The Reluctant Princess

by Raye Morgan

  “Hey buddy,” the doctor chimed in. “I don’t know where this animosity comes from, but I don’t deserve it. I’m just trying to do Kim a favor here.” He glared at her. “She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”

  “She didn’t. I figured it out for myself.”

  The doctor looked flustered. “Okay. You’re so big on handling everything on your own, handle how mad Kim here is going to be if my friend backs out of the arrangement.”

  Jake’s gaze didn’t waver. “That would suit me fine. As it is, if she insists on going, I want her to wait until I can go with her. If your pal is such a damn outlaw, she just might need protection. What do you think?”

  The doctor was uncharacteristically at a loss for words. He sputtered for a moment, then turned on his heel and stomped out of the apartment, heading down the hall.

  Kim turned on Jake, furious. “If you’ve wrecked this deal for me, I’ll…I’ll…” And then she was out the door, too, running after Dr. Harve.

  Jake leaned back. “And I guess my work here is done,” he murmured to himself cynically.

  It didn’t bother him to have the doc and Kim mad at him. But it did bother him that the man was ready to exploit a woman who was so desperately trying to find answers. He would do what he could to shield any woman from that. There was nothing special about Kim. Nothing at all.

  Kim was so angry at Jake, she couldn’t even look at him as she came back into the apartment. She’d caught up with Dr. Harve and pretty much mended fences with him, but she was just furious at Jake for making it necessary. Except for the fact that he was recuperating in her living room, he was nothing to her! He shouldn’t even be here. She shouldn’t have to know him. Where did he get off meddling with her life?

  But ignoring Jake and expecting him to stay in his chair wasn’t going to work anymore. As she cleaned up the dishes from the apple pie, he came into the kitchen and picked up a dish towel and began to dry the plates as she set them in the rack.

  “I know you hate me right now, but, Kim, this little plan is crazy. Are you really ready to go off and take your baby to some kind of crook?”

  She rinsed off her hands and turned to glare at him. “He’s a doctor. He’s a very fine doctor.”

  He shook his head in wonder. “The only evidence you have of that is that Dr. Harve told you so, and he’s a crook himself.”

  Her mouth opened in outrage. “Why do you say that? You don’t even really know him.”

  “I can tell.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen his type before. Too shifty. Always looking for a way to make some easy money. He’d sell you out for a bottle of Scotch.”

  Her eyes flashed. “You don’t know that.”

  She started to turn away but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  “How much have you paid him for what he’s done on me, anyway?” he asked.

  She hesitated. A part of her didn’t want to tell him. But she was pretty low on cash herself. What was more important, making a point in the argument, or getting her money back? Right now she wasn’t sure if either were worth it.

  “Enough,” she said grudgingly, tugging away from his hold on her arm.

  “How much?” He pulled out a wallet and began to count out bills. “Take this.”

  He held the money out to her. She looked at it and shook her head. “You’re my guest,” she said, feeling sullen. “I won’t take your money.”

  “Oh for God’s sake, Kim. You need the money. I know you do. Here.” He put the money on the counter and pushed it toward her. She gave him a poisonous look, then carefully pulled two bills out that came close to what she’d given Dr. Harve. Then she pushed back the others.

  “Thank you,” she said primly as she turned to go check on Dede.

  He watched her go, a smile just barely twisting his wide mouth. Despite everything, he got such a kick out of watching her, especially when she was upset at him. She was so darn cute.

  The electricity was out. It was after midnight. Dede had been fussing and Kim had been walking her, but then the lights had flickered out and everything had gone black.

  Kim put Dede down in her crib, murmured a few comforting phrases, hoping to quiet her so they wouldn’t wake Jake, and then she began feeling her way through the living room to find the box of candles she kept near the front door.

  “Ouch!”

  She hit her bare foot on the corner of the chair where Jake was sleeping and the next thing she knew, not only did she have a foot that hurt like crazy, she was on her back on the carpeted floor with Jake on top of her.

  “What the hell?” he growled, realizing this wasn’t what he’d thought it was right away. “Kim, is that you?”

  “Get off me, you big oaf,” she cried, pushing at him as hard as she could.

  “Oh. Sorry. I thought…”

  But it didn’t matter what he’d thought. He needed to get up off her. But she felt so good. He tried to lift himself, but he couldn’t quite make it the first time. He wanted to blame it on his bad leg and generally broken-feeling body, but he knew that was just an excuse. He wanted to feel her wonderful body for another few seconds. He wanted to bury his face in her fragrant hair and cup her breast in his hand and…

  “Jake!”

  He rolled off her, wincing. His gesture of protective security had come at a cost to his bad leg, but he knew he would get over it. Someday. The sense of the imprint of her body against his would last longer.

  “You thought I was a burglar?” she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. “Thanks a lot, Mr. Hero.” She scrambled to her feet, shaken but not hurt. “We don’t have that much to steal.”

  He pulled himself painfully back into his chair and stared into the pitch-black darkness.

  “I guess the electricity went out?” he said.

