Forbidden King (Princes of Avce Book 9)

by Victoria Pinder

  He took one glance at her face and said, “Anna, you were listening.”

  Good. He saw the truth. No need to lie. She swallowed and touched her wedding ring. “Yes. I heard and saw everything.”

  He took his hands out of his pockets and came toward her as he said, “Then you know this is almost over, and Francesca will choose her price that doesn’t include a crown.”

  Her heart pounded. None of this mattered. Maybe Francesca had it easier because she was able to cry and didn’t care when everyone saw her emotions.

  Francesca had something that Anna never would. She’d have a part of Leo forever and had more chances to win him over if she chose to mother their child. She held all the cards. Anna ignored how cold her soul was as she said, “I know it’s time I said goodbye.”

  “What?” Leo stood taller, clearly startled.

  This was the end. She’d never be a good queen. Not really. She wasn’t cut out for this life. She needed to stop this… now. She spoke with clipped words because if she said more, she’d let her walls fall and she needed to defend herself. “If you won’t annul our marriage, I will.”

  His eyes narrowed, and Leo’s face grew red. She’d never seen him upset until now as he said, “You have no grounds legally. We consummated the marriage which according to the law makes this a done deal.”

  His anger fueled her own and it was easier to storm past him now as she said, “I don’t care about that. No one cares about virginity anymore either. It’s tossed away all the time, so that law needs to change too.”

  He called behind her, “You only get to change laws if you stay.”

  She spoke over her shoulder and for once she was clear-headed, but she didn’t stop as she said, “Guess I’ll go back to complaining about my government and living my own life free of actually writing laws. I miss being Anna Camila Bruno.”

  She headed into the hall to her guest room to gather her few things, but behind her Leo shouted from the door, “Bruno is gone. You’re now Anna Camila Aussa.”

  Her neck was tight. She refused to turn around. She couldn’t let him see how close to tears she was, so she called out, “That’s just temporary. I’m filing for divorce if I can’t get the annulment.”

  Leo’s voice snuck past her defenses as he asked in a quiet tone, “Why?”

  Oh no. Her walls around her heart tumbled like that one soft, gentle, caring word was a battering ram. She turned and met his brown-eyed gaze that sent a shot of heat through her. “Because I was a fool to marry you and you clearly have other… options. Goodbye.”

  Drat. Tears rolled out of her eyes again. He must have seen. She picked up the pace and ran toward her empty room. She didn’t have much to call her own.

  She needed to lock the door and never, ever come out until she was sure she could hold her head up and make it to the front doors of the castle.

  Maybe that would never happen, but either way she couldn’t be here.

  Not anymore.

  Chapter 16

  Divorce? Anna had blindsided him.

  He’d paced the suite they were sharing that still smelled like her rosewater shampoo.

  Outside toward the setting sun, he remembered her sitting beside him with a glass of wine. When he turned and headed into the bedroom, more memories assaulted him. His lips tingled and he pressed his fingers to his mouth.

  A second later, her words were so clear that it sounded like she’d yelled at him again as she said she was leaving him.

  Because he wouldn’t allow her to raise his baby at court? He would trust her to raise any child but Francesca’s child at court would tear the country apart. His people believed they were blessed by God as the Aussas were good rulers, who built the church for them where Mary dictated. Even if it was rubbish, a child out of wedlock went against what his family stood for.

  And the more religious people of the country would never accept a young child. He knew this in his gut.

  Anna did too, but he needed to find a good family for his son or daughter, away from judgement.

  If he didn’t get answers soon, he’d be too late.

  Leo had to know what Francesca intended so he could make his own plans.

  He couldn’t force a woman to give birth and Anna acted like his plan was to steal the baby the second he or she was born. He hadn’t asked Francesca what she’d do. Maybe he should have, but he hadn’t expected to see her.

  His heart thumped that Anna’s assumption of him was wrong.

  He’d never hurt his own child.

  All of this was because he hadn’t made his own decisions—and that was something he could change. He picked up his phone and spoke to his assistant the second Pierre answered. After a quick greeting, Leo stood taller. “Pierre, I need to be apprised of everything going on so I handle all negotiations with Francesca.”

  Pierre’s voice was still high when he said, “I was told Queen Anastasia and Princess Anna were-”

  “I want them out of this,” he interrupted. He would take full control of this situation. If he was to be king one day, then he needed to ensure his word was final. “You tell me the price, Francesca’s decisions, and no one else. I’ll decide without anyone’s interference.”

  “Yes, Sire.” Pierre said.

  After a few more instructions, Leo hung up.

  At least his secretary understood that no one else gave orders. There was to be no gossip. Now it was time to deal with the bigger issues.

  His parents might have chosen Anna for him, but they didn’t need to run everything.

  As he called the palace in Avce for them, the staff placed him on hold like he was still a child.

  He paced until finally his parents said, “Hello.”

  “Good evening, Mother, Father.” He kept his tone formal.

  His father asked in a pleasant but distant voice, “Leo, we didn’t expect to hear from you. How’s Anna?”

