by Anne, Melody
“We will discuss your departure later if you still feel like leaving,” he said.
Rachel knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying to pacify her with vague promises. OK, she would let him believe it was working. If he thought she’d surrendered to his will, it would be so much easier to make her escape. Still, she couldn’t help but make one more snarky comment, damning her plan as soon as she’d formed it.
“I’m not going to fight you any further right now, because I’m smart enough to listen to what the doctor has said. But don’t think it means that you’re off the hook, Adriane. When I get the all clear from the doctor, we’re going to have one hell of a battle. That’s a promise.”
Then, before he could answer, she stood up and moved to the back of the jet. She had no doubt that there was a bed aboard, and she was going to find it. All the fighting had drained what little energy she had left, and since she was stuck here, she was going to at least try to catch up on her sleep.
He tried to talk to her, but she just hummed as she walked away, finding a room and closing the door behind her. She was sure the king of Corythia didn’t appreciate her less-than-respectful treatment of him, but the poor sap would just have to get used to it.
Adriane found himself wanting to chase after her to teach her a few lessons on royal behavior. Her health was the only thing stopping him from doing just that.
As soon as she was better, though…
That thought made him smile as he kicked back on the sofa. Yes, they would certainly battle when she was back in full health, and Adriane was a fine warrior.
Chapter Four
Rafe paced the small room while he waited for his family. It was supposed to be his wedding day, the day Ari would become his wife, the day he’d have her for all time. He didn’t deserve this day — but, miraculously, Ari had said yes, and she was going to be his.
Though not today.
Instead, his tuxedo was rumpled, his tie cast aside, the top buttons of his shirt undone, and fury rolled off him in waves. How dare Adriane take Rachel! The man would pay for this betrayal.
“She’ll be fine, Rafe.”
His heart calmed at the gentle sound of Ari’s voice, and at her sweet touch as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and smoothed her hands up his stomach, resting them on his chest.
“I’m sorry our day has been ruined, Ari,” he said softly as he turned, pulling her closer to cradle her head against his chest.
“It’s not ruined — just postponed. I could marry you wearing cutoff shorts and a tank top in a grungy courthouse in front of a hung-over justice of the peace. It’s not the wedding that matters, Rafe. It’s having you as my husband for eternity,” she said as she lifted her head and looked deep into his eyes. “Or at least the next eighty years.”
“I’m so grateful you saw through the bad, Ari, so happy that you have forgiven me. I love you beyond the limits of speech, and I will have you as my wife. Thank you for putting the needs of Rachel above everything else. Most brides wouldn’t be so accommodating,” he said as he leaned down and ran his lips across hers in a brief kiss.
“Rachel is one of my best friends, and she would do the same for me. I could never have a wedding without her being there, even a courthouse wedding. I honestly don’t care where we marry as long as the people we love are with us. Let’s make sure she is well, and then we will become husband and wife.”
Rafe ran his fingers through her silky hair, his eyes trying to convey to her all the emotions bottled up inside him. How he loved this woman.
“Son?”
Rafe turned to find his mother and father standing by the door, their eyes dimmed with worry, and everything was brought back into focus. Being in Ari’s arms soothed him, but right now, he didn’t need to be soothed, he needed to find answers, and seeing the strain on his family members’ faces prompted him to find those answers fast.
“I’m sorry, Dad, for springing this on you. We had no idea what was going on until Ari and Lia came to check on Rachel and found her gone. Here’s the note that was left by Adriane. I’ve done business with him for years, and he recently ascended the throne after his father passed. I was unaware that he’d ever met Rachel,” Rafe said with disgust, and he handed the note over to his parents.
After a brief pause, his father looked up, almost shell-shocked.
“Why…what…I don’t understand,” Martin said, the note hanging limply from his fingers.
“I don’t either, Dad,” Rafe said, helplessly. It wasn’t like him not to have the answers. He was always the one on top of every situation. To be put in this position of weakness now infuriated him all over again.
“Let me try to explain,” Ari said, releasing Rafe and leading the group to a sitting area. She felt slightly awkward telling Rafe’s family what was going on with Rachel, but since Lia wasn’t back yet, she had to shoulder the burden.
“Please do, darling,” Rosabella said as she sat down.
“Rachel met Adriane, knowing him only as Ian, about three months ago while she was in Florida. They…uh…clicked,” Ari said cautiously.
“Clicked?” Rosabella asked.
“I don’t think you really want details,” Ari said, completely mortified and instantly blushing crimson.
“No, cara. I think that would be a little too much for me,” Rosabella agreed.
“They got along really well, and they spent the week together. Then Rachel left and started her job in Italy, thinking she was never going to see him again. Well, it turned out that Adriane had discovered a…um…well, a…broken condom,” Ari choked out, the red on her cheeks turning an even deeper hue.
Rafe scowled at her and she just shrugged. It wasn’t her fault that she was talking about condoms. If he had a problem with it, then he really needed to take it up with his sister. Ari was just the messenger, and she was filling them in on the essential facts with as little detail as possible.
