by Noelle Adams
“I wanted to talk about that,” he said and poured himself a cup of tea from the urn on the table. “Why can’t we continue like this?” he asked. “You can’t deny that you had a good time this weekend. Why can’t you come back with me and just live like this longer?”
She was thrilled that he’d felt the same thing she was, but it was still no good. She couldn’t accept his offer. Ana shook her head sadly. “I have obligations that would prohibit me from...”
He didn’t want to hear the end of her sentence. He knew it wasn’t the right answer. “From enjoying your life?”
“Yes,” she said, not willing to lie to him anymore but knowing she couldn’t tell him the full truth.
He was impatient to find out what was holding her back. He wanted answers and was frustrated with her half truths. “Tell me what they are. I guarantee I can overcome whatever issues come up. I’m a very powerful man and have connections all over the world. Would you trust me?”
Ana looked out at the sunrise and wished she could hand over her issues to him. “Are you offering marriage?” she joked.
There was a long silence and she finally turned to look at him. The peacefulness she had been experiencing disappeared. “I was kidding but I’m guessing that wasn’t even on your mind.”
“I can’t offer you that,” he said although there was intense regret in his eyes. “I can offer you myself and time, but I can’t offer marriage.”
Ana’s heart broke with his words. A pain sliced through her body, a feeling so intense she never could have imagined feeling something so awful. “You’re asking me to become your mistress, aren’t you?”
He saw the tears form in her eyes and he hated himself at the moment. “That sounds awful but it doesn’t have to be. I have obligations that I can’t get out of. But I want you in my life.”
Ana stood up and set her tea cup on the table carefully, her fingers shaking from her the pain of these new emotions. “I can’t become your mistress, nor would I even if I could.”
“Ana, it wouldn’t be like that,” he said and stood up with her. He stopped her by putting his hands on her shoulders. “Please, consider my offer. Think about it. This doesn’t have to stop here. It could go on if you’d just let it.”
She didn’t want to hear what he was saying. He was obviously committed to someone although she knew he wasn’t married. She’d asked him that at the beginning and, if she knew anything about him, it was that he wouldn’t lie to her. He might hurt her with the truth but he wouldn’t blatantly lie.
It wasn’t good enough though. Just because he wasn’t married didn’t mean he wasn’t committed and that was the real issue, wasn’t it? He couldn’t fully commit to her because he had someone else waiting for him. “What about children? Would we be able to have them? I want lots of them and I doubt a mistress would be able to have children with you. At least not legitimate children, right? Isn’t that the way it goes? I’m guessing you’re some sort of aristocrat and you are already engaged, aren’t you?” She hated the fact that tears were now streaming down her face but she couldn’t help it. He was hurting her more than she ever realized he could. Why had she never asked if there was another woman, no matter how insignificant she was?
He didn’t answer and Ana saw the answer on his face. “You bastard! You’re engaged! How could you?” she demanded. “Does she know you’re having an affair? A cheap, tawdry affair with someone you just met?”
He stood up and held her upper arms, stopping her from turning away from him. “Annie stop it. This isn’t cheap or tawdry and you know it. Don’t belittle what we have together. But I have obligations I can’t get out of.”
She flinched at his touch, and felt a betraying sense of heat steal into her body. She pulled roughly out of his hands, wishing she could hurt him just as much as he was killing her. “You’ve said that! And I don’t want to hear anything else,” she shouted. “Just leave me alone,” she said and rushed into his bedroom, the place they’d spent so many hours exploring each other, finding complete fulfillment in each other’s arms. And now it was all over. She quickly pulled on a pair of slacks and shirt, not even caring if they matched or not.
Erik followed her, angry for the first time at his position and obligations. Because of them, he was losing the first woman who had ever gotten under his skin and made him feel something more than just mild amusement. “Annie stop. Listen to me. Come with me, let me show you were I live and you’ll understand.”
She ignored him, continuing to dress as best she could since she could barely see through the tears streaming down her face, blurring her vision. All she wanted was to get away from him and out of his life. “No! I’ve heard everything I need to hear. Let me just summarize for you. You’re engaged to be married at some unknown time yet you still want me in your life. You’d like me to come back, be stored away in some hideout where you come around once in a while, make love to me, then leave and produce wonderful children with your loving wife who knows nothing about the two of us.” Ana didn’t stop moving while she yelled, horrified at what she was saying because it was the complete truth. To get herself through these last, awful moments, she just kept throwing clothes into her suitcase in an effort to leave as quickly as possible.
“That’s not the way it would be,” he said, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
Ana didn’t want to hear his half truths anymore. “I don’t want to hear your version of it.” She zipped her suitcase up and slipped her feet into a pair of sandals. Grabbing her purse, she pulled her suitcase off the bed and lugged it to the door.
“Annie, I’m not letting you leave like this,” he said and put his body in front of the door.
She had to get out this beautiful house and away from the man she loved more than anything else in the world before her whole body crumbled. So she said the only words that would hurt him as much as he’d hurt her. “Marcus, I’m engaged as well. I only have a short time before my wedding. So if you’ll excuse me, I need to head back to my home and have my wedding dress fitted.”
