by Susan Meier
On the other hand, because the king had offered exactly what Seth wanted, and so easily, Seth knew there had to be a catch.
He e-mailed a scanned copy of the agreement to Pete and waited what seemed like an eternity before Pete called him with the verdict.
“It’s the strangest thing, Seth. This agreement is what I would have written for you, expecting the king to counter with his demands. Instead, he’s handing you what you want.”
“You don’t think it’s a ploy to get me to sign, and then somehow use it against me—maybe even to prove to Lucy that I betrayed her when the opportunity arose?”
“Nope,” Pete said quickly, unequivocally. “The king has already signed it. And it bears the official seal of the Xavier Island monarchy. He probably signed it first to prove to you that the agreement wasn’t a ploy to get your signature and then somehow use it against you.”
“And it’s legal?”
“It is as legal as legal gets. It’s signed. And it gives you everything you want. It’s as if the king doesn’t want an argument from you or doesn’t want to leave any reason for you to come back and bother him. Almost as if he wants you to sign and sort of go away.”
“That’s exactly what he wants.”
“He also doesn’t want you married to his daughter.”
Seth smiled wryly. “No. He doesn’t.”
“Is that a problem?” Pete asked quietly.
“What?”
“Giving up Lucy?”
Seth took a deep breath. His house was filled with bodyguards. He wasn’t in control of his own home because a king slept in one of his bedrooms. Hell, he wasn’t in control of his own life! He couldn’t even go up the street to see his lawyer because his house was “locked down” for the night.
If he didn’t give up Lucy, this would be his life, and he knew he couldn’t handle it. No. That wasn’t it. The problem was that he’d never willingly walk into this trap. So there was no question that he and Lucy would never get back together.
Realizing that hurt. He saw her marrying someone else, forgetting him and having a wonderful life without him. Because that’s really what would happen. A woman as beautiful and loving as Lucy wouldn’t be alone for long.
When Seth didn’t reply, Pete added, “I guess what I’m really asking is do you love her?”
Seth tossed a pencil across his desk. “No. I don’t love her. I’ve been so careful not to cross that line that I sometimes think I’ll explode. But, no. I haven’t crossed the line.”
“Good.”
“Even if I had, my feelings for her almost don’t matter. Right now, there are no fewer than eight bodyguards on my property. Two of them are in my kitchen making sandwiches. I’m surprised I was allowed to shower alone. I don’t know how anybody can live like this.”
“Then sign. Sign this thing before King Alfredo has a chance to change his mind.”
At seven-thirty, when Seth walked into the kitchen, Lucy looked up from the pancakes she was making. “My father is amazed that I can cook.”
She watched Seth catch her father’s gaze and panic fluttered in her stomach until Seth said, “You’ve always underestimated your daughter.” Then she relaxed. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to the argument between Seth and her father, but she knew it was coming. In fact, she had been praying for it. Once they fought this out, her father would see there was no separating her and Seth and he would relent. He almost always did, when she rarely stood her ground with him. But in this case, Seth would have to be the one to stand “their” ground.
Her father said, “I haven’t underestimated my daughter. I believe I’ve protected my daughter.”
“Well, this time around, I’m going to undercut you,” Seth said. He walked to the stove and took Lucy’s arm to direct her to the kitchen table. “We need to talk, with your dad, and I want your full attention.”
His actions weren’t the actions of a man about to get into an argument with her father. The panic returned and she fought it by focusing on what she was doing. “But my pancakes!”
“Will be forgotten in about two minutes.”
“Seth!”
Her dad’s voice was a warning growl that reinforced her feeling of panic. This was not going anywhere near the way she had expected it would. Instead of her father and Seth being on the hot seats, she was the one in the center of things. She suddenly felt as if the kitchen floor had fallen out from under her.
“Daddy?”
But it wasn’t her father that spoke. Seth did. “You can’t always have everything your way, Your Majesty. I think Lucy deserves to know the truth of what we agreed to.”
Lucy glanced at Seth. “You agreed to something?”
He handed her a copy of a legal document of some sort. “Your father gave me this last night. I e-mailed it to Pete Hauser. He reviewed it and told me it was on the up-and-up. The agreement is totally legitimate.”
Lucy stared at him as anger heated the blood in her veins. Once again, Seth had made a decision without her. “Agreement for what?”
“Your father has virtually given me Owen to raise.”
Her blood that had been heating with anger suddenly froze with fear. “What?”
“You hated your childhood,” Seth said simply. “I fear for Owen. This agreement gives us a way to give Owen a normal childhood.”
“How?”
“By getting a private school to list Owen on the school rolls, as if he were attending,” the king said, rising from his seat at the table. “While Owen actually lives in here in Arkansas, virtually without a bodyguard.”
Lucy swallowed. A trembling started in her stomach and rippled out to her limbs until every inch of her body was shaking. She caught Seth’s gaze and, as always, she could read what he was thinking. His green eyes were dull with disappointment. The agreement that benefited him didn’t benefit her and she knew why.
She swallowed again before she quietly said, “As long as Owen is without his mother.”
