by Maya Blake
His vision blurred for a moment, that wild hope dying a swift, merciless death. ‘How?’ Even as the hoarse demand erupted from his throat, he knew.
She’d overheard him.
Heard and had rightly condemned him for his actions. Dread spiralled through him. ‘Did you explain things to her?’
‘No... I couldn’t, could I? I signed the NDA—’
Zak bit back a snarl, the thought that she would leave her daughter to suffer just so she wouldn’t lose out financially making him want to lash out.
But he couldn’t. The blame was his alone. He’d acted without consulting her, taken steps to mitigate circumstances that might never have arisen. For all he knew, Margot Barringhall could’ve surprised him the way her daughter had already stunned him.
But hard lessons that’d shaped his life had urged him to react in the only way he knew how. He refocused as Margot’s undisguised panic drilled into his skull.
‘She’s threatening to disown me, Zak. She wants nothing to do with me. I might never meet my grandchild. I... You need to do something. Please. I can’t lose her.’
Zak hung up, his skin ashen, his mouth a thin white line. Margot Barringhall may have discovered her humanity too late to salvage her relationship with her daughter. And if Violet was threatening to disown her own mother, what chance did he have with her?
He’d faced down tyrants and dictators in his time in the military, thwarted threats against his family. Why did the thought of dealing with one woman terrify him?
Because she wasn’t just any woman.
She was the woman he loved.
Violet focused the fragments of attention she could summon on the wide screen that tracked the plane’s flight path to London. As if keeping it in sight would dull the pain rippling through her veins. She’d prayed she’d got it wrong, that she’d misinterpreted Zak’s conversation. But her mother’s caginess and eventual confession that her NDA forbade her from discussing her agreement with Zak had killed any last dregs of hope.
Seven short hours.
Then she could find a quiet hotel to hide away in. Having given up the flat she’d shared with Sage after her twin’s departure and her own temporary relocation to New York, Violet had nowhere to go save the house she’d grown up in, and she had no intention of returning to Barringhall. It hadn’t felt like home in a long time anyway. Knowing the very roof over her head was paid for with greed and shameless money-grabbing antics had soured it for her a long time ago.
She would give herself a few days, then start flat-and job-hunting. She had a baby coming. As much as she wanted to wallow in misery she—
She sucked in a breath as the plane banked sharply to the left. That in itself wasn’t unusual, but the onscreen map flickering off for a moment before returning with a different destination was what stopped her breath completely.
He wouldn’t dare!
Please, God, let him not do this. Violet didn’t think she could stand it. The moment the plane righted itself, she grabbed the phone that handily announced its connection with the pilot.
He answered on the first ring. ‘My apologies, Lady Barringhall, I was about to step out and apprise you of the flight plan change.’
‘Tell me we’re not returning to the island?’
‘Ah... I’m afraid I can’t.’ It didn’t help that he sounded genuinely regretful.
It didn’t help that her heart leapt for a wild, shameful moment before crashing harder than before. It didn’t help that when they landed back on the island an hour later, Zak stood on the tarmac, uncaring that his hair was wildly tousled by the turbulent air or that the all-white linen shirt and trousers only highlighted his perfection.
But she could help staying in her seat long after the pilot disembarked with his crew.
And she remained seated, her heart in her throat, as Zak watched her through the window until his staff drove away. Only then did he mount the stairs into the plane.
It’d only been a few hours since she’d seen him, but it felt like a lifetime had passed. He still looked devilishly breathtaking.
Formidable. Imperious. Calculating as he paused at the front of the plane, stormcloud eyes devouring her. After an age he turned to the door and pressed a series of buttons. In under a minute they were sealed in.
Panic flared through her but she fought to keep it from showing. ‘I’m starting to think you have a bondage fetish, Your Highness. Shall I add that to the list of your sins?’
He sauntered down the aisle, his watchful gaze unwavering. Expecting him to take the seat opposite, Violet let out a soft gasp when he sank to his knees in front of her. ‘Tell me what you intended to say at breakfast this morning, Violet.’
‘I told you, I don’t remember—’
He leaned forward, his throat moving convulsively. ‘Please, carissima. Tell me,’ he implored.
‘Why?’ she whispered.
His hands suddenly gripped hers, their fine tremor triggering an earthquake inside her. ‘Because I suspect I made a very terrible mistake in not delaying taking my brother’s call.’
