by Cat Schield
Gabriel was the first to back down. He turned to his wife and the love that glowed in his gaze made Nic’s heart hurt.
“She’s right.” Gabriel’s attention returned to his brother. “I know you were doing amazing things in California and I wish you were still there doing them. I really don’t begrudge you any time you’ve spent chasing your dream.”
Nic was seeing a different side of his brother. Never before had Gabriel spoken so eloquently about what he was feeling. The crown prince could speak passionately about issues relating to the country and he had a fine reputation for diplomacy, but he’d always been a closed book with regard to anything of a personal nature.
“I’ve lost my nerve.” Since Gabriel felt comfortable sharing, Nic decided it was only fair to give a little in return. “Since the accident, I am afraid to even think about what went wrong with Griffin. Five years of my life went into designing the fuel delivery system that caused the rocket to blow up. I killed someone. There’s no coming back from that for me.” Nic’s voice was thick with regret as he finished, “It’s part of the reason I let Brooke go. Her life is in California and there’s no place for me there anymore. I belong here where I can make a difference.”
“Oh, Nic.” Olivia was at his side, her soft hand gentle on his arm. “I’m sorry you are in so much pain. And what happened to your rocket and that man’s death are a horrible tragedy, but you can’t let that get in the way of your happiness with Brooke.”
Gabriel grabbed his other arm and gave him a shake. “And you really don’t belong here.”
“Yes, I do. The country needs an heir to the throne.” But his protest was cut short as Olivia and Gabriel shared a moment of intense nonverbal communication. “What’s going on?”
Olivia shifted her gaze to Nic and offered him a sympathetic head tilt. “We can’t get into specifics...”
“About what?” There was obviously an important secret being kept from him and Nic didn’t like being left out.
The crown prince’s lips quirked in a wry smile. “What if as the future leader of your country I order you to return to California, resume work on your rocket ship and marry the mother of your child?”
Nic spent a long moment grappling with his conscience. He’d come to grips with sacrificing his happiness for the sake of the country and although it had torn him apart to let Brooke go, he’d known it was for the greater good of Sherdana and his family.
Now, however, his brother was offering him a way out. No, Nic amended. Gabriel was directing him to forsake his duty and chase his dreams all the way back to California. The walls he’d erected to garrison his misery began to crumble. He sucked in a ragged breath. Permission to marry Brooke and raise their child with her. The chance to complete his dream of space travel. All on a silver platter compliments of his brother. It was too much.
But as he scrutinized Gabriel’s confident posture and observed the secret smile that lit Olivia’s eyes, he sensed that whatever was going on, these two were well in control of the country’s future.
Nic offered Gabriel a low bow, his throat tight. “Naturally, I’d do whatever my crowned prince commands.”
* * *
On her way to the Mojave Air and Space Port to visit her brother, Brooke took a familiar detour and drove past the house Nic had rented for the past three years. The place looked as deserted as ever. Nic hadn’t spent much time there, sometimes not even sleeping in his own bed for days at a stretch because the couch in his workroom was within arm’s reach of his project.
Still, when she could get him to take time off, they’d often had fun barbecuing in the backyard or drinking beer on the front porch while they stared at the stars and Nic opened up about what he and Glen hoped one day to accomplish.
Brooke stomped on the accelerator and her Prius picked up speed. Those days were behind her now that Nic was back in Sherdana, but at least she had the memories.
A ten-minute drive through town brought her to the hangar where Glen and his team were working on the new rocket. Brooke hadn’t been here since the day Nic had broken off with her and she was surprised how little work had been done. From what Glen had told her, the inflow of cash hadn’t dried up after the first Griffin had exploded. In fact, the mishap had alerted several new investors who’d promised funding for the project.
Brooke spent several minutes walking around the platform that held the skeleton of the Griffin II, her footsteps echoing around the empty hangar. She wasn’t accustomed to this level of inactivity and wondered if she’d misunderstood her brother’s text, asking her to meet him at the airfield rather than at his house.
As she made her way to the back of the facility where the workrooms and labs were set up, Brooke detected faint strains of music and figured her brother had gotten caught up in something and lost track of time. Except the music wasn’t coming from Glen’s office, but from Nic’s former workroom.
The wave of sorrow that swarmed over her stopped Brooke in her tracks. Someone had obviously been hired to replace Nic on the team and had been given his office. The shock of it made her dizzy, but she quickly rationalized the unsteadiness away. How could she expect forward progress on the rocket without someone taking on the fuel delivery system Nic had abandoned? With the exception of her brother, no one else on the team could match Nic’s brilliance or comprehend the intricacies of his design. Someone new would have to be brought in.
