Читать книгу The Mills & Boon Ultimate Christmas Collection - Мишель Смарт, Kate Hardy - Страница 121
ОглавлениеNATHANIEL’S HEART SHUDDERED to a halt.
His brain whirled and it took a few beats before he found his voice. ‘Catalina’s pregnant?’
Immediately his mind flew to those first glorious moments when he’d abandoned an adulthood of protection to enter her unsheathed.
What had he been thinking?
This could be a joke. A trap. It was no secret that Dominic hated him. Their mutual loathing had been a fixture of their lives since their schooldays.
‘Yes, you sick playboy. My “virgin” sister is pregnant and you’re the father.’
The way Dominic emphasised the word virgin made Nathaniel’s fingers itch to punch him. He restrained himself, sinking onto a sofa, hooking one ankle over his knee and folding his arms loosely across his chest in a pose he knew would infuriate the Prince far more than physical threats of violence.
‘What makes you think I’m the father?’
‘She’s admitted it. She sent one of her companions to get a pregnancy test for her. A different companion—one with more loyalty to the House of Fernandez—was suspicious and found the box hidden in her rooms. She informed me immediately.’
Every curse Nathaniel had ever learnt in every language he’d ever been taught flew through his mind.
‘Catalina took the test yesterday morning. Our personal physician did an additional test that also came back positive. Merry Christmas. My sister is pregnant and you’re the father.’
‘Where is she?’ He would not take Dominic’s word for anything, let alone something of such importance. ‘I want to see her.’
‘She’s at the palace. As you can imagine, the news quite ruined Christmas for us.’
‘My heart bleeds for you.’
Dominic gave a cruel smile. ‘Father and I have discussed the matter in great detail. Catalina can still have a future within the House of Fernandez but first we need to contain this situation. You will be required to marry her for a limited time to legitimise the child.’
Nathaniel laughed.
Was it possible he was locked in some alcohol-induced nightmare?
‘Oh, I’m being very serious.’ Dominic finally took a seat, spreading his legs out in a way meant to convey dominance. ‘You will marry her or you will find the title deeds to your development revoked and the building repossessed by the palace. The Ravensberg building will also be repossessed.’
‘Are you threatening me?’
Dominic paused before answering, clearly unnerved by Nathaniel’s placid tone. ‘I’m simply telling you of the consequences. I can have you removed from Monte Cleure at the snap of my fingers.’
‘I’m sure you can.’
A malevolent expression spread over the Prince’s face.
‘The stupidity of some people really does astound me.’ Nathaniel shook his head sadly. ‘To think someone would threaten to take away land legally bought and bring a halt to a development that will boost Monte Cleure’s economy exponentially... Why would someone make threats like that? If word was to get out that land legitimately purchased could be snatched away at the whim of a despot ruler, who would want to invest in such a place? Why would someone put their whole economy in peril?’
Dominic turned puce. ‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to confiscate your land and expel you from our country and to hell with the consequences. We would recover from any short-term financial hit. However, my father will not allow a bastard to be born into the House of Fernandez. Catalina has brought enough shame to our family in recent months...’
‘What, by ending her engagement to Helios?’ Nathaniel said scornfully, cutting him off. ‘Was she supposed to marry him knowing he loved someone else?’
‘We both know Helios ended it, whatever the world was told. If Catalina had done her duty and held his interest she would never have been dumped for a common whore and would now be Queen of Agon.’
How Nathaniel stopped himself from punching Dominic square in the face he would never know.
‘Your sister has spent her whole life doing her duty.’
‘Clearly not or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.’ Dominic straightened in his chair. ‘And it’s not just Helios—Father had found another suitor for her.’
‘The Swedish duke?’ He felt fleeting satisfaction at the way Dominic’s lips tightened with displeasure as he realised Nathaniel was privy to private palace information.
‘Yes. Another excellent prospect ruined. If the matter were left to me, Catalina would be cut off, but my father takes a slightly different view. He’s of the opinion she still adds value to our royal family and is prepared to give her one last chance to redeem herself. And that’s where you come in. Either you marry her or she will be cut off. She will be thrown out of the palace without a single cent to support her.’
Nathaniel shrugged. ‘Do it. I’ll support her and the baby.’
Now Dominic’s malevolence shone so brightly it almost glowed. ‘How? Catalina will be forbidden from leaving the country. Her passport will be revoked. She will be forbidden from opening a bank account. She will be homeless and penniless, and you will be deported and banned from re-entering Monte Cleure—orders will be issued for your immediate arrest if you set foot on our soil.’