His face paled at her words and he shook his head in disbelief. “You’re lying,” he countered, not wanting to believe what she was telling him.
“No. I’m not. I’ll spare you the silly details, but it is something my family has wanted for years and is the reason I couldn’t let you know I was staying at the Mayflower. Please let me go.”
Without another word he stepped to the side and let her leave. He looked at her, trying to determine if she was telling him the truth or not. But the calm way she was looking at him now told him everything he needed to know. She was really engaged and would leave him to marry someone else regardless of her feelings for him.
With that realization, he didn’t argue anymore. He simply walked to the phone and called Tim who had his limousine out front within minutes. Erik knew he should make sure she got to the airport safely, but he also knew Tim would do that for him. Right now, he couldn’t face the idea of seeing her leave him, knowing she’d be going to some other man’s arms.
Erik stared out at the ocean and watched the waves crash against the sand. Gripping the railing, he worked through all the details he knew about her, which were precious few. Everything he knew though, added up to the fact that she was telling him the truth.
“Dammit” he said and punched his fist into the wall of his bedroom, creating a gaping hole. He didn’t care. He walked into the bathroom and quickly showered. He dressed in record time and left the villa. Within an hour, he was at the airport and back on his plane, taking off, heading back to his home and the obligations he’d been ignoring for the past week. With iron determination, he pushed all thoughts of Annie and their time together from his mind.
Chapter 8
Ana left the security of the limousine and walked into the airport, her heart heaving and the tears just behind her eyelids. With as much dignity as she could muster, she walked up to the ticket booth and inquired about flights to Cordova.
&nb
sp; The clerk typed on her computer and, after several minutes, came up with an itinerary for her. “I’m afraid it is going to be a long flight,” she said. “There’s a flight in forty five minutes that will fly you to Paris. From there, you can catch the next flight to Germany and then to Cordova. I’m afraid we don’t have any direct flights. I wouldn’t imagine that any other airlines do either. That is a small country,” the ticket agent said. “I’ve been there once before and you’re in for a treat. Gorgeous country!” she said, waving her hand for emphasis.
“I agree,” Ana nodded. “And I understand about the flight,” she said and handed the clerk her credit card. Funny, it didn’t feel so wonderful this time as it had at the coffee shop a week ago. Had it only been a week? It seemed like an eternity to Ana who knew she had fallen hopelessly in love with Marcus. As she signed the ticket and handed the woman her passport for validation, Ana wondered if she would ever feel whole again.
She had to hurry in order to make her flight. Security took a long time, longer than she’d ever realized. Flying in private jets, security was streamlined. And traveling as royalty definitely had its advantages, she thought as she put her shoes back on and grabbed her purse to run the rest of the way to her gate.
Ana stared out the window of the plane for the next twelve hours, wondering if things could have ended differently between her and Marcus. She knew she’d never be satisfied being a mistress. And her family would never allow it either. She didn’t even have the luxury of being disowned. Her father would simply ignore all her arguments and the wedding would proceed with or without her agreement.
She’d known that this moment would have to come anyway. Even from the start, she’d known there could never be a future with Marcus. All her life, she’d lived with the obligations that were defined by her birth. Now was the time to pay up.
She tried to sleep but thoughts of making love with Marcus drifted into her head as soon as she closed her eyes. So she stayed awake, concentrating on one subject or another, anything to keep her mind from thinking about Marcus and wondering about the woman he was about to marry.
But questions and thoughts kept jumping to her mind. Was she beautiful? Was she funnier than she was? More educated? Why couldn’t he give her up? Was he in love with the other woman? Every fiber of her being rejected that possibility but the cold, hard reality was that it was probably true. Why would a man as strong and dedicated as Marcus let himself be trapped into a marriage he didn’t want? So this other woman had to be incredible to have gained the love of a man like Marcus.
Ana stopped herself. It didn’t matter what she was like. Apparently, he was in the same kind of situation she was. Oh, he probably wasn’t in an arranged marriage to a stranger. Those things didn’t really happen anymore. She was just unlucky enough to have a father who believed he knew what was best for his children and didn’t listen to anything other than his own opinion.
That made her realize that Marcus had probably chosen this woman. That was even more painful. She’d thought that she couldn’t be in more agony but the fact that he had fallen in love with someone and was about to marry made her heart ache more than she’d thought possible.
She changed planes in Paris, then again in Bonn. When she was on the final leg of her journey home, she was still hurt but thought she had that under control. She’d been traveling for almost twenty four hours now which meant she would be later than she’d told her family. That worried her enough to call and tell them that she was about three hours from the airport in Cordova. The phones in the plane were not the best and she decided to not speak with her mother. She called her mother’s secretary instead and told Alicia that she was fine, her arrival time and what flight she was on.
“Are you okay?” Alicia asked, the worry and exhaustion in her voice apparent. “I’ll get your mother immediately,” she said.
