Читать книгу Claimed: Secret Royal Son - Marion Lennox, Marion Lennox - Страница 6

‘I, ALEXANDROS KOSTANTINOS MYKONIS, do swear to govern the peoples of the United Isles of Diamas—the Diamond Isles—on behalf of my infant cousin Michales, until such time as he reaches twenty-five years of age.’

Alex’s black uniform was slashed with inserts of crimson and richly adorned with braid, tassels and medals. A lethal-looking sword hung by his side, its golden grip emblazoned with the royal coat of arms. His snug black-as-night trousers looked sexy-as-hell, and his leather boots were so shiny a girl could see her face in them.

If she got close enough. As once she’d been close.

Lily could barely see Alex’s face from where she watched in the further-most corner of the cathedral, but she knew every inch of his hawk-like features. His brown-black eyes were sometimes creased with laughter, yet sometimes seemed so severe she’d think he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

It had been wonderful to make him smile. He’d made her smile, too.

He’d melted her heart—or she thought he had. Love was all about trust, and trust was stupid. She’d learned that now, but what a way to learn.

She watched on, numbed by the day’s events. Shocked. Bewildered. Trying desperately to focus on what was happening.

The ring, the glove, the royal stole, the rod with the dove, were bestowed on Alex with gravity, and with gravity he accepted them. This coronation ceremony was as it had been for generations. Alex looked calm, assured and regal.

The last time she’d seen him he’d been in her bed, leaning over her in the aftermath of loving. His eyes had been wicked with laughter. His jeans and shirt had been crumpled on the floor.

Alexandros Mykonis. Successful landscape architect, internationally acclaimed. Her one-time lover.

The new Prince Regent of the Diamond Isles.

The father of her baby.

‘Doesn’t he look fabulous?’ The woman sitting next to her—a reporter, according to the press pass round her neck—was sighing mistily as Alex knelt to receive the blessing.

‘He does,’ Lily whispered back.

They watched on. He was well worth watching.

The blessing over, Alex rose and proceeded to sign the royal deeds of office. Trumpeters, organist and choir filled the church with triumphant chorus, but there was room within the music’s shadow for talk.

‘There’s not a single woman here who doesn’t think he’s hot,’ the reporter whispered.

Lily hesitated. She should keep quiet, but she was here with a purpose. If she were to get her baby back she needed all the information she could gather. ‘It’s a wonder he’s not married,’ she ventured.

‘He’s not the marrying kind,’ the reporter told her, sighing again with the waste of it. ‘Though not for want of interest. There’s always been some woman or other. My guess is he’s disillusioned. His father, King Giorgos’s brother, disobeyed royal orders and married for love, but the marriage caused nothing but grief.’

‘Why?’ she asked, but before the reporter could answer they were distracted.

The Archbishop, magnificent in his gold and white ecclesiastical gowns, had handed newly signed documents to an elderly priest.

The priest, a bit doddery and clearly nervous, took the documents with fumbling fingers—and dropped them.

‘That’s Father Antonio,’ the reporter whispered as the old priest stared down at the scattered papers in dismay. ‘He’s been the island’s priest for as long as I can remember. The Archbishop didn’t want him to be part of this ceremony, but Prince Alexandros insisted.’

The old priest was on his knees, trying to gather the scattered documents, clearly distressed. Instead of helping, the Archbishop looked on with distaste. Following his lead, the other officials did nothing.

It was Alex who came to his rescue. As if this pomp and ceremony was an everyday occurrence, he stooped to help gather the papers, then helped the old man to his feet.

Then, as the old priest’s face worked, trying desperately to contain his distress at his clumsiness, Alex set his hands on his shoulders and he kissed him. Once on each cheek, in the age-old way of the men of this island.

It was a gesture of affection and of respect.

It was a gesture to restore dignity.

‘Thank you, Father,’ Alex said simply, his deep voice resonating throughout the church. ‘You’ve looked after the islanders well during my whole life. You baptised me, you buried my parents, and now you do me honour by being here. You have my gratitude.’

He smiled, and almost every woman in the cathedral sighed and smiled in unison.

‘See, that’s why the islanders love him,’ the reporter whispered, smiling mistily herself. ‘That’s why the islanders would have loved him to take the throne himself. If only this baby hadn’t been born. Who’d have expected the old King to get himself a son at his age? He only did it to block Alex from the succession. His marriage to Mia was a farce.’