“You aren’t anonymous,” her father reminded her. “The minute you’re in the picture, Owen wouldn’t have a normal life.”
Lucy took a quick breath. She caught Seth’s gaze again. “In other words, you traded me for Owen.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
The expression in Seth’s eyes told Lucy that he truly believed that, which meant there was no changing his mind, and she ordered herself not to crumble. Not to cry. Instead, she straightened her shoulders. “May I read this?”
The king said, “Of course.”
Seth caught her arm. “Lucy, I…”
She shook free. “I’m Princess Santos to you, Mr. Bryant. You hated that I was promised to someone as if I were a commodity. Yet you just traded me away like a sack of potatoes. You’re a hypocrite,” she said, then strode to the door. Head high and with every ounce of regal comportment she could muster, she walked down the hall, climbed the steps and entered the master bedroom.
When the door closed behind her, she fell to the floor and cried. The one person she’d genuinely believed understood how horrible it was to be a pawn in a global game had traded her.
Seth was inordinately glad when the king announced that he would be dining with friends in Houston that night and returning in the morning. He’d expected Lucy to come downstairs for dinner, but she didn’t. He knew she hadn’t eaten breakfast. He knew she hadn’t eaten lunch. Now she was skipping dinner.
Recognizing that they had to talk this out and that he had to be honest and admit he’d saved Owen because he believed there was no chance for a relationship between them, not a long-term relationship, anyway, he walked down the hall to the master bedroom and knocked once. No answer.
“Lucy, come on. You have to eat.”
“Go away, Seth.”
“Lucy! Come on. You know I did what I had to do.”
“The funny part of this is, Seth, I do know that. I understand your decision a lot better than you think I do. But because I understand I never, ever,
want to see you again.”
Seth stared at the door.
“Go away, Seth.”
“What did you expect her to do?” Madelyn asked, totally appalled when she heard Seth’s story. He’d come to Ty’s house, looking for confirmation that he’d done the right thing. Instead, Madelyn had blown the whole situation out of proportion.
“What did you expect me to do?” Seth countered, pacing Ty’s den. “Think this through, Madelyn. Owen’s life would be public property if I didn’t sign that agreement. The king offered me my son’s life. I took it.”
While Madelyn and Seth had been arguing, Ty had been reading the agreement. He finished and tossed it to his desk. “Seth is right, Madelyn. I don’t think he had a choice.”
Madelyn looked from Seth to Ty. “Are you kidding me?”
Ty shook his head. “The agreement gives Owen a life he wouldn’t otherwise have.”
“And what about Lucy?” When neither Ty nor Seth answered, Madelyn again demanded, “What about Lucy!”
Seth took a quick breath. “I’ve been surrounded by bodyguards for two days and they’ve already driven me insane. Even if I loved her—which I have taken great pains not to do—there is no future for me and Lucy. I could not live her life.”
“But she could live yours,” she quietly replied.
“She has duties and responsibilities. She’s already proved that they come first.”
Madelyn stared at him. “Are you punishing her for leaving the first time in Miami?”
“No!” Seth emphatically denied. “Madelyn, this is not about me and Lucy. It’s about Owen.”
“You know what, Seth? I think you’re right. This isn’t about you and Lucy. It’s about you. It’s about you refusing to compromise. It’s about you refusing to risk.”
“There is no compromise.”
“How would you know? I don’t think you actually looked for one. Because you’re not the same guy Lucy fell in love with all those months ago. I saw you change. I saw you go from happy-go-lucky to brooding in what seemed like a weekend and I now know that’s because Lucy had gone home when her father summoned her. I saw you suffer for months before you came to terms with your loss. It nearly killed you. And I think the real bottom line here isn’t that you can’t handle living as a royal, with bodyguards and schedules and paparazzi chasing you. The truth is, Lucy broke your heart once and you’re not going to let her do it again. Even if it means hurting her more than anybody else could ever hurt her.” She drew a quick, impassioned breath. “I’m glad you’re not the Bryant I fell in love with.” With that, she stormed out of the den.
For several seconds, silence reigned. The only sound was the tick of the grandfather clock in the foyer.
Finally, Seth said, “There isn’t a compromise.”
“Honestly, Seth. I wouldn’t know. But I haven’t looked for one because it isn’t my life. And I’m not the one virtually condemning a very nice, very sweet, very generous woman to life without her child and without the man she loves.” He rose from his desk. “I’m going to go settle Madelyn. You can let yourself out.”
The next morning Seth tried to catch Lucy in the kitchen when she got Owen’s morning bottle. Instead, he found Audrey, who told him the princess and Owen had already left for the airport.
He stared at her. “She left without giving me a chance to say goodbye to Owen?”
“Seth, from the way I hear the story, you get to raise Owen. So I wouldn’t be too snotty about anything the princess does right now.”
Not about to argue with Audrey when he couldn’t even convince his own brother he’d done what he’d had to do, Seth turned and climbed the steps to his bedroom. Suddenly, he realized the master bedroom was his again and he changed directions.
When he entered his room, he smelled her. The shampoo. The cologne she used. He saw the empty crib. The empty closet. The room felt hollow. Lifeless.
