all the mistakes he’d made and put right the wrong he’d done to her.
You think lying to your people to cover up all your errors is any better? It’ll only make everything worse. And what will happen if anyone finds out what you’ve done?
Nothing would happen. Because no one would find out. He’d make sure of it.
And yes, it would mean yet another lie, but there were no good choices here. This solution would ensure Kalithera stayed protected even if something happened to him while his uncle was still alive.
‘Good,’ he said crisply. ‘I wouldn’t want the mother of my child to act in any other way.’
Clearly expecting a fight, she blinked in surprise.
Which pleased him. He did like surprising a woman. In fact, now he’d made the decision to marry her, he was very tempted to prowl closer, circle her, see what she’d do. Whether she’d give him a chase or face him, those sharp claws of hers bared. Either would suit him. Either would make him hard.
However, it was not the time or the place, not with his son upstairs, so he remained where he was, his hands in his pockets. ‘And if you’re to marry me, you’ll have to remain in Kalithera anyway.’
Her eyes went wide and this time it wasn’t surprise that rippled over her features, but shock. ‘Marry you? What?’
‘I think you heard me.’ He put authority in his voice, the weight of the crown behind the words. ‘I’ve been considering finding a wife for some time now, mainly because our son needs a mother, but also to secure the succession. However there has been a distinct lack of suitable candidates. At least, there was until last night.’ He took a couple of steps towards her, unable to help himself. ‘I suspect that you’ll do nicely. After all, what better woman to be Leo’s mother than his mother herself?’
Solace had gone very pale, her hands in a white-knuckled grip in front of her. ‘You can’t mean that.’
Galen lifted a brow. ‘Why can’t I mean that?’
‘I’m a nobody, I told you. I don’t know who my parents were. I was raised in the foster system, and I dropped out of high school. I... I...have been arrested for shoplifting a couple of times...’ She stopped, breathing hard.
‘You seem to think that I don’t know every single thing about you, Solace Ashworth,’ Galen said calmly. ‘But I do. None of this is a surprise to me and none of it matters. The press will be told some story about your origins and no doubt we can come up with some reason why the mother of my child is apparently alive and well. They’ll be so busy with our apparent emotional reuniting to be bothered about whether it’s true or not.’
She took a couple of steps forward, silver eyes glittering. ‘No, you can’t mean that. I’m not a... I’m not aqueen.’
He strolled to meet her in the middle of the room, getting closer once again to the fierce passion that burned in her face and the delicate heat of her body. He shouldn’t and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop himself. She was irresistible.
‘I disagree,’ he said. ‘You have fought me at every turn since this morning and been nothing but strong and courageous and fierce. Isn’t that what a queen is?’
‘A queen isn’t a nobody,’ she insisted. ‘A queen isn’t a foster kid with no money and no education and no prospects.’
