Читать книгу The Rebel King - Melissa James - Страница 9

CHAPTER THREE

CHARLIE saw the instant distress in her eyes—the intense disappointment—before something clicked back into place, and the warm woman she’d been became the ‘Mona Lisa princess’ the tabloids called her: picture-perfect and smiling, comfortable in the public eye, if remote somehow. ‘What makes you assume I want to get out of this?’

He stared, wondering if someone as lovely as the princess could have only half her marbles. ‘It has to be obvious. Even a real-life princess must want the whole nine-yard cliché: the handsome prince, babies, a palace—and a happily-ever-after. It’s only by accident of birth I’m here. I’m a Sydney boy, a rough-mannered fireman. I don’t have class, I don’t do “for ever”—and I’m certainly not the guy who’d make your life easier. I’m not what you’d call easy-going.’

Her smile grew, but it wasn’t one he liked. It made him feel out of control, and that was a feeling with which he was neither familiar nor comfortable. ‘It seems I have at least six of those yards, Your Highness. A palace—’ she waved her hand around ‘—and, if we married, babies would be part of the deal, I’d assume.’

His heart darkened at the thought of it. Royal children with royal minders, who’d have to bow and scrape to His Majesty’s every whim? Not on his life. ‘Four-and-a-half yards aren’t enough for a woman like you.’

‘I hadn’t finished,’ she said softly. ‘In my opinion, I have a handsome prince, even if he’s a reluctant one.’ She broke the smugness with a bitten-lip grin, the woman in her peeping out for a moment, and he found himself responding in kind. ‘If I must marry, I’d rather have a firecracker than a dog rolling over on order. You have a mind of your own, ideals and dreams. I respect that.’

Damn. Much as he liked her words—she’d made it obvious she found him attractive, and liked both his temper and his independence—now he had to be blunt. ‘As tempting as you are, I don’t want to get married, princess. I could never become what you’d want in a prince. I couldn’t stand the constant intrusions into my life you endure from the press every day. It was bad enough after the fire a few months back, but if I had to handle it on a daily basis I’d end up hitting someone. Not very royal behaviour, is it?’

She shook her head, still smiling. ‘I noticed your discomfort with the press—it was obvious in every photo. But, rest assured, we’d help you to acclimatise to that sort of thing.’

His jaw clenched tighter. ‘I don’t want to acclimatise,’ he said baldly. ‘I can’t think of a single benefit in being here. I want to live my life without black-suited goons following me and cameras waiting for every stuff-up I make—and I will make them.’

Jazmine nodded, as if she’d expected him to say it. He found himself wondering what it would take to rattle her cage, to put a crack in her perfect composure. ‘You do realize that the only way you can go home is by repudiating your position, which likely means your sister will go home with you?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t see a problem with that. Lia likes her life at home.’

Her voice filled with gentle amusement. ‘Have you asked Lia what she wants, or are you taking it for granted you can make a decision of this calibre for her?’

He felt his jaw clench. ‘I know my sister. She’s happy living with Toby and me, running her business and teaching the kids.’ Well, happy enough now, he amended silently. After her failed attempt to enter the Australian Ballet on the heels of their parents’ death in a car crash, it had brought on her dance with death-dealing anorexia. If it hadn’t been for Toby’s complete devotion to her returning to health—staying at the clinic with her day and night around their firefighting training-schedule—she might not have made it. Toby wasn’t only the best friend he’d ever had, the brother he’d always wanted, he was the only person Lia trusted with her secrets.

Suddenly he wanted to hear Toby’s voice saying everything would be okay, he’d be there soon, though it was sure to be said in four-syllable words he favoured. ‘Lord of the Dictionary’ Toby might be, but he was the staunchest, truest friend he and Lia could ever have.

There hadn’t been any joking camaraderie or long words when they’d talked to him from the Consulate in Canberra. Toby’s silent reaction to their sudden disappearance ‘on family business’, unable to say when they’d be home, unable to call again—unable even to talk it through with him as a result of the officials listening in on every word—had been an almost more frightening reality than the jet they’d been about to board. He, Lia and Toby were family. None of the three of them had ever kept secrets from each other, as far as he knew.

Now he and Lia were secrets. Secrets of state. And he hadn’t felt this alone since his parents’ death.

‘You know what your sister wants without asking her. I see.’ The amusement lurking in Jazmine’s eyes grew to an outright twinkle. She was so pretty, with that sparkle lighting her up from within. He’d always had a thing about that rich-chestnut colour, and she had it in a double dose: her eyes and hair. No wonder she was known as the last single beautiful princess in Europe, feted and courted by all the noble bachelors within five-thousand kilometres.