“Yes, well, it turned out that the man who she thought was Ian was actually Prince Adriano, who now is King Adriano, though he goes by Adriane Graziani when in the States. That he has so many names is a whole other matter,” she said with a faint smile before continuing. “When he discovered the…um…unfortunate accident, he didn’t want to take a chance that a child might be created and he wouldn’t know about it. He apparently had Rachel watched. After she went to the doctor and had a positive pregnancy test, he showed up on her doorstep,” Ari said, speaking as quickly as possible to get through all the information that she had.
“He had my sister followed!” Rafe roared.
“Seriously? That’s what you’re focused on?” Ari asked. Of all the information she’d just given, she’d have thought he’d be a bit more upset with some of the other details.
“He should have come to me the minute he knew she was my sister,” Rafe bellowed.
“I hate to break this to you, Rafe, but Rachel is twenty-six, not a five-year-old toddler. She’s an adult and can therefore make grown-up decisions. She doesn’t need your permission to date,” Ari reminded him, feeling affronted for her friend.
Rafe shot an indignant look Ari’s way, but when she didn’t back down, he sat back and kept silent so she could continue. Ari rubbed his arm, trying to ease his temper, and yet to let him know that she disagreed with the way he treated his sisters — like adolescents.
“So, Adriane told Rachel she was carrying his heir and that they must wed at once. As you all know Rachel, you can imagine how well that went over,” Ari said with a chuckle.
“You’re laughing?” Rafe asked incredulously.
“I’m just picturing the poor man’s face when he got a hint of Rachel’s temper,” Ari replied with a slight trembling in her voice as she struggled to suppress her mirth.
“I wish he had gotten the full force of her knuckles,” Rafe muttered.
Ari ignored his comment. “She pretty much told him to shove it. I guess he didn’t appreciate that, because here we are now. I don’t think Ra
chel’s in any danger. She can certainly hold her own against Adriane, or King Adriano, but still, I’m sure we’d all like to talk to her, make certain she’s fine,” Ari said, trying to defuse the bomb waiting to go off in Rafe’s head.
“Of course we’re going to see her. Adriane can’t just come in here and abduct my sister. And this isn’t like Rachel not to talk to me.” Rafe stood up and started pacing again, too restless to continue sitting.
“Remember that she is pregnant, Rafe. Her emotions are all scattered right now, and she may not be making decisions she normally would make. Perhaps she has decided it best to try to get along with Adriane, try to make a go of things for the sake of the baby,” Ari told him.
“Why would you think this?” Rafe asked.
“Because from our discussions before, I know she really liked this guy. Yes, she was ticked that he had come back demanding marriage, but if you’d seen the look in her eyes when she talked about him, you’d realize there is more to their story than a weeklong affair. I wouldn’t be surprised if we do end up going to a wedding.”
Rafe was silent, taking in all that Ari was saying to him. Everything inside him shouted that this was wrong — he had to rescue Rachel right now.
“My little girl is going to have a baby.” They all turned to see the look of wonder on Rosabella’s face.
“Mom?”
“I know everyone is worried. I am, too. But, have any of you stopped to really think about this? Rachel, my youngest child, is going to be a mother. I’m going to be a grandmother. This may not have been how I wanted it to happen, but I can’t help but be filled with joy,” Rosabella said as a tear slipped from her eye.
“Oh, my. I’m going to be a grandpa,” Martin said.
They were all silent as they thought about the new baby. They’d been so focused on the shock of Rachel’s apparent abduction that, until Rosabella’s reverent words, none of them had paused to think about the blessing of a new family member in their lives.
“I haven’t had time to think about that,” Rafe admitted, his own tone far more tranquil as he considered his sister’s pregnancy anew. It wasn’t just an unwanted pregnancy as he’d been thinking of it, but his sister was actually carrying a child inside her. That would make him an uncle.
“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” Ari said, her gaze connecting with Rafe’s. The two of them hadn’t discussed children, but she wanted a dozen of them. Well, maybe not quite that many, but she certainly wanted a couple of kids tearing around their house.
The thought of a little boy with Rafe’s beautiful eyes staring back at her made her heart leap. She would enjoy carrying his child even if she were sick every day of her pregnancy.
“Yes, I want a lot of babies with you,” Rafe said as if he could read her mind. Ari’s heart was filled to overflowing, though she hadn’t imagined she could feel any happier than she had that very morning.
“Nothing would please me more, Rafe,” she said, smiling at him as he crossed the room and sat back down next to her, pulling her tightly against his chest.
“Sorry I keep snapping. It’s not at you, I promise. It’s just that I have always felt the need to protect my sisters, even when they don’t need or want protecting. I hate that Rachel is going through this alone, or that she feels that she is alone in her decisions, and I hate that I can’t be there to take care of her.”
“She knows how much you love her, Rafe, and that is what will help her to get through it. She’s frightened, but if you stand by her side, accept that she made a mistake, not dwell on it, and be her big brother, not another parent, she will trust you and lean on you. She’ll gladly let you help take care of her,” Ari said, hoping he would get it.
Rafe paused for several moments as he absorbed her words, let them sink in.
