by Raye Morgan
His eyes were hard as they looked into hers. “Will you dance with me, Janis?” he asked softly. “When I can dance again, I want you for my partner.”
Her pulse began to race. He was half-teasing, playing with her for his own amusement. Little did he know how she wished he really was serious about it.
“I will,” she told him earnestly. “If you still want me.”
She loved him so. Might as well admit it. That hadn’t changed and she didn’t think it ever would.
She’d loved him from the moment she first saw him. She knew very well that the whole concept of love at first sight was ridiculous. She didn’t believe in it. You couldn’t really love someone you didn’t know. So she wasn’t sure just what that was that had grabbed her the first time her eyes had met Mykal Marten’s.
There was no doubt she’d been blown away. After all, he was incredibly good-looking. His dark hair was cut short but it still managed to curl around his head, reminding her of a statue of an ancient Greek Warrior. His body was warriorlike, too—hard and muscular and broad in all the best places. His eyes were pale, pale blue, like spring flowers, but burning with a hard, fearless light that seemed to blaze out from those gorgeous thick eyelashes.
All in all, her heart had stopped in her throat and for a moment, she thought she’d never breathe again. Maybe that wasn’t love, but it was something. It had almost seemed like some sort of force field had sprung between them, electric and throbbing, like a beat at a really hot dance club.
One look and she knew—he was the one.
Had he felt the same? Maybe. Maybe a little. But she didn’t think it had happened to him in quite the same full-throttle way. Still, she’d let him know how she felt from the first. She had no choice. It was as though she needed the breath from his lips to survive.
Now was no different. She would do anything to bring their relationship back to the way it had been. Anything.
And that was her misfortune, because she knew nothing would work. The longer she stayed near him, the more she realized that. Roadblocks were piling up, one after another. It was no use. She’d made up her own mind. She couldn’t go to the castle with him. This would be a final goodbye. She turned away, afraid he would see the tears shimmering in her eyes.
“I’ll just go refill this with water,” she said, blinking rapidly as she took the porcelain pitcher and turned toward the door. “And I think I’ll see if Griswold has made some breakfast for you. I’ll be right back.”
“Janis, wait a minute,” he said, stopping her. “Could you do me a favor?”
She turned back slowly, keeping her face averted. “Of course.”
“There’s something I’ve got to do. If you look in the desk in the study, I think you’ll find some writing paper and a fountain pen. I’d like to send a note to my parents. I know they’ll be affected by all this royal speculation when they hear about it and I want to reassure them that I’m still their son.”
She smiled, loving him, loving his decency. “Of course,” she said, turning to look at him and barely able to resist the urge to throw her arms around him and give him a hug. “Just give me a few minutes.”
He nodded, closing his eyes, and she left quickly, hoping to make quick work of her meeting with Kylos and do the chores for Mykal at the same time.
The study was empty. She found the desk quickly and pulled open one drawer after another until she found the paper Mykal had asked for. She drew the whole packet out and chose two sheets, then looked down, about to put it back. But an official-looking form on the bottom of the drawer caught her attention and she stopped to glance at it, feeling slightly nosy, but interested.
It was a death certificate. That gave her a start, but once she’d read the name on it, as well as the date and place of death, she was even more shocked. This had to be Mykal’s adoptive father. She couldn’t ignore that and she reached down to bring it up, immediately noticing another death certificate, this one for his mother, right under it. She read them over quickly, noting they both seemed to have died in a traffic accident, then heard Kylos coming down the hallway.
Moving as fast as she could, she put back the two documents and placed the packet of paper back where it had been, then closed the drawer just as Kylos entered the room. Turning, she stared at him. His parents had passed away and he hadn’t told Mykal. At least, that was certainly what this looked like. What on earth could be his motive? Should she challenge him on it? Or just add it to the list of things she didn’t trust about him?
But Kylos had his mind on other things.
“Okay, let’s hear it,” he said, facing off in front of her like a prizefighter. “Give it to me straight or you’re going out on your ear.”
She looked at him and wondered why he gave off such bad vibes. She really didn’t like him much. Why did he want to know all this and what did he plan to do with the information? There was no doubt she had better be careful in what she told him.
“Mykal and I met a good six months ago. We were both in the military, still wrapping up war business in a way, and we worked together on a couple of assignments.”
“The war is over,” he said caustically, as though that somehow invalidated her story.
She rolled her eyes. “The war is not over. Sure, there’s a truce of sorts between the royals and the Granvilli side. The Granvillis think they run one small, mountainous part of the island. But things there are falling apart and the royals are just biding their time. They’ll take over soon.”
“‘They’?” He smirked. “So you fought on the side of the Granvilli murdering traitors?”
She winced. Just whose side had she been on when the Granvilli secret police had thrown her into the prison camp? “What does it matter anymore?” she said softly.