Brooke squared her shoulders and continued down the hallway. She might as well introduce herself to Nic’s replacement and start to accept the changes that he’d bring to the team.
“Hi,” she called over the music as she first knocked, and then pushed open the unlatched door. “I’m Brooke Davis, Glen’s...” Her voice trailed away as the tall man in jeans and a black T-shirt turned to greet her.
“Sister,” Nic finished for her. “He told me you might be stopping by today.”
Brooke’s throat tightened. “What are you doing here?”
“I work here.” His smile—at once familiar and utterly different from anything she’d seen before—knocked the breath from her lungs.
“I don’t understand.” She sagged back against the door frame and drank in Nic’s presence. His vibrant, imposing presence made it impossible for her to believe he was a hallucination, but she couldn’t let herself trust this amazing turn of fortune until she knew what was going on. “I left you in Sherdana. You were going to get married and make Alessandro heirs.”
Nic shook his head. “Turns out I was completely wrong for the job.”
“How so?” His wry amusement was beginning to reach through her shock. She was starting to thaw out. The ice water that had filled her veins for the past week heated beneath his sizzling regard. “You’re not impotent or something, are you?”
He laughed and reached out to snag her wrist, pulling her away from the wall and up against his hard body. “That was not the problem.”
“Then what was?” She wrapped her arms around his neck and arched her back until they were aligned from chest to thigh.
“No one wanted me.”
“I can’t believe that.” And she didn’t. Not for a single second.
“It’s true. Word got around that a spunky redhead had stolen my heart and left me but a shell of a man.”
Brooke purred as he bent his head and nuzzled his lips into her neck. “So you’ve come here to take it back?”
“No. I’ve come here to sign it over all legal and such.”
Fearing she’d misunderstood what he was saying, Brooke remained silent while her mind worked furiously. He’d left Sherdana and resumed his old position on the team. From the way his lips were exploring her neck, she was pretty sure he intended that their physical relationship would get back on track.
“Brooke?” He cupped her face and stared deep into her eyes. “You’re awfully quiet.”
“I guess I’m not sure what to say.”
“You could start by saying yes.”
Relief made her giddy. “You haven’t asked me a question.”
“You’re right.” And to her absolute delight, he dropped down on one knee and fished a ring out of his pocket. “Brooke Davis, love of my life and mother of my child, will you marry me?”
She set her hands on her hips and shook her head. “If this is about the baby, I assure you I’m not expecting you—”
“Oh, for heaven sakes,” came an explosive shout from the hallway behind them. “Just tell the guy yes.”
“Yes,” she whispered, leaning down to plant her lips on Nic’s.
He wrapped his arms around her and shot to his feet, lifting her into the air and spinning her in circles. She laughed, delirious with joy, and hugged him back. When he let her toes touch the floor once more, Glen was there to pound Nic on the back and offer his congratulations.
Amidst this, Nic slipped an enormous diamond ring onto her left hand. She ogled it while Glen played the brother card and threatened Nic with bodily harm if he didn’t take good care of her. Then Glen left her and Nic alone so he could fill her in on what had transpired after she’d left.
“Gabriel almost killed me when he heard that you’d left,” Nic explained, sitting on his couch and pulling her onto his lap.
She let her head fall onto his shoulder and savored the contentment that wove through her. “He did?”
“Apparently he decided to play matchmaker and wasn’t particularly happy that I failed to do my part.”
“Matchmaker?”
“He made sure we were in adjoining rooms in the visitors’ wing of the palace and enlisted Olivia and Ariana to convince you not to give up on us.”
“They did a pretty good job of that,” Brooke agreed, thinking about that last night she’d spent with Nic. “In fact, I almost left without seeing you one final time, but both of them convinced me I owed it to us to say goodbye.” But there was something she still didn’t understand. “And we did. I left and you didn’t stop me. You were determined to do the honorable thing and stay in Sherdana and get married. So what’s changed?”
“Two things. First, I thought long and hard about what made me happy. Spending the rest of my life with you and my work. But I couldn’t marry you without regretting that I’d decided not to step up when my family needed me and I couldn’t see returning to the Griffin project when my design had caused a man’s death.”
“And yet you’re here,” Brooke pointed out.