  “Bingo.”

  She felt her way to the door and found the box. Taking out a candle, she struck a match and suddenly there was light again. Not much light, but enough to keep from more mistaken identity problems.

  She looked at him in the chair and noticed the hard line around his mouth. She knew that meant he was in pain right now. She hesitated, then said, gruffly, “Sorry I woke you up that way.”

  He looked up at her. “Sorry I took you down that way.” Suddenly, he grinned. “But I’ve got to say, you’re the softest thing I’ve ever tackled. It was downright delicious.”

  “Hmmph,” she said, turning back to her baby. But secretly, she smiled.

  Dede was whimpering and Kim’s smile soon faded. The poor little thing was having one of her bad spells. Kim did what she could to try to make her more comfortable, alternating rubbing her little belly and bicycling her feet.

  Suddenly, she realized Jake had left his chair and was standing right beside her, looking at the baby as well. Dede was writhing, looking miserable. Kim set her lips. Maybe now he would see why she was so anxious to find a pediatrician for her little girl.

  “There are some things I don’t understand, Kim,” he said quietly.

  “Like what?”

  He looked at her. “Like why you’re living this way. Your opportunities are endless.”

  She groaned and made a face. “Not that again.”

  “Okay, let’s just ignore the fact that the DeAngelis royals want you back at the castle. Let’s pretend they don’t even exist. Even without them, you have some pretty impressive connections. Dede’s father is the most powerful man on this side of the divide. He’s the leader of the Granvilli forces. He was the ruler of all of Ambria itself until a year ago. No one is stronger or more feared.” He stared down into her eyes as though searching for answers there. “Surely he can get his own baby a decent pediatrician.”

  She closed her eyes and turned away. That was exactly the nightmare she faced if she
couldn’t get help for Dede soon. She would have to go to Leonardo.

  She would rather die.

  But she still had hope. No matter what Jake said, the pediatrician Dr. Harve had found for her was someone she’d heard of before, someone she was sure could help. After she saw him, if she still wasn’t satisfied, she would have to begin considering finding Leonardo and making him face up to his responsibilities. But she would exhaust every other possibility first.

  Did that include going back to Pellea after all that had happened between them? Could she really go back and face the woman who used to be like a sister to her—and then betrayed her? Could she really return to the people who had left her behind, forgotten all about her, used her to take the brunt of the anger when everything fell apart? That was something she still hadn’t come to terms with.

  She flashed a look his way. He was watching her, waiting for an answer, an answer she didn’t have to give him.

  Suddenly she remembered that he’d mentioned a baby of his own that morning, a baby he no longer had. Did that mean the baby had died? Or been taken from him? Hard to know. It wasn’t a question you could easily ask someone. She did know instinctively that he wasn’t about to tell her unless he had to.

  But if he’d had a baby, had he also had a wife? He hadn’t mentioned one, but babies usually came with mothers attached. She wondered what his story was. Too bad she didn’t feel free enough to ask him.

  Dede had gone to sleep. Picking up the candle, she started into the kitchen. Jake followed her. She knew he was still waiting.

  “I told you Leonardo was out of the picture,” she told him at last, putting the candle on the kitchen table and sliding down onto the front edge of a chair. “It isn’t an issue.”

  She could see that he didn’t believe her, but she didn’t care. It was true. She wished she’d never known Leonardo, and yet, how could she say that when Dede wouldn’t exist without him? Her little girl was her whole world now.

  Suddenly she had an epiphany. Jake had a thing about Leonardo. He wanted to find him and… Who knew what he wanted to do? But she knew he wasn’t planning a friendly chat. He wanted a confrontation of some sort. The animosity he felt fairly bristled off him. That was why he’d come on this mission for Pellea. He was after Leonardo. That was what all the anger was about. Who knew, maybe he even wanted to kill him. Many people had wanted that before.

  And he thought he could find the man through her? The funny thing was, she probably detested Leonardo even more than he did.

  She didn’t know where he was. He certainly wasn’t living with her. Not now, not ever.

  She looked at Jake speculatively as he sank carefully onto the chair across the table from her. Maybe it would be best to get this out in the open and let him know he was barking up the wrong tree.

  “What is the deal with you and Leonardo?” she asked directly. “Why are you so fixated on him?”

  Jake looked startled. “I’m not fixated on him. I hate his guts. Other than that…” He shrugged.

  “You’re not alone,” she noted wryly, head to the side as she studied him in the candlelight. The flickering flame made interesting shadows on his skin. What was it about candlelight that seemed to create a circle of intimacy?

  He grimaced. “I don’t suppose I am. But that’s all part of the mystery.” Turning his head, he looked into her face again. “What do you find appealing about the man?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not going to talk about that,” she told him.

  “No?” His mouth hardened. “And yet, there’s something there. Something has poisoned you against your family. Is your bond with Leonardo so strong you can’t even come home to see the people who love you?”