I could be the one kissing her next. I could take her to bed in a matter of weeks…

And thinking about that, looking into that face, suddenly the whole prince-and-arranged-marriage gig didn’t seem so bad. The perks of unexpected royalty had never come in a more tempting package than Jazmine Marandis.

He dragged himself out of those thoughts before they turned dangerous. What had she been saying? Seeing something… ‘You see what?’ he demanded.

‘I see why you and my grandfather clash. You both believe you know what’s best for others without asking what they want. You’re more of a Marandis than you realize.’ Jazmine’s infuriating half-smile grew. ‘So you know she doesn’t want to be a princess, live in the palace, marry a young and handsome Grand Duke— Oh, and inherit the fifty million euros that is her inheritance and dowry from the duchy?’

Fifty million euros? Charlie felt a cold shiver run down his back. Good God. He hadn’t thought about the money; he’d been too furious to think. He’d concentrated on what he would lose, what he wanted.

What about Lia? Would she want the money, the lifestyle, the whole thing? What if she was attracted to the Grand Duke? Would Charlie ruin everything for her because he wanted to return to his life?

As if tapping into his thoughts, Jazmine asked conversationally, ‘Have you always made decisions for Lia? I hear she runs a successful ballet school. Do you decide what concerts she’ll do, check the accounts, or help her run it?’

‘Of course not,’ he snapped, hating that she was right. He had no right to decide for Lia. And he was really irritated that the snooty princess was holding all the cards. He knew nothing of this country, his new family or the laws. The only power he had was his independence. His ‘pig-headed pride’, as Lia put it.

He grinned suddenly, thinking of his sister as Princess Lia. Just as well his name wasn’t Luke, or this whole thing really would have been a farce.

But, much as he hated to admit it, the ‘Mona-Lisa princess’ sitting across from him was correct. The title suited her, he thought sourly, with her intriguing, frustrating little smile, and eyes that saw too much. He had no right to decide the future for Lia. His shy, family-loving, homebody sister might hanker after the fairy-tale ending most women dreamed of, and after everything she’d been through she deserved it.

‘What do you want from me?’ he growled, backed into a corner for Lia’s sake.

As if knowing she’d boxed him in, her smile turned hopeful. ‘I only want you to give this life a chance before you disappear. And, please, stop trying to be my white knight. If you’re no prince, I’m no damsel in distress.’

He felt the flush creeping up his neck. She was right. The fireman in him had crossed the world to a new kind of burning building, ready to carry out the helpless female trapped in a situation not of her making…or liking.

The muscles on her face didn’t move, but he knew she was smiling inside. That mysterious twinkle in her eyes, lurking deep, fascinated him with her unspoken secrets.

‘And?’ He could tell there was more.

‘There’s more at stake than your privacy, independence and pride, Charlie. Lives hang in the balance.’ She leaned forward in earnest entreaty as she said his name again, and a hint of soft cleavage showed through the correct folds of her silky blouse.

Was her skin as silky-soft? Would she say his name with that sweet, sexy little burr as he slipped that blouse from her shoulders and down…?

Shove it, jerk. She’s a princess. With her minders, there’s no chance of touching her before the wedding night. And a wedding night—or a wedding—just isn’t happening!

The only reason he was listening to her was because he didn’t know what Lia wanted. He knew what he wanted. And that wasn’t about to change, no matter how pretty and appealing the princess was. Because she was a princess, she came with her own set of royal chains, and he wasn’t the guy to slip his wrists into the king’s cuffs for any amount of money or power. She was bred to this life. He was here by accident of birth.

‘So whose life is at stake?’ He was proud of the even tone. Control established.

She frowned, her head tilting a little. ‘You don’t want to know what your inheritance is?’

For a moment he was tempted. Then the realization came: she’d only asked to weaken his resolve, to appeal to his greed—and when that didn’t work no doubt she’d try another tack. She’d keep gently chipping away at his walls until, deprived of a safe perch, he’d fall off. And, like Humpty Dumpty, if he fell no amount of king’s horses or men would put his life back the way it had been.

Surely she’d seen enough of him to know the only good he could do this place was to get back on that jet and return to his anonymous life in Sydney? If he hadn’t even been able to help his own sister through anorexia, how the hell could he run a country?

‘No, thanks,’ he said abruptly. ‘If I can’t take it home with me, there’s no point. So, what are the stakes? Whose lives “hang in the balance”, as you put it so eloquently?’

