The Prince's Devious Proposal

by Rayner, Holly

  When the drink cart came around right before dinner was served, Naomi ordered a soda. She remembered, now, how reluctant she had been to get a glass of wine before boarding the flight from LA to Barcelona, and it felt ridiculous. She would have done anything for an alcoholic beverage right then. But she hadn’t remembered to check her bank account before boarding the plane, and she had no idea how much money was in it.

  I’ve gotten too used to letting Petr pay for everything, she thought miserably, poking at the ravioli she’d been served for dinner.

  Maybe it was a good thing that she would have a few days away from him. She needed to reacclimatize herself to standing on her own two feet. She hated feeling dependent.

  It felt as if the plane ride would never end, but eventually they touched down in LA. Naomi disembarked and claimed her luggage at the baggage carousel, remembering how much easier it had been when her bags had been waiting for her at the first-class lounge in Barcelona. Exhausted and crabby, she went out to the taxi stand and got a ride home, checking her bank account on the way and discovering to her relief that she had just enough money to cover the cost of the journey.

  Being at home felt almost as surreal as the events of the vacation had. It was strange to go into work the next day knowing that everything had changed. Her desk was exactly as she had left it, right down to the pile of paperwork she had been going through the Friday before leaving. Apparently no one had finished it in her stead.

  “Naomi!” Betty was rushing up to her desk. “You’re back!”

  “I’m back,” Naomi said with a smile. “It’s good to see you, Betty.”

  “It’s good to see you! I heard all kinds of rumors!”

  “Rumors?” she asked. There shouldn’t have been rumors. She had been straightforward, if not entirely truthful, about where she was and what she was doing.

  “Someone said you’d eloped,” Betty said. “But I told them that couldn’t be true. You’re so levelheaded.”

  “Maybe not as levelheaded as we thought,” Naomi said, with a blush of combined embarrassment and satisfaction. It felt good to be surprising. She held out her hand and showed Betty the ring Petr had given her.

  Betty gasped. “It’s true?”

  “It’s true,” Naomi said. “I know. I was just as surprised as you.”

  “But I thought you weren’t even seeing anyone!”

  “Remember those flowers I got?” Naomi said.

  “You’re kidding.”

  “The man who sent them,” she confirmed. “We…we kind of fell in love.”

  Betty gasped. “That’s so fast,” she said.

  “I know,” Naomi said. “Every time I think about it, I have trouble believing it really happened. It seems crazy. But it’s the truth.”

  “Wow,” Betty said. “You’re married. I can’t believe it. Will I get to meet him?”

  “What are you two gossiping about now?” Rick’s voice broke in. “Betty, get back to your desk.”

  Betty gave Naomi a meaningful look and hurried away.

  Rick sized Naomi up. “So,” he said. “You’re back, are you?”

  She carefully positioned her hand so that he would be able to see her ring. She didn’t want him doubting her claim to have gotten married. “Yes,” she said. “I told you I would be back today.”

  “You told me a lot of things I’m struggling to believe,” he said.

  Naomi felt a sudden swelling of courage. She didn’t have to put up with this treatment from him. Everything Petr had said to her over the past few days was right. She deserved better than this, and he didn’t have the right to treat his employees this way.

  “It doesn’t matter whether you believe the things I told you or not,” she said.

  Rick raised his eyebrows. “You don’t think so?”

  “No, I don’t,” she said. “I’m at perfect liberty to use my vacation time, and my sick days as well.”

  “Of course you are,” Rick said, his voice smooth. “But I’d hate to think you were using them for something…frivolous. If you really were getting married, that would be one thing.”

  “Well, I was.” She lifted her hand, showing him the ring.

  “And the hospital?” he asked. “Was that part also true?”

  “You don’t have the right to ask me those kinds of questions,” she said, surprised at her own daring. “That’s my personal business.”

  “Taking time away from your responsibilities is everyone’s business,” Rick said. “It affects the company’s bottom line.”

  “I’ll make sure that everything I fell behind on over the past two weeks gets made up,” Naomi said. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  Rick hesitated. “Your work has always been good, Naomi.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But if you aren’t living up to the company’s values—” He glanced back at the words on the wall behind him.

  “Rick,” Naomi said firmly, “I can promise you that my dedication and zeal aren’t lacking at all. If you find fault in my work, come to me and we’ll address it. But right now, the only problem seems to be that I took some time off—time I had every right to take.”

  She knew that Rick wanted to argue more, but she also knew that there was nothing he could say. She was absolutely in the right, and he knew it. He just hadn’t expected her to stand up for herself.

  She felt a little flutter of excitement. She couldn’t wait to tell Petr about this.

  * * *

  “And then he just walked away!” she said.

  “Sounds like you really told him,” Petr said.

  “I think I did.” She paused. He sounded a bit distracted. “Is everything okay? Am I getting you in the middle of something?”

  “I’m just working, he said. “It’s not a big deal. But I probably should get off the phone so I can focus.”