‘You would do that to your sister?’ Nathaniel thought back to his own sister, who had died with their parents all those years ago. If she’d lived she would now be thirty-three. He didn’t remember her clearly but remembered the intensity of the sibling relationship. It sickened him that Dominic could be so evil towards his own flesh and blood.
A huge pang of guilt rent through him.
This was all his fault. He should have left Catalina alone. He’d taken advantage of her vulnerability at the wedding where she should have been the bride and not a mere guest. He could have left her alone but the opportunity to bed the one woman he’d thought would be unobtainable for ever had been impossible to resist. Even knowing of her virginity hadn’t deterred him in his pursuit.
But he hadn’t expected this consequence.
And Catalina...
She must be terrified.
No one can know. Those had been her whispered words as she’d let him into her room, before placing her fingers to her lips and pointing to the adjoining door that led to the room her chaperone—sorry, companion—had been sleeping in.
It had been like a game. A game with unimaginable consequences.
‘You forget who rules this land. This isn’t a democracy; my father’s word is law. There is nowhere to turn for appeal.’
‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’ Nathaniel held onto his veneer of calm by a whisker. ‘Is this revenge for Jenna?’
A twitch passed over Dominic’s face. ‘This has nothing to do with Jenna.’
‘I would hope not. It was nearly twenty years ago.’
‘And in another twenty years I will still hate you for it. Jenna was mine.’
‘What can I say?’ Nathaniel shrugged. ‘She threw herself at me.’
The all-girls’ sixth form college that shared their boarding school’s facilities had been invited to the Christmas party. Hormones had run rife.
They’d been caught semi-naked when Dominic had burst into the room. The house master had quickly arrived and broken up the fight before any real damage could be done. Both boys had been hauled before the headmaster. Dominic had been sent to bed. Nathaniel, whose family had neither titles nor power or even much money, had been expelled on the spot.
He’d been sent back to France and back into the care of his uncle and his uncle’s wife.
That night of hijinks and hormones had lit the fuse to a chain of events that continued to affect his life to this day.
It sickened him that that one incident had the potential to ruin Catalina’s life too.
‘You’ve always been an obnoxious, arrogant ba—’ Dominic seemed to remember they had an audience, glancing at his bodyguard who stood propped against the wall in the corner of the room.
His face as red as a tomato, Dominic continued, ‘This is not about Jenna or my sister. This is about the House of Fernandez.’
‘Catalina’s a loyal member of it.’
‘Not with a bastard in her belly she isn’t. Unless you marry her and legitimise the pregnancy, she will be nothing. She will be worth nothing.’
Nathaniel thought hard and quickly. Dominic’s demand that he marry Catalina came from his father, the King.
The threat to his business interests in Monte Cleure was bad enough but Catalina...
Her safety and the safety of the tiny cluster of cells in her womb were not things he could play a game of chance with. If she was carrying his baby...
‘Tell me what your future plans are for her,’ he demanded.
‘You and Catalina will be married long enough for the child to be born and the child’s legitimacy to be unquestioned. A year should do it. Then you will divorce and Catalina will publicly repent a hasty marriage with a worthless piece of scum. Your marriage won’t just legitimise the child it will legitimise her and allow us to find a suitable husband for her.’
‘You’ll marry her off again?’ He shook his head, incredulous that the King and his heir would go to such lengths. ‘She really is nothing but a possession to you.’
A smug look settled on Dominic’s face. ‘Catalina is in agreement with this. She knows her place and her position.’
Speaking through gritted teeth, Nathaniel said, ‘If I agree to this I want full rights to the child.’
‘You forget who is in control here.’
Nathaniel leaned forward and stared hard at the Prince. ‘I can walk out of this building and onto my jet and you’ll never see me again, and there is nothing you or your henchman can do about it.’
Dominic swallowed.
Nathaniel bit back a smile of contempt. For all his swagger and cruelty, the Prince was as hard as an overset blancmange. Inches shorter than him, Dominic had turned soft and flabby over the years. He would probably hit the twenty-stone mark before he hit the age of forty. His henchman was muscular and used to throwing his weight around but Nathaniel would bet his fortune the bodyguard wasn’t used to the fight being brought to him.
‘If Catalina confirms your claims then I will marry her, but only if my rights as a father are guaranteed and as long as you understand I will not spend one night under the roof of your palace.’
If she was pregnant—and he had no reason to think Dominic was lying; it was too fantastical for the Neanderthal to dream up—then he was going to be a father.
Now the whole of Dominic’s face contorted. ‘On that we are in agreement. You think we want scum like you living in the Royal Palace of Monte Cleure? While you two are married, Catalina will live with you. You can both consider it an additional punishment.’
