by Cat Schield
“I’m glad you came,” he told her, as he drew close enough to speak. “I was beginning to worry that you wouldn’t.”
“I almost didn’t.” Her expression was rueful as she accepted the glass of wine he offered. “But I promised that I would.”
“Bethany and Karina will be very glad.”
Her gaze moved to where the twins were running with several children close to their age. “They look like they’re having fun.”
“All thanks to you. The party is fantastic.”
“Libby did most of the work.”
“But you are the one who came up with the concept and organized everything. You have quite a knack for party planning.”
“In London I was on committees for several charities. I’ve done several large events, including children’s parties. And speaking of children, I should probably say hello to Bethany and Karina. I won’t be able to stay at the party long.”
He inspected her face. Shadows beneath her eyes gave her the appearance of fragility. “Are you in pain?”
“Just tired.” Her wan smile held none of her former liveliness. “My strength is not coming back as quickly as I’d like and I’m not sleeping well.”
Gabriel tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led her on a slow, meandering journey toward the twins, extending the amount of his time in her company. The tension in her slim frame troubled him and Gabriel wished he could do something to bring back the happy, vital woman she’d been two weeks earlier. He’d never felt so helpless.
Before he could bring her to where the twins were holding court, his daughters saw them coming and ran over. As they threw their tiny arms around her, Olivia’s smile grew radiant. But there was sadness, as well. Sadness Gabriel knew he could banish if only she’d let him.
Hyped up on sweets and attention, the twins didn’t linger long. After they’d raced back toward the other children, Olivia sidestepped away from Gabriel.
“I’ve taken up enough of your time,” she said. “You have guests to attend to and I need to go.”
He caught her wrist, preventing her from departing. “You’re the only one I care about.”
“Please don’t,” she pleaded in a hoarse whisper. “This is already so hard.”
“And that’s my fault.” This wasn’t a discussion he wanted to have in the middle of his daughters’ birthday party, but he had to try one last time to reason with her. “Let me at least walk you out.”
She must have seen his determination because she nodded.
Instead of leading her around the palace, he drew her through the doors leading to the green salon where they could have a little privacy.
“I’m sorry I didn’t handle things better between us.”
When he stopped in the middle of the room and turned her to face him she sighed. Looking resigned, she met his gaze. “You handled everything the way a future king should. I was the one who was wrong. I should have told you about my past medical issues before you had a chance to propose.”
“What if I told you it wouldn’t have mattered?” Gabriel lifted her hand and placed her palm over his heart.
“Then I would have to insult the crown prince of Sherdana by telling him he’s a fool.” She tried to pull her hand free, but he’d trapped it beneath his. Her tone grew more impatient. “You need an heir. That’s something I can’t give you.”
“Unfortunate, yes. But that doesn’t change the fact that I chose you and I’d committed to building a life with you. I’m not ready to give that up.”
“That’s madness,” she exclaimed. “You have to. You must marry someone who can give you children.”
Gabriel scowled at her response. “That’s what the country needs me to do. But I’m not a country. I’m a man. A man who is tired of making everyone else’s priorities his own.”
“You don’t have a choice,” she whispered, blinking rapidly. “You are going to be king. You must do what’s right. And so must I.” With surprising strength, she wrenched her hand free and turned to flee.
“Olivia.” He started after her, but realized nothing he could say at that moment would persuade her to change her mind.
Releasing a string of curses, Gabriel pulled out his cell phone and dialed. When the call connected, he said, “She won’t budge.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Your Highness. The arrangements you asked for are complete and awaiting your arrival. Are you still planning on traveling the day after tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
With the upheaval of the past several weeks, this was probably not the best time for him to leave the country, but he’d let the impossible situation with Olivia go on too long. She’d been right to say he didn’t have a choice about his future. Fate had set him on a path and he needed to follow it to the end.
He found his parents together in the garden. They were strolling arm in arm, pausing here and there to greet their guests and enjoying the warm afternoon. He almost hated to spoil their peaceful moment.
“It was lovely of Olivia to come today,” his mother said.
“She wanted to wish Bethany and Karina a happy birthday.”
“You spent a lot of time with her.” The queen’s voice held a question.
Gabriel wondered how much his mother knew about his intentions. “It was her first social appearance since our engagement ended. I thought she could use the support.”
“Of course. What happened with her was tragic and we cannot be seen turning our backs on her.” Although the queen had spoken sympathetically about Olivia’s plight, her priorities were her family and the country. “But you must not encourage her.”
A bitter laugh escaped him. “She’s well aware that I need a wife who can have children. If you think anything different, you don’t appreciate her character.”
The queen gave Gabriel a hard look. “Of course.”
Gabriel shifted his gaze to his daughters. A trio of preteen girls were chasing the twins through the gardens. They laughed as they ran and Gabriel’s heart lightened at the sound.
“I wanted to let you know,” he began, returning his attention to his parents, “that in a couple days, I’m going out of town for a week or so.”
“Is this the best time?” his father asked, echoing what Gabriel had been thinking minutes earlier.