“How did I make it through life without you, Ari? How do you put up with me? I shouldn’t question you, because then you might come to your senses and walk away from me again, but I am just so surprised that I not only found you, but also managed to hold on to you,” he said, his lips turned up in a crooked smile.
“We both have our faults, but I think that, overall, we make each other better people. I love you,” she said in answer. “And in our case, love was enough to conquer all that stood in its path.”
“I wish Rachel had just trusted me,” Rafe said.
“If you want your sister to trust you the next time, then you have to be understanding and not berate her for something she already feels terrible about.”
“I wouldn’t do that!” he insisted.
Ari just lifted an eyebrow, and waited.
“OK, I might have given a small lecture,” he admitted.
Ari knew she wouldn’t get him to confess much more than that. She gave him a hug and was glad that he was at least willing to listen to her. They would be able to help Rachel, but if he went in there in all his furious glory, it would only make the situation worse.
“Let’s try and get ahold of Rachel before we just jet over there. Maybe she wants to be with Adriane,” Ari said. She knew she should try to be the voice of reason.
“I need to see her, Ari. What if she tells me that she’s fine while we’re on the phone, but that’s because a sword is being held to her throat? I need for her to tell me in person that she is where she wants to be,” Rafe insisted.
“A sword, Rafe? Such melodrama! Adriane is a modern European king, you know, and he does have the civilized world to answer to. I do understand your feelings, however, and I’m sure Rachel is very glad to have such a loyal big brother, but I really think you ought to give this a little bit of time.”
Rafe held her close as he struggled with what he wanted to do and with what Ari was asking of him. He couldn’t just sit idly by — it went against everything he stood for.
“Ari…” he said, forcing down the man inside who wanted to come out, the man who would just do whatever he wanted to do.
“All I’m asking is that you give her a little time — a week. That’s not much, is it?”
He froze in her arms. He couldn’t do this. No way. If he went against Ari, though, he feared she would think he hadn’t changed at all.
To go or not to go. That was the decision he needed to make quickly.
Chapter Five
“Stop squirming,” Shane said as he walked into a private room, setting Lia down on her feet. She glared at him and quickly backed away. He followed, placing his arm around her and pulling her to him.
Lia twisted to escape his grasp, not appreciating his boldness, and really not liking her body’s reaction to being close to him. How was she supposed to get over her feelings toward him when he didn’t give her room to breathe?
“I leave in two hours. We have to talk,” he whispered in her ear, causing her body to shiver — and she hated him for making her betray herself.
“We’ve done all the talking I’m willing to do for now, so you can just scurry on out of here,” she said, tugging against his hold.
“I can never seem to find the right words to say to you,” Shane said. He set her free, but he refused to back too far away.
He had to go soon and didn’t know when he’d get back. But he couldn’t leave with Lia upset with him; his mind wouldn’t be with his team, and he needed to be there with them, not half there and half here with Lia.
“Try goodbye, Shane. I have been a fool to love you so much. How can I love a man who I don’t even know?” she asked, hurt heavy in her voice as she gazed up at him.
“Lia, I was going to tell you all that I could, but there never seemed to be the right time,” he told her, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
Life was so much easier when he didn’t have to think about what he could and couldn’t talk about. He wanted to make a relationship with her work, but how could he when all he was allowed to share with her was a small piece of himself?
“That seems to be something you say to me all the time, Shane. I was going to tell you this or that. I
wanted to, but I couldn’t. This is the theme of our relationship. I open my heart to you, trust you, and then you betray me. I can’t keep doing this. You’re just about out the door — heck, out of the country — and there is no way that I’m even close to letting this go. You’re going to have to give me some time, some real time to think about what I want to do. All I know right now is that I feel betrayed, and even worse, I feel that I can’t trust you, that I don’t know you. I thought I did, but then I keep finding out more secrets you’ve kept from me.”
The anguish in her voice ripped through him.
“I don’t know how to make this better,” he said, inching back toward her.
“Don’t touch me, Shane. I mean it. Yes, you can make me melt at your touch, but is that what you really want? Do you want a piece of my body when it will only make me hate you afterward? Because I will despise you for making me want you. I will forever block you out, just like you’ve been blocking me,” she warned him as she retreated.
“Damn it! I don’t know what you want!” His frustration was clear, as was the agony running through him.
“Just go, Shane. Go and give me time. You’ve betrayed me, and that doesn’t disappear in a day or even a week.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to earn your trust,” he said.
“Yes, I did, Shane. We had five days on that island. You shared your past with me. I didn’t turn from you, I didn’t treat you any differently. When we were there, you could have told me everything, trusted me with your life. Then, after we got back, you had ample opportunity to tell me. No. I find out a couple days before you leave. And not only that, I find out that my brother once again knows so much more about you. I understand your not telling me before we were a couple, but it just isn’t OK for you to keep shutting me out now, making me feel less than my own brother. I have loved you for so long that I can’t remember a time I haven’t. You keep proving to me over and over again that you don’t feel the same. It’s crushing,” she said, fighting the closing of her throat as she wrestled to turn off her emotions.