We held there panting. I didn’t regret what I’d done, just what I was about to say. “This changed nothing. I still have to marry him.”
* * *
Liam
Betrayal. Hurt. Anger.
I felt it all but showed none. I pulled out slowly and caught some of our pleasure on my index finger. With it, I drew a line between her breasts, effectively marking her.
“You can marry him. But we both know who you belong to,” I said, while snapping together my flight suit. “You should know the reason this room is stocked with everything a woman needs is because this is the room he fucks in.”
With that I turned to exit when she stopped me.
“Can I borrow your phone? My father has mine.” I held there a second as I measured the anguish on her face. “I just want to call my mom, please.”
I pulled it out and handed it to her after using my thumb to unlock it. Then, I left her. Hopefully, she’d take what I said seriously. Then again, maybe David and I were both wrong. She could be a calculating whore in league with her father who wanted David’s money. I was good enough to fuck, but not to marry. I didn’t want to believe that. But women had made fools of hardnosed men over the ages.
David disappeared into his office on the other side of the penthouse for his virtual meeting. I needed to cool off and left the penthouse completely. There was only one way up from the ground floor, through a private elevator that required access. The security threat was low. So I went to the roof where blustery winds blew.
I paced as I devised my next move. I could easily walk away, but I wanted her to explain a lot of whys. She’d given me her virginity and she’d fucked me after thinking I was dead. Why did she think she still had to marry David? If I had those answers, then maybe I could do what she asked and walk away from her for good.
Twelve
Natalie
With my back to the door, I slid down until I sat on the floor. Liam was alive. But I hadn’t lied to him. Nothing had changed. I might have stood my ground to my father, but I believed in my heart he was still capable of murder. My guess was he had no idea Liam was alive, like he’d suggested. If he found out, he would be sure to correct his mistake immediately.
There was also my mother. As much as my heart ached for Liam, I couldn’t abandon her. She needed the resources my father could offer. Her life was priceless.
With shaky fingers, I dialed her number.
“Hello,” she said, reluctantly.
“Mom.” I exhaled a sigh of relief.
“Oh baby, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m using a friend’s phone.”
“You got away?”
“Not really. But Liam is alive.”
“What?”
I forgot I hadn’t been able to tell her. “Nothing. I’m using Liam’s phone.”
“The young man who shared his hotel room with you?”
She couldn’t see me nodding, so I said, “Yes.”
“He found you?”
“He did.”
“Sounds like he likes you as much as you like him.”
“Not that it matters,” I muttered. “I don’t have a lot of time. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. I told you, don’t worry about me.”
“But I do.”
“You shouldn’t. I got into a clinical trial for my disease. It’s actually for mine workers. But I fit the profile and I live in the area they are studying. We won’t need your father. I’ll have the best care for free.”
She hadn’t considered that even though we wouldn’t need his money, he would know where she was. I couldn’t tell her he was using her safety to control me. “That’s great, Mom. It’s really great.”
Long after we ended the call, I sat quietly sobbing, afraid to face the man that my heart longed for.
A knock startled me out of my thoughts.
“Natalie. Dinner is here.” David’s voice was calm and thoughtful. Only it wasn’t what my loneliness sought.
“Sorry. I’ll be just a minute.”
I waited to hear his retreating footsteps before I scrambled to my feet and ran into the bathroom. No time for a shower. I was left to spot clean and hoped I didn’t smell of sex and Liam’s come when I exited the room in the silver dress.
As gorgeous as it was, I didn’t feel pretty. I was a fraud in a shiny dress. I left Liam’s phone next to a beautiful metal sculpture on a table next to the door leading to the guest bathroom. I hoped he would see it, or I would find a way to tell him where it was.
David stood when I walked into the room. I purposefully didn’t search for Liam. I didn’t have the strength to continue this lie if I knew he was watching.
While I was gone, furniture had been rearranged and a table for two had been set with miles of space around it, leaving the view of the city as the focal point.
“You look lovely,” he said, taking my hand. I thought he would have led me to my chair, but first he brushed a kiss over my knuckles.
“You don’t look half bad yourself.” Okay, David was hot, but not the five-alarm blaze Liam was. “This is amazing.”
“I couldn’t take you to the Signature Room at the 95th—”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a restaurant in one of Chicago’s famous skyscrapers with panoramic views of the surrounding city and lake. They have fantastic lobster tails. Anyway, once this whole virus thing is over, I’ll take you there and to Gibson’s. They have the best steaks.”
“It’s sounds delicious, though I’m not that fussy when it comes to food.”
“Are you from Chicago?” he asked.
“Born here, but I grew up with my mom in Maryland.”
“Where?”
“A small town you probably never heard of. They don’t do fancy there. The fanciest we do is eat at the local diner and that was a big deal for me growing up.”
“No private or boarding school?”
