All three of us turn when there’s a noise at the entrance. Prince Wolfe stands in the doorway, his eyes softening when he takes in Rowan and Wren. He crosses the room in three strides, takes his son in his arms, and tosses him high in the air.
“Careful, Wolfe!” Rowan’s eyes widen, and Wolfe just laughs. Their son giggles and giggles and giggles, globs of spit falling from his mouth onto the rug.
I feel like I’m intruding. This feels…intimate.
Wolfe catches his son, tucking the kid into his arm as he nods to me. “How are you enjoying your time here?”
“It’s amazing. I never even knew this palace existed. Feels like another world.”
“You should see it in winter,” Rowan says, eyes gleaming. “It looks like a foreign planet.”
“Our planet,” Wolfe says. He places a kiss on her temple, and I watch as she melts against his chest. The three of them make such a perfect image that it makes my chest ache. My heart seems to grow as I watch them, and my thoughts shift to Penelope.
Would she ever want that? She’s been so clear about her responsibilities as queen, about her duty, that I wonder if she ever considered she could have a modest kind of happiness, too. The kind of happiness that comes from a good relationship and a child.
Heart dropping, I glance away. Of course she gave that up—her husband died and she was told she couldn’t bear children. I see the pain inside Penelope’s heart, and all I want to do is take it away.
A buzz comes from my pocket, and I excuse myself, leaving the happy family to look out the window together. Moving to the far corner of the room, I pull my phone out of my front pocket and stare at the screen. Sighing, I swipe the screen to answer. “Hello, Father.”
“When are you back in Farcliff, Asher? We need to finalize this acquisition. Donovan’s been rumbling about sabotaging it, and I want to get this done.”
“I’m great, thanks,” I reply sardonically. “Thanks for asking.”
“Asher, I don’t have time for this. Get on the next plane and get down here. We need you here to make sure Reginald doesn’t try anything funny. The shareholders know about the diamond mines in Nord, so now is the time to act. You know the Nord project better than anyone, and there are important things I want to talk to you about.”
“Like what?”
“Just get down here,” he snaps. The phone clicks, and I lift my eyes to the ceiling. If I had a nickel for every time my father hung up on me, I’d be nearly as rich as he is. Taking a deep breath, I count to ten. It helps the anger inside me simmer down slightly, enough for me to feel like I have control over my emotions.
Not once did my father thank me for this project in Nord. He’s never congratulated me on my efforts or told me I did a good job. Even now, he just called me to chew my ear out and tell me to come, like I’m some sort of dog.
Maybe Reggie Donovan was right—I’m just my father’s pet. I was a fool to think he’d ever offer me the company. He’ll never put me in charge, no matter how good a job I do. My father doesn’t see me as someone worthy of his legacy. He just sees me as a burned, broken boy whose body is grotesque.
And for years, I believed him. I looked in the mirror and saw something ugly…until now. Penelope has shown me another side of myself. She’s opened my eyes to everything I ignored—everything good and true about me. All the things I thought were unlovable. All the things I tried to lock away.
As I put my phone back in my pocket, I know what I have to do. I’ll go to Farcliff to see my father, but it’ll be the last time. I’ll tell him I can no longer work for him. I’ll finalize this last acquisition and make sure Donovan behaves, then I’ll hand in my notice.
I’m quitting my father’s company and crawling out from under his shadow. I want to be the kind of man Penelope sees when she looks at me. I want to make her proud, and I can’t do that if I’m the Gerhard Corporation’s attack dog.
As if she can hear my thoughts, Penelope enters the sitting room. Her face is pale, jaw clenched. I fly to her side, smoothing my fingers through her hair. She closes her eyes, letting out a low groan.
“Is everything okay?” I ask quietly, leaning my forehead to hers.
“Depends who you ask.” She lets out a dry, humorless laugh. There’s something in her eyes I don’t recognize. They shine with unshed tears as a watery smile tugs at her lips. Her brows draw together, as if she’s trying to read my face.