“I didn’t accept I couldn’t live without you until I had to start.”
“But what about Sherdana and producing an heir?”
“Gabriel released me from duty. Before I left he explained how it had nearly destroyed him to lose Olivia and he refused to let me go through the same sort of pain.”
“But what about an heir for the throne?”
“I guess it’s up to Christian.”
“And you don’t feel bad that he has to carry the full burden of the country’s future on his shoulders?” Brooke arched her eyebrow at Nic’s poor attempt to conceal a grin.
“If he had to choose between the woman of his dreams and duty to Sherdana, I’d feel horrible.” Nic brushed Brooke’s hair aside and kissed his way down her neck. “But he’s never dated any woman long enough to fall in love and it’s time he let someone in.”
“Et benedetto il primo dolce affanno ch’i’ ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto.”
Nic translated, “And blessed be the first sweet agony I suffered when I found myself bound to Love.” He grazed his lips against Brooke’s, making her sigh in pleasure. “I only hope the woman who finally breaks through to Christian makes him half as happy as you’ve made me.”
Heart singing, Brooke wrapped her arms around Nic’s neck and set her forehead against his. His gaze fastened on hers, letting her glimpse his joy and his need for her. For the first time she truly understood the depth of Nic’s love for her. He’d made light of his decision to leave Sherdana, but she suspected even though Gabriel had released him from duty, the king and queen hadn’t backed either of their sons’ actions.
“I haven’t begun to make you happy,” she promised, tightening her hold.
“You don’t say.”
“I do say.” And she proceeded to demonstrate how she planned to start.
* * * * *
If you loved this SHERDANA ROYALS novel,
read more in this series from
author favorite Cat Schield
ROYAL HEIRS REQUIRED
Or pick up Cat’s LAS VEGAS NIGHTS series
AT ODDS WITH THE HEIRESS
A MERGER BY MARRIAGE
A TASTE OF TEMPTATION
Available now from Harlequin Desire!
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SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Isa disappeared six years ago, taking Marc’s trust with her. Now that he’s found her again, he won’t let go...
Read on for a sneak peek at
CLAIMED
The first of the Diamond Tycoons duet
by New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff
Isabella was somehow even more beautiful than he’d remembered. And probably more treacherous, Marc reminded himself as he fought for control.
It had been six years since he’d seen her.
Six years since he’d held her, kissed her, made love to her.
Six years since he’d kicked her out of his apartment and his life.
And still, he wanted her.
It came as something of a shock, considering he’d done his best not to think about her in the ensuing years.
All it had taken was a glimpse of her gorgeous red hair, her warm brown eyes, from the small window embedded in the classroom door to throw him right back into the seething, tumultuous heat that had characterized so much of their relationship. He hadn’t cared about anything but getting into that room to see if his mind was playing tricks on him.
Six years ago he had kicked Isa Varin—now, apparently, Isabella Moreno—out of his life in the cruelest manner possible. He didn’t regret making her leave—how could he when she’d betrayed him so completely?—but in the time since, he had regretted how he’d done it. When he’d co
me to his senses and sent his driver to find her and deliver her things, including her purse and cell phone and some money, she had vanished into thin air. He’d looked for her, but he’d never found her.
Now he knew why. The very passionate, very beautiful, very bewitching Isa Varin had ceased to exist. In her place was this buttoned-down professor, her voice and face as cool and sharp as any diamond his mines had ever produced. Only the hair—that glorious red hair—was the same. Isabella Moreno wore it in a tight braid down her back instead of in the wild curls favored by his Isa, but he would know the color anywhere.
Black cherries at midnight.
Wet garnets shining in the filtered light of a full moon.
And when her eyes had met his over the heads of her students, he’d felt a punch in his gut—in his groin—that couldn’t be denied. Only Isa had ever made his body react so powerfully.
One look into her eyes used to bring him to his knees. But those days were long gone. Her betrayal had destroyed any faith he might have had in her. He’d been weak once, had fallen for the innocence she could project with a look, a touch, a whisper.
He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Will Marc have Isa back in his bed, trust be damned?
Find out in
CLAIMED
the first of the Diamond Tycoons duet
by New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff
Available wherever Harlequin® Desire books and ebooks are sold.
www.Harlequin.com
Copyright © 2015 by Tracy L. Deebs-Elkenaney
ISBN-13: 9781460386699
A Royal Baby Surprise
Copyright © 2015 by Catherine Schield
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