She didn’t know why, but somehow the question had been niggling away for weeks now, and suddenly it felt imperative to have an answer. Amber knew she was a fool but the teenager staring out of the turret window at the park below, hoping for someone to rescue her, who had spent far too many bored hours weaving elaborate daydreams about the man standing opposite her, still yearned to hear him say that she was worth something. That she had been more than a title and a convenience.
Tris looked away, but not before she saw the bleakness in his eyes. ‘You looked lonely,’ he said. ‘And I understood loneliness. I guess I thought that together we could forge some kind of companionship. That what I could offer you here was better than what you had there. But that was then; you’re not that girl any more. You have a career you love, friends who are more like a family, you’re confident and beautiful and you bring sunshine everywhere you go. You are going to be an amazing mother. And you deserve more than what I can give you. So go, shine, raise our baby to see life the way you do. I’ll take care of you both financially, I hope you know that, but you’re free, Amber. Enjoy that freedom for both of us.’
She held his gaze and saw his grey eyes darken and for one long breathless moment Amber thought he might change his mind. Even though she missed her life and the dreams she’d had before Emilia’s wedding, she had new dreams now, dreams she had barely known before today and certainly never articulated, but dreams centred around the man in front of her.
‘Tris?’ The hope swelling in her chest was almost unbearable as their gazes locked and she allowed all the emotion inside her to show in her expression, in her eyes, in the hand she held out towards him. But all he did was lean over to place one light kiss on her cheek before walking away. He didn’t look back once.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
‘SIGNORINA?’ THE DRIVER indicated the open door with a smile. ‘I am ready to go if you are?’
Amber stood, torn, her old life beckoning, the life she’d been contemplating receding into the distance. All she had to do was get into the car, let the driver take her to the airport and she could be home, tucked up in her own bed before midnight. Things would never be exactly the same; she knew that even with the money Tris could give her, a secure home in Chelsea and the agency ensuring she would always have a job, raising a child mostly alone would be difficult, but she never shied away from hard work and a family of her own was all she’d ever dreamed of. This wasn’t the picture book two point four children and big golden dog and house in the country of her dreams, but it was real and it was hers. All she had to do was get in the car...
And yet she stood, anchored to the spot, replaying Tris’s every word in her mind. He’d never said that he didn’t want her, but he had said more than once that he was setting her free. Obviously, he thought he was doing the right thing. Hadn’t she told him herself how much she loved her life, how little she wanted to change it? So why was she still standing here, unable to get in the car and return to it, guilt-free?
Amber looked around, at the villa, warmed by the setting sun, the lake tranquil behind, the mountains purple in the distance. Did she really want to leave this land of mountains and lakes and valleys? Did she really want to throw away the chance of calling Tris’s sisters her family? And, most importantly of all, did she really want a life without Tris in it? She closed her eyes and saw him, gazing up at the stars, expression intent as he explained the constellations to her. Saw him poised, camera in hand, finding beauty in a commonplace scene and helping her to see the beauty as well. She saw him covered in flour, doing his best to follow her instructions, making her laugh as he did so. She saw him sprawled on the sofa with a careless grace, watching a film for the first time, showing every emotion like a small child rather than a jaded adult. She saw him that first night, the way he moved, the way he watched her, the way he touched her... And she remembered the nights here in the villa, sensual and tender and, yes, loving.
Amber swallowed, every nerve reacting to the memory of his sweet, skilled lovemaking. Sure, at times he could be closed off, but she of all people understood the reasons for that. Underneath the dignity he wore like armour, there was a man capable of more love and passion than she’d ever believed possible, eliciting love and passion in response.
Love. The word slammed into her and she gasped at the impact. Of course she loved him, this proud man who bore his responsibilities with dignity, this seductive man who had whirled her away in a dance and changed her life, this thoughtful man who listened to her and made her want to be a better person. She’d expected to recognise love straight away, to be floored by it, but she’d confused love with desire. If love was easy to recognise then there would be no need to kiss frogs...this bone-deep need and certainty was nothing she’d ever felt or even comprehended before.
Was she really going to get in the car and drive away from the one man she had ever loved? He wasn’t the Prince she’d daydreamed about in her lonely teens, no perfect knight in shining armour riding to her rescue. That was okay; she didn’t need to be rescued.
But maybe he did.
* * *
Tris strode towards the lake, needing something physical and hard and exhausting to do. Chopping down a tree maybe, or sawing logs. Anything to stop him thinking, to stop him turning back to the house to beg Amber not to go. He was doing the right thing, the noble thing, so where was the comforting sense of righteousness, of peace? Instead the pain inside was almost overwhelming as he kept replaying the confused expression in Amber’s eyes, kept hearing her call his name.
Hang on, that wasn’t his imagination. Tris stopped and looked back, incredulous, as he saw Amber making her way towards him, hair tumbling around her face as she hurried along the path.
‘Is something wrong?’ Panic warred with hope.
She stopped and folded her arms. ‘Yes, there is something wrong.’
Panic won out. ‘Amber? Do you feel ill? The baby?’
‘Not physically, but with this whole situation. You don’t get to decide for me, Tris.’