“What did the doctor say?”
“I’m…healthy,” she answers cryptically.
Sliding my hand down her cheek, I wrap my fingers around the nape of her neck. She hooks her arms around my body, resting her cheek against mine. Her body is tense, and I run my other hand up and down her spine. “Why don’t you lie down for a bit, babe?”
Inhaling deeply, Penelope pulls away. She stares at the center of my chest for a moment before forcing her eyes to climb up to mine. “No, I’m okay. I need to talk to you.” Turning to glance over my shoulder, she wrestles her lips into a smile. “Hi, Rowan. Wolfe. Wren.”
The baby babbles, but the sound no longer fills my chest with warmth. A chill snakes down my spine when I see the tension around Penelope’s eyes. Heart stuttering uncomfortably, I put my hand on her lower back and turn to face the other couple in the room.
Sensing our need for privacy, they say a few words and slip out of the room. Penelope pulls away from me, wrapping her arms around her chest. She drifts to the wall of windows, standing exactly where I was a few minutes ago, staring at the mountain peaks that surround us.
Then, with a breath, she turns her head and drags her gaze to mine. Time pauses, and my whole world hangs on what she’s about to say. Somewhere deep in my heart, I know she’s about to change the course of my life. Whatever she’s going to say will rock me to my core. I do my best to keep my face steady.
No matter what I do to prepare myself, though, I’m not ready. Nothing in my life could have prepared me for the five words that come out of her mouth next.
“I’m pregnant, Asher. It’s yours.”
21
Penelope
I brace myself for Asher’s reaction. I don’t know what I expect. Shock, maybe? Panic? Anger?
What happens to Asher’s face is not what I imagine. There’s shock, of course. His eyes widen and his jaw drops, but his gaze drifts down to my stomach. Then something changes. His shock turns to awe, and a beautiful kind of softness fills his eyes.
“You’re pregnant?” he whispers, taking a hesitant step toward me.
I nod. “The doctor confirmed.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“I thought…”
“Me too.” My throat is tight. My voice is nothing more than a croak, but a balloon starts to inflate in my chest. I think Asher’s happy. More than happy. I think…I think he might want this as much as I do.
Erasing the distance between us, Asher wraps his arms around me and crushes his lips to mine. His hand splays over my cheek and his lips devour me, leaving sloppy kisses over my lips, my jaw, my neck. He holds me close, clutching me tight as his whole body trembles.
“Is it healthy? Is everything okay?”
I laugh, pulling away. My vision is blurry and I try to blink away my unshed tears. “I don’t know yet. You’re happy about this?”
“I…” Asher’s mouth closes. He opens it again, concern drawing his brows together. “You’re not?”
“I didn’t know what you’d say.”
Asher drops to his knees, running his hands over my stomach. Warmth tugs at my lower belly, unfurling and sending tendrils of fire spreading between my legs. I thread my fingers through his silky, dark hair, closing my eyes.
He wants this. He’s happy.
My steps trembled when I walked from my room to here, and when I saw him standing there, I thought I wouldn’t have the courage to say the words out loud. But I did, and his reaction is better than anything I could have ever imagined.
Asher wants this baby with me. I coul
d…I could have a child. I could have love. Everything I thought I lost—everything that’s been buried under an arctic layer of ice—it could be mine again a hundred times over.
My heart feels so big, I think my ribs might crack. It expands in my chest, filling me up until I feel like I’m going to float up to the ceiling. A smile stretches my lips, and I let out a sigh I didn’t know I was holding.
“Penelope,” Asher whispers, rising to his feet. He slides the back of his hand over my cheek and rests his forehead against mine. “I never thought I’d be as happy as I’ve been with you. Tell me you want this. Me. The baby. All of it.”
“I want it,” I whisper in a rush. “I want it so bad.”
My thoughts flick to Xavier, but the image of him is fuzzy. I still feel a tug of pain when I think about his death, but it’s not so overwhelming anymore. It doesn’t feel like I’m drowning in grief when I think of him. And, as cheesy as it sounds, I know he’d want me to be happy.