His chest tightened. Just as it had on the horrible day in March when King Alfredo’s messenger had handed him annulment papers, Seth realized with absolute certainty that he was never going to see Lucy again. Not because her father would prevent it—though Seth was fairly certain the king intended to keep Seth and Lucy as far apart as he possibly could—but because Lucy didn’t want to see him.
And he didn’t blame her. Though Seth knew Lucy understood that he’d signed the agreement to assure Owen had a normal life, he also knew that Madelyn was right. Seth was so darned afraid Lucy would hurt him again that he’d leaped on the first chance to save himself. Without ever once considering that he was hurting her. Or looking for a compromise.
He sat on the bed. Dear God, what had he done?
Seth jumped into his SUV and took the shortcut to the airstrip. From a distance he could see the white limo parked by the metal hangar. Off to the left, away from the grouping of private planes owned by locals, he saw the jet with the crest of Xavier Island. He pushed down on the gas pedal and he also didn’t bother with roads. He drove over grass, mud and macadam and brought his vehicle alongside the limo with a spray of gravel.
With a bodyguard beside her, Lucy walked across the tarmac, holding Owen, heading for the small private jet.
“Lucy!” he yelled, jumping out of his SUV, running toward the tarmac.
She ignored him.
“Lucy!”
She continued walking to the three-stepped entry of the plane.
Seth ran toward her. “Lucy!”
Finally, she turned. “Get lost, Seth.”
“Lucy, no! I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have signed.”
“It’s too late,” she said and pivoted away from him, moving toward the jet again.
He caught up to her and grabbed her arm. Her bodyguard immediately snatched Seth’s hand from Lucy’s arm and twisted it behind his back as he yanked Seth away from her. But Seth kept talking. “No! It isn’t too late! I signed an agreement that said I would divorce you, but there’s nothing in that agreement that says I can’t remarry you.”
Her gaze swung to his. “What?”
“I read that agreement three times last night and I swear there is no provision that says I can’t remarry you.”
“James,” Lucy said to her bodyguard. “Give us a minute.”
The bodyguard released Seth and stepped back but didn’t actually leave. Lucy sighed warily. “There might be no stipulation against us remarrying, but you want Owen to lead a normal life.”
“Owen needs two parents to have a normal life.”
“I’m a princess. Everyone in Porter knows that. There will be no hiding me.”
“Everyone in Porter knows Owen’s a prince. We’re not going to hide it. We’re going to trust our friends and neighbors to help us.”
“I have bodyguards.”
“Owen will have to have bodyguards, too. I might trust my neighbors, but I’m not stupid. I simply intend to make them the cook, the gardener and the pool guy.”
Lucy almost laughed. Almost. Because the truth was this was all nice, but it wasn’t what she wanted. She knew Seth felt guilty about hurting her and this proposition might be his way of feeling better about himself. She also knew that any second now her dad would wonder why she wasn’t in the plane and he’d either make an appearance or send someone to check on her. If Seth loved her, she had to get him to say it quickly. “Your suggestion is very clever.”
He gaped at her. “Clever! It’s downright brilliant! When I really thought about how I would protect you if you were my wife, I had lots of brilliant ideas for keeping you safe.”
“And Owen.”
He glanced down at the bundle in her arms. “And Owen.”
She said nothing and Seth sighed. “Lucy, you are not helping things here.”
“Frankly, Seth, neither are you.”
“I’m giving you everything you have ever wanted. Quiet. Privacy. A normal life. Everything!”
“Not everything.”
He stared at her for a few seconds, then his eyes narrowed.
“What are you saying?”
“What are you saying? You come here and tell me you’re going to give me a normal life. You tell me you will protect me and Owen, and that’s wonderful. But it’s not really enough.”
He drew a breath. “Then I don’t know what is.”
Her suspicions were confirmed—he was only doing this out of guilt, not love. Lucy told herself she wasn’t going to cry. “Then I think I had better leave.”
When she turned away, she couldn’t stop the tears that sprang to her eyes. Abundant and heavy, they poured over eyelids and fell to her cheeks.
She reached the steps for the jet and the pilot caught her arm to assist her up the first step. “Good morning, Princess.”
Unable to speak, she nodded. “
Lucy!”
Lucy heard Seth call her name again, but this time she couldn’t turn around. She let the pilot see the tears streaming down her cheeks because he was too polite and well-trained to mention them, but she refused to let Seth see her cry. All she had ever wanted was for Seth to love her. And she’d literally tried everything, but nothing had worked.
“You can’t leave.”
She took the second step of three.
“I can’t raise Owen without you!”
She put her foot on the third step and could now see into the cabin of the jet, which looked more like a comfortable living room. Accommodations had been made for Owen, and a nurse appeared at the doorway, taking the baby from Lucy’s hands.
“I love you!”
Hearing the words she’d longed to hear for too many excruciating months, Lucy froze.
“I love you,” Seth said again, and this time the sincerity in his voice stopped Lucy’s heart.
She spun around. He ran toward the jet.
Looking up at her from the bottom of the steps, he said, “I love you. I think I always did love you. I cannot raise Owen without you. Please, Lucy, don’t leave.”