by Heidi Rice
USA TODAY bestselling author HEIDI RICE lives in London, England. She is married with two teenage sons—which gives her rather too much of an insight into the male psyche—and also works as a film journalist. She adores her job, which involves getting swept up in a world of high emotion, sensual excitement, funny and feisty women, sexy and tortured men and glamorous locations where laundry doesn’t exist. Once she turns off her computer she often does chores—usually involving laundry!
Also by Heidi Rice
Vows They Can’t Escape
The Virgin’s Shock Baby
Captive at Her Enemy’s Command
Bound by Their Scandalous Baby
Carrying the Sheikh’s Baby
Claiming My Untouched Mistress
Contracted as His Cinderella Bride
Claimed for the Desert Prince’s Heir
My Shocking Monte Carlo Confession
A Forbidden Night with the Housekeeper
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
The Royal Pregnancy Test
Heidi Rice
www.millsandboon.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-474-09866-3
THE ROYAL PREGNANCY TEST
© 2020 Heidi Rice
Published in Great Britain 2020
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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To Natalie Anderson,
who is an absolute sweetheart to work with
and a brilliant author too.
Contents
Cover
About the Author
Booklist
Title Page
Copyright
Note to Readers
Dedication
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EPILOGUE
Extract
About the Publisher
PROLOGUE
PRINCESS JUNO ALICE MONROYALE braked the hired snowmobile and wrenched up her goggles to take in the stunning view. Snow fluttered down, coating the Alpine landscape in pristine white, framing the ornate turrets and gables of a sixteenth-century castle perched on the clifftop across the gorge. The defiant structure looked magnificent against the gathering dusk of a December night. Like a cartoon fantasy made real.
Home.
Juno’s heart butted her tonsils and the cold air clogged her lungs.
Had it really been eight and a half years since she had visited her homeland and seen her twin sister, Jade—the Queen of Monrova—in the flesh?
Why hadn’t she come back sooner, much sooner?
But even as the question echoed in her consciousness, the disastrous events of the summer she had turned sixteen came hurtling back.
‘Kiss me, Leo, you know you want to.’
‘Why on earth would I want to kiss you? You’re just a spoilt brat. Now leave me alone, or I shall suggest to your father he give you the spanking you clearly deserve.’
Heat rose up Juno’s neck, warming her chilled skin.
She could still hear the amused contempt in King Leonardo DeLessi Severo’s voice, still see the bored superiority in his blue eyes, still feel the inappropriate goosebumps as he’d grasped her wrists in firm hands and dragged her arms off his shoulders.
Good to know the memory of that summer night—when she’d thrown herself at the King of Severene at the Monrova Summer Ball and been brutally rejected—still had the power to make her cringe, big time.
Quite impressive really when she considered all the other cringeworthy moments she’d accumulated over the last eight and a half years—the most recent being the social-media snafu in her new job, which this last-minute trip into her past had been a handy way to avoid.
Some things never change.
She tugged her goggles down, and revved the snowmobile’s engine.
Forget about it.
She wasn’t going to think about that last disastrous summer in Monrova or the mistake she’d made a couple of days ago in New York in her new job at Byrne IT. Luckily it wasn’t that big a screw-up and the big boss, Alvaro Byrne, knew nothing about it. It would all have blown over long before she got back to New York.
Juno headed across the gorge towards the unused entrance to the palace she and Jade had discovered during the summers they had spent together in Monrova after their parents’ divorce.
But as she located the path etched into the cliff face—result—she couldn’t seem to stop her mind from drifting to the past again.
Those summers had been so precious after she and Jade had been separated as eight-year-olds. They’d been so happy, so excited, at the chance to reconnect for two months each year, once Juno had been forced to live the rest of the year in exile in New York with their mother, Alice, and Jade—two minutes older and therefore the heir to the throne—had stayed with their father, King Andreas, to be instructed in her role as the future Queen. But as the years had passed, and Juno’s life in New York had become increasingly chaotic, she’d found it harder and harder
to live under her father’s strict rules, and not drag Jade into mischief with her.
That cringeworthy moment with Leo had been the last straw—once her father had found out about it. Juno shivered as she manoeuvred the snowmobile along the narrow path, every single word he’d said to her that day—and the cold, flat disapproval in his eyes—still fresh...