  His heart slowed and he widened his stance—he knew his mother was there listening on speaker phone. “Upset. She is no longer negotiating anything for me.”

  “We don’t need Anna upset,” his mother said. “I need her help.”

  “No. No you don’t.” In the distance another storm began to surface on the water. He shook his head as he said, “And you’re out too, Mother.”

  His mother coughed in surprise, as she was used to ordering everyone around. “I’m not upset-”

  “No,” he interrupted and ignored how his hair stood on end. From this second on, he would make his own choices. Right or wrong, he was in charge of his own mistakes. “I’ll handle my own affairs without your opinions or interference.”

  His mother’s voice sounded uncertain rather than her usual no-nonsense commands as she said, “We’re only trying to make your life better.”

  All his life, he had people deciding his fate which was why he’d rebelled against what was best for him. Maybe Anna was right to leave him because he shouldn’t have put his mistakes on her shoulders or anyone else’s. So that ended. Now. “You’re not controlling me, because I’m the future king.”

  His father said, “You have never referred to yourself that way, until now.”

  Maybe his father understood. He watched as the dark storm came toward the island. Soon the island would face another battering so the interviews had been canceled. They would stay in the castle tonight, which meant Anna couldn’t leave, not yet. “Francesca is my problem, no one else’s.”

  His mother then said, “Have Pierre-”

  “He will follow my directives,” Leo stated. It was time he fixed his own mistakes, no matter what they were.

  His father chuckled. “Protect our family name, son. It’s paramount that the people trust us.”

  “Always.” He hoped that protection included his unborn child. This time he was fully going to make all choices, in everything.

  The staff was closing all the windows as water pellets hit the glass.

  Tonight’s storm would be intense.

  H
e’d changed out of his suit and into black jeans and a plain t-shirt. The castle and island had weathered storms for millennia, but in the event there was a problem he could pitch in and help.

  The castle was quiet except for the whipping winds. Anna wasn’t at his side and he missed her.

  His heart was still sore—what would he say to Anna?

  A divorce didn’t solve anything. Part of him wanted to break something, but he couldn’t. The gym wasn’t going to help so he picked up the phone and called someone he hadn’t talked to in a long while. The phone clicked on the second ring and he answered as a greeting, “Katherine.”

  His sister sounded like she stretched before she said, “I hadn’t expected you to call. Aren’t you on your honeymoon after your whirlwind wedding?”

  Whirlwind was a great description of the past forty-eight hours, but he’d go back to that later. Choosing Anna had been the most natural fit. The storm outside pelted the windows. “I wish we could have waited for you and your husband to arrive.”

  His sister scoffed. “Mom and Dad finally cornered you to agree to what they’d been planning for a year.”

  Shocked, he asked, “What?”

  His sister laughed like she always did when she had an opinion he’d usually ignore, but today… he listened as she said, “Mom hired Anna to watch her and see if she should be your bride. You weren’t making the best choices.”

  His thumb tapped the window pane as he tried to put what his sister said together with what Anna had told him. “Mom made a promise to Anna’s mother to watch out for her.”

  His sister whistled. “That explains why she even knew her name. I wondered about that part, though I have a hard time imagining our mother befriending anyone socially beneath her.”

  So his family all knew why Anna had been hired as his secretary for the past year. He closed his eyes and listened to the rain fall as he said, “Doesn’t matter. And Mom was young once.”

  “You’re right.” Katherine asked, “Are you not happy? I saw how you went to Anna all the time whenever I was visiting the parents. For any little thing.”

  So everyone had paid attention to his every movement, which shouldn’t surprise him. He’d been in the spotlight since his birth. He stood taller as lightning flashed outside. “Francesca is pregnant.”

  His sister’s intake of breath told him plenty. “Oh, baby brother.”

  Leo needed to handle this without interference and his sister was probably the one person he trusted to not tell him what to do—she would expect for him to handle everything. “I have Pierre handling negotiations for her silence.”

  “And Anna?”

  The reason he’d called was Anna, as he needed a clear head but he said firmly, “Neither she nor our mother will make any decisions.”

  Katherine’s tone grew clipped. “She’s being consulted?”

  “Mother?” he asked to clarify. Asking Anna to help had been a mistake.

  His sister then said, “No. Anna. Your wife.”

  Anna wanted a divorce when he’d asked for her help. She saw it as a continuation of her job or something. “She’s having a hard time transitioning from my employee to my wife.”

  “Well, have you told her that you love her?”

  Had it been written on his face for the year and he was the only one who didn’t know? He blinked. “What?”

  Katherine laughed like she’d just found out that his toys at Christmas were all delivered to the wrong tree at the other end of the palace. He’d been so upset that he had no presents until they were located. “You don’t exactly spend a lot of time with any woman except her. You called her at two in the morning for favors, and you’ve had assistants all your life. Until Anna, you usually avoided your assistant like they had the plague.”

  Maybe. He had a lot of memories of running in the other direction, but Anna’s voice was always pleasant. “She answered because she was great at her job.”

  Katherine smacked her lips. “You called because you didn’t want her to have a life.”

  Wait. His body grew tight again and he argued like they were still ten. “That’s not true.”