  Naomi sighed. “I miss you,” she said. “I know it’s only been a couple of days, but it feels like a lifetime since I’ve seen you.”

  He sounded slightly irritated when he replied. “I’ll be back soon enough,” he said. “Isn’t it really late there?”

  She frowned. “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

  “I’m just busy, Naomi. Can I call you tomorrow?”

  “Well, sure. I had kind of assumed we’d talk tomorrow.”

  “Great,” he said, and his voice was downright brusque now. “I’ll talk to you then.”

  “I love you,” she said.

  “Good night,” he said and disconnected.

  Naomi stared at her phone. What was wrong with him? He hadn’t sounded anything like the man who had professed to be in love with her on the beach in Barcelona. How could the same person who had planned such a wonderful wedding on the fly for her be so distant toward her now?

  Come to think of it…things had been declining in their relationship since their wedding night. She had done her best to look the other way when the fancy accommodations and first-class tickets had been replaced by everyday fare. She really hadn’t married Petr for his money. But when she stood back and looked at the whole picture, she could see that the way he treated her had changed once they were married.

  You’re overthinking it, she told herself firmly. Nothing was really wrong. It just felt different because they were so far apart. And he had warned her that he would be working.

  Belatedly, she realized that she had never asked him what kind of work he would be doing. There was still so much she didn’t know!

  Well, he had promised to speak to her tomorrow. She would let him know about her concerns then. I’ll just have to try to do that without sounding too needy or clingy.

  She didn’t want to complain about the coach-class plane ticket. She just wanted to make sure that he still felt the same way about her as he had the day they’d married.

  And she was sure he did.

  I just need to hear him say it. That’s all.

  * * *

  The following morning, before leaving for
work, Naomi called Petr again.

  It would be evening in Rome now, she reasoned. He would be finished with his work for the day, and he’d be free to talk to her. She waited eagerly as the phone rang to hear his familiar voice, confident that it would be filled with the warmth she had grown used to instead of the hostility with which he’d spoken to her last night.

  The phone rang and rang.

  There was no answer.

  Finally, Petr’s voice mail picked up. Naomi disconnected without leaving a message. He must have walked away from his phone or something. She would try again after taking her morning shower.

  Twenty minutes later, she sat at the breakfast table, her phone set to speaker mode, listening to it ring. Again, there was no answer.

  She checked the clock. It was eight fifteen. It would be quarter past five in Rome. She didn’t understand. Why wasn’t Petr answering? He had said that they would speak today.

  She left a message this time. “Hey, Petr. I’m about to head to work, but feel free to give me a call anytime and I’ll step out for my lunch break. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. I miss you.”

  She hung up, feeling somehow incomplete, and hurried out the door. She was going to be late if she didn’t leave immediately.

  All day long, Naomi checked and rechecked her phone, hoping to see something different. Maybe he’ll have texted me, she thought each time she picked it up. Maybe he called and I didn’t hear it ring somehow.

  But the line remained quiet. Wherever Petr was, whatever he was doing, he wasn’t reaching out to her.

  What was going on?

  It didn’t make sense. The Petr she knew would never treat her this way. He had made it clear from the start how much he adored her. And he couldn’t have been lying about that. He had known the words to “Perihelion,” a song of hers that nobody bothered with. Only a real fan would have known such a deep cut. No, he must have been genuine from the very start.

  But if that were the case, how could he have lost interest in her so quickly?

  I should have asked him what he had to do in Rome.

  That was it. If she had asked him what business he had to take care of, she wouldn’t be left battling all these questions now. A good wife would have known to do that. That was probably why he wasn’t being very forthcoming about the things that were keeping him distracted. She had hurt his feelings by not inquiring.

  She felt awful. Poor Petr. He must think she didn’t care about whatever he had going on. And she had been on the verge of questioning him about a decline in luxuries!

  When she got home from work that night, she sat down in front of her computer to do some research. When Petr called—she was sure it would be any minute now—she would be ready. She would have learned more about him and what he did. After all, he was a public figure. She was sure the information was out there.

  She typed in his name and clicked the button for recent headlines, hoping she might see something about what had become of him after his departure from Sovra. Surely there would be a story about the deposed prince’s new business ventures, about the way he had lifted himself up after going through something so dire.

  But there were no headlines praising Petr.

  Instead, the top response was a headline that read “Deposed Royal Family’s Spiral Continues.”

  What was this?

  She clicked the link. There was a photo of Petr standing beside two people she didn’t know, but who looked like they might be his mother and father. In the photo, all three of them were smiling. It had clearly been taken during happier times—a palace was visible behind them, and they were dressed in what looked like formalwear.

  Her eyes skipped down to the article.

  “The once-beloved royal family of Sovra, now exiled and in disgrace, reviled by the Sovran people, has proven unable to account for their many debts. After the seizure of their assets last year, the family finds itself struggling to pay for the few properties they have refused to cede to the government.”