Knowing that to spend another minute with Dominic would result in him smashing his fist into the Prince’s face, Nathaniel got to his feet. ‘Tell your father I will come to the palace this evening to discuss things... On second thought...’ He pulled out his phone and held it up. ‘I will tell him myself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bed to fall into. Please, see yourselves out.’
And with that, he headed off to his sleeping quarters, smiling grimly when he heard the front door slam shut.
The smile lasted seconds.
The pounding in his head seemed to have turned into a pneumatic drill.
* * *
Catalina sat in the private family drawing room, drumming her nails against the hardwood of the armchair and staring blankly at the walls. She’d been sitting there, as ordered by her father, for over two hours.
Her father’s anger at the situation, although less violent than her brother’s reaction, had been fearsome to behold. After twenty-five years of impeccable behaviour, the perfect daughter had blown the engagement he’d spent decades engineering. Then, having been found another suitable husband, she’d promptly added to the humiliation by getting pregnant by a notorious womanising commoner. Her apologies for the shame she’d brought on the family had fallen on deaf ears. She doubted he would ever forgive her.
‘You’ll have to marry him,’ he’d said coldly. ‘That’s the only way we’ll be able to mitigate the negative publicity of you getting pregnant like a common whore. And you will not refuse. You will marry that piece of garbage and legitimise the bastard growing in you.’
She’d stood there, taking the abuse, refusing to show any emotion but inside she’d screamed.
Her child was not a bastard. Her child was innocent.
And Nathaniel might be a womaniser but he wasn’t garbage. He’d worked for his fortune, not had it handed to him by an accident of birth.
The Christmas festivities had gone ahead as planned but the atmosphere had been toxic. She didn’t doubt the entire palace knew of her situation, most likely thanks to Marion, who’d spent Christmas dinner throwing her faux sympathetic glances. As if she didn’t know Marion, who thrived on secrets and intrigue and loved to spy, had been the one to tell her brother.
Catalina’s hopes that a good night’s sleep would soften her father’s attitude had been dispelled when he’d dispatched Lauren, his private secretary, to her rooms that afternoon. Lauren had informed her she was to dine alone with only Marion for company in the family room and then wait there until further notice.
Dominic had well and truly poisoned their father’s mind against her. It gave no satisfaction that it had taken twenty-five years for him to achieve this feat.
Marion’s spying and sneaking skills had come into their own. She’d abandoned her post for twenty minutes, returning to inform her that Nathaniel had arrived at the palace and was in a meeting with her father.
That had been an hour ago.
Her initial jolt of excitement had long since dissolved. Her nerves were balanced as if on a tightrope, the time dragging on so long it was a relief when Dominic finally entered the room.
‘Marion, leave us,’ he said without any preamble.
Catalina knew their cousin would hover by the door in the hope of catching wind of something juicy to spread around the palace.
‘He’s agreed to marry you,’ he said, standing over her with folded arms and a smug expression that didn’t quite hide the fury in his eyes.
She knew perfectly well that if her fate had been left to Dominic, she would have been banished in disgrace. If she’d got pregnant by anyone other than Nathaniel things would be a lot different. Dominic loathed Catalina, but Nathaniel was his nemesis.
‘You will marry in a fortnight. They’re finalising the details as we speak.’
She didn’t answer. Her involvement and consent were not relevant in this situation. Her consent was rarely required for any situation. All the same...
Her lungs expanded properly for the first time in two days. Nathaniel’s consent was not something she’d taken for granted. Nathaniel was a lone wolf with an aversion to relationships and not a man to be intimidated by anyone, not even a king. That he’d accepted responsibility and agreed to marry her...
Little whispers of excitement skittered over her skin, her heart thundering hard beneath her ribs.
She was going to marry Nathaniel.
Never in her wildest dreams had she allowed herself to imagine such a thing. In all the years she’d known him he’d been part of her social circle but somewhat apart, a commoner to be welcomed graciously but kept at arm’s length. He’d always been considered far beneath what her family expected of her.
Her entire life had been geared towards ensnaring one of the Kalliakis Princes, men equal to her station. That Nathaniel was the only man she’d ever found physically attractive had been something she’d hardly dared acknowledge to herself.
Making love to him had been beyond her wildest dreams.
Her veins heated just to think of his touch, and turned into a furnace as she finally allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to share a bed with him again.
‘The lawyers are on their way,’ Dominic continued, looking at his watch, oblivious to her private thoughts.
‘What are they coming for?’
‘To draw up the contract,’ he answered.
Oh, yes. The contract.