  She laughed. “Yeah it is. I know you, brother of mine.”

  If he told Anna that he loved her, would it make any difference? She thought he wanted her to… steal a baby from Francesca, which wasn’t true. “Katherine, I don’t know…”

  “So Anna’s miserable because you don’t realize how you feel.”

  His sister’s words were like zaps of electricity that made his hair stand on end. Anna had asked for a divorce. Admitting how he felt didn’t matter now. “Don’t act like you’re a mind reader.”

  “As a mom myself, I see things differently now. And she clearly cared about you.”

  Maybe he should see his nephews soon. His sister was always straight with him. “I don’t know.”

  What if he was too late? He sank down on the couch.

  “What are you going to do about Francesca?”

  Honestly, he didn’t know. He didn’t need the press to know about his broken condom. Even if Anna left him, he’d never marry Francesca. Maybe he could tell Anna that. After the conversation earlier, he was sure that Francesca decided things based on what she could get. “I need to find out what she plans to do first.”

  His sister didn’t tell him what to do, ever. “Fair,” she said. “She’s the model that Mom hated, right? But she’s always hated your string of women.”

  If he married Francesca to keep his child, his entire kingdom would suffer to her whims, and he didn’t have that right. His heart was settled on that part no matter what. Thunder from the storm outside raged. “Yeah. If Alfred had a son before he met and married you, would you have raised the baby?”

  His sister answered right away, “I don’t know. Is that what you demanded of Anna?”

  Katherine saw through him. He stood fast as he said, “I didn’t demand anything.”

  Again with a knowing laugh. “So she’s upset at your plan?”

  “Yes.” His shoulders slumped. Perhaps he hadn’t been clear to Anna that he would support whatever Francesca decided about the baby, and he and Anna would go from there—without Francesca.

  He glanced at the door as the storm hammered the windows. He needed to find a way to convince Anna to stay.

  What could he do to prove himself?

  His sister asked, “Do you have a plan B?”

  A life with his wife was what he needed, what he wanted, but he couldn’t order her to follow his decree. He swallowed. “I need to find out what Francesca chooses to do.”

  “You keep saying that. What if Anna doesn’t agree with whatever you unilaterally decide?”

  His brain processed her question. “You’re saying ask her opinion?”

  “And maybe tell her how you feel.”

  Once again Katherine saw straight through him and let him work out a plan in his own mind. Now he needed to tell Anna how he felt, without orders, and then ask for her forgiveness about Francesca. “I’ll talk to you later, Katherine.”

  The moment he hung up, he quickly changed out of his simple t-shirt into a button down Oxford.

  A prince always looked his best. Jeans for linen pants, and he was ready to convince his wife to listen to him one more time.

  He’d notified his staff to tell him if Anna left, and she hadn’t, which meant he had a chance.

  He needed to speak to her. Leo puffed out his chest as he’d never had to ask for forgiveness in his life, then knocked.

  Anna Camila didn’t answer.

  He knocked again and rapped his knuckles harder.

  Still she didn’t answer.

  He pressed his face to the door and heard sounds inside that might be footsteps. He knocked again and quietly said, “Anna, open the door.”

  More footsteps. Anna said, “No. I don’t want to.”

  He traced the wooden door with his finger and wished it was her—her face, her body, her hair. Her smile of confidence in h
im. “We need to talk.”

  Her voice cracked as she said, “I’m so done talking. I’ve said enough.”

  Was she crying? Anna was always the epitome of holding everything together. His heart whispered that he’d hurt her. He prayed that wasn’t true as he said, “Anna… please… I need your help.”

  The door unlocked. He stepped back fast as she threw the door open and asked, “With Francesca’s baby again?”

  She hid half of her face behind the door and he saw that it was drained of emotion. He grew more aware of her as he stared at her profile, realizing that she’d been crying, because of him. She’d changed from her emerald dress to tailored jeans and a yellow and white flowered shirt. “Please,” he asked. “Come out and talk to me.”

  Her brown eyes lacked their usual luster. She didn’t blink but finally nodded. “Give me half an hour. I’ll finish up in here and meet you in the library.”

  “It’s a date,” he said and let adrenaline energize him. With her by his side there was nothing they couldn’t do.

  Now he needed to tell Anna that he loved her and hopefully convince her to stay.

  Chapter 17

  Leo had seemed so… perfect at the door. Those brown eyes of his stared into her soul like he saw her.

  Despite that she’d demanded a divorce, he’d showed up to talk with her.

  And it wasn’t because of the village tour for photographers because that had been cancelled due to the storm.

  He’d come because he’d wanted to see her, and his voice had been deeper than usual, which made her spine tingle.

  She shouldn’t want him. He was going to be a father. She should let him go, but the idea of not seeing him made her pulse skyrocket.

  Anna cleaned her face and washed away all traces of crying.

  Maybe it was wrong but her heart lifted that she might stay with him.

  Perhaps she was a glutton for punishment. It was probably a horrible idea to go, but her skin just felt more alive as she readied herself to talk with Leo. What would he say? Did it change anything?