by Maya Blake
He’d indulged himself, and in so doing had lost his mind. Spectacularly. And now he was faced with the possible consequences.
Maddie wasn’t on birth control.
He’d read her medical report—knew a discussion had taken place with her new doctor for her to start after the wedding, in case she developed side effects.
The responsibility had therefore fallen squarely on him. How could he have failed so spectacularly?
There may be no consequences...
He wasn’t reassured. He’d fallen at the first hurdle, just as he’d failed to come clean and admit that Celeste hadn’t crossed his mind more than a handful of times since he’d returned to Montegova. That he’d been consumed with thinking about Maddie and finding ways to keep her to their agreement.
Because admitting it would have been too revealing?
Yes.
Was tonight’s slip a subconscious effort on his part to ensure she remained at his side? Even after vowing never to be careless with another’s health again?
That unnerving thought froze him in place until the next one arrived hard on its heels.
Fatherhood. His new wife might well be carrying the next king or queen of Montegova. His child.
The reality shook through him, and then confounded him further by staggering him with need and...hope.
No. He couldn’t possibly want this. Not when it could come at such a cost.
The hands he dragged through his hair shook. The notion unsettled him deeply. He stared into the middle distance, attempting to recall Celeste’s face, remind himself of why he’d chosen this path. But he saw only Maddie, her anguish as she’d hurled accusations at him.
He swallowed, then gritted his teeth.
This couldn’t happen again. If any consequences came of this night he would do everything in his power to ensure Maddie’s safety. If nothing came of it—if fate saw fit to give him a second chance—he would do the right thing going forward. The only thing.
She’d slipped beneath his guard and under his skin. If he couldn’t think clearly around her then his options were severely limited.
Skirting his desk, he sank heavily into the chair behind it, not sure which scenario he preferred. Both settled iron vices around his chest, strangling him. But he had no choice. It was the safest option.
He dragged his hands down his face, prolonging the moment for as long as possible.
Then he picked up the phone.
CHAPTER TEN
THE SUN WAS creeping beneath heavy silk curtains when Maddie opened her eyes. Anxiety and despair, coupled with the long, emotional wedding day, had finally taken their toll and she’d tumbled into a dreamless sleep just after midnight.
Heart hammering, she jerked upright, a fist-sized stone settling in her chest when her fears were confirmed. Remi hadn’t returned to the suite. Or if he had, he’d chosen not to wake her.
Deep down, she knew she’d slept alone. Her senses were too attuned to him not to have noticed his presence.
Willing calmness to her thudding heart, she dragged herself out of bed. A quick inspection after using the bathroom showed only Remi’s clothes in the dressing room. The thought of wearing the evening gown Remi had peeled off her body last night made the knots inside her tighten harder, so she retrieved the robe she’d never got round to wearing last night and shrugged it on.
With a deep breath she left the suite—to find a young maidservant hovering in the stunning hallway that looked even more spectacular in daylight than it had last night.
The girl, a few years younger than Maddie, gave a deep curtsy. ‘Your Highness, I’m to escort you to your suite and ready you for breakfast with His Highness.’
Relief fizzed deep inside Maddie. A part of her had been afraid Remi had left the palace altogether.
Murmuring her thanks, she followed the girl to the only other door in the vast hallway. It turned out to be the suite adjoining Remi’s. And inside the decidedly more feminine suite, set out in similar but more delicate amber tones, she found a whole new wardrobe ready for her.
After a quick shower, she selected a pale lemon sundress, slipped her feet into stylish mules and brushed her hair out. Light blusher to disguise her pale cheeks and a quick dab of lip-gloss and she was ready.
Remi sat at the head of a banquet-like dining table made of polished cherry wood, his fresh clothes and neatly combed hair evidence that he’d slept and dressed somewhere else.
The rigid expression that greeted her further evidenced the unsurpassable chasm between them.
‘Good morning, Maddie. Did you sleep well?’ he enquired tonelessly.
She forced a shrug. ‘I slept. Let’s leave it at that.’
His gaze flickered, but he remained silent as a fully uniformed butler approached. She knew she’d meet the same resistance if she attempted a discussion on an empty stomach, so she forced herself to eat a slice of toast and scrambled eggs, washed down with a cup of tea.
The moment she set her cutlery down Remi rose. ‘We’ll talk in my study,’ he stated.
Her heart hollowed as she followed him down several magnificently decorated hallways and into a room decked out on three sides with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, some holding first edition books.
But she wasn’t there to gawp at the contents of Remi’s ancestral library. She was there to discuss—perhaps even battle for—her marriage.
She hid her flinch when he shut the door and paced steadily to the window, looking out for a moment before facing her.
‘What happened last night can never happen again.’
The heart dropped to her stomach and she sank into the nearest seat. ‘It’s too late to seek an annulment, Remi,’ she replied, striving for a jovial tone that fell far short.
His lips firmed. ‘That isn’t quite the course of action I intend to take.’
‘Then by all means enlighten me.’
‘I’m aware that you were thrown into the deep end with the expediency of our wedding preparations. Now that it’s over we can throttle things down a notch.’