Asher holds me tight, and I soak his shirt with tears. He swipes his thumb over my cheek to wipe the tears away as I giggle-snort, shaking my head. “I didn’t know how you’d react.”
“I wasn’t expecting this, but…I don’t know, Pen. It feels good. Ever since I’ve been with you, my whole life has felt different. I was focusing on all the wrong things and you came in and smashed that illusion to pieces. My reality was just the reflection of a broken mirror, and you’re finally showing me the truth. Happiness.”
I tilt my head up to his and accept a soft kiss. “Meant to be.” His lips taste so good that I wonder how I ever survived without them before.
“So…do we have to get married?”
I grin, hiding my face in his chest. “Probably.”
“Sooner rather than later, I assume.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Is that going to be a problem for the mine in Roston? People will wonder why Gerhard won the project.”
“I don’t care,” I admit. “Let people scream outrage. I don’t give a shit. I just want you, and this baby, and…”
Asher’s smile is blinding. He kisses my cheeks, catching a few stray tears that just don’t seem to want to stop leaking from my eyes. Then he presses his lips against mine. His pulse thunders against my chest—or is that my own heart? It doesn’t matter. It feels like a blanket of bliss covers us both, and I can see a future for myself that I never imagined.
Sighing, Asher lets out a groan. “I have to go to Farcliff.”
“Why?” My voice sounds a lot like a whine.
“My father called, and I…I think I need to talk to him in person. I need to tell him I’m not coming back.”
I nod, even though my chest squeezes. The last thing I want to do is let Asher out of my sight. Here, at the Summer Palace, it feels like the rest of the world doesn’t even exist. I can understand why Wolfe and Rowan fell in love with each other sheltered within these walls. It’s impossible not to feel the silence and privacy of this place.
But the real world does exist, as do my responsibilities—and Asher’s. I know he has to go to Farcliff, and as much as I hate it, I give him a tight smile and nod. “Of course.”
“I’ll hurry back as soon as I can.”
“You’d better.”
Asher smiles then, and it’s a full, broad, gorgeous smile. There’s no guardedness. No hesitation. Just…love.
It’s crazy, but I haven’t even told him those three little words. I haven’t even spoken them out loud. We’ve talked about kids and marriage, but the words still won’t come. They’re there, on the tip of my tongue, ready to be released into the world.
I love you.
I love him in a desperate kind of way. I love him for being beside me, for showing me what I’ve been missing from my life. I love him for giving me hope. I love him for giving me a child. I love him for breaking through every barrier I’ve worked to erect and dragging me out of the icy wilderness and into the shelter of his arms. I love him for making me laugh and kissing me like no one’s watching.
Mostly, though, I love him for being exactly who he is. Strong, protective, and so incredibly brave. He walked through fire and lived, carrying his scars on his body like a badge of honor. He’s been through the kind of pain I have, and he hasn’t shied away from it. He’s guarded, but he opens himself up to me.
I love every inch of him, inside and out. He makes me think of the future in a way I couldn’t have imagined without him—a future with hope. It’s not a dreary, bleak future full of duty. We could have love.
We could have an heir.
Standing in that living room at the Summer Palace, I realize Asher is everything to me. I clutch his body and hold him tight, hardly believing I’ve found a man like him.
As if he senses the emotions roiling inside me, he leans down and presses a soft kiss to my lips. His hand sweeps over my stomach, and Asher drops to his knees. He presses his lips to my belly, resting his cheek against it. I thread my fingers through his hair and let my eyes drift closed, feeling completely happy and at peace for the first time in my life.
Just as I let peace settle into my body and hold Asher tight to my stomach, a little gremlin in my head crawls to my ear and whispers, maybe this is too good to be true.
22
Asher
I don’t want to leave Nord, the Summer Palace, and definitely not Penelope’s side. A violent protective streak arcs up inside me, and I find myself worrying about everything. What she’s eating, carrying, doing. I can’t stop thinking about the life growing inside her.