“Perhaps not, but I have the future to think about and Sherdana still needs a princess.”
The king frowned. “What about the state dinner for the Spanish ambassador?”
“Christian can take over while I’m gone.” Gabriel forced his shoulders to relax. “I’m not the only prince in this family, you know. It’s about time my brothers remembered that.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re ready to move forward,” his mother said. “Can you give us some hint of your plans?”
“I’d rather wait until everything is finalized before I say anything.”
“Very sensible,” his father said and Gabriel wondered if the king would feel that way if he had any idea where his son was going and why.
* * *
Two days after the twins’ birthday party, Olivia sat in an examination room, awaiting the doctor and fighting sadness. She was flying back to London in the morning. Back to her flat and her friends.
Her return would be far from triumphant. She’d been stripped of the ability to have children and because of that lost the man she loved. Thinking about the future only intensified her grief, so she’d spent the past few days finishing up the tasks she’d left undone such as the finalization of the menu for the hospital’s children’s wing gala taking place the following month and writing to cancel the invitations she’d accepted when she was still Gabriel’s fiancée.
After ten minutes of waiting, Dr. Warner entered the room and interrupted her thoughts. Olivia was glad he accepted her assurances that she wa
s getting along just fine in the wake of her hysterectomy and didn’t voice the concern hovering in his expression. If he’d encouraged her to talk about her emotional health she might have burst into tears.
“Everything looks good,” the doctor announced. “No reason you can’t travel whenever you want.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she said.
“Make sure you check in with your regular doctor within a week or two. He should be able to assist you with any side effects from your procedure and recommend a fertility specialist.”
“Fertility specialist?” she echoed. “I don’t understand. I can’t have children.”
“You can’t bear children,” the doctor agreed. “But your ovaries are intact. It might be possible to harvest your eggs and freeze them in case you decide to pursue motherhood in the future.”
“I could be a mother?” Olivia breathed, overcome by the possibility that something she’d longed for with all her heart could still come to pass.
“You’d need to find a surrogate,” the doctor said, his eyes twinkling. “And of course, you’d need a father, but it’s certainly a possibility.”
“I never imagined...” Her voice trailed off.
“Medical science is making miracles happen every day.”
The doctor left her alone to dress and Olivia went through the motions in a daze. Her first impulse was to call Gabriel and tell him her news. Then she imagined how that call would go.
Gabriel, I have great news, I might be able to be a mother, after all. It’s chancy and it will involve another woman carrying the baby, but it would be my egg.
Could a country as traditional as Sherdana accept a prince conceived in a test tube? And raised by a mother who hadn’t actually carried him inside her for nine months?
Could Gabriel?
When Olivia returned to her suite at the hotel, she couldn’t stop pacing as her mind spun through her options. Possible scenarios crowded her like desperate beggars in need of coin. Staring out the window at the river, she held her phone against her chest and searched for the courage she needed to dial Gabriel’s number and tell him that she loved him and find out if he was willing to take a risk with her.
The sun had set by the time she dialed. With her heart pounding against her ribs, she counted rings, her hope fading as the number grew larger. When his deep voice poured through the receiver, telling her he was unavailable and asking her to leave a message at the tone, she held her breath for five seconds, then disconnected the call. She really didn’t want to share her news with his voice mail.
Next, she tried Stewart. This time, she got through.
“I was trying to get ahold of Gabriel,” she told his private secretary. “Do you know if he’s in the palace?”
“No. He left two hours ago.”
“Do you know where he went?” A long pause followed her question. Olivia refused to be put off by Stewart’s reluctance. “It’s important that I speak with him.”
“I’m sorry, Lady Darcy. He has left the country.”
“Did he go to Italy?”
Stewart paused before replying. “All he would tell me is that he had something he needed to do that would impact the future generations of Alessandros.”
Olivia’s stomach plummeted as she pictured Count Verreos and his beautiful daughter from the twins’ birthday party and recalled the familiarity between her and Gabriel. Had they reached an understanding already? Was she Olivia’s replacement?
“Is there any way to reach him?” she asked, desperation growing as she suspected where Gabriel and gone and why.
“I’ve left him several messages that he hasn’t returned,” Stewart answered, sounding unhappy.
“How long was he planning to be gone?”
“A week to ten days. Before departing, he left instructions that you should be given use of the royal family plane. It will be available to take you back to England tomorrow.”
“That’s kind of him.” Although disappointed that Gabriel had at long last accepted their relationship was over, Olivia wasn’t deterred. “But when you speak with him, would you tell him I intend to stay in Sherdana until we can speak face-to-face.”
She hadn’t believed Gabriel when he’d insisted this wasn’t over between them. If only she’d known how right he was a couple days earlier.
After hanging up with Stewart, Olivia called her father and gave him the news that she was staying another week, but didn’t share the real reason. To her relief, he didn’t try to talk her into coming home immediately.