‘Isn’t that what a honeymoon is for?’
He gave a half-nod. ‘I’m proposing you extend that for longer, if you wish, by remaining here at the Amber Palace. It’s not exactly a new concept. My mother stayed here when she was pregnant with me.’
‘You mean stay here on my own...when you return to the Grand Palace?’ she asked, sick premonition crawling over her skin.
There was a tight clench of his jaw. ‘Yes,’ he replied.
‘We haven’t been married for even twenty-four hours and already you want a separation? Because, let’s face it, that’s what you’re proposing, isn’t it?’
‘Madeleine—’
She held up a staying hand. ‘Don’t try and couch it in diplomatic terms. We made love without protection and now you’re freaking out.’
He drew in a long, harsh breath, his chest expanding along with his aura until she could see nothing, feel nothing but his overwhelming presence.
‘I’m putting safeguards in place.’
‘By banishing me?’ she asked shakily.
A shadow passed over his face but his iron will held. ‘We will continue to see each other. We just won’t live under the same roof.’
She jumped up, unable to sit still any longer. ‘What the hell are you so afraid of, Remi?’ she demanded through a throat dry with panic.
For the longest time he remained silent. Then he exhaled. ‘What happened to Celeste was my fault,’ he confessed, in a voice devoid of any emotion.
‘How?’
‘She’d been suffering from migraines in the months before our wedding. Doctors had recommended tests but she’d pleaded with me to take her on a business trip. I was reluctant, but she talked me into it and I went against her doctors’ advice. The headaches got worse when we were aw
ay. She suffered an aneurysm mid-flight on her way back home. If she’d stayed at home, or even returned a day earlier, the doctors might’ve saved her.’
‘How can you blame yourself for that? You couldn’t have known what would happen. And would she really want you to live in never-ending hell because she died?’
‘What’s the point of going through hell if you don’t learn from it?’ he bit out tersely.
‘Learning from it is one thing. Shutting yourself off from experiencing anything else is another.’
‘Dio mio. I’m trying to protect you, Maddie.’ His voice was harsh. Ragged.
Her heart wanted to soften, to give in, but what would she be giving in to? A half-dead platonic marriage when she’d had a taste of how things could be if only he opened his heart?
‘You can’t control the future, Remi. No one can. You think you’re protecting me, but what you’re doing is insulating yourself from living a full life. I... I don’t want that.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means you can’t keep me in a cage, no matter how much you think you’re justified in doing so.’
‘You are a princess now. In a matter of weeks you’ll be my queen. Like it or not, your new position means that in some ways you’re constrained by your station. You can’t do whatever you want, give in to frivolous dreams.’
‘But I don’t have to live in misery either, locked away in your Amber Palace. I won’t play the out-of-sight-out-of-mind game with you.’
He dragged a hand through his hair, upsetting the neat strands. ‘Dio, none of this is a game. You could be pregnant.’
Her insides shook at the words, at the soul-shaking possibility, but she stood her ground. ‘Even if I am, the last I heard pregnancy wasn’t a prison sentence.’
‘But it carries risks.’
‘Walking down the street carries risks. I have first-hand knowledge of that, but I’m still here. Still alive. What if I’m not pregnant?’
His lips compressed. ‘No protection is risk-free. And since I’ve proved conclusively that my control is...lacking where you’re concerned, it’s best if we—’
‘Don’t you dare say it!’ she blurted, distress shaking her voice.
His face closed completely. ‘You will remember who you’re addressing, Maddie. It’s pointless to argue. My mind is made up. This is still only a marriage of convenience, which required consummation to make it lawful. Now we’ve done our duty there’ll be no further intimacy between us.’
And just like that the loud clang of dungeon gates echoed, consigning the marriage she’d dared to hope she could have to a dark and lonely death.
She lifted her chin and looked him in the eyes. ‘Very well, Your Highness. Since you don’t need my permission to leave, I guess if I don’t see you around I can assume you’re gone.’
‘Maddie—’
‘If there’s nothing else, I think I’ll go and get acquainted with my new residence. I’m assuming, again, that your offer of a tour now falls to someone else?’
He gave a brisk nod. ‘I have work to do.’
‘Then don’t let me keep you,’ she replied stiffly.
He stayed exactly where he was, staring at her for a full minute before delivering one of his imperious nods. ‘Your doctor will be in touch soon. We need to know one way or the other.’
With that, he turned on his heel and left the library.
Maddie sank onto the sofa, the breath knocked out of her lungs. And when she heard a helicopter land and then take off again half an hour later, she couldn’t stop the sob that ripped from her throat or the torrent of tears that followed.
* * *
She didn’t see Remi again for three long weeks, and although every other night she would hear him arrive in his helicopter, he would be gone by morning.
Of course, she mused bitterly. In all things he had to keep up appearances.
Maddie attempted to shrug off insidious despair in favour of getting to know her new home. After exploring every inch of the Amber Palace she spent hours in the elaborate maze, then discovered stables filled with thoroughbreds, stallions and two mares. With her pregnancy unconfirmed, Maddie could only admire them from afar as stable hands tended them.