Our baby. My child.
The morning I’m supposed to leave, I wrap my arms around Penelope and pull her close. She lays her head on my chest and lets her fingers trail over my skin, and I know—I just know—that I was a fool before. To think I didn’t want this? I thought I could do it on my own? I thought my father’s business was what brought me joy?
I’m not the ruthless hunter of failing businesses. I’m not the man with a reputation for blood.
I’m Penelope’s, through and through. Nothing else matters but how she feels in my arms. My entire universe shrinks to a pinpoint of life, with Pen at its center.
“Don’t go,” she whispers, nuzzling against me.
Sighing, I rest my cheek on her head. “I don’t want to, but I have to quit the business. That needs to be done in person.”
“I know,” she says. “But I like having you beside me.”
“What are we going to say to the media?”
“About us?”
I grunt in acknowledgement.
Pen sighs, shrugging one shoulder. “I’ll let our media team handle it. Once you quit, there’s no longer a conflict of interest. We can keep it quiet for a period of time.”
“I don’t know if you realize this, Pen, but we have a bit of a ticking clock.” I slide my hand over her stomach, feeling her lips move into a smile against my chest.
“We can hide away at the Summer Palace. Release photos of our wedding after it happens, announce the birth when it happens, not before. People will talk, but... Who cares? My media team is used to dealing with difficult situations—except usually it’s Silas who creates them. We can control the narrative.”
“You’d lie to the people of Nord?”
“To protect my child from rumors? From name calling and controversy? Of course.”
“And to protect me,” I say in a low voice.
Penelope lifts her head to glance at me, a soft smile teasing over her lips. “That too. Not that you need protecting.”
My heart feels so full it’s about to burst. Pen’s fingers trace the outline of my scar, from my shoulder down to the waistband of my sleep shorts and back up again. For once, I don’t stiffen or jolt at the touch. She does that a lot—lets her fingers drift over the line where healthy skin meets scarred. Where the two sides of me come together.
For years, I’ve pushed that part of my history down. I’ve hidden my body. I’ve been…ashamed.
But Pen…G
od, what did I do to be worthy of her? She makes me feel proud of my scars. She makes me realize I was looking at my past all wrong. I was seeing the worst in people—in myself. But her touch, her love…it melted that part of me that clung onto the negative.
My alarm goes off for the fourth time and a groan rumbles through my throat. “I should get up.”
“The plane will wait.” Pen’s lips curl into a cheeky grin as her hand slips lower, under the waistband of my shorts. “It won’t leave without you.”
“I could get used to these private jets,” I say, tugging at her shirt.
“You’re going to have to.”
“You know, Pen, the day you walked up to me at Gabriel’s wedding?”
“Mm-hmm…” Her lips drift over my chest, trailing kisses all the way down to my navel.
I groan in contentment. “I was thinking of you. I was staring at those roses remembering the way you dragged that little potted plant up to the roof.”
“Were you?” She looks up, head near my waistband, smiling.
“Then you appeared behind me, as if I’d thought you into existence.”
“Arrogant as usual,” she grumbles, laughing. “I always existed, Asher. You just happened to walk back into my life at the right time.”
I release a moan as she kisses a line lower still, leaning back in the pillows as my queen makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world.
Landing in Farcliff is odd. The airport in Farcliff City is familiar, its interior dotted with local chain stores I forgot existed. People are dressed differently—already bundled up for the cooler weather, whereas in Nord, it felt like everyone was trying to soak up as much of the sun as possible before it disappeared for winter.
The passport in my hand says Farcliff, but I feel like a stranger. With Nico by my side, who joined me in Stirling, my feet carry me down an escalator to a row of taxis, and I let the car transport me all the way to my father’s offices. No sense delaying the inevitable. The faster I can quit this job, the faster I can go back to Penelope.
Ice Queen: An Accidental Pregnancy Romance Page 16