“It matters a lot to those of us who are loyal.” But he said it in a pro forma way that let her know he really didn’t care all that much. He’d gone on to something else and he frowned, thinking it over. “But that means Mykal was there, too, on the wrong side. Is that right?” He stared at her. The light of something eager gleaming in his eyes. “Was my brother a traitor?”
She shook her head, but before she could say anything, he went on, frowning. “So that’s why I’m having so much trouble getting any records of his service out of our military bureaucracy. The royals asked me to get together all his history and papers and I’ve been having a hard time. But I’m asking the wrong side for info.” He shook his head as though thoroughly confused. “And that’s why no one could find him for the last two years. He was with the enemy. Who knew?”
She sighed. “It’s more complicated than that and you’re going to have to ask Mykal to explain it. I can’t.”
Kylos stared at her for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “Double agent. Am I right?”
“Ask him.”
He scowled. “You know I can’t do that right now. We can’t do anything that might upset him. And anyway, he claims he can’t remember anything.” His gaze sharpened. “Are you buying that?”
“You mean, do I think he’s telling the truth?” she asked, incredulous. “One thing about Mykal,” she added coldly, “he’s not like the rest of us. He never lies.”
“Wow, you really have been brainwashed, haven’t you?”
She shrugged and threw her hands out, starting to turn away, but he stopped her.
“Okay, you haven’t finished. Tell me more.”
She couldn’t hold back the long-suffering look. “About what?”
“You and my brother. Come on. Lay it on the line. What’s the story?”
She hesitated, but she knew she would have to comply, at least with some sort of sketchy outline of the truth. He’d overheard what she’d told the queen and she couldn’t go back on that. “Well, we became quite close.”
“Really.” He gazed at her levelly. “Was the word love bandied about?” he asked with some sarcasm.
She drew in breath through her nose while she considered what to say to that. He didn’t have to know they had actually married. No one had to know about that. At least, not until she and her baby were long gone.
“Sure,” she said at last. “A time or two.”
Something flared in his eyes and then they narrowed. “Sounds just peachy. There’s nothing like a good love story to touch the heart.” He snorted his derision at the concept. “But then there was trouble in paradise, wasn’t there? What happened?”
“We…we had a pretty bad fight a little over two months ago. We broke up and I hadn’t seen him since. I came by yesterday to…to…”
He grunted. “You were hoping to patch things up, weren’t you?”
“Yes. No.” She grimaced in frustration. “Actually I just wanted to tie up some loose ends. I didn’t know about the accident. I had no idea about the injuries. So I was shocked when the ambulance arrived and when everyone assumed I was here to take care of him, I let them believe it.”
“Sure,” he said, sounding as though he didn’t buy a word of it. “And hearing about the royal thing didn’t have anything to do with it. Right?”
“It didn’t.”
His mouth twisted cynically. “But it sure must have pricked up your ears once you heard about it, huh?”
She despised the man. How dare he impugn her motives like this? She had enough to be ashamed of, she didn’t need to regret things she hadn’t even done. “No, honestly, I didn’t know a thing about it.”
“Be serious,” he said scornfully. “It’s been all over the news.”
“I hadn’t heard any news. I’ve been…away.”
His gaze narrowed. “What’s your game, Janis Davos? What is it that you really want here?”
Her chin rose and she looked him in the eye. “I want Mykal to be safe and healthy and happy.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“Bull.”
“It’s true. When I got here, I was all set to meet with him. I didn’t know he had amnesia until I was talking to him and realized…” Janis shivered, remembering, and suddenly most of the fight went out of her. “It’s just so crazy,” she said weakly.
“So he doesn’t remember you at all?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Kylos nodded, thinking that over. “Why haven’t you told him who you really are?”
She shrugged. “I expected him to know the minute he saw me. But when that didn’t happen, I’d already been told he wasn’t supposed to get too physical or too emotional. And after the fight we had…well, I had to hold off. I couldn’t tell him.”
He gave her a completely skeptical look. “You’re lying.”
“No, I…”
“You heard about him maybe being the lost prince and you came running back to cash in on some of that glory. Am I right?”
She glared at him. “No, you are not right.”
“Then why haven’t you told him who you are?”
In order to explain that, she would have to tell him about the marriage and how she’d destroyed it with her own foolish actions. She couldn’t do that. Instead, she went on the offensive herself.
“I’ve already gone over all that. And you have a thing or two to explain, yourself.” She used an index finger to poke at his chest as she made her points. “Why haven’t you told him the truth about your parents? Why haven’t you told him that your parents have passed away?”
Kylos’s dark face registered shock at that. He looked visibly shaken and he took a step backward, away from where Janis stood. “What? What are you talking about?”
“I saw the death certificates.” She gestured toward the drawer in the desk. “Mykal just told me a few minutes ago that he wants to write a letter to them. So he obviously doesn’t know. Why haven’t you told him the truth?”
He was backing away now. “You know why. He can’t take the shock. It could kill him.”