Keeping herself busy prevented her from doing too much of the one thing that fed her despair—scouring social media for glimpses of Remi. With wedding fever abating, people were now turning their attention to the coronation. And from the looks of it, Remi was fully immersed in preparations—including touring the major cities of his kingdom.
His enigmatic responses when asked about the whereabouts of his wife had begun to fuel speculation of a possible royal baby on the way. She was therefore not surprised when he arrived with her doctor in tow on the twenty-second day.
Maddie was on the back terrace, overlooking the first of several tiered lawns as his helicopter settled on the helipad. Unable to help herself, she searched his face for signs that he’d missed her as much as she’d yearned for him, and deluded herself into thinking that she’d caught a single sizzling, ravenous look in his eyes before his expression gelled into regal neutrality.
‘Madeleine,’ he murmured stiffly as he brushed a kiss on her cheek.
Her heart quaked at that small contact, but she hardened her resolve. ‘Your Highness,’ she muttered back, and felt him stiffen. ‘You should’ve called to tell me you were bringing the doctor. I would’ve told you not to bother.’
He tensed. ‘Excuse me?’
She looked past him to the physician hovering at a respectful distance and pinned her smile in place. ‘I’m not taking the test. We’ll know one way or the other in a week or two anyway.’
‘Madeleine—’
‘I’m already being treated like fragile glass by the staff. I’d quite like to live in blissful ignorance for a little longer before I’m wrapped in cotton wool by the whole kingdom. So send the doctor away, Remi. Or I will. And while we’re at it you should know my bags are packed. I’m returning to Playagova with or without your approval. I’m sure everyone’s worked out that this honeymoon is over.’
He stared at her as if she’d grown two heads but she stood her ground.
‘If that’s what you wish—’
‘It is. Thank you.’
The doctor was dispatched in a SUV and Maddie and Remi returned to the helicopter. During the thirty-five-minute flight Remi conducted phone call after phone call, including a particularly terse one.
‘Whatever this is, you need to sort it out, Zak,’ he said in English, before sliding back into Montegovan.
When he hung up his jaw was tense.
‘Is everything all right with Zak?’ she asked before she could stop herself.
‘It’d better be. I have too much on my plate to deal with his issues.’
She shrugged. ‘I only met him for a short time, but he seems capable of handling himself more than adequately.’
For the first time since boarding the helicopter, Remi flicked his gaze to her. It stayed and blazed. Her heart flipped over and her throat clogged with harrowing yearning, only for her to see the blaze cool seconds later.
‘Since you seem to think you’re up to handling your new role, we’ve been invited to my godmother’s residence tomorrow evening. She’s throwing a pre-coronation dinner in my honour.’
Nerves made her breath catch, but she swallowed them down. ‘I... Of course.’
He nodded briskly as the helicopter landed. He alighted first, then turned to help her down the shallow steps. Again her breath caught, and this time when his gaze locked on hers she witnessed a reel of emotion in his eyes. Savage lust. Bleakness. Censure. Regret. All before the brick wall slammed down, shutting her out.
Numbness descended on Maddie, keeping her mercifully insulated as they entered the palace and were greeted by the exuberant sta
ff. She forced herself to smile her way through accepting several bouquets of flowers from their children.
Even Queen Isadora approached as Maddie turned to head to her suite. ‘Welcome home, ma petite. You’re just in time to wish me well on my travels.’
Maddie’s eyes widened. ‘You’re leaving?’
Queen Isadora nodded enthusiastically, her eyes shining with almost child-like glee. ‘First stop New Zealand. I’ve always wanted to visit Hobbiton.’
Maddie smiled. ‘I wish you very safe travels.’
‘Thank you,’ Queen Isadora replied. Her gaze flicked to where Remi stood, talking to his aide, and her face grew serious. ‘Things may look bleak and daunting at present, but I’ve discovered that dogged perseverance reaps rich rewards.’
‘I... I’ll bear that in mind.’
The queen nodded, then briskly walked away.
Maddie dropped her head and buried her nose in a bouquet of chrysanthemums and peonies as she mulled over Queen Isadora’s words.
She was startled out of her thoughts by the click of a camera. Although she knew she’d been caught unawares by the palace photographer, she dredged up a smile—which froze on her face when her eyes clashed with Remi’s.
His gaze captured hers before dropping to her flat belly. For a tense moment he remained immobile, with a fierce look in his eyes that locked the air in her lungs. A second later he turned his back on her.
* * *
That numbing sensation still shrouded her when they drove through a set of iron gates manned by security guards the next evening.
They were barely out of the car when a thin, elegantly dressed woman Maddie had seen only in glossy magazines hurried towards them. She inhaled sharply.
‘Your godmother is Margot Barringhall, the English Countess?’
‘She’s half-Montegovan. She’s also my mother’s best friend.’ His tone was clipped. Resigned.
‘You don’t sound very happy about being here.’
‘I’m fond of her, but Margot likes to play games.’