“Sorry to disappoint, I’m a small-town girl. My father wasn’t ever a part of my life. If that’s the kind of wife you’re looking for…”
I was totally sabotaging myself. If he called things off, my father couldn’t blame me. But even I knew better than that.
“It’s actually refreshing,” he said. “The women I’ve dated in the past come from money or want it.”
“Money has never brought anything good into my life,” I said.
“Hopefully, I can change that.”
All my life I’d waited for men like Liam, Brian, and David, and come up empty. Now that my hands were tied, I had a choice between David and Liam, but it wasn’t a choice I had a right to make. I still wanted to know more about the man I would call my husband if my father got his way.
“Why would you marry me? You must know who my father really is.”
“I’ll tell you my reasons if you tell me yours. Why would you marry a stranger?”
“For my mother,” I admitted. “She needs help only money can buy. Something I don’t have an abundance of.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She has COPD and it’s manageable for now. That could change in a heartbeat.” I explained what COPD was and her eventual prognosis.
“Admirable. I’ll admit, my reason is a bit more selfish. My father has made some bad choices during his last days as the head of the company. He’s put us in a bad financial position.”
I eyed him. “What does that mean? You’re not rich anymore.”
He chuckled. “Rich on paper, poorer in cash. It’s all relative, but I have my brothers to consider. I can’t let the company fail if I can do something about it. When your father made the offer and showed me your picture, I thought it couldn’t be that bad. As I get to know you, I’m sure we can make this work.”
Widening my eyes, I said, “Really?” on a laugh.
“I’m willing to try. I like you, Natalie. You’re real and maybe we can have something real.”
I thought about what Liam had told me about h
is little fuck pad. “And what about all this and the woman you’ve been dating. You’re willing to give all that up for a stranger?”
“Not just any stranger, for you.”
The truth was, I believed him. The question was could I give him my heart, or at least try with one hundred percent of me?
I didn’t know what else to say and took the coward’s way out. I dove into the food in front of me. David wasn’t a dumb guy and sensed my mood. When we did speak, he told me about all the great things Chicago had to offer that he loved.
After dinner was over and our pleasant conversation ended, we stood. Before I could bid him goodnight, he caught my hand.
“I do want to get to know you, Natalie. This may start out as a marriage of convenience, but it could end up being so much more.”
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to want him. So when his eyes dropped to my lips, I let out a gasp. My heart thundered in my chest, not out of anticipation, but how to react.
He leaned down when a loud clatter like metal pots hitting the wood floors ripped the moment away. I had a feeling that was the metal sculpture near Liam’s phone, and I doubted it had fallen on accident. David straightened.
“Sorry about that, sir,” Liam said, appearing around a corner.
Before David could reprimand him, I said, “I should go to bed.”
David nodded. “Tomorrow, if the day is clear, I’ll have Liam give us a tour of the city from a bird’s eye view.”
“Sounds like fun,” I said and hurried away. I passed Liam but avoided his gaze.
In the shower, I took a long time, hating to wash away my time with Liam, which was likely my last. I sank between the sheets with the knowledge that the man who’d stolen my heart was only a few feet away. Adding to that was the man I was likely to marry who was only mere feet from Liam. I was in a no-win situation that kept me tossing and turning until finally I gave up.
That was when I remembered that Liam hadn’t used a condom. I slipped on a robe that hung behind the bathroom door. It appeared new, and why did I care if David had a closet full of robes for the women he brought here, considering my plan?
Like a thief, I slipped out of my room, taking pains not to make a lot of noise. The furniture was back in its place and a large form covered a larger sofa.
I kneeled beside it and tapped on Liam’s shoulder. It took an excruciating amount of time before he rolled on to his back and muttered, “Huh?”
His sleepy eyes blinked open, and my pulse ticked up as it did every time he was near. “Natalie.” My name was but a whisper from his kissable lips, yet it still sent a shiver through me.
“You have to go,” I announced.
“What? Is something wrong?” He levered up on his elbows and scanned the room.
“If my father finds you, he’ll kill you,” I pleaded. Who knew if he’d show up to check my virtue? I didn’t mention the condom because being a father would mean nothing if he was dead. Besides, I couldn’t exactly ask David or my father to buy Plan B for me without explaining what I’d done. Liam was assigned to protect David and couldn’t go out and buy it either. Ultimately, I was more worried about Liam remaining breathing.
“I’m not leaving without you.”
Under different circumstances, I would have done a happy dance after hearing those words. But that wasn’t my fate. “I can’t. Just like you would do anything for your mother as you told me at the hotel, I’ll do the same for mine.”
“I’ll get your mother the help she needs. You don’t have to do this.”
“You don’t know my father. He will destroy you, me, and everyone we love if he doesn’t get his way.”
“Then I’m staying until I convince you.”
“David is a good guy. He’s actually a great choice for a husband.”
His expression hardened. “Rich.” Bitterness formed a frown on his lips.