But Lily was no longer listening. That smile…that gentleness…

She’d forgotten, she thought, blinking back involuntary tears. She’d forgotten why she’d lost her heart.

She was being dumb. Emotional. She needed to gather information and move on. She needed to stay detached.

Impossible, but she had to try.

‘What happened with his parents’ marriage?’ she managed.

The reporter was gazing adoringly at Alex but she was still willing to talk, and she hadn’t lost the thread of their conversation.

‘Horrid story,’ she said absently. ‘Alex was their only child. Because his father was Giorgos’s brother and Giorgos was childless, until this baby was born Alex was heir to his uncle’s throne. When Alex was five his father drowned, and Giorgos banished his mother from the island. But because Alex was his heir, he kept him. He didn’t care for him, though. Alex was brought up in isolation at the castle. When he was fifteen rumour has it that he stood up to his uncle—I have no idea what he threatened him with but it worked. His mother was allowed back. She and Alex went to live in their old home but she died soon after. They say Alex hated his uncle for it—they say he hated everything to do with royalty. But now he’s stuck, minding the throne for this baby but with no real power himself.’

Suddenly the reporter’s focus was distracted. Some angle of light—something—had redirected her attention to Lily. A glance become a stare. ‘Do I know you?’ she demanded. ‘You look familiar.’

Uh-oh. She shouldn’t have talked. Not here, not at such close quarters where she could be studied. ‘I don’t think so.’ She tugged her scarf further down over her tight-cropped curls and pretended to be absorbed in the proceedings again.

‘I’m sure I know you.’ The girl was still staring.

‘You don’t,’ she said bluntly. ‘I only arrived this morning.’ To shock, to heartache and to confusion.

‘You’re a relative? A friend? An official?’ The girl was looking at her clothes. They were hardly suitable for such an event. She’d done her best, but her best was shabby. She’d gone for a plain and simple black skirt and jacket, a bit loose now on her too-thin frame. Her only indulgence was her scarf. It was tie-dyed silk, like a Monet landscape, a lovely confection of rose and blue and palest lemon.

She knew she didn’t fit in with these glamorous people from all around the world. How anyone could link her with her older sister…

‘You look like the Queen,’ the girl said, and it took all her control to stop herself flinching.

‘I’m sure I don’t.’

‘You’re not related?’

She made herself smile. ‘How could you think that?’ she managed. ‘Queen Mia is so glamorous.’

‘But she’s abandoned her baby,’ the reporter whispered, distracted from Alex’s romantic background and filled with indignation for a more recent scandal. ‘Can you imagine? The King dies and Mia walks away with one of the world’s richest men. Leaving her baby.’

Her baby. Her baby!

But still the girl was staring. She had to deflect the attention somehow. ‘I’m here in an official capacity,’ she told the reporter bluntly, in a voice that said no more questions.

She fingered the gilt invitation in her jacket pocket. When she’d arrived—in those first few dreadful minutes when she’d realised what Mia had done—she’d half expected to be turned away. But Mia had invited her and apparently she was still on the official guest list. Alex had probably long forgotten her existence. Her papers were in order. Her invitation was real. There was no problem.

Ha! There were problems everywhere. Where to go from here?

A trumpet was sounding alone now, a glorious blaze of sound that had the congregation on their feet, applauding the new Prince Regent. Prince Alexandros of the Diamond Isles swept down the aisle, looking every inch a monarch, every inch a royal. Looking worlds away from the Alex she’d fallen in love with.

He was smiling, glancing from side to side as he passed, making eye contact with everyone.

He’d be a much better ruler than the old King, Lily thought, feeling dazed. He’d be a man of the people. Others were clapping and so did she.

His gaze swept past her—and stopped. There was a flicker of recognition.

His smile faded.

She closed her eyes.

When she opened them he’d passed, but once again the reporter looked at her, her face alive with curiosity.

‘He knew you,’ she breathed.

‘I’ve met him…once.’

‘Excuse me, but he looked like he hated you,’ the girl said.

‘Well, that would be a nonsense,’ Lily managed. ‘He hardly knows me and I hardly know him. Now, if you’ll excuse me…’

She turned her back on the girl and joined the slow procession out into the morning sunshine. Only she knew how hard it was to walk. Only she knew her knees had turned to jelly.