‘How did you get him to agree?’ She couldn’t hide the flicker of hope that he’d agreed without any coercion and, more than that, that he’d insisted their marriage be a real one.
She knew it was the most pathetic, flimsiest of hopes even before Dominic flashed her his cruel smile; the same smile he’d given when he’d told Catalina her pet dog had died. ‘Ah, pretty Catalina is imagining a marriage of fluffy clouds and pink icing. Although I hate to destroy your dreams, be in no doubt this is a business decision by Giroud—I told him he would be expelled from Monte Cleure and his business development confiscated unless he married you.’
The effect of his words was as if ice had been thrown at her.
‘So you did have to blackmail him.’
‘You thought he would want to marry you?’ He laughed. ‘He was only happy to agree once he’d been assured the marriage would only last a year.’
Before he could continue, a secretary appeared at the door, informing them Nathaniel had finished speaking with their father and was on his way to them.
Dominic cast Catalina his vindictive smile one last time. ‘He doesn’t want to marry you, pretty Catalina. He doesn’t care that you will remarry immediately after your marriage is dissolved. He has no interest in your baby. All he cares about are his business interests. You must think of it as a business arrangement too. Your end of the deal is to uphold the honour of the House of Fernandez.’
She held her brother’s gaze for long seconds before inclining her head sharply. ‘I will remember.’
‘Good. Now is your chance to begin your redemption.’ His gaze turned to the door. Catalina’s stomach performed a somersault to see Nathaniel stride in as if their private quarters were rooms he’d visited on many occasions.
‘Nice place you’ve got here,’ he said, looking around the luxurious living quarters with a distinctly mocking eye.
If she didn’t have so many contradictory emotions raging through her, Catalina would have found his irreverence funny. Gasps of appreciation were the usual response when people entered their private rooms for the first time.
Knots formed tight in her stomach as she gazed at the one man who had seen her naked. Her heart seemed to have gained a life of its own and the palms of her hands grew damp.
He didn’t look at her. His focus was on her brother, who he towered over. ‘You may leave us.’
If she hadn’t been trained from birth to never show inappropriate emotion, she might very well have given a hysterical laugh. The only person she had ever heard give an order to her brother was their father, who certainly didn’t use the lazy, almost dismissive tone Nathaniel had just used.
Dominic turned red. Very red. Catalina half expected steam to escape from his ears.
‘I wish to speak to your sister alone,’ Nathaniel said when Dominic made no attempt to leave. ‘We cannot speak freely without privacy.’
‘You can have five minutes.’
‘Ten.’
To her amazement, Dominic pursed his lips together and stormed out of the room.
Gripping tightly to the armrest, she tried to adopt the serene, half-vacant look that had served her so well throughout her life.
Green eyes fixed on her, Nathaniel sat on the uncomfortable armchair opposite. His irreverence had left the room with her brother. All she saw was cool contemplation, although it gave her fleeting gratification to judge that he looked like a man with a serious hangover.
‘So it is true. You are pregnant.’ He spoke quietly, unwittingly repeating the words her brother had used the day before.
Had it really only been yesterday? They had to count as the longest few days of her life, and it wasn’t over yet.
‘Can you tell?’
He gave a quick, rueful smile. ‘There is something different about you. If I didn’t know you were expecting I would assume you were ill.’ He blinked a couple of times and refocused on her. ‘Are you ill?’
‘Not particularly. A little sickness, that’s all.’
‘Is that why you missed Helios and Amy’s Coronation?’
‘I thought I had a stomach bug.’
He rocked his head forward and grimaced. ‘When is the baby due?’
‘The doctor thinks the end of August. A scan will determine it with more certainty.’
‘And you are happy to marry me?’
‘My happiness is irrelevant,’ she answered coolly. ‘Besides, it will only be for a year.’
‘And you are in agreement with your father’s plan for you to remarry once we’ve divorced?’
‘I will accept whatever is good for my family and the House of Fernandez.’
Nathaniel studied her carefully, looking for a chink in the elegantly worn armour. There was nothing to be found. The passionate woman who’d come out of her shell for one glorious night had gone. The Princess he had known from a distance for many years had returned, her mask back in place. This was a woman raised to do her duty and who fully believed in it too.
Whatever Catalina felt on a personal level about the pregnancy and their situation as a whole she was keeping to herself.
If he didn’t still have such vivid memories of the night they had created this mess he could believe she was a wind-up porcelain doll. But he knew there was so much more to her than this façade. He’d kissed her most intimate area and had felt the shudders that had taken her over. He could still feel her fingertips on his scalp.
He shook the memories away.