‘Amber...’
‘When I was twelve my grandmother took me away from everything I knew and told me my entire life was flawed. She told me she knew how I should dress, what I should eat. Who I should be friends with, what I should do with my own time, and she was wrong. The only thing she might have been right about was who I should marry, but not for the right reasons.’
The air stilled around him, as if time had stopped and only the two of them existed. ‘It’s okay, Amber, there’s no need for you to be here. Honestly.’ No need but his own almost overwhelming need to hold her. Tris stood very still, watching her as she threw her hands up in frustration.
‘You told me you are setting me free as if I’m some kind of bird you caged, but I’m not. I have my own mind, Tris, and I get to make it up. I am always free, no matter where I am, no matter what’s happening because I don’t let anybody cage me, not any more. If I decide to marry you it’s because that’s what I want, not because I’ve been coerced into some kind of sacrifice in order to do the right thing. Do you understand that?’
‘I... What are you saying, Amber?’
‘I’m saying you don’t get to push me away before I get to tell you that I love you. You don’t get to decide on your own that I don’t need you. Because I do. I need you and I want you and I love you, Tris. I don’t want you to hop in and out of this baby’s life, but to be there all the time.’
Was this a dream? Was he hallucinating here on the lake shore while Amber was really on her way to the airport? She looked and sounded real, but the things she was saying made no sense. She couldn’t really love him; this had to be her sacrificing herself, just the way he was trying to sacrifice his own happiness for her. It was almost funny in a twisted kind of way.
‘I appreciate what you’re saying, Amber, but...’
‘You’re not listening to me, Tris. I’m not making some kind of gr
and gesture, not being some kind of selfless martyr. I am, in fact, being very selfish indeed and claiming exactly what I want. I don’t want to have to live without you, Tris, I don’t want to go back to Chelsea alone. I want to stay here, marry you and raise a child together. Only...if that’s what you want too. If you don’t then please just say...’ Her voice petered out and the fire in her eyes dimmed. Dimmed because of him, because he was just standing there like an utter fool.
‘You really want to stay? With me?’ He still couldn’t believe it, even though sincerity rang true in every word, in every line of her body.
She smiled then, her whole face lit from within. ‘You were my first crush, Tris, even though I pretty much made up your personality. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted, and my imaginings were a little dull. Lots of holding car doors open for me, bowing over my hand and staring in awe as I descended grand staircases in gorgeous ball gowns.’
‘All the above could be arranged; just give me the word. We have plenty of grand staircases at the castle,’ he promised, and she laughed.
‘Maybe sometimes for old times’ sake. Back then I fell in love with an ideal, a face I saw occasionally, and it was that ideal I wanted to sleep with at the wedding. A way of finally putting the past behind me. But you’re not that fantasy figure; you’re so much better than that. So much more. I know you hide it, even from yourself, but you’ve shown yourself to me and what I see is pretty damn special. I see a man who is kind and considerate and clever, who can describe the stars to me and makes me want to listen all night. A man who is far too sexy for his own good, a man who will do anything for the people he loves. A man I trust with my heart because I know he’ll always look after it. Tris, you are right, this isn’t the life I wanted, but if it’s a life I share with you, then it’s the life I choose. If you will have me.’ Doubt crept into her voice and tore at Tris’s heart.
He tilted her chin and smiled into her eyes. ‘If I’ll have you? Amber Blakeley, there is nothing I want more. I can’t claim to have fallen in love with you back in New York; you were just a child. But I did see you then, I noticed you and I wanted to help you. I didn’t fall in love with the bridesmaid either, although I thought she was one of the most special, most beautiful people I’d ever met. I fell in love with you, the you right here with all your enthusiasms and optimism and dreams. I want your light in my life.’
‘Always,’ she whispered, her green eyes filled with tears and he wiped them away tenderly.
‘I love you, Amber, not because you carry our child and not because I need a queen, but because of everything that you are. Will you marry me, despite all that comes with me? I know we haven’t known each other that long, and if things were different then I would have loved to have courted you properly...’
Amber reached up to lay a hand on his cheek. ‘But things are the way they are. Fun as courting sounds, I know it’s easier if we marry before the baby is born, but there’s no reason you can’t court me after we’re married.’
‘Every day,’ he vowed, and she smiled softly into his eyes.
‘I want to marry you sooner rather than later and embrace all that comes with you, because that’s what makes you who you are. I love you, Tris, and I can’t wait for the baby to be here and for us to be a family, just like I always dreamed. Here, in the castle or anywhere as long as we are together that’s all that matters. Life has taught me that.’
‘I love you too, and I promise to do everything in my power to make you happy every day,’ Tris vowed as he finally kissed her the way he’d always wanted to, with all the love and hope and passion bursting within him, her own kiss warm and sweet and passionate. As he held her, Tris promised himself that she would never be lonely again; like all the best fairy tales he might have rescued her, but she’d turned around and rescued him right back. And that was how all the best happy-ever-afters were supposed to be.