She was here for her baby, but all she wanted was to run.

What the hell was she doing here?

Alex shook one hand after another, so many hands his arms ached. His smile stayed pinned in place by sheer willpower. Would this day never end?

And what was Lily doing here?

He’d met her once, for two days only. For a short, sweet time he’d thought it could be different. It could be…something. But then she’d left without goodbyes, slipping away in the pre-dawn light and catching the ferry to Athens before he’d woken.

It hadn’t stopped him looking for her—up and down the Eastern seaboard of the United States, searching for the sister of the Queen, who he’d been told was a boat-builder.

He hardly believed the boat-builder bit. When he’d asked Mia she’d simply shrugged. ‘My parents separated. I went with my mother, but Lily chose to stay with my father, so I’ve barely seen her since childhood. Her whereabouts and what she does is therefore not my concern. I don’t see why it should be yours.’

Undeterred, he’d kept searching. He’d finally found her employer—an elderly Greek boatbuilder based in Maine, who’d eyed him up and down and decided to be honest.

‘Yes, I employ Lily, but she won’t thank me for admitting she’s the Queen’s sister. No one here knows the connection except my family. And, as for telling you where she is…In honesty, my friend, I don’t know. She left here a month ago, pleading ill health. She gets headaches—bad ones—and they’re getting worse. We told her to take a break, get healthy and come back to us. My wife is worried about her. We’re keeping her apartment over our yard because we value her, but for now…she’s gone and we don’t know where.’

So he’d been left—again—with the searing sense of loss that was grief. He’d lost his father when he was five and the old King had torn him from his mother. When finally he’d been old enough to make choices for himself, he’d been reunited with his mother, only to have her die as well.

He’d been gutted. The old King’s cruelty cut deep. He’d sworn at his mother’s graveside not to get attached again. He’d sworn to have as little as possible to do with royalty.

But somehow the Queen’s sister had slipped under his defences.

While they’d made love…while they’d talked and laughed into the night…while he’d held her close and listened to her heartbeat…while he’d felt the wonder of their bodies merging as if they were one…it had seemed then as if she was falling for him as hard as he was falling for her. But in the end, for Lily, it must have been a mere onenight stand. Like her sister, was she just after scalps?

The memory of his useless vow had slammed back, mocking him.

Then she’d phoned.

He’d been back in Manhattan, getting on with his life. It had been mid-morning. He’d just fielded a stressful call. He’d still been feeling irritated that Lily so obviously hadn’t wanted to be found. He’d been caught off guard and he’d made a stupid joke.

Okay, it had been the wrong thing to joke about. It had been crude, but she hadn’t given him a chance to apologise. She’d cut the connection. That had been that.

He’d never wanted to fall for her in the first place. Dammit, he did not want to get emotionally involved, especially with someone connected to Mia.

Somehow she’d breached his defences, but that was a mistake. His defences had to get stronger.

So now, for her to turn up here, today…

He was doing all the right things, saying the right things, moving through the crowd with practised ease, but all the time he was looking out for her. A woman dressed in a drab black suit with a crazy scarf…

‘Hey, Alex, look at you.’ It was Nikos, and Stefanos was right behind him. As a kid, these two had been his best friends. Stefanos was from Khryseis, Nikos was from Argyros.

‘When we grow up we’ll rule the islands together,’ they’d declared. Even as teenagers, they’d dreamed.

Once upon a time the Diamond Isles had been ruled as three principalities; Sappheiros, Khryseis and Argyros—the Isles of Sapphire, Gold and Silver. Then, two hundred years back, the Crown Prince of Sappheiros had invaded his neighbours. He’d taken control and rewritten the constitution. For as long as he had a direct male heir, the islands would be ruled as one kingdom.

For generations, successive kings had bled the islands dry. Finally came Giorgos, a weak excuse for a monarch. He also had no interest in women, and for years it appeared he’d be the last of the direct line. The islanders had held their collective breath.

Alex and Nikos and Stefanos had held their breath.

Alex had stood to inherit the crown of Sappheiros—as Giorgos’s nephew and legitimate heir. Stefanos stood one step back from inheriting the Isle of Khryseis, and Nikos might as well be ruler of Argyros. They were strong men with a common purpose. When the old King died, when the islands reverted to being independent nations, they’d rebuild their economies, they’d stop the siphoning of wealth to the royals and they’d form democracies.