  Naomi’s vision blurred. Her head was spinning.

  Debts? Petr had never said anything about debts. He had spent money left and right on her. Why would he have paid for those expensive plane tickets if his family had no money?

  And the house in Barcelona…she shivered. Was that even really his? The article said that his family’s assets had been seized, and that they were struggling to maintain control of a few properties. Was that house one of those properties?

  Were they not supposed to be there?

  Had Petr been lying to her?

  She hadn’t minded that he wasn’t a prince. She wouldn’t have minded if he hadn’t had money. But the idea that he might have lied…it made her feel cold.

  Why would he do that?

  And why wasn’t he returning her calls?

  Chapter 13

  Naomi barely slept that night. She kept her phone beside her on her pillow, waiting for it to ring, acutely aware of the fact that while it was the middle of the night here in Los Angeles, it was early morning in Rome. Maybe Petr would call her.

  It was strange, she brooded. A week ago, she would never have considered that he might call her in the middle of the night. He was too thoughtful. He would wait and make his call during the hours that she was sure to be awake.

  But something was wrong. Naomi no longer believed that Petr was putting her well-being above everything. If he had been doing that, he would have been honest about his family’s debts before they had married.

  What did it all mean? By marrying him, had she taken on those debts as well?

  If she had, she wasn’t going to be of much help to him. She didn’t have any money.

  But how could he have told her that she could quit her job if she wanted to?

  A chill ran down her spine. What if she had quit? She would be sitting here with no source of income and no way to get in touch with her husband, and even if she had gotten in touch with him, it sounded like he didn’t have the resources to support her.

  For all Petr knows, that’s exactly what happened, she thought. The last thing she had told him was that she had stood up for herself to Rick. For all he knew, she had been fired.

  I can’t get fired!

  Having Petr’s money as a safety net had given her the courage to speak up at work, but now that safety net was gone. It had never been there at all.

  She would have to make amends for her behavior at work tomorrow. She would have to do what she could to get back into Rick’s good graces. The idea made her feel ill, but what could she do? It was necessary.

  Near dawn, she finally managed a few hours of sleep, but when her alarm went off, she felt as exhausted as if she hadn’t slept at all. The first thing she did was to grab her phone, checking to see whether she had missed any calls.

  Nothing.

  No word from Petr.

  Work that day was one of the worst experiences of Naomi’s life. She was terrified to allow Rick to see her checking her phone, so she kept it in her pocket. As often as she could, she stole away to the bathroom to see whether Petr had called—he never had—and did her best to return to her desk without her absence being noticed.

  She called Petr again that evening, and again the following morning. Still, she heard nothing from him.

  She began to despair of ever hearing from him again. Perhaps he had decided to cut his losses. Perhaps he had run off somewhere to begin another life without her.

  But if so…why? What had she done to deserve that?

  She felt sick and tormented all the time. The ring on her finger, once a source of pride and happiness, began to feel like an anchor.

  Would he really have given me this if he didn’t want to be married? It belonged to the Queen of Sovra.

  But…did she know that this had been the queen’s ring?

  It wouldn’t be the first thing Petr had lied to her about.

  She shuddered. What was true, and what was a lie? She didn’t know what to think.

  S
he got into a routine of calling him every day after work. By the fourth day, she wasn’t really expecting an answer anymore. So it came as a shock when she heard his voice on the other end of the line. “Hello, Naomi.”

  She was stunned into momentary silence. “Petr,” she managed.

  She waited for him to explain himself. She waited for him to apologize for having not returned her calls for so long.

  He said nothing at all.

  Finally, it was Naomi who spoke again.

  “Where have you been?” she demanded.

  “Rome,” he said. “Like I told you.”

  “You know that’s not what I’m really asking.” She felt near tears. Where was the man who had made her feel so beautiful and special? Where was the man who had been so kind to her when they had first met? “Why haven't you returned any of my calls before now?”

  “I was busy,” he said. “I was working. And then I was traveling.”

  “Traveling?”

  “I’m back in LA,” he said.

  Somehow, this hurt as much as anything else.

  “How long have you been back?” she asked.

  “About six hours.”

  “And you didn’t come to see me?”

  “You were at work, Naomi.” As if she was the one who was being unreasonable.

  “Well, can we see each other now?” It killed her that she was begging. This was her husband.

  “I’m tired,” he said. “I’m jet-lagged. I need to sleep.”

  “I don’t need to do anything fancy,” she said. “I could come over and just crash at your place. Or you could come to mine, if you’d rather.”

  “Not tonight,” Petr said. “I really just want to catch up on sleep. We’ll meet up tomorrow, okay?”

  “Tomorrow.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice. “I’ve heard that before.”

  Something broke in his voice then, and she heard, for the first time, a hint of vulnerability. “I know,” he said. “I promise, though. Once you’re done with work tomorrow, go back to the Crystal Lounge. I’ll be waiting for you there.”