She’d bitten her lip as he spoke—not on the outside, no, that wouldn’t be classy enough for the perfect princess. But she’d worried the inside of her lip, and for some reason he couldn’t fathom he found the act touching…sweet, and somehow lonely.

When she spoke, it was with a kind of desperate resolve. ‘The lives and future of the people of Hellenia. Lasting peace in our nation.’

His brows lifted. ‘All that depends on me?’ he mocked, to cover the fact that he had the same sinking feeling in his gut he felt when he saw a fire gone beyond his ability to extinguish it.

‘Yes.’ Her eyes grew soft with pleading. ‘Grandfather seems almost immortal, but he’s eighty-two, and he’s had two heart attacks already. If he dies without naming a male heir, it will mean disaster for Hellenia. It’s obvious you believe you’re the wrong man for the job, Charlie.’ His body heated up again, hearing the blurry way she said his name. ‘But don’t judge Hellenia’s needs or your suitability until you know our history. Being one of the few absolute monarchies left in the world—’

Before she could finish the State of the Nation address, she appeared to think better of it; her voice dropped, and turned husky with emotion. ‘There’s been such suffering in our country since your grandfather left. It can end with us.’ Her words held entreaty and conviction—no longer the Princess dolly, but showing a bare hint of the passionate woman he’d seen before, and it fascinated him. ‘This is bigger than us, what we want.’

With control still in place, his jaw didn’t drop, but the shock lingered inside him, roiling his gut. ‘Are you saying you want this crazy marriage?’

‘Alliance,’ she corrected, her eyes calm. ‘Don’t panic, Charlie; it isn’t personal.’ She nibbled the inside of her lip again. A subtle gesture, and one most wouldn’t see, but Charlie could feel her fear, sense her worry, the loneliness of her position—and the stakes he still didn’t know became more urgent, reflected in the shadows inside her eyes. Eyes that, looking more closely, he noted were more like old Irish whisky than chestnut. ‘I know you care about others, or you wouldn’t have risked your life for that little girl, or the dozens of others we discovered you’ve rescued.’ Her gaze searched his in deep-hidden pleading and anxiety.

Not knowing what to say or do, he nodded, wishing he didn’t have to, but her complete honesty demanded his in return.

‘We need your help on a larger and more lasting scale than anyone you’ve saved in the past. There are five-hundred-year-old laws that need changing. Not merely that, but thousands of people lost family and homes and rights during the civil war. Some of my people have nothing. And, if you leave, they’ll have nothing to look forward to. Nothing.’

Though she’d said it three times, the word still held a starkness, a rawness too strong for her to be putting on an act.

‘I’m listening,’ he said quietly.

Her eyes lit from within, and his body tightened in spite of the gravity of the conversation. She was so pretty, so certain of her convictions. ‘I want to bring Hellenia into the modern world, but with the way the law currently stands I can’t do it alone. If you renounce your position, I lose my chance. According to laws in place since we took power in the 1700s, there must be an heir from the male Marandis line, or the crown reverts to a direct descendant of the royal family that was forcibly removed in the 1700s. The Orakis family was deposed by the people for their selfish and immoral ways. The head of the rebel force—a national hero, Angelis Marandis—was asked to become king. Marandis didn’t want to take the crown, but he did, for the sake of his people.’

Charlie nodded again, feeling an unwanted kinship with this long-dead relative. He’d heard most of this from the ambassador in Canberra, but it was obvious she had something to say, and interrupting her would break her train of thought.

The princess sighed. ‘The Orakis family never left. They’ve started civil wars, fomented unrest in troubled times—such as during World War Two, when our ally Greece was overrun. The troubles in Albania have given the Orakis supporters the opportunity to try to regain power in secret during the last twenty years.’ She stopped, nibbling her lip again. Looking almost adorably lost.

Trying with all his might not to respond to her plea, to touch her, he nodded. ‘Lady Eleni told us all that in Canberra.’

She smiled at his awkward attempt to comfort her. ‘Sorry if I appear to be going over old ground, but you need to understand why your decision is important to far more people than you and Lia. Markus Orakis is an autocrat in the old mould, believing in his right to rule. Orakis’s father spent twenty years trying to reclaim the throne.’ She blinked once, twice, but the suspicious sheen turned her eyes into beautiful mirror-pools of the suffering she saw in her people’s future. She looked up, those mysterious eyes shimmering with emotion, drenching his soul with her courage and her selfless duty.

