The Prince's Devious Proposal

by Rayner, Holly

  “Will you really?” she asked. “Or are you going to stand me up?”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” he said.

  “I don’t know what you’d do.” To her horror, she found that she was crying. “I thought you were going to call me. You’ve been ignoring me for days, Petr. I didn’t know what to think.”

  “I know,” Petr said. “God. I know. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

  The coldness in his voice had melted. He sounded more like his old self now. Naomi wanted to stop the argument, to reassure him that everything was okay. She wanted to go back to just being happy.

  But she couldn’t forget those long, painful days of wondering whether she would ever hear from him again. That had hurt too much for her to simply pretend that everything was fine now.

  “I need to know why you haven’t been returning my calls,” she said. “I’ve been going through hell, Petr.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I would have called you back if I’d been able to.”

  “You couldn’t have been that busy. Around the clock?”

  “No, it wasn’t that,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you at the time, but…I haven’t actually been in Rome this whole time.”

  “What do you mean, you haven’t been in Rome?” she demanded. “I thought you said you just got back to LA today!” Her anger was mounting. “How much of what you’ve told me has been lies?”

  “That wasn’t a lie,” Petr protested. “I really did just get back. But before that, I wasn’t in Rome. I said I was because I didn’t want to tell you the truth.”

  “Tell me the truth now,” she said. “I think I’m entitled.”

  “You are,” he said and sighed. “It’s difficult.”

  “Just tell me, Petr. I’m your wife, aren’t I?” For a terrible moment, she half expected him to say no. It was horrible not knowing where she stood with him, not knowing what she could believe.

  “You’re right,” he said. “The truth is that I went back to Sovra.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she said. “That’s another lie.” And such a transparent one. Who did he think he was kidding?

  “It’s the truth,” he protested. “I swear.”

  “It can’t be true,” she said. “You told me that you’d been exiled from Sovra, that you were never allowed to go back. Either you were lying to me then, or you’re lying to me now. Which is it?”

  “Neither,” he said. “There was a royal emergency. I had to go back, as a representative of my family. I was allowed in by special dispensation from the current rulers, in order to consult with them. But I had to surrender my phone at the border.”

  Naomi didn’t know what to think. “If that’s true, why didn’t you call me as soon as you got your phone back?” she asked.

  “Because I was dealing with a lot,” he said. “I knew that when I reconnected with you, we would have to have a long and emotional conversation, and I wasn’t ready.”

  That didn’t feel right. Petr had always taken care of Naomi’s needs. She hadn’t pegged him as someone who could put his own desire for some downtime above making sure she was all right.

  But maybe that’s what I get for rushing into this marriage before I was sure of who he was. Maybe he was never that kindhearted person at all.

  “What was the royal emergency?” she asked.

  Petr hesitated. “I’m not allowed to discuss it,” he said at last.

  “I’m your wife, Petr. Not an enemy combatant.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’m not allowed to discuss Sovran affairs with anybody. It took me the entire flight home to decide whether it would be okay to tell you I had been there at all. I’m taking a risk here.”

  “You can’t seriously believe that I’m going to tell anyone,” she said. “Who would believe me? I haven’t decided if I even believe it myself.”

  “Maybe that’s a good instinct,” he said, and his voice was raw.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Listen, Naomi, can we just discuss this when we get together tomorrow?” he asked. “I need time to rest.”

  “Time to get your story straight, do you mean?”

  “You don’t trust me,” he said heavily.

  She didn’t answer.

  “I suppose I haven’t given you much reason to,” he conceded.

  “No,” she said. “You haven’t.”

  “Naomi…”

  “Do you even really love me?” she asked him.

  “How can you ask me that?” Petr asked her. “After everything we went through together in Europe, after everything we shared, how can you doubt that it’s real?”

  “Because I feel like I’m trying to hold onto a shadow now that I’m back home,” Naomi said, unable to conceal her emotions. “Every time I try to grab onto a feeling or a memory, it slips away. Every time you say something to me that I can’t quite believe, it makes me wonder what else was a lie.” She grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Do you remember the day on the beach when you proposed to me?”

  “Of course I do,” he said.

  “You kissed me, and I felt the undertow pulling the sand away beneath my feet, carrying it out with the waves,” Naomi said. “But it didn’t matter, because I had you to hold onto. I couldn’t lose my footing, even as the earth shifted beneath me. But you’re not here now. And everything about the foundation of our relationship seems to be shifting. I don’t know what’s safe to believe in anymore. I don’t know where it’s safe to stand.”

  “I love you, Naomi,” Petr said. “Everything is going to get back to normal for us, I promise you that. Just as soon as you and I are able to sit down together, we’ll begin feeling like ourselves again. We’ll be able to work through this.”

  “I hope so,” Naomi said. “That’s what I want to happen.”

  “Then you’ll meet me tomorrow when you’re finished with work for the day?”