But then, stunningly, Giorgos had married Mia, a woman forty years his junior—and Mia had produced a son. The old rule prevailed. As Giorgos’s nephew, Alex could rule, but only as Prince Regent until the baby came of age. The baby would be the next King.

So he was stuck, Alex thought, still watching for Lily, still distracted by his friends but never getting away from his overriding disgust at the way things had played out. He’d be playing father to the child of a man he’d loathed. He’d be playing Prince Regent to a country whose rule he despised, with no authority to change things. And his friends…Behind their smiles there was desperation. They hid it as they’d always hidden it. With humour and false bravado.

‘Hey, look at you!’ Stefanos exclaimed, clapping his hand on Alex’s shoulder. ‘One more tassel and you’ll be declared a Christmas tree.’

‘All you need is some fairy lights,’ Nikos agreed, laughing. ‘Hey…’

‘Mia’s sister’s here,’ he said before they could continue. ‘Lily.’

Their banter ceased. They were great friends, Alex thought. If this baby hadn’t been born, how much good could they have done?

These two had met Lily. They’d seen how he felt about her. Maybe his feelings were still showing in his face, but he couldn’t prevent them.

‘Why the hell…?’ Nikos demanded, looking round. ‘I can’t see her.’

‘She’s playing a drab country mouse—black skirt and jacket, and a scarf over her hair. I guess she thinks it’ll stop people recognising her.’

‘She has a nerve coming here,’ Stefanos said. ‘If the people knew…They’re aching to lynch Mia.’

‘Lily’s not Mia.’

‘I seem to remember she wound you round her little finger,’ Nikos said, still smiling, but his eyes were watchful and tinged with sympathy.

‘Yeah, I fell hard,’ Alex said, trying to make his voice light. ‘I was conned, as Giorgos was conned.’

‘Hey, Mia didn’t con him. She married him and she bore his child.’

‘She married for power and position.’

‘And you fell for the sister.’

‘It was little more than a one-night stand. Why the hell’s she here?’

‘Ask her.’

‘I guess I must,’ he said heavily. ‘If Lily thinks she can still play at being part of the royal family…’

‘You’ll set her right?’ Stefanos asked.

‘Of course I will,’ Alex said heavily. ‘And then she’ll leave.’

A royal birth, a royal death and a baby abandoned by a royal mother…It had taken Lily most of the day to figure out exactly what had happened.

She’d listened. She’d asked discreet questions of other guests, and she was appalled. She knew enough now to realise the islanders were almost as appalled as she was. There was massive dissent. One more shock might well bring down the monarchy and, for some reason she hadn’t figured out, that’d be a disaster.

But it couldn’t matter, Lily thought bleakly as the day wore on and she sifted information. She wasn’t royal but she wanted the baby. She wanted her baby.

Finally she made her way to the nursery. She found it simply by asking for directions from a maid, sounding authoritative, then slipping quietly in without asking.

The nursery was empty, apart from its tiny prince.

Michales was sleeping. He was tucked on his side in his crib, rolled in a soft fuzz of blanket, sucking his thumb in sleep. He had a thatch of thick black curls, amazing for a baby so young. His long lashes fluttered over his tiny cheeks as he slept.

He was…beautiful.

He was hers.

Michales, named after her father, Michael. That was the only promise Mia had kept.

Over the last few weeks she’d wondered how she’d feel when she first saw him, but now, as she gazed at her sleeping son she knew what she felt. Anger? Betrayal? Yes, both of those, but overriding every thing…love. He was perfect, she thought in wonder as she gazed down at her sleeping baby.

Her son. Her baby. Michales.

‘What the hell are you doing?’

Alex’s voice made her jump. Everything about this man made her jump. He was like a panther, moving with stealth wherever he was least expected. She whirled and found him watching from the doorway, his face impassive.

Twelve months ago she’d found him irresistible. Drop dead gorgeous. Passionate. Even tender.

Now he just looked angry. Regally angry. So far from the Alex she remembered that she cringed.

‘I came…I came to see my sister,’ she managed.

‘As you see—Mia’s gone. Abandoning her baby. Abandoning everything to join a man so rich he can buy what she thinks she deserves. Are you saying you didn’t know?’