‘If you can’t behave yourself in a manner befitting your status, I will have you returned to your mother in New York immediately. Do you understand me? Each summer your behaviour gets worse. You’re insolent and disobedient, a bad influence on your sister, and now you’ve disgraced the Crown by behaving like a hoyden and throwing yourself at King Leonardo. You’re becoming as much of a liability as your mother.’
Of course, she’d told her father where he could shove his ultimatum, because she’d been hurt and humiliated and struggling desperately not to show it. But the chilling way he’d nodded and then had her removed from the palace—without even giving her a chance to say goodbye to her sister—still haunted her.
No wonder she hadn’t returned to Monrova while her father was still alive. Had he ever even loved her?
Shuddering, she brushed away the tear that had seeped out from under her goggles.
Jeez, Juno, dial down on the drama, before you end up freezing your eyeballs.
It didn’t matter now. King Andreas had been dead for over a year. And today she was returning on her own terms—to surprise her sister.
Jade was the ruler of Monrova now. Jade with her serene sweetness and her full open heart. Jade who loved her enough not to see Juno’s many faults.
Juno huffed out a laugh as she took the final bend in the path and spotted the wrought-iron gate she had been looking for.
Bingo.
She was coming home for Christmas and nothing—not memories of Leo’s brutal rejection or her father’s final punishment or even her own impressive ability to screw up on a regular basis—could stop her.
All she had to do now was get to her sister’s suite of rooms in the palace’s West Wing—where she knew Jade would be chillaxing before tonight’s Winter Ball—without being spotted by the royal staff.
And for that, she had a cunning plan.
Twenty minutes later Juno approached her sister’s suite, astonished her plan—to pretend to be the Queen—had actually worked.
Decorated in garlands of fir and holly and red and gold satin ribbons and sprinkled with fairy lights, the ornate salons and sitting rooms she passed looked magical and mysterious dressed in their Christmas finery, the way she remembered them as a child.
The scents familiar from her last Christmas at the palace as an eight-year-old—fresh pine sap, wax polish and cinnamon—seared her lungs, but she refused to let the wave of nostalgia derail her.
Reaching the suite she had once shared with her sister, she opened the door.
Every one of her fondest memories slammed into her as she spied her sister, sitting on an antique Chesterfield sofa in front of a roaring fire reading a novel. Jade’s vibrant hair, so like Juno’s own, haloed around her head, the cascade of chestnut curls lit by the lights from the expertly decorated tree in the corner of the room.
‘Jade,’ she said, her voice a rasp of emotion.
Her sister’s head lifted. ‘Juno?’ she whispered. ‘You’re... You’re here?’
The hope and longing in Jade’s tone wrapped around Juno’s heart. And joy blindsided her.
‘Yes, but keep your voice down, I’m here incognito.’
A bright smile ripped across Jade’s face as Juno’s demure sister dumped the book on the floor and leapt out of her chair.
Juno’s heart pounded so hard and fast it hurt, as her sister flung her arms around her. She absorbed the comforting scent of vanilla, for the first time in what felt like for ever. Tears stung her eyes and she hugged her twin back, as tight as she could.
Their shared laughter echoed off the luxury furnishings and seemed to make the fire in the hearth and the sprinkle of lights on the tree burn brighter.
I’m really home, at last.
‘It’s so, so good to have you here. Finally.’ Jade laughed and tucked her feet under her butt as they settled together on the sofa.
Her sister seemed ridiculously pleased to see her, but Juno noticed Jade was thinner than she remembered her, and even more serene. Perhaps too serene, her calm reserve more ingrained—almost like a shield.
‘It’s good to be here,’ Juno said, and meant it.
‘How long can you stay? Please say you can attend the Winter Ball tonight? I’m sure we can find you a gown. It’ll be so much more fun with you there. Do you need food? Tea? Wine? Champagne?’ Jade asked, her excitement as infectious as her grin as she reached for the smart device used to summon the palace staff.
‘No!’ Juno lurched forward to stop her sister. ‘Let’s wait to tell them I’m here. That’s why I sneaked in. I wanted to surprise you, but I thought we could spend some alone time before everything goes nuts.’
‘Wait a minute... Do you mean no one knows you’re here?’ Jade put down the keypad. ‘How did you manage that? Perhaps I should have a word with my Chief of Security.’
‘Simple.’ Juno wiggled her eyebrows. ‘I snuck in via our secret entrance, then I just pretended to be you.’