  “I will,” she said, wondering if she was being suckered. If he had been lying to her all along, he might be lying again right now. Maybe she would end up at the Crystal Lounge alone tomorrow night, humiliated and heartbroken.

  But she had to take the gamble. Things had been so good with Petr. Whatever this was, whatever was going on now, she couldn’t allow herself to forget about the possibility of happiness. If there was even a chance of recapturing the magic that had existed between them in Europe, Naomi would try.

  Besides, he really did sound as if he was sorry. She could hear the old Petr, the one she had been so sure of, in his voice. The frightening coldness with which he had spoken to her at the beginning of the call was gone now.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, hoping against hope that that was true.

  When the call had ended, she wandered into her bedroom, pulled open the curtains, and sat staring out her window, pondering what she had just heard.

  A royal emergency in Sovra. Could that be true? If it was, how did it fit in with the article she had read about Petr’s family being mired in debt?

  She hadn’t had the courage to tell him about the article. A part of her had hoped that he might say something about his family’s financial state, that he might somehow provide clarity without her having to ask for it. That had probably been an unrealistic dream, she thought now. She was going to have to ask him directly.

  She would do it tomorrow, at the Crystal Lounge.

  Assuming he showed up at all.

  God, she wanted to believe that he would be there.

  It couldn’t be a coincidence that he had chosen the Crystal Lounge again. The site of their first date. The place where—she realized now—she had begun to fall in love with him, when he had gotten up to sing “Perihelion” for her.

  That was still the strongest evidence of his sincerity and goodness. How could he have known that song unless he was what he claimed to be—a real fan of her music? A pretender would have performed the hit song, not a deep cut.

  But if he was what he claime
d to be, then why would he lie to her? Why would he marry her without being honest about his circumstances?

  There must be an explanation. There must be a way to make all these pieces fit together.

  But for the life of her, Naomi couldn’t see what it might be.

  She could have used a friend right now, someone to help her think her way through everything that had happened. But she was distanced from all her friends. She hadn’t spoken to them in months. Who could she possibly call right now and tell this story to?

  There was no one.

  She was going to have to try to navigate it by herself.

  She sighed and buried her face in her hands. She never could have imagined, on that beautiful day in Barcelona when she and Petr had said their vows and celebrated their marriage to one another, that such a short time later she would be feeling so utterly alone.

  Chapter 14

  Naomi couldn’t focus at work the next day. Though her assignments were beginning to pile up in front of her, the idea of getting anything done felt impossible. She did her best to work on a few projects, but her mind was miles away, with Petr at the Crystal Lounge.

  Finally, the workday came to an end. She hurried out to her car and was about to pull out of the parking lot when her phone rang.

  Naomi’s heart skipped a beat. Would that be Petr, calling to cancel? To make some excuse? She fumbled with her purse and extracted her phone.

  And paused.

  The caller wasn’t Petr. It was her sister, Sarah.

  Naomi heard from Sarah infrequently, and almost never by phone—her sister was more prone to sending long emails once every month or so. The last time they had spoken on the phone, it had been to make arrangements for their mother’s funeral.

  Naomi swallowed, composed herself, and answered the call. “Sarah?”

  “Naomi,” Sarah said, her voice brusque and businesslike as usual. “How have you been?”

  “I’m okay,” Naomi said. “How are you?”

  “All right,” Sarah said.

  “And Harry and the kids?”

  “They’re doing well too,” Sarah said. “Harry just got promoted.”

  “Oh, that’s great,” Naomi said. She hesitated, wondering what to say next.

  Sarah was five years older than Naomi, enough of a gap that they hadn’t been close when they were children. By the time Naomi had been old enough to want to spend time with her sister, Sarah had been busy with friends, and a short while later, boyfriends. Then, just a few years later, she had gone off to college. She had always been a distant figure in Naomi’s life—someone to look up to, someone to admire, but not someone to confide in.

  Naomi had hoped to deepen their relationship after the death of their mother. It was difficult confronting the fact that Sarah was the only family she had left. But even now, Sarah didn’t really need Naomi. She was ahead of her in life, with a husband and children to fill the empty places in her heart. Sarah had never been alone in the way Naomi had after their mother’s death.

  She wondered what her sister would say if she knew that Naomi was married now.

  She would probably disapprove.

  Sarah had always been the pragmatic one, the realist. She had been doubtful about Naomi’s ability to produce a music album, and she had been more surprised than anyone else in the family when that album had led to a tour. Naomi knew that her sister considered her to be flighty and irresponsible; if she told Sarah about her whirlwind courtship and marriage to Petr, that would just confirm what Sarah already thought about her.

  And she could never ask for Sarah’s advice on how to deal with the way Petr had been acting these past few days. Sarah would just tell her that it was what she should have expected, getting married as quickly as she had.

  And, let’s face it, she would probably be right. She usually is.

  Fortunately, Sarah didn’t ask Naomi what had been happening in her life. “Do you have some time to talk?” she asked.

  “I just got off work, actually,” Naomi said. “I’m in the car.”

