Читать книгу The Royal Marriage Arrangement - Rebecca Winters - Страница 3

Alex had never given much thought to a problem like his until this minute. She was glad she wasn’t in his royal shoes; she knew she could never marry for the sake of duty and be tied to someone she didn’t love with her whole heart and soul.

Suddenly restless, Lucca got up from the chair. “I need to choose a wife who understands the situation for exactly what it is. No lies. No self-deception or pretense.”

“You mean someone who has no expectation of love? Is there such a woman?”

“Among my parents’ shortlist? No.” He came to sit on the corner of the desk so his legs brushed hers. “But an extraordinary thing happened to me today. I met someone who would be the perfect consort to come to my rescue in this emergency situation. At the same time I could help her in ways no one else can.”

As the portent of his words sank in, Alex’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You can’t possibly mean what you’re saying.”

He rose to his intimidating height. “I never say what I don’t mean,” came the words of steel.

She shook her head. “So you’ll pay my debts if I agree to marry you? Then you’ll become King and two strangers will live unhappily ever after in a loveless marriage. This conversation is utterly absurd! Don’t you know that old movie script has been done and redone ad nauseam?”

One dark brow quirked. “But not to the tune of twelve million dollars. That will be my wedding present to you. In return, you’ll play the loving wife in front of other people—be it my family or the public.”

“I will not!”