“That’s your story and you’re sticking to it, huh?” She glared at him. “That excuse sounds a lot like mine, doesn’t it? Funny how you didn’t buy it when it was coming from me.”
He muttered something but she wasn’t listening.
“It looks to me like we have a standoff,” she announced, hands on her hips. “You keep your secret and I’ll keep mine. Okay?”
He appeared defiant, then grudgingly agreeable. “Okay. For now. We’ll see.” Then his eyes narrowed and his confidence seemed to return. “In the meantime, I’m going to look into your background, Janis Davos. Why do I have a sneaky little suspicion that you have things to hide?” His dark eyes glittered maliciously. “Who can I talk to about you? Anyone at the castle?”
Hoping he was just trying to shake her, she fought back with sarcasm. “I don’t know. Why not try Queen Pellea? She seems to be my best friend there.”
Moving forward, he grabbed her arm, twisting it painfully. “Listen, you little tramp,” he began, but the sound of someone clearing his throat in the doorway stopped him cold and he pulled away from her.
They both turned to see Griswold trying to look as though he hadn’t seen a thing out of order.
“Your visitors are here, Mr. Marten,” he said formally. “Perhaps you had better come and see to them.”
“Oh.” He headed for the door, leaving her behind, and she breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing her arm and watching as Griswold turned away with barely a glance at her.
Kylos was a real problem. She knew she shouldn’t be goading him. She was probably going to regret it. But he was so obnoxious, she couldn’t help herself. Turning on her heel, she made her way back to the room where Mykal was.
She’d forgotten all about the water pitcher and breakfast, but luckily, Griswold had already brought him a plate of eggs and fried potatoes and he was eating with gusto.
That made her feel better instantly. He would get healthy again, she was sure of it. She settled back to watch him eat and listen to him talk about simple things that needed little or no response. He seemed to have forgotten about writing a letter to his adoptive parents, and she didn’t want to remind him. How sad and awkward that would be. But he seemed so free and easy, she could almost fool herself into thinking this was like the old days as she laughed at some silly joke he’d made. And then something would remind her that her heart was broken and she would lose the glow for a moment or two. But all in all, she just loved being with him.
She took the used plates to the kitchen and was surprised to see Kylos ushering a nice-looking older couple down the stairway. But she was hardly shocked when he treated her like a servant in front of them, leading them away quickly to another side of the house. What a strange one he was.
The castle called. An ambulance had been scheduled and would soon be on its way. A castle physician called and suggested that Mykal take his pain medication before making the trip to guard against jostling that was bound to happen. He made a face but accepted the pills with good grace once she’d explained the reasoning behind it.
“Okay,” he said. “Just one more time. After this, it’s going to take a stake through my heart to get me to take any more.”
She counted out a dose and gave it to him. He washed it down with water and looked at her with sad eyes.
“I’m ready for this to be over and done with,” he told her. “I’m going to give my permission to go ahead and operate. Let the surgery begin.”
That startled her. “No,” she said anxiously. “Wait until you get a proper evaluation before you make up your mind. Don’t make any rash decisions now.”
“Why not?” he said cynically. “What have I got to lose?”
“Everything!”
Looking at her, he grinned and before she realized what he was doing, he’d reached out and taken her hand, pulling her closer. “Okay, my beautiful guardian. I’ll take your word for it.” Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed her in a courtly fashion, then looked up earnestly. “And anyway, you’ll be there to help me make the right choice.”
Slowly, she shook her head. “I don’t think I should go to the castle with you,” she said breathlessly.
“But I thought you worked for the castle.”
“Not really. I’m…” What was she exactly? What could she say? Suddenly, she wanted to tell him the truth.
“Hey, how’s this?” He pulled her hand to his chest. His eyes sparkled with something close to his old charm. “I command you to come with me.”
She looked into those eyes for a moment, then rolled her own, half-laughing. “Oh, brother.”
“You can’t defy me.”
“Oh, yeah? Watch me.”
He pretended to frown fiercely. “We have dungeons for people like you.”
“Only at the castle. Where I’m not going.”
“Of course you’re going.” He thought that over for a moment, then gave her a disgruntled look. “What good is it going to be being royal if I can’t throw my new power around?”
She smiled, loving him. “Maybe being royal isn’t all its cracked up to be these days,” she teased. “Maybe you’re going to have to get used to some limits.” And just to show him that she had some of her own, she slipped her hand back out of his and moved a little farther from the edge of the bed.
It wouldn’t be long before the ambulance arrived. And then she would have to make good on her decision not to go to the castle with him. It was really the only choice. They couldn’t go on like this. She couldn’t live this lie any longer. She only hoped she could stay strong and determined enough to follow through with it. In the meantime, she began to look at him for evidence the pain medication was working. He wasn’t acting as though anything was bothering him much, but she didn’t notice him getting sleepy, either.