‘You’re joking?’ Jade pressed her fingers to her lips.
‘Not joking, it worked like a charm too.’
‘Juno you are unbelievable,’ her sister said, astonishment turning to admiration. ‘And you haven’t changed a bit.’
‘About the Winter Ball,’ Juno said. ‘I suppose I could come. But why don’t I turn up unannounced?’ she added, already enjoying the joke. ‘Everyone will think they’re seeing double.’
See, Father? Still not behaving in a manner befitting my status.
‘That’s brilliant...’ Jade’s grin widened. ‘Except...’ She hesitated, the grin disappearing and her excitement deflating. ‘Except King Leonardo is going to be there as the guest of honour. He might not find it amusing.’
What the...? Was this some kind of test? Or a sick joke? Why did he have to be here?
‘Leo the jerk’s here?’ Juno said, hoping Jade couldn’t see the blush heating her collarbone.
She’d never told her sister about that disastrous attempt at seduction on her last night in Monrova, and she never would. Her mortification did not need company.
‘King Leonardo is not a jerk, Juno.’ Jade’s smile softened. ‘He’s a brilliant diplomat. A conscientious and extremely intelligent ruler. And a...’ Her sister paused and Juno spotted the flicker of doubt cross Jade’s face. ‘He’s a good man even if he has sowed a few wild oats.’
‘A few?’ Juno shot back. ‘The guy’s a player. He hasn’t sowed a few wild oats, he’s sowed enough to put an industrial grain conglomerate to shame since he became King...’ Two months before Juno had developed that ill-advised crush on him...
‘That’s not true,’ Jade said, protesting a bit too much. What was going on here? ‘He’s curbed his romantic engagements in the last few months and—’
‘Hang on...’ Juno interrupted, recalling the avid press speculation recently about a ‘fairy-tale marriage’ between King Leonardo of Severene and Queen Jade of Monrova. A rumour Juno had dismissed as hype. Jade had never mentioned Leo in all their email and text conversations over the years, not once. Because Juno would have remembered. ‘Why is Leo the guest of honour? You’re not...?’ Why wasn’t Jade meeting her gaze? ‘The rumours aren’t true, are they? You’re not actually dating him?’ Juno hissed.
The thought of her sweet, kind, gentle and totally innocent sister hooking up with Leo the man whore was the literal definition of leading a lamb to slaughter.
‘No, we’re not dating. I don’t...’ Her sister’s blush subsided. ‘He’s good-looking, I suppose, but we just don’t c
lick.’
‘Well, thank goodness for that,’ Juno said, the twist of horror in her gut releasing a little. Although she had to wonder if her sister was blind.
Leo might be an arrogant jerk but, unfortunately, he’d only become more impossibly attractive in the years since she’d fallen for his dark charms.
At twenty-two, he’d been moody and magnetic and totally gorgeous, at thirty he was even more so. Not that Juno had spent any time perusing the many, many photos of him plastered all over the celebrity press. Much.
‘But...’ Jade’s gaze rose and Juno did not like what she saw, because she knew that expression—stubborn, loyal and scarily pragmatic.
‘But...what?’ Juno said.
Jade sighed. ‘But I am considering King Leonardo’s offer of a political union between us. Father was in favour of the idea before he died. And the benefits to both our countries are undeniable. A shared heir would...’
‘Hold on!’ Juno lifted her hand. ‘Did you just say shared heir? As in a baby? What kind of a political union are you talking about?’
Her sister had the grace to look sheepish. ‘A... A marriage.’
Juno’s stomach twisted into a pretzel. ‘You’re not serious?’ She took a breath, because she was starting to hyperventilate. ‘You just told me you don’t even find him attractive. And now you’re saying you want to marry him and have his babies?’
Couldn’t her sister see how nuts this sounded?
‘Want would be too strong a word,’ Jade said carefully. ‘But I am considering it, yes. Our advisors are strongly in favour of the political union. And we wouldn’t have to be intimate to have an heir. There’s...’ The blush returned. ‘Well, there are other ways of conceiving.’
Ways Juno would bet Leo the Player King was not going to be interested in. The guy oozed hotness in every photo and news clip Juno had ever seen of him—even if Jade couldn’t see it. No way would a guy like that consider getting his wife pregnant via in vitro fertilisation. Not unless it was absolutely necessary.