  There it was. She could hear it in his voice. That was what he hated about her. Leonardo. What a joke. But she could feel his anger. He hated Leonardo and therefore he hated that she had been with him. She was tainted in his mind, ruined by having Leonardo’s child. The funny thing was, she felt a little bit that way herself.

  She hadn’t always hated the man. By the time she was fifteen, she was working in the castle, and he’d always been there. His father, the general, had been the ruler of Ambria after the coup that had killed the DeAngelis king and queen. At some point Kim’s mother, Lady Constance Day, had gone back to work in the castle and she’d gone along. For some reason it seemed to give her mother special cachet in the new regime to have been Queen Elineas DeAngelis’s favorite lady-in-waiting, and it was just assumed that Kim would follow in her mother’s footsteps. She’d started out as a companion to Pellea and soon became head of social services for the important ladies of the Granvilli regime. She’d been an important member of the household and everyone had seemed to respect and honor her.

  Leonardo was older, but she’d found him rather droll and amusing at the time. He’d always wanted Pellea. Pellea’s father, a top minister to the Granvilli government, had pushed the match, though Pellea herself resisted.

  Then Pellea fell in love with Monte, crown prince of the deposed royal family scheming to make a comeback, and suddenly she was pregnant. Thinking she could never have Monte for her own, she’d agreed, reluctantly, to become engaged to Leonardo. Kim had been there to witness their bond through its many stages.

  But when Monte came back to claim Pellea, it was Kim who helped hide him and smoothed the way for the couple to be with each other. Finally, she’d helped her mistress run away to join Crown Prince Monte, and she’d covered it up at the time.

  Leonardo was not pleased. She shuddered, remembering.

  Then came the war. The DeAngelis royals restored their monarchy and sent Leonardo and the rest of the Granvillis packing, leaving them to cling to the far side of the island with their diminished ranks.

  At the time, she’d had no idea the man would end up being so important in her life. He was the most important man in her country—and the father of her child. But he was also a good part of the reason their side had failed in the war. And he’d certainly done what he could to make sure her life would never be the same again.

  “I’m not with Leonardo anymore,” she said carefully. “I thought I’d made that clear.”

  His eyebrow quirked as though he didn’t believe a word of it.

  “When do you see him?”

  She stared at him, eyes wide. “What makes you think I ever see him?”

  “He’s the father of your child.”

  Pain cut through her like a knife. A lump rose in her throat for some reason and she coughed, trying to get rid of it before he noticed.

  “All this is none of your business,” she told him, trying hard to maintain a cool exterior. “Just leave it alone. And believe me, my refusal to go back there has nothing to do with Leonardo.”

  She bit her lip. Actually, that was a lie. He had a lot to do with it. If it hadn’t been for what Leonardo had done…

  Oh well. That was not Pellea’s fault. Was it?

  Was that the choice she faced? If the pediatrician didn’t work out tomorrow, she was going to have to choose. Leonardo, or Pellea? One or the other. The devil or the deep blue sea. Only she wished she would never have to see either one of them ever again. Either way, it would be a soul-wrenching experience.

  How had everything become so insane? She blamed the war. It made people do things they would never have done otherwise. People died, people had to leave their homes, people found themselves in situations they hated—all because of the war.

  “So when am I going to get this special information that is going to change my life?” she asked Jake, thinking of what he’d said when they first met.

  “Right now, if you wish,” he said. He’d been staring at the table and now he looked up, his blue eyes crinkling. “Ready?”

  “Of course.”

  “All r
ight.” He leaned forward, elbows on the table, ready to reveal all to her. “You see…”

  “Wait.”

  Suddenly, she was scared. Her heart was beating like a caged bird in her chest. What if it really did change everything? Was she ready to confront that? Maybe it would be better just to ignore this and let life move on.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She put a hand over her chest. “I can’t breathe.”

  He grabbed her free hand and held it tightly. “Take it easy, Kim. It’s good, not bad. I think you’ll realize that once you hear what I’ve got to tell you.”

  She stared at him with huge eyes but she didn’t try to pull her hand away, even though she knew it was trembling in his.

  He smiled at her. “Hey, breathe,” he ordered.

  She took a deep one and nodded. “Okay. Let’s have it.”

  “Here goes.” His fingers curled more tightly around her hand. “You know that the Granvilli clan burned the castle and killed Queen Elineas and King Grandor.”

  She nodded stiffly.

  “The royal couple had seven children, five boys and two girls. It was assumed at first that all of them had been killed, but little by little, years later, rumors began to spread that they might still be alive. It turned out that each child had been taken by someone who worked for the royal family and raised as one of their own. Their identities had to be protected to save them from the murderous Granvillis.”

  She’d been listening passively up to that point, but now she tried to yank her hand out of his. He held on.

  “You know they were murderous, Kim. Especially the old general. Facts are facts.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, but she didn’t say anything.

  “You also know that a few years ago, the three oldest boys found each other and began to work on rallying the Ambrians to take their country back. The war came, and they were successful.”

  She nodded.

  “In the meantime, two more of the boys have shown up, so all five have been found.”