“Money isn’t important to me. It is to my mom. I will do what I have to, to protect her. I don’t want to do that in front of you.”
I willed him to understand. David had almost kissed me tonight, and it wasn’t hard to guess that Liam hadn’t accidentally made the racket to stop it from happening.
“Go to sleep, Natalie. I’ll see you tomorrow and take you and your husband-to-be for a joyride around the city.”
He rolled to his side, giving me his back.
I wanted to cry but couldn’t. I had to be strong for all that would come next.
Thirteen
Liam
It had been so easy to walk away from Carrie, and I thought I’d loved her. I didn’t know if it was just dumb pride or something else, but I couldn't leave Natalie.
I also didn’t believe she wanted David. She could have kissed him, and she hadn’t. She fled and couldn’t look at me. Instead of sneaking into his bed in the middle of the night, she’d come to me.
Expensive sofa though it may have been, I hadn’t slept well at all. I gave up and took a shower in the guest bath. My cock hardened as I thought about how close Natalie was. I could easily slip in her room and work out all the aggression we were both feeling.
I dressed in jeans and a long thermal top. Chicago winds brought cold to a whole new level. I was in the middle of making a quick breakfast for myself when Natalie came in.
“You’re still here,” she whispered.
The knife I had been using stilled in my hand. “I am.” Though I hadn’t whispered, I hadn’t projected my words either.
“You can’t stay.”
“Why? Are you afraid His Royal Highness will hear us?”
“Liam, this isn’t easy for me,” she said, inching closer.
When her skin brushed mine, it was like touching a live wire. I could see it in her eyes, she’d felt it too. “Just admit you have feelings for me.”
She pursed her beautiful lips, and I couldn’t help myself. I dipped my head and captured her mouth. She had all the opportunity in the world to stop it. She didn’t. In fact, she relaxed against me, slipping her arms around my neck, and pressing herself more firmly to me.
“You’re dangerous,” she said, breathlessly.
Fuck my life, I thought as I combed my fingers through my hair to keep them to myself. I wanted to lift her on the counter and fuck some sense into her. But I had more respect for David than to do that. I owed him nothing when it came to her. She was mine. But technically, I was working.
“This is reckless,” she persisted in hushed tones. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“You’re right. I am dangerous. To your father. I have more than nine lives, baby. I can take care of myself.”
“How? He’s got thugs working for him. They’d do anything he asks, even kill for the money he pays them.”
“And yet, here I am.” I let that sink in for a moment, and with a wide grin, I added, “I have a particular set of skills,” quoting one of my favorite movies and winked at her. “Don’t worry your pretty little head. I’ve got this.”
“David?”
I placed my hand on her shoulder. “He’s a decent guy, a good one. I’ll give him that. But you’re not his. He isn’t the only one with family money. Have you forgotten why I came to New York? I can help your mother get the care she needs.”
She took a step away from me, pinching her chin in thought. “You don’t understand. My father wants the Royal name for some reason. And believe me, there is a reason. He’s not going to walk away from this, especially if he thinks he’ll look weak doing so.”
“You don’t need him. You have me.”
“I have to.”
“Do you honestly want me to leave?”
Before she could answer, David walked in. He eyed the two of us, but we weren’t standing as close to each other as we had been minutes before.
“Morning,” Natalie said, cheerfully.
I looked away.
“Morning to you too,” he said. I could hear the smile on his face and couldn’t blame him.
That didn�
��t mean it wasn’t eating me alive to pretend that she meant nothing to me. The silence was a beat too long and I turned just a second too late before David’s lips met hers.
“Fuck.” When he’d come in, I shifted to wash the knife I’d used to slice the homestyle baked bread as, apparently, the Royals didn’t buy sliced bread like the rest of us. Blood welled up on my hand as I’d inadvertently squeezed the blade.
Then, she was there, next to me, taking my hand. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing. Probably a paper cut.”
She called over her shoulder to David. “Do you have a first aid kit?”
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” There was a hint of annoyance in his tone.
I let her run my hand under the water. “It doesn’t look too bad.”
She probed at my hand with her nursemaid touch. “A little bit deeper and you’d need stitches.”
David came and inspected the damage as she went to work. “Will you be able to fly?” he asked.
“I’ve flown with worse injuries, believe me.”
There was suspicion on his face. I might have overplayed my hand this time. “What time do you want me to take you guys on a flight over the city?”
He looked at her. “I have breakfast coming if you’re hungry.”
She flattered him with her lovely smile. “That sounds good.”
“Maybe an hour,” he said.
“If you plan to stay in, it would probably be a good idea for me to go fuel up,” I offered because I couldn’t stay and watch what was happening between them. I wasn’t the prince she continued to believe me to be.
He paused as if he expected me to say something else. “That’s a good idea. Let me get you my card.”
Fuel wasn’t free and after he left, I moved close to Natalie. “Those lips are mine.”
Queen Her Page 6