“No, Alicia. Please, just convey the message and time I’ll be there. I’ll talk to her soon enough.”
“What flight are you on again?” Alicia demanded before Ana could disconnect. Ana searched through her travel documents and verified the flight information for her a second time.
Ana could hear the relief in Alicia’s voice. “I’ll have an escort for you shortly. I know your parents will be enormously relieved to know that you are safe.”
“Fine,” Ana said and hung up, knowing that Alicia was probably stalling in order to get her mother on the phone.
Ana didn’t want to talk to anyone and didn’t want to hear everyone’s disappointment. It would come soon enough. Ana looked out the window of the plane and sighed, wishing she didn’t have to face the music. But Ana had known all of this would happen when she’d left two days ago.
Twenty minutes after she hung up the phone, Ana was still staring out the window. She noticed a plane flying close and her heart skipped a beat. Were they going to run into that plane? It was flying directly for them. Obviously other people on the plane saw the same thing. Someone called out, “What the hell!” and others started raising their voices in panic. A moment later, the plane pulled up beside the jet and Ana recognized the colors of Cordova’s military on the side of the plane. Then the pilot’s voice came on the speakers. “Please don’t worry everyone. We are just receiving a military escort into the airport. We are cleared for a direct landing which will eliminate thirty minutes from our flight. We should be arriving in less than an hour at Cordova’s International Airport. So sit back and relax as we enjoy the added security of Cordova’s superior Air Force escort.”
Ana sank lower in her seat and tried to become inconspicuous. She didn’t want everyone on the flight to know she was the reason for the military escort but knew there was nothing she could do about it. Thankfully, no one approached her and asked to confirm her identity. The plane landed without incident and Ana stood up, preparing to walk off the flight with the other passengers.
That was the plan anyway. As soon as the doors were opened, an armed guard rushed onto the plane. Ana was quickly identified. “Your Highness,” the lead guard said and bowed. “We’re here to escort you safely to the palace,” he said and physically moved the other passengers out of her way.
Ana ducked her head as she walked out of the plane. She was escorted to a waiting limousine with strange body guards who quickly ducked her out of site. The limousine traveled the five minutes from the airport to the palace, the trip streamlined as police blocked off the streets to ensure a quick and safe trip.
The same, strange guard opened the door for her once they were in the palace garage and Ana walked quickly into the palace. She wanted to go to her rooms, but knew that she needed to face the music with her parents before she had any relief.
Instead of heading to the left which would lead her to her suite of rooms, she turned right and walked slowly toward her father’s office.
As soon as she walked in, her father and mother stood, nodded to the guards who quietly closed the doors behind her. Ana heard the sound of the closing doors and thought it sounded ominously like a death knell or maybe even a prison gate closing behind her.
King Stephan walked around his desk to stand directly in front of her. “Have a good time?” he asked, deceptively quiet.
Ana was actually afraid of her father. She didn’t really know what to say but thought perhaps the truth would be the best plan of action. “Father, I...”
“Answer the question,” he snapped, not raising his voice but authority ringing through nevertheless.
“I...I can explain.”
He shook his head. “No. You can’t. Nothing you can say will excuse the worry you have put your mother and I through over the past three days.”
“I left a note,” she said as her only defense against their worry. But she saw the stress etched in each of their faces and felt even worse for being the person who put it there.
Her father was having none of that. His hand waved it aside as if it was unimportant which, in his mind, it was. “The note said you needed time. Did y
ou have enough time?” he demanded.
“Yes,” she whispered, not able to look him in the eye.
He paced in front of his desk, shaking his head in exasperation. “Ana, I don’t know what has gotten into you in the past week. I’ve never had any worries that you would act this way. Marabeth, now I worry about her and the little digs she makes toward George. But you’ve always been the sensible one, the one I could count on to know your station and act with decorum. This is not like you. Please explain what would make you go off, without your guard and without any planning at all. Do you have any idea of what could have happened to you?” he asked, not allowing her any time to explain. “Have I not drilled into your head all the things that could happen? These things actually do happen and quite often. Would you like to see the reports that come across my desk? Would you like to know how many people were kidnapped and held ransom in the past three days? Do you want to know how many groups internationally are now suspected of kidnapping innocent people in order to finance their military operations? And you’re not an innocent person. You’re a political symbol! Ana! You have put yourself into unacceptable danger!”
Now he was yelling and Ana shrunk at the full force of that anger being directed at her. “But I’m fine!” she pointed out. “None of those things happened.”
“Because of luck and the fact that no one knew you were gone without protection.”
She finally found a place to contradict him and possibly ease his anger if only slightly. “I wasn’t without protection. I had guards with me at all times. I promise.”
“Whose guards?” he demanded immediately.
Ana was trapped but she wasn’t going to tell him the whole story. She couldn’t tell her father that she’d had a brief affair with an engaged man. That would really be awful. “The place I was staying had very good security. There were armed guards and fences, gated enclosures. Oh, Father, I just wanted to get away and think things through.”
