by Abby Green
When he woke, it was a little after seven. He rose, showered, shaved and dressed.
Then he went to his office where he got out the stack of messages he’d tossed in the second drawer of his desk—the stack he’d known somewhere in the back of his mind he shouldn’t throw away.
Not yet. Not until he was willing to make his choice from among them.
He chose quickly. It wasn’t difficult: Andrea Waters. She was a household name, with her own prime-time news and talk show in America, on NBC. She was highly respected as a television journalist. And women loved her warmth and personal charm.
He glanced at his watch.
It would be two in the morning in New York City. He would have to wait several hours until he could call her producer back himself.
He made the first call to New York at two that afternoon. By seven that evening, everything was arranged.
Now, to tell his wife. He rose from his desk to go and find her.
And there was a tap at his office door.
At seven in the evening? Caroline wasn’t out there to screen visitors. He’d told her she could go more than an hour before.
He called, “It’s open. Come in.”
The door opened—and Sydney slipped through.
He stood there behind his desk and drank in the sight of her. His lady in red—a red skirt and silk blouse, wearing those pearls her grandmother had given her, her hair smooth on her shoulders, just as it had been that first day, when he saw her in the parking garage and couldn’t stop himself from following her inside. She looked tired, though. There were still shadows under her eyes.
“I’ve been waiting to talk to you,” she said. “I … couldn’t wait any longer. I came to find you.”
“It’s been a busy day. I’m finished here now, though.” He tried on a smile. “I was just coming to find you….”
Hesitantly, she returned his smile. “I hardly slept at all last night.”
“I know how that goes.” His voice sounded strange to his own ears—a little rusty, rougher than usual. “I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep, either.”
“I told you yesterday that I wasn’t there yet, I … hadn’t really forgiven you.”
“And I said I understood. I meant what I said.”
“Oh, but Rule …” Her smile widened. And all at once, her whole face had a glow about it. She hardly even seemed tired anymore. She had her hands folded in front of her. He thought she looked so young right then. A girl, an innocent. Looking at her now he would never have guessed that she’d given birth to his son, that she carried his second child under her heart. “Something happened,” she said. “Something wonderful.”
Something wonderful. His heart beat a swift tattoo beneath his ribs. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know. I … I was lying there, alone in our bed. It was almost one in the morning. I was thinking of how I missed you, beside me, in the dark. Thinking that I knew, I understood, why you had kept the truth from me. Objectively I could see how it must have been for you. Waiting too long to contact me, knowing you were up against the deadline of the marriage law. Telling yourself you were only waiting for the right moment to say the words. And then hearing about Ryan, about Peter. Fearing that if you told me the truth, I would suspect that you only wanted Trevor. And then, when you didn’t tell me, I could see how it only got harder for you, how every day the truth became more and more impossible for you to reveal.”
He shook his head. “None of which is any excuse.”
She put her hands to her cheeks, as if to cool the hectic color in them. “I just want you to know that I did understand … I do understand, intellectually.” She let her left hand drop to her side. Her right, she laid above her breast. “But my heart … my heart wanted you to trust in me. My heart wanted you to be bigger than your very realistic fears. My heart wanted you to give me the truth no matter the cost.”
“And I should have trusted you,” he said. “I was wrong. Very wrong. And I want you to stop torturing yourself because you can’t forgive me.”
She laughed then. A happy laugh, young and so free. And her eyes had that tear-shine, the same as the day before. She sniffed, swiped the tears away. “But that’s just it. I was lying there, thinking about everything, how wrong things had gotten between us, how I wanted to work it out but my heart wouldn’t let me. And all of a sudden, just like that … I saw you. I saw you, Rule. I … felt you, as though you were there, in our dark bedroom with me. And I saw that you love me and I love you and that’s what matters, that’s what makes it all worthwhile. And I didn’t even need to think about forgiveness anymore. It just … happened. I let my anger and my hurt and my resentment go. I realized I do believe in you. I believe in your goodness and your basic honesty. I believe that you love me as I love you. I want … our family back. I want us back.” She was crying again, the tears dribbling down her cheeks, over her chin.
“Sydney …” He was out from behind his desk and at her side in four long strides. “Sydney …”
She fell against him, sobbing. “Rule, oh, Rule …”
He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight. “Shh. Shh. It’s all right. It’s going to be all right …”
Finally, pressing herself close, she tipped her chin back and he met her shining, tear-wet eyes. “Rule. I love you, Rule.”
“And I love you, Sydney. With all of my heart. You are my heart. I looked for you for far too long. I’m so glad I finally found you. I’m so glad what we have together is stronger than my lies.” He lowered his head.
And he kissed her. A real kiss. A deep kiss. A kiss of love and tears and laughter. A kiss to reaffirm their life together. Again. At last …
That kiss went on forever. And still it wasn’t long enough.
But finally, he lifted his head. He took her face between his hands and brushed away the tear tracks. “I think you’re right. I think we’re going to make it, after all.”
“I know we will. I always knew—or at least, I kept promising myself that somehow, eventually, it would all work out.”
“I was coming to find you when you knocked on the door.”
She held his gaze, searching. “What? What is it?”
“You wanted me to call a press conference….”
“Yes. I see now that was probably a bad idea.”
“At first, I though it was a bad idea, too. Mostly because of my pride.”
“It’s okay, Rule. Truly.”
“But I reconsidered.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. I did reconsider—and I still decided against it.”
“It’s fine. I understand.”