The air left her lungs but she fought against the tendrils of hope teasing her shattered emotions. ‘Did Remi really call?’
He frowned, then nodded. ‘Of course. He called to tell me I’m to become an uncle. Why would you think otherwise?’
She held his gaze without answering, her eyes widening when sharp regret darkened his eyes. ‘You think I deceived you,’ he declared.
‘I spoke to my mother, Zak. And I heard you this morning.’
‘I know you did. She called to inform me.’
She gasped, pain stabbing her heart. ‘So what is this? Why bring me back here?’
‘Because I’m learning that my way of doing things won’t always reap the results I want.’
‘You think?’
His eyes glinted, his gaze dropping to her mouth before his expression tightened. ‘The moment you informed me you were carrying our child, very little else ceased to matter except ensuring your safety and welfare.’
She shook her head. ‘Don’t wrap it up in concern for me. You wanted me out of the way, hidden away like some dirty little secret—’
‘Hidden away, yes, but not like a secret.’ His jaw gritted for a moment before he continued. ‘My other reasons still apply but...my father’s generals, men he trusted, tried to target the throne within hours of his death. Montegova was birthed through war and bloodshed. My people can be a little...bloodthirsty. Luckily, I had a network of trusted men who don’t believe in senseless violence and tyranny.’
‘Is that why you’ve kept an eye on the current general?’
He nodded. ‘I vowed that we wouldn’t get caught with our guard down ever again. That included removing you from any possible line of attack.’
She gasped. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I was going to, eventually. But...this last week was special and I selfishly wanted to hang onto it.’ She was busy catching her breath when he added, ‘And then I was made aware of your mother’s activities.’
Her heart dropped. ‘My mother?’
His lips firmed. ‘She was pitting tabloids against each other, hoping to start a bidding war on a story about you. And me.’
A hot wave of shame engulfed her. But even through it, bitterness at his actions remained. ‘And so you bought her off.’
‘I offered her a different...better alternative.’
‘An alternative?’
‘A chance to celebrate her coming grandchild, rather than capitalise financially on the occasion. An interview with a journalist of my choice, to be aired with your strict approval once the baby was born and once you’d vetted every word. In return, I offered to settle her debts.’
‘What else did you do? Tell her to pressure me to marry you? To keep all of this from her own daughter under
threat of persecution from your non-disclosure agreement?’
His lips firmed, but he didn’t deny any of it. ‘Perhaps I was delusional but I didn’t want to entertain the thought that this week would end with you refusing to marry me. Dio mio, the possibility of you leaving me, despite everything I’d done...’ He shook his head. ‘I’m used to winning, Violet. To being in control.’
‘Because everyone around you expects it? Don’t you know that’s unrealistic?’
‘If I can’t hold myself accountable, how can I expect others to be?’
She frowned, her heart lurching at the pain in his voice. ‘Are you talking about your father again?’
Cold bleakness filled his eyes before they dropped to the hands clutching hers. ‘I wasted years believing he could walk on water. I even excused him when he didn’t display much affection, when he seemed especially harsh.’ He shrugged. ‘Trying to live with that lie has been...hard.’
She didn’t realise she’d twisted her fingers to entwine with his until he lifted hers to kiss her knuckles. ‘He shattered your trust, but not everyone is like that.’
‘Perhaps it was my misfortune to encounter those who reinforced that belief.’
‘Am I lumped with that lot?’
Her heart leapt when he immediately shook his head. ‘Not you, Violet. You turned my suspicions inside out. Dio, you turned me inside out,’ he rasped fervently. ‘Your passion. Your beauty. Your spirit, challenging me at every turn. I was addicted to you long before I had you in Tanzania.’
Her heart banged against her ribs. ‘What...what are you saying, Zak?’
‘That telling me about the baby was the perfect strategy I used to attempt to bind you to me. I could’ve picked anywhere in the world to bring you but I picked this island because I wanted to show you what we had in common. What we could achieve together.’
‘I saw,’ she murmured, almost too afraid to hope. ‘I saw and I yearned for it. So much it frightened me.’
He froze. ‘Violet?’ Her name was a thick, husky imploration.
She swayed towards him. ‘Yes, Zak.’
‘Tell me what you meant to say this morning,’ he repeated.
‘Why?’
Piercing eyes probed hers, his intentions blazing ferociously. ‘Because I love you. I will give my life to protect you and our child. I regret taking your choices away. Because I’m obsessed with you, with your passion. With your body. With your grace. With the humbling thought that you’re the one carrying my child, giving me the opportunity to be the kind of father I wanted mine to be.’