‘It’s not that he’s a terrorist—he’s not. He just wouldn’t change anything. He’d keep Hellenia in the seventeenth century to keep the monarchy absolute and unchallenged. He’d put his family and followers in strategic positions to consolidate his power, and destroy anyone who threatened him.’ She sighed. ‘You’ve watched the international news, right? This isn’t melodrama. It’s what this kind of man does. They start with good intentions, doing good to the nation, then power goes to their heads and they justify any act of violence. He’s already that way with the following he has.’

Again, Charlie nodded. Anyone who watched the news could name the dictators who’d done exactly as Jazmine was predicting Orakis would do. ‘Go on.’

She touched his hand, and he could feel her trembling as she delivered her final words with the subtlety of a battle axe to his skull. ‘Ask yourself—if he could have returned, would your grandfather have done so? For his people, the people he loved? And, now he can’t, wouldn’t he want you and Lia to try?’

Ah, hell…

Click: a tiny sound in his brain, but deadly. It was the sound of manacles around his wrists. She’d found the key to his capitulation, and turned it without hesitation.

If he could have, Papou would have come back. He’d have urged Charlie to try to help if he could— and, despite his denial, he knew Lia’s answer. In all her life she’d never let anyone down, never said no if she was in a position to help. To her, the suffering in Hellenia would make this choice a sacred commission, the chance to put right Papou’s wrong in choosing love over duty.

An hour into their relationship, and she’d put his wrists in cuffs. For the sake of the Hellenican people: Papou’s people; her people. And for her sake, because it seemed the perfect princess did need a hero after all.

The perfect shell of the mysterious princess was a fragile illusion that, when shattered, couldn’t be reinstated. Those private, proud eyes had cried for him, and if he turned his back now he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

‘Enough, Your Highness.’ His tone froze even him, but he was losing the freedom he treasured. He might have to accept it, but he didn’t have to like it. ‘I’ll go back in there and behave. I gather that’s what you want?’

The appealing loveliness of her vanished as if it had never been. ‘There will be much more than that, Your Highness—but let’s take on one obstacle at a time.’

She was every inch the princess, cool and detached. But the woman of passion and commitment lingered like a super-imposition; her warm and vital heart beat beneath the icy layer she projected. He saw the princess, but heard the woman within. He saw her, beautiful and so earnest, pleading with him to stay. She’d stripped her defences, not for herself, but for the sake of her people.

He wondered why, when she could have used other cool, level-headed arguments, she’d chosen to show her real, hidden self to him.

‘Time to bow to the old dragon,’ he said, not without ruefulness. He didn’t want to, but he’d given his word. He put the choking tie back in place as she slipped her feet back into the heels that were way too high for so small a woman. ‘See, princess, I can pretend to be civilized every now and then.’

The smile she gave in return seemed remote, yet the super-imposition remained. As if she stood in a mirror, he could see the reflection of her uncertainty beneath—and it was that hidden woman under the princess’s surface face he couldn’t make himself reject.

He held out his arm to her. He’d have liked a more intimate touch. Holding hands would tell him if the simmering fascination he was feeling for her was returned, or if it was all duty on her side.

But the minders waited on the other side of the door. And two stood in strategic positions outside on the terrace. When it came to private matters, he’d never been one to put on a show.

Jazmine rose gracefully to her feet and slipped her arm through his. ‘Think of it as a game,’ she suggested. ‘You say yes, you capitulate—for now—and you make plans. When it’s your turn, you can change what you like, from law, protection levels and privacy, to the rate of taxes.’

He felt his brows lift. ‘Very clever, Your Highness.’

She inclined her head, but not before he caught the twitching grin, the tiny quiver of a half-dimple at the side of her mouth, and the lurking mischief in her eyes.

He knew he’d remember her face, caught in that moment in time, for the rest of his life. The superior Mona Lisa: dutiful princess, a passionate, committed woman and a sweet tease all in one. And she was beautiful like this, so beautiful.

The door opened as they approached. He flicked a glance around, and saw the security cameras in every corner.

Strangers had been watching his every move, listening to every private word between himself and Jazmine. Like it or not, he had been putting on a show.

It would be that way for the rest of his life, if he took this on. There would be no treasured private moments between husband and wife. Every sound would be noted by the security outside, even if there were no hidden cameras.

This wasn’t the start of something between a man and a woman, it was a farce, a half-tragic sitcom for the edification of a legion of strangers.

He wanted to puke, to bolt back to that big silver jet and head back to a life where he didn’t have people watching, a king telling him what to do, and a princess who made him feel like a jerk and a hero at the same time.