  “Do you want to call me back when you get home?” Sarah asked.

  “No, it’s fine,” Naomi said. She was curious about the motivation behind this call, since Sarah so infrequently called her. She had no desire to disconnect now.

  Besides, she wasn’t going home. She was going to the Crystal Lounge. And she definitely didn’t want to be on the phone with her sister there. She would want to give her full attention to Petr, to figuring out what was going on with him.

  Whatever Sarah had called to say, it would make her late to meet Petr. But that was okay, she decided. Let him wait for her. It would be good for him to experience what it was like to have to wait for somebody. And maybe it would be good for her, too, to be the one keeping him waiting.

  “So what are you calling about?” Naomi asked.

  “The lawyers are finished looking at Mom’s will,” Sarah said.

  “It’s about time,” Naomi said. “What took them so long?”

  “I don’t know,” Sarah said. “I guess it was complicated. Nobody is getting the house. She put it on the market, and we’ll each get a payout when it sells.”

  “That’s okay,” Naomi said. She wouldn’t have wanted to go back and live in her parents’ house anyway. There were too many memories there. She wouldn’t have been able to walk through the place without expecting to see them around every corner. It would just be too painful.

  “I thought so too,” Sarah said. “But of course, I’m in New York. I wouldn’t have wanted to move the whole family to California anyway. So the house would have been yours.”

  “It’s more fair this way,” Naomi said. “We can split the profits when it sells.”

  “Are you still living in that little condo?” There was a note of disapproval in Sarah’s voice.

  It was a decent opening to tell her sister about her marriage to Petr, but Naomi wasn’t ready. She would talk about that when she felt more confident in what direction the marriage was going to go.

  “Yes,” she said. “Maybe I’ll move out soon, though.”

  “I think you probably will,” Sarah said. “That’s the real reason I’m calling.”

  “What is? What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s not just the house, as it turns out,” Sarah said. “Mom left both of us a pretty sizable inheritance.”

  Naomi had sort of expected that some money might be coming her way. She knew that her father, upon his death, had left everything to her mother. And she knew that her mother’s will would likely stipulate that she and Sarah inherit that wealth.

  It was a painful thought. There was a part of her that wanted nothing to do with that money. Having it would be a constant reminder of the fact that her parents were gone. They had raised her to be self-sufficient, not to rely on the fact that she would one day inherit money from them.

  “What do I need to do?” she asked her sister. No doubt there would be papers to sign.

  “Don’t you want to know how much it is?” Sarah asked her.

  “How much?” Naomi was only marginally interested. She would put it in her savings account, whatever it was.

  “Three million,” Sarah said.

  Naomi’s mind went momentarily blank at her sister’s words. “Three million?” she repeated dumbly.

  “Three million each,” Sarah clarified.

  Naomi was staggered. She hadn’t realized that her mother even had that much money.

  This changes everything. That was her first thought. She had been so worried about her job in the wake of Petr’s strange personality shifts. If he wasn’t going to be able to provide for her the way he had promised he would, it would once again be important for her to maintain her employment.

  But this inheritance changed all that. She didn’t need to worry about keeping her job now. She could quit tomorrow and take as much time as she liked finding something else to do. The inheritance money would help her to bridge the gap.

  She fel
t a balloon of hope swelling within her. It was as if her mother had reached out from beyond the grave to help Naomi change her life, to extricate her from the difficulty she had gotten herself into. And Naomi was determined to make the most of the situation. She would not become lazy. She would not allow herself to rest on the money her mother had provided. She would use it to better her situation, to launch herself into a new career, one that would finally make her happy.

  Who cares if Petr doesn’t have any money? I’ve got enough for the both of us!

  “You should go into Mom’s lawyer’s office,” Sarah said. “I’ll email you his information. He’ll be able to give you your inheritance and answer any questions you might have about it, okay?”

  “Okay,” Naomi said. “Thanks for reaching out, Sarah. I really appreciate you taking care of this.”

  Sarah hesitated for a moment. “Are you doing all right?” she asked. “Do you need anything?”

  It wasn’t the kind of question Sarah normally asked. Had she heard something amiss in Naomi’s voice?

  For a moment, Naomi wanted to tell her sister everything. She wanted to beg Sarah to come to Los Angeles to be with her while she tried to sort through the messy romantic situation she had gotten herself into. Having family by her side would, at the very least, make it all more bearable.

  But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t face the scolding she knew Sarah would give her. She couldn’t deal with trying to defend the love she still felt for Petr, even now.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said.

  “Okay,” Sarah said. “I’ll send you that email, then. Let me know when you’ve been to see the lawyer.”

  “I will,” Naomi assured her sister, and they hung up.

  She sat staring straight ahead, not starting the car, not ready to try driving. Three million dollars. Had her mother always known she would have that kind of money to leave behind?

  Then, foggily, a memory began to piece itself together.

  It had been a year or so after Naomi’s father had died, but before her mother had gotten sick. Her mother had decided to try dating again.