The depth of feeling in his voice shook her to the core. ‘Zak...’
‘Most of all, I want to do everything in my power to make you the happiest woman alive if it’s your intention to stay or move mountains to earn your love at some point in the future.’
‘So you’re not going to sic your lawyers on me?’ she teased.
‘They’re at the ready to agree to your every stipulation.’
‘Carte blanche? Really?’
A humbled look crossed his face, but since Zak was who he was, it didn’t linger for long. ‘I trust you, Violet. I’ve seen into your heart. I know you won’t keep my child from me simply to make us both suffer.’
Perhaps it was that final endorsement. Perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones. With a tearful gasp, she leaned into him until their noses brushed, until she was breathing his essence into herself, filling every cracked corner of her heart with him, letting him make her whole again.
‘Zak?’
‘Si, cara?’ he replied thickly, his gaze shifting from her eyes to her mouth.
‘I was going to say yes. Because I love and adore you too. Because I want to wear that ring you kept threatening me with. Because I want to be not just the Principessa on paper but the queen of your heart. Because I want half a dozen babies, and you seem enthusiastic enough to fulfil that particular fantasy.’
He caught her in his arms and laid her on the plush carpet in the aisle. ‘I don’t know, amore, it’s been a whole twelve hours since I last had you. I could be rusty, you know.’
She slid her arms around his neck. ‘Then we’d better find out, yes?’
‘Indeed, mi amore,’ he breathed as he divested her of her clothes. ‘With my love, my soul, and my everlasting pleasure.’
Coming next month
THE SECRET KEPT FROM THE KING
Clare Connelly
‘No.’ He held onto her wrist as though he could tell she was about to run from the room. ‘Stop.’
Her eyes lifted to his and she jerked on her wrist so she could lift her fingers to her eyes and brush away her tears. Panic was filling her, panic and disbelief at the mess she found herself in.
‘How is this upsetting to you?’ he asked more gently, pressing his hands to her shoulders, stroking his thumbs over her collarbone. ‘We agreed at the hotel that we could only have two nights together, and you were fine with that. I’m offering you three months, on exactly those same terms, and you’re acting as though I’ve asked you to parade naked through the streets of Shajarah.’
‘You’re ashamed of me,’ she said simply. ‘In New York we were two people who wanted to be together. What you’re proposing turns me into your possession.’
He stared at her, his eyes narrowed. ‘The money I will give you is beside the point.’
More tears sparkled on her lashes. ‘Not to me it’s not.’
‘Then don’t take the money,’ he said, urgently. ‘Come to the RKH and be my lover because you want to be with me.’
‘I can’t.’ Tears fell freely down her face now. ‘I need that money. I need it.’
A muscle jerked in his jaw. ‘So have both.’
‘No, you don’t understand.’
She was a live wire of panic but she had to tell him, so that he understood why his offer was so revolting to her. She pulled away from him, pacing towards the windows, looking out on this city she loved. The trees at Bryant Park whistled in the fall breeze and she watched them for a moment, remembering the first time she’d seen them. She’d been a little girl, five, maybe six, and her dad had been performing at the restaurant on the fringes of the park. She’d worn her Very Best dress, and, despite the heat, she’d worn tights that were so uncomfortable she could vividly remember that feeling now. But the park had been beautiful and her dad’s music had, as always, filled her heart with pleasure and joy.
Sariq was behind her now, she felt him, but didn’t turn to look at him.
‘I’m glad you were so honest with me today.’ Her voice was hollow. ‘It makes it easier for me, in a way, because I know exactly how you feel, how you see me, and what you want from me.’ Her voice was hollow, completely devoid of emotion when she had a thousand throbbing inside her.loz
He said nothing. He didn’t try to deny it. Good. Just as she’d said, it was easier when things were black and white.
‘I don’t want money so I can attend the Juilliard, Your Highness.’ It pleased her to use his title, to use that as a point of difference, to put a line between them that neither of them could cross.
Silence. Heavy, loaded with questions. And finally, ‘Then what do you need such a sum for?’
She bit down on her lip, her tummy squeezing tight. ‘I’m pregnant. And you’re the father.’
Continue reading
THE SECRET KEPT FROM THE KING
Clare Connelly
Available next month
Copyright ©2020 by Clare Connelly
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