If this was the way she wanted to play things, then all to the good. This situation was beyond either of their control. Keeping things professional was the best way to proceed.
Resting his elbows on his thighs, he leaned forwards. For her part, Catalina, dressed in tight white trousers and a dusky pink silk blouse, was sitting straight with her legs gracefully crossed. Her thick raven hair had been tied into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. The last time he’d seen her it had been loose, falling almost to the base of her spine. He’d gathered it in his hands and buried his face in it...
As the day had gone on and the initial shock had dissolved with it, he’d come to the conclusion that, regardless of Dominic’s threats, marrying Catalina was the right thing to do. For a start, it would give him proper rights to their child. Meeting the King, Catalina’s father, had only confirmed these feelings.
The King was a formidable man whose only concern was the reputation of the House of Fernandez and as far as he was concerned this was an exercise in damage limitation. Nathaniel might be a hugely successful businessman with more money than he could ever spend, but the King ruled an entire country. Even with all the resources Nathaniel had at his disposal, the odds of him gaining any custody in this country without marriage would not be in his favour. Marrying Catalina guaranteed him cast-iron legal rights to their child.
‘When we part I will make it abundantly clear that you are blameless.’ That much he could do for her. ‘I will do everything in my power to ensure your reputation is not damaged. We can play our parting for all its worth so the whole world’s sympathy will be with you.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ she said with a tight smile. ‘But what about your reputation?’
He shrugged. ‘My personal reputation is already ruined. And I’m not a princess. Our marriage will be as quick and as painless as possible.’ Although not quick enough for his liking.
He’d known from the age of seven that he had to look after himself. A decade later he’d been cast aside by his only living relative and he’d been on his own ever since. He liked it that way. He didn’t have to worry about hurting people, or worry what effect his actions would have on someone else.
He liked being single and never stayed with a woman long enough for emotional ties to form.
His marriage to Catalina would be like a business relationship. He would not allow it to be anything more.
She gave a stiff nod. ‘I’m sorry you’re being forced into this.’
He shrugged again. ‘We both are.’
‘I will be doing my duty,’ she pointed out, ‘but I understand Dominic threatened to expel you from the country unless you agreed, and threatened to confiscate your development. That’s very different.’
‘Your brother made his position very clear, just as I made mine.’ As Nathaniel spoke he watched her closely. Judging by her demeanour, there was nothing to suggest Catalina had any knowledge of her father and brother’s threat to cut her and the baby off. It was better she didn’t know, he decided. It was too cruel and too personal a threat from her own flesh and blood, and not something that would ever come to fruition, not now that he’d agreed to the marriage. Catalina and their baby would be safe.
A glimmer of a smile played on her pretty lips but the hint of sadness surrounding it negated any humour. ‘My brother takes his role as heir and protector of the House of Fernandez very seriously.’
He cleared his throat, biting back the retort on his lips. Whatever his personal feelings towards Dominic, he was her brother and her loyalty would lie with him. ‘Getting back to the business at hand, I want to be clear that you’re in agreement to everything your father’s demanding.’
‘Yes. I am in agreement.’
‘Then it is done.’ He got to his feet. ‘I need to make a move.’
Her remarkable chocolate eyes were fixed on him. ‘Already?’
He didn’t like the tinge of disappointment in her voice. ‘I have somewhere to be.’
Dominic chose that moment to come barrelling into the room. ‘You’ve had your ten minutes.’
Nathaniel noticed the way Catalina withdrew into herself at Dominic’s return, how her lips tightened in the most subtle of fashions.
He remembered the malice on Dominic’s face when he’d threatened to make Catalina homeless and penniless. The Prince was the least deserving person of his title he could think of.
‘This really is my cue to leave.’ He had no wish to spend another minute in the palace. This family room was as plush as anywhere he’d been, lavishly adorned with antique furniture and portraits dating back centuries. But there was nothing homely about it, not even with the enormous Christmas tree sitting in the corner. This room, as with the rest of the sprawling stone palace, was cold.
‘Father will be hosting a select party for you two on Saturday,’ Dominic said. ‘My people have made contact with La Belle magazine—’
Nathaniel cut him off before he could speak any further. ‘Tell your father he’s welcome to host a party but I will not be there and I will not be speaking with any magazine.’
‘He has already—’
‘Let me make this very clear—I will not be a part of the House of Fernandez circus. I will marry your sister to legitimise our child and formalise my legal rights to it, but that is the end of my obligation. I don’t want a title or anything else from your family.’ He nodded at Catalina, who appeared to be frozen in her seat. ‘I’ll see you at the wedding.’