‘I didn’t.’ She fingered the invitation in her pocket, fighting for courage. The anger on Alex’s face was enough to frighten a braver woman than she was. ‘She asked me to come. She sent me an invitation. I arrived this morning to find her…’

‘Gone,’ he said bluntly. ‘With the son of a sheikh. Apparently she’d been planning it since her husband died. Maybe before. Who knows?’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘You’re sorry?’ He stared at her as if she were part of her sister. They looked alike, Lily thought numbly, and he wasn’t seeing her. He was seeing Mia, and the way he felt about her was dreadfully apparent.

There was a long drawn-out silence.

She forced her mind back to the first time she’d met him. He’d been here—reluctantly, she gathered—for the King’s celebration of forty years of rule. Not knowing the celebrations were underway, shocked by what the doctors were telling her, she’d been frightened enough to try and visit her sister. She’d been stupid enough to hope Mia would care.

Mia hadn’t even wanted to listen. ‘Lily, please, this is a very important evening. Everyone else is here to party. Here’s a dress. Enjoy yourself. I can’t listen to your problems tonight.’

So she’d sat numbly on the edge of the celebrations, trying not to stare into the chasm of her future. But then Alex had smiled at her and he’d asked her to dance.

And here was the result. Michales. Thought by the world to be Queen Mia’s child. Thought, therefore, to be the new King.

No, she thought numbly. Whatever Mia had told the islanders, it was a lie. The true heir was Alex—looking splendid, looking royal, playing his part with ease.

‘Have you talked to Mia?’ he demanded.

She shook her head. ‘That’s…that’s why I’m here. But I gather she’s left…’

‘A mess,’ he snapped. ‘This baby stands to inherit the throne. I’m left in the role of caretaker but I’ve no power. And here you come…You have no right to be here.’

‘I accepted an invitation. I have every right to be here.’ She met his gaze calmly, or as calmly as she could manage. Surface calm. Underneath she was jelly.

But somehow she had to break through his anger. She wasn’t her sister. He had to see that. ‘Alex, last time we met…’ she started but his look would have frozen braver souls than her.

‘Forget it,’ he snapped. ‘I don’t know what game you were playing…’

‘I wasn’t playing a game. I was…’

‘It doesn’t matter.’ His anger slashed the stillness. ‘What matters now is the future of these islands, and that’s nothing to do with you. There are bigger issues. The islanders are enraged. Giorgos and Mia have bled the place dry. I can do nothing to help and I’m stuck with this baby.’

I’m stuck with this baby…

She hadn’t known what power he had to hurt her until this moment. Something inside her died, right then.

He was Michales’s father. I’m stuck with this baby…

It didn’t matter. She had to get the baby away.

‘So…so what happens now?’ she whispered.

‘I try and figure a way out of this mess,’ he said wearily, as if repeating a tale he was tired of telling. ‘The easiest thing to do would be to walk away, but if I do the monarchy will crumble. That’d be a disaster. Giorgos has borrowed to the hilt and most of the island is forfeit if we default. As Prince Regent, I can try and get the economy on its feet. I can service those loans and try to get the land titles back.’

‘You can do that?’

‘I can try,’ he said grimly. ‘Do I have a choice?’

‘You’d rather be King,’ she said and received another flash of anger.

‘What do you think?’ he demanded. ‘I’d like to be King like Giorgos was King? Oh, I’d like his powers. If I was King or Crown Prince instead of Prince Regent, I could restructure the loans and sell royal assets overseas. Did you know Giorgos has properties in Paris, in New York, in London? All over the world. Sold, they’d be worth billions. They’d keep the islanders safe, but as Regent my hands are tied. And your presence helps nothing. Go home, Lily. I don’t need another problem.’

‘But what happens to Michales?’

‘He’ll be cared for. Please leave.’

Dear God…

How could she explain things to him when he looked at her as he did now? And would explanations help? If he knew the truth and still made her leave…

She daren’t risk it.

Confused, she gazed again at the sleeping baby. That this tiny bundle of perfection could be the result of loving this man…

There was no tenderness now. Alex’s voice was implacable. ‘Go away, Lily,’ he said again, his voice lowering to a growled threat. ‘With the way the islanders are feeling, if you show yourself outside these grounds you’ll be lucky to avoid being horsewhipped.’

‘I’m not to blame for what Mia’s done.’