EPILOGUE
‘OH, EMILIA, HE is gorgeous.’ Harriet picked up the three-week-old heir to the Armarian throne and cradled him tenderly. ‘You clever, clever girl.’ She looked over at Amber and grinned. ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if your Rosa and Emilia’s Max made a match of it?’
‘No royal matchmaking betrothals in our households, thank you very much,’ Amber retorted as she adjusted the frills on Rosa’s christening gown—Tris had made several inroads in updating some of Elsornia’s more antiquated laws over the last year, but even he couldn’t save their daughter from being baptised in the traditional Elsornian royal christening gown, a delicate Victorian confection comprising of several long layers of silk and lace and more buttons than any baby should have to endure. ‘Just because mine worked out in the end doesn’t mean we’re reviving that particular custom. But if I was a matchmaking mama, then obviously I would choose Max to be my son-in-law. Em, he is beautiful. And you look amazing, Thank you for coming so soon after the birth.’
‘I wouldn’t miss my goddaughter’s christening for the world.’ Emilia reached out to stroke three-month-old Rosa’s cheek. ‘I’m so excited to celebrate with you, little one.’
‘How are you feeling, Amber?’ Alex asked from the sofa she was sharing with her two soon-to-be nieces, a beautiful vintage diamond ring glinting on her left hand. ‘It was so brave of you to invite your grandmother. Brave and very forgiving. I’m not sure I could have been so generous.’
Amber looked round at her friends, her heart so full of love and happiness she could hardly believe it. Although they still owned the Happy Ever After Agency, both Emilia and she had had to take a step back, thanks to their royal duties, and since her marriage Harriet spent more and more time in Brazil with Deangelo. The Chelsea house was still the agency’s headquarters, but paid staff occupied the vintage desks, the bedrooms turned into more offices for the increasing number of employees whilst Alex ran the agency from the countryside home she shared with Finn and his nieces. Amber spoke to at least one of her friends every day, but they hadn’t all been in the same room since Harriet’s wedding eight months before. To have the four of them here, in her charming sitting room overlooking the palace gardens, celebrating her daughter’s birth, was very special indeed. Even her grandmother’s presence in the castle couldn’t disrupt her happiness.
Gently shifting her sleeping daughter to her other arm, Amber smiled at Alex, who was as elegant as ever in a green silk shift dress. ‘When I visited my grandmother in New York she wasn’t the fierce autocrat I remembered; she was just a lonely woman. All she had were her dreams of a throne in a country that doesn’t exist any more, acquaintances instead of real friends, no hobbies, no one or anything to love. It made me feel so sorry for her. I have so much and she so little—inviting her to the wedding and the christening was the least I can do. We’ll never have the kind of relationship I used to yearn for, but that’s okay. I have Tris, Rosa and his sisters, and I have you three, my sisters in every way that counts.’
‘You’ll always have us,’ Emilia said softly, her words echoed by Harriet and Alex.
‘And you me. Our lives have changed so much in the last two years, but we’re still the same girls who dreamed of our own business and made it happen, the same girls who met one Christmas Eve and realised we weren’t alone. Marriage and babies don’t change that; it just enhances it, makes our family even bigger. Rosa is so lucky to have you three as her godmothers and aunts, just as I am lucky to have you as friends and sisters.’
She blinked, emotional tears threatening to spill down her cheeks, relieved when the door opened to reveal Tris, smart in his dress uniform, flanked by Deangelo, Finn and Laurent, who immediately made a beeline for his son, pride etched on his features.
‘The cars are here,’ Tris said, carefully lifting Rosa off Amber’s knee and then extending a hand to help her rise. Amber curled her fingers around his, grateful for his strength and solicitude. ‘Ready to get this young lady christened?’
‘Absolutely.’ Am
ber watched her friends file from the room: Deangelo and Harriet, hand in hand, Finn and Alex, shepherding his nieces in front of them, sharing an intimate smile as they did so, Laurent and Emilia, his arm around her as she carried their newborn son. She turned to press a kiss on Tris’s cheek. ‘I love you,’ she whispered. ‘Thank you for making me so very happy.’
‘I should be the one thanking you,’ Tris said, his eyes soft as he smiled down at their daughter. ‘For everything you do and everything you are.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘Come on, let’s celebrate our daughter with our friends and family. She’s done the impossible; my mother is considering getting a house in the city so she can see Rosa regularly and your grandmother is both here and behaving. She’s a miracle child.’
‘She is.’ Amber allowed Tris to escort them from the room, knowing she would be able to face the pomp and ceremony of a royal christening with him by her side, flanked by her friends. They’d named the agency well all those months ago. Life was bound to have bumps in the road, its trials and tribulations, but as long as they kept loving each other then she knew they would live happily ever after, just as she’d always dreamed.
* * *
If you missed the previous stories in the Fairytale Brides quartet, check out
Honeymooning with Her Brazilian Boss
Cinderella’s Secret Royal Fling
Reawakened by His Christmas Kiss
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Jessica Gilmore
Summer Romance with the Italian Tycoon
Baby Surprise for the Spanish Billionaire
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Brooding Rebel to Baby Daddy by Ally Blake.
Bound by the Prince's Baby Page 15