With nothing to do but wait, Olivia had an early dinner and took a walk in the private walled garden behind the hotel. Instead of enjoying the picturesque charm of the boxwood hedges and urns filled with cascades of bright flowers, Olivia grew more anxious with every step. What if Gabriel was proposing to Fabrizia Verreos at this very moment? A painful spasm in her chest forced Olivia to stop. Gasping for air, she sat down on a nearby stone bench and fought to normalize her breathing. She focused on the fat blossoms on the peach rosebush across the path from her. Closing her eyes would have allowed her mind to fill with images of another woman in Gabriel’s arms.
A vibration against her upper thigh provided a welcome distraction. Pulling out her cell phone Olivia saw Stewart was calling. Her pulse hitched as hope bloomed.
“Prince Gabriel called me a few minutes ago,” Stewart explained. “He is unable to return to Sherdana at the moment, but when I explained you intended to linger until he came home, he asked if you would fly to meet with him tomorrow.”
It was what she wanted, but based on her panic attack a moment earlier, she was thinking that perhaps Gabriel intended to tell her in person that he was moving on.
“Of course.” Afterward she could fly home.
“The plane will be waiting for you at ten. I’ll send a car to pick you up.”
“Thank you.”
Olivia hung up and continued her walk, plagued by worries.
What if she didn’t reach him before he proposed to Fabrizia? What if despite the passionate kiss he’d given her the day of the twins’ birthday he wasn’t willing to risk the unconventional method needed in order for them to conceive the next generation of Alessandros?
Pushing everything out of her mind that she couldn’t control, Olivia concentrated on what she was going to say to Gabriel about the change in her circumstances. By the time Olivia returned to her room, she’d rehearsed and discarded a dozen ways to convince Gabriel they could have children. In the end, she decided the best argument was to tell him she loved him. And she was grateful she only had to wait hours instead of days before she could speak the truth of her heart.
* * *
The next morning saw her staring out the window with blurry vision as the royal family’s private plane taxied down the runway. Plagued by uncertainty, she hadn’t slept but an hour or so. Lulled by the drone of the engines, she shut her eyes and didn’t realize she’d drifted off until the change in altitude woke her. Glancing at her watch, she saw that she’d been asleep for nearly two hours.
Stretching, she glanced out the window, expecting to see Italy’s lush green landscape, but what greeted her eyes was shimmering blue water. The plane touched down smoothly and rolled toward a series of private hangers.
“Where are we?” she asked the copilot as he lowered the steps that would allow her to disembark into the foreign landscape.
“Cephalonia,” the pilot answered, carrying her overnight bag down the steps to a waiting car. He handed her bag to the driver. “Greece.”
“Thank you,” she murmured to both men as she slid into the car’s backseat. Although why she was thanking them, she had no idea. If they were kidnapping her, this was the oddest way to go about it.
“Where are we going?” she questioned the driver as he navigated along a coast
al road cut into the mountainside with a stunning view of the sea.
“Fiskardo.”
Which told her absolutely nothing. The only thing she was certain of at this moment was that she was nowhere near Italy and Gabriel. What sort of trick had Stewart played on her? Was this some sort of plot to get her out of the way while Gabriel did his duty and secured himself a new fiancée?
If that was the case, Stewart better be the villain. If Gabriel had orchestrated this stunt, she was going to be even more heartbroken. Pulling out her phone, she dialed first Gabriel, then Stewart when the former still didn’t answer. She had no luck getting through.
As soon as she arrived at her destination, she would figure out her next step. If this was Stewart’s gambit, she would find another way to get in contact with Gabriel. Perhaps the queen would help.
With nothing to do for the moment, Olivia stared out the window as the car descended from the mountains and drove down into a seaside town. She’d never visited any of the Greek Ionian Islands before and acknowledged the scenery in this area was spectacular. At least Stewart had been kind enough to find a gorgeous place to squirrel her away. As the car navigated through town, she glimpsed the whitewashed houses with their flower-draped balconies and wondered if her final destination was one of the lovely hotels overlooking the harbor. Her spirits sank as they passed each one and came to a stop a short distance from the waterfront.
They were met by a handsome swarthy Greek in his midfifties who flashed blinding white teeth in a mischievous grin. Seeing his good humor restored her own. She followed him along the cement quay, lined with chartered sailboats, believing that there had to be a happy ending to all this adventuring.
“I am Thasos,” he said as he helped her onto a luxurious thirty-four-foot cruiser.
“Where are we going, Thasos?” she questioned, accepting the glass of wine offered, glad for it and the tray of Greek food that awaited her.
“Kioni.”
Another name that rang no bells. With a sigh, Olivia munched on bread, dolmas, cheese and olives while the boat sped out of the harbor. If she’d thought the water had appeared beautiful from the coast, it was nothing compared to the sparkling blue that surrounded her now. A short distance away, another island loomed, a great green hulk adorned with olive trees and cypress. Few houses dotted the mountainsides. She would have worried about being in such a remote area, but the bustle of the town they’d just left behind told her she hadn’t been brought to the ends of the earth.