‘You’re her sister. I have to think you know her better than we do.’

‘I hardly know her,’ she whispered, touching the soft baby cheek again. There were so many conflicting emotions playing here. ‘Alexandros…’

‘I don’t think you understand. There is no discussion. You need to leave.’ His face was stern. Impersonal.

The man she’d once thought she loved had disappeared.

But what was at stake here wasn’t a relationship. It couldn’t be. What was at stake was her baby. The passion she’d once felt for Alex had to be put aside. It was a memory only, she told herself. It had no basis in fact.

‘I want a say in how Michales is raised.’ Good, she thought. She’d said it. Maybe in time she’d even manage to tell him the truth. Only not now. Not today, when she felt weak and bereft and torn.

‘It’s up to your sister to agree to your access,’ Alexandros told her. ‘If she takes back the role of mother, then of course you can take on the role of aunt.’

‘I want more.’

‘You can’t have more. My people have been betrayed by what your sister has done.’

‘So they hate me?’

‘They don’t know you. But you look like her. So no, you can’t have access. Contact your sister instead. Drum some sense into her. Make her be a mother.’

‘And meanwhile…’ she swallowed ‘…will you be a father to Michales?’

‘Are you joking?’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘I didn’t like his father and I can’t abide his mother. I’ll make sure there are good people raising him, but he’s nothing to do with me.’

‘So he’ll be raised how you were raised?’

‘How the hell do you know how I was raised?’

‘You told me, Alex,’ she said flatly and he stared at her.

‘I must have,’ he conceded at last. ‘That one night…I hardly remember.’

It needed only that. A night that had changed her world, and he hardly remembered.

‘Look, what is this?’ he demanded. ‘Lily, we slept together but you left the next morning without even a goodbye. Why bring it up again now? I have to think you got what you wanted.’ He sighed again, looking weary of the whole business. Weary of her. ‘I’ll see you get reports of the baby’s progress—even though your sister says she doesn’t want anything to do with him. That’s all I can do.’

‘But he’s your…’

She couldn’t say it. A maid was standing in the doorway, looking anxious. Looking at Lily in recognition.

‘Your Highness, you’re wanted downstairs,’ the girl said to Alex, but she was still staring at Lily. ‘I remember you,’ she said. ‘You’re the Queen’s sister.’

‘I know I’m wanted,’ Alex said grimly. ‘I was just saying goodbye to Miss McLachlan.’

‘Are you leaving, miss?’ the girl asked, looking confused.

‘I suppose I am,’ Lily said, fighting back tears. ‘But…I need to spend some time with Michales. Just a little.’

‘Take as much time as you want,’ Alex agreed, his tone once again implacable. ‘Cradle him all night if you want. See if you can make up for his lack of mothering. But you’ll stay out of sight of my guests, and you’ll leave by tomorrow morning. Goodbye, Lily. Get off my island. You can return with your sister or not at all.’

And, without another word, he wheeled and walked out of the room, leaving her staring after him.

Feeling ill.

‘Did someone give you the letter?’ the maid asked tentatively across the silence.

‘Letter?’

‘The Queen…your sister left only yesterday.’ There was awe in the girl’s voice, as if she still couldn’t believe such scandal. ‘She told me you were expected.’ She crossed to the vast marble fireplace and lifted an envelope from the mantel. ‘I promised I’d give it to you. Oh, but, miss, what was she thinking? To abandon her baby…’

Lily closed her eyes, not even thinking how she could answer. When she opened them the girl was gone. Leaving her with the letter.

What have you done, Mia? she asked herself. Dear God, what a mess.

She flicked open the letter and made herself read. It was like Mia. Blunt, with no emotion.

Dear Lily,

I never wanted your baby. Giorgos was so desperate to stop Alexandros inheriting he decided to adopt a child and swear it was ours. He had it set up—bribing doctors—the works. Then, when you told me you were pregnant and too ill to care for the kid, it was like it was meant.

But now Giorgos is dead. I’m no dowager, Lily, asking for pin money from Alex for the rest of my life. Ben’s rich and fabulous and I’m going with him. Now your head’s been fixed, the baby will be safe with you.

Mia

Lily stared at the letter for so long her eyes blurred. The blurring was frightening all by itself. The last twelve months had been blurred and more blurred, and then completely blank.