“Instead, I’m going to give Andrea Waters an exclusive interview.”
She gasped. And then she made a sputtering sound.
He laughed then. “My darling, I believe you are speechless. I don’t remember that ever happening before.”
She groaned. “Oh, you …” And she gave him a teasing punch on the arm.
“Ouch!” He grinned.
“Really, Rule. You’re not serious.”
“Oh, yes I am. I’m going to tell the truth about you and me and our son. I’m going to tell it on Andrea Waters Tonight.”
“Um. Everything?”
“Well, I think it would be acceptable to manage the message, at least to a degree.”
She reached up, laid her hand on the side of his face. That simple touch meant so much to him. It was everything. To have her in his arms again, to feel her cool palm against his cheek, to know they were together, and that they always would be. “It isn’t necessary,” she said in a whisper. “It was too much for me to ask of you.”
“No. It wasn’t.”
She touched his lips with her thumb. “Shh. Hear me out.” She waited for his nod before she spoke again. “Yes, when it comes to us, to you and me, I demand total honesty. But I certainly don’t expect you to share all your secrets with the rest of the world.”
He took her hand, opened
it, kissed the soft heart of her palm the way he’d always loved to do. “I think it should be possible to do this with dignity. With integrity.”
“You can cancel. I’ll be completely accepting of that.”
He only shook his head and kissed her palm again.
She said, “Okay. If you’re determined to do this …”
“Yes?”
“I want to be there, beside you, when Andrea Waters starts asking the questions.”
He turned her hand over, kissed the backs of her fingers, one by one. “I was hoping you would say that.”
“Are we going to New York?”
“No. She will come here, to Montedoro. There will be a tour of the palace as part of the broadcast. And then we’ll sit down, the three of us, and chat.”
“Chat.” Sydney shivered.
“Are you cold, my darling?”
“With your arms around me?” Her green gaze didn’t waver. “Never. But I am a little scared.”
“Don’t be. It’s going to go beautifully. I’m sure of it.”
“Kiss me, Rule.”
And he did, for a very long time.
Epilogue
Her Royal Highness Liliana, Princess of Alagonia, Duchess of Laille, Countess of Salamondo, sat alone in her bedroom in her father’s palace.
She wore a very old, very large green The Little Mermaid T-shirt, bought on a trip to America years before—and nothing else. Perched cross-legged on her bed, she held a delicate black plate decorated with yellow poppies and piled high with almond cookies. Lili intended to eat every one of those cookies. It was her second plate of them. She’d finished the first plateful a few minutes before.
Also, close at hand, she had a big box of tissues. Already, she’d used several of those. The discards littered the bed around her.
She was watching the television in the armoire across the room. It was Andrea Waters Tonight, an American program. Andrea Waters was interviewing Rule and Sydney.
Lili thought the interview was absolutely wonderful. Such a romantic story. She’d had no idea. Rule, a sperm donor? She never would have imagined that, not in a hundred thousand years. And Sydney’s little boy, Trevor—he was Rule’s all along.
Of course, Lili should have guessed. The resemblance was nothing short of striking.
And didn’t Sydney look adorable? She was such a handsome woman. And she sat so close to Rule, holding his hand. And the glances those two shared …
That. Yes. Exactly. Lili wanted that, what Rule and Sydney had. She wanted real love, strong love, true love, forever, with the right man.
Unfortunately, that she would ever find the right man was looking less and less likely. Especially after what had happened with Alex.
Really, how could she?
With Alex, of all people?
And now, just look at the mess she was in.
Lili ate another almond cookie, whipped out another tissue and blotted up tears. Unceremoniously, she blew her nose.
And then she sighed.
Rule and Sydney. They looked so happy. They were so happy. And Lili was happy for them.
Yes, it was true. She’d been something of a fool over Rule for all those years. He was so handsome and such a good man and he’d always treated her with warmth and affection. She’d let her vivid imagination carry her away. She’d dreamed of being Rule’s bride.
She’d thought that she loved him. And she did love him. But now, at last, she understood that the love she felt for Rule wasn’t the kind of love a woman feels for the man to whom she binds her life.
Again, Lili wondered if she would ever find that man.
It was beyond doubtful. Maybe even impossible, given her current condition.
Besides the cookies and the tissues, Lili also had her phone. It was on the bed beside her. She reached out and grabbed it and dialed the number she’d been putting off calling for too long now.
She waited, hardly daring to breathe, as the phone rang. And rang. Finally, an answering machine picked up.
Alex’s recorded voice said, “I’m not available. Leave a message.”
She waited for the beep and then she said, “Alexander. You are the most exasperating man.” She wanted to blurt out the truth right then and there. But it wasn’t a good idea. Not on the phone. “Read the letter I sent you,” she said. “And then you’d better call me, Alex. We really do need to speak privately.” She waited some more. Maybe he was there, listening. Maybe for once he’d behave like a reasonable person and pick up the phone.
But he didn’t. She heard the click that meant the machine had disconnected her. Very gently, she hung up.
And after that, she just sat there, not even crying anymore, not even wanting another almond cookie, feeling terrible about everything. Wondering what was going to happen when her father found out.
ISBN: 978-1-474-07322-6
ROYALS: FOR THEIR ROYAL HEIR
An Heir Fit for a King © 2015 Abby Green
The Pregnant Princess © 2000 Harlequin Books S.A
The Prince’s Secret Baby © 2012 Christine Rimmer
Published in Great Britain 2017
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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