by Emily Forbes
‘I don’t know where he is.’ The realisation felt like a physical blow, knocking the air from her lungs and squeezing her heart in her chest.
‘I’m right here.’
She spun around, thinking she must have imagined his voice, and saw Cam standing behind her.
‘Cam!’
She stepped into his arms, reacting on instinct, without hesitation. ‘I rang your hotel. They told me you had checked out. I thought you had gone.’
His arms enclosed her, and she was only vaguely aware of her parents leaving the patio, leaving her alone with Cam.
‘I couldn’t leave,’ he told her. ‘Not without you. Last night I had to respect the fact that you had a duty as a hostess. I wasn’t about to create drama but, until you are officially engaged to someone else, I’m not prepared to accept that what we had is over. I spent the night figuring out what to do, figuring out where we go from here, and now I need to speak to you.’ He took her hand and led her back to the same seat where they had sat last night.
He sat down and pulled her into his lap. ‘I should never have let you go but I didn’t feel I was right for you. I didn’t think I had anything to offer you. I was angry and sad at the same time and riddled with guilt. I was scarred. Although my physical wounds had healed, I still bore my emotional ones. I felt broken, cracked open, exposed and vulnerable but when I was with you I felt myself healing. You were a balm to my soul, and you showed me a path to a future where I thought I could be happy again, but I wasn’t sure if I could make you happy. And I didn’t think I could compete with your duty as a royal. But then I realised I didn’t want to compete. I love you and I want to support you. If you’ll have me. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want you to marry someone else. I want you to marry me.’
She had wanted him to fight for her. To come for her.
And he had.
‘You want to marry me?’
‘Yes. And I’m not leaving without you.’
‘What if I can’t leave?’
‘Well, then, I’ll figure out a way to stay here. I have always liked to make plans, but I stopped after Gemma died. When I met you I started thinking ahead again, planning a future, not knowing you were a princess, not knowing you had a duty to Prince and country. I didn’t think I could compete against that. I thought I would lose you to your duty, just like I had lost Gemma, and I figured there was nothing I could do. But this time I can do something. And I am going to fight for what I want. And what I want is you. If there is any way to make this work, I will do it. I was never the type of person who gave up and I am not prepared to give up on us. I haven’t lost you yet. There’s still a chance. But that is up to you.’
He reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. She hadn’t even realised she was crying. But they were happy tears. He hadn’t left without her. He loved her.
‘I understand you have a duty as a princess,’ he said, ‘and I can live with that. I’m not asking you to give that up for me, but I’m not prepared to lose you to another man.’
‘Do you think you could live here? In Berggrun.’
‘I have no idea,’ he said with a smile. ‘I haven’t seen anything of it yet except for a palace and a hotel room. Will you show me around?’
‘Yes—’ she smiled in return ‘—I would love to.’
‘I’m glad. But first there is something else I need to ask you.’ He lifted her off his lap and put her on the seat. He got down on one knee. ‘I didn’t think I had anything to offer you, but I can offer you my love. Viktoria, I love you. Will you marry me?’
Her smile stretched even wider as she reached for his hands. ‘You have plenty to offer me,’ she said. ‘You are also kind, loyal, intelligent and the sexiest man I have ever met, and I love you. I want to be more than a princess. I want to be your wife and, yes, I will marry you.’
It seemed that fairy tale endings were real after all, she thought as he kissed her.
Coming next month
THE VET’S SECRET SON
Annie O’Neil
Lucas threw Ellie a confused look and caught a flare of guilt lance through her green eyes. She looked pale, her hands shaking as she feebly tried to wave away her white lie. He looked back at the little boy, registered his hair colour, his eye colour, the way they sloped a bit, like his mother’s…and his. Almond shaped, he called them. Sleepy sexy, Ellie had called them. He had the strangest feeling of déjà vu. As if he was looking at a photo of himself from when he had been a little boy.
He tried to estimate the little boy’s age and then, with the power of a lightning strike, he got it.
Maverick was his son.
His heart crashed against his ribcage with a ferocity he wouldn’t have believed possible.
One look at Ellie, eyes bright with a sheen of tears, and he knew he was right.
Trying his best not to frighten the boy, who quite clearly did not know Lucas was his father, he knelt down in front of him, took the paper and signed it, drawing in his signature pawprint at the end of the ‘s’ in Williams.
This was not the way he’d expected to meet his son. Not even close.
He felt Ellie’s eye boring into him throughout the short interlude.
When he looked up at her, she was shaking her head, No, no, no—don’t you dare tell him.
So what was he meant to do? Leave?
Not a chance.
Emotions assaulted him like knife wounds. Elation. Pride. Loss at having missed so many precious moments. His birth. His first word. His first tooth. Disbelief that Ellie had kept Maverick a secret all these years.
He knew things hadn’t ended with any sort of grace between them but hiding a child? His child? What the hell had she been thinking? This gorgeous little boy was his flesh and blood. More than any of their shared hopes and dreams, Ellie knew he’d wanted a family of his own. With her! But life had ripped that possibility away from him.
And now, thanks to her, he’d missed the first five years of his son’s life.
He forced his raging thoughts into a cage as he reminded himself, thanks to Ellie, he had a son. A beautiful, healthy, happy little boy. But at this moment? The gratitude ended there. She should have told him.
He rose and looked her straight in the eye. ‘You and I need to talk.
Continue reading
THE VET’S SECRET SON
Annie O’Neil
Available next month
Copyright © 2020 Annie O’Neil
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