That Alex could look at her as he had…

Once there’d been tenderness but, as he’d said, it had been one night of passion, and one night only. It had been a night of fantasy. Not real. Her baby was real.

She stared down into the cot and she felt her heart twist. After all the horror, the bleakness that had been her life thus far, this was reality. This tiny being.

She’d thought he was the result of loving.

He was. She thought that fiercely. Even though they’d only just met, she knew she’d loved his father when she’d conceived this child. Yes, she’d been half crazy with fear, but she’d also been in love.

Her baby would be loved.

What had Alex said? Take as much time as you want.

The door opened and the maid was there again. ‘If you please, miss,’ she said. ‘It’s time for the baby’s feed.’

‘He’s asleep.’

‘It’s four hours since he was last fed,’ the girl said primly. ‘We follow rules.’

‘I see,’ Lily said, swallowing a lump that felt the size of a golf ball. And then she thought, no. No and no and no.

‘You heard what Prince Alexandros said,’ she told the girl, her thoughts eddying and surging, then, like a whirlpool, finding a centre. Enabling her to pull herself together and fight for what she most wanted. ‘Prince Alex said I can take care of Michales until I leave,’ she said. ‘Can you bring me his formula—everything he needs until morning—and let us be?’

‘What—everything?’ the girl said, startled.

‘I mean everything.’

‘But…we have shifts. We change every eight hours. You can’t look after the baby yourself.’

‘Of course I can. A baby should have one carer.’

‘The rules…’

‘Can start tomorrow,’ Lily said flatly. ‘For today I’m his aunt and I’m caring for him. I’ll feed him and then I’ll take him for a walk in the grounds. I’ll sleep in here with him tonight. Can you let the rest of the staff know I don’t need their help until morning?’

‘They won’t be happy,’ the girl said, dubious.

‘Their job is to follow rules,’ Lily said softly and she gazed out of the window again, but this time she looked towards the sea, where her borrowed boat lay at anchor, gently rising and falling on the swell of the incoming tide.

Dared she?

How could she not?

This boat wasn’t big enough for the journey she had in mind. She’d need help. But then, maybe it was time she called in some favours. What had Mia said? Ben’s rich…

Her sister owed her big time. That debt was being called in, right now.

‘You heard Prince Alexandros,’ she said. ‘I need to leave. Tomorrow the nursery’s yours again, but for today…he’s mine.’

It was well into the small hours before Alex found his bed, but still he woke at dawn. He lay staring up at the ceiling, searching for answers.

Trying not to think about Lily.

Thinking about Lily was the way of madness. His life was complicated enough already. He had to find an escape.

There wasn’t one. He was locked into a monarchy so out of date that the country couldn’t go forward.

And Lily was here.

His head was full already without her. Hell, he had responsibilities everywhere. He was trapped.

But right now all he could think of was Lily. White-faced, big-eyed, thinner than when he’d last seen her. Flinching as he’d said he couldn’t remember their lovemaking.

Maybe he’d been too harsh. Telling her she had to leave.

He had no choice. The islanders were appalled at how her sister had behaved. Lily was, at least outwardly, a less groomed, less glitzy version of Mia. Her clothes were built for practicality rather than glamour, but the islanders would still see her sister in her. She wouldn’t be tolerated.

For years the islanders had dreamed that with Giorgos’s death they’d be able to purchase their homes, their olive groves, their right to moor their fishing boats without paying the exorbitant mooring rents they’d been charged for ever. But with the birth of Michales their hopes had been dashed. And now…For Giorgos to die and for his Queen to walk away leaving such a legacy…

He didn’t blame the islanders for their anger. Rebellion was very close but that’d be a disaster, too. He had to find some way through this mess.

To blame Lily wasn’t fair. He knew that. But then, he thought wryly, life wasn’t fair. He had no choice but to be here, and Lily had no choice but to leave.

Today.

A knock sounded on his door. He hated the servants intruding—in truth he hated the idea of servants—but he had to grow accustomed.

‘Yes?’

‘If you please, Your Highness…’ It was one of the nursery maids, wide-eyed and big with news.

‘Yes?’

‘The baby’s gone,’ she breathed. ‘I just put my head around the nursery door and he’s gone. And so has Miss Lily. The groundsmen say her boat’s no longer anchored in the cove. She’s taken our baby, sir. She’s taken the Crown Prince.’