Now Alex wished he had listened.
He almost dreaded answering the call. When he left for Morgan Isle, everything pertaining to the divorce had been settled, or so they believed, but his ex hadn’t actually signed on the dotted line yet. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d agreed to the terms, then changed her mind at the last minute and lashed out with more demands.
They had been going back and forth with this for more than a year now. A long, tedious year he would have much rather spent forgetting he was ever married and starting with a clean slate. He just wanted it to be over. And now he needed to know if it was.
Just before the call went to voice mail he flipped open the phone. “This better be good news.”
Jonah chuckled. “Hello, to you, too. I trust you’re having a good time.”
“I’d be having a better time if you had some good news. Did you hear from the divorce attorney?”
“I just got off the phone with her.”
“And?”
“You want to know what she said?”
He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “This is so not the time to mess with me, Jonah.”
Jonah laughed. “You can relax, buddy. This time it’s definitely good news.”
“She signed?”
“In her lawyer’s office yesterday, with plenty of witnesses to make it binding. As of this morning the papers are officially signed and filed and you, my friend, are a free man.”
He should have felt some level of regret or even sadness, but all he could manage to feel was relieved. “That is very good news.”
“She’s going by the apartment tomorrow to pick up the rest of her things.”
“And you’ll be there?”
“Me and three of my associates, just to be safe. We won’t take our eyes off her for a second. She won’t take anything that she isn’t supposed to. And if she tries, I won’t hesitate to get the police involved.”
He was just glad Jonah was handling this, so he didn’t have to. If he never saw her again, that would be fine with him. In fact, he preferred it that way. “You think it will come to that?”
“She may be manipulative and greedy, but she’s not stupid. And honestly, I think she’s as ready for this to be over as you are.”
“Guess I should have listened all those years ago when you warned me not to marry her.”
“Yeah, but when do you ever listen to me? Which reminds me, how are things going with your princess?”
“She’s not my princess,” he said, then added with a grin, “Not yet anyway.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Don’t I always?”
He laughed. “Honestly, no. That’s why you have me. To keep you out of trouble.”
“Well, this time I’m in total control.”
“Like I haven’t heard that before.”
“Don’t worry,” he told Jonah. “This time it’s different. I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“Sophie, this behavior is completely inappropriate,” Phillip said after Alex left and they were alone.
There he went with the stern look again. Sophie had to make an effort not to roll her eyes. Would he never learn? “What is it that you find inappropriate, Phillip?”
“Don’t play dumb.”
“Let’s pretend for a second that I am dumb. Because, frankly, I have no clue why you’re in such a snit.”
“Your being alone in your residence with my guest.”
“You can’t be serious.” Where in bloody hell did he get off telling her who she could and couldn’t invite into her home? She was sick to death of everyone thinking they had the right to tell her how to live her own life. “Are you forgetting that you’re the one who stuck me with him for two weeks? Not to mention that who I choose to invite into my house is none of your damned business.”
“He’s not one of your disposable distractions. This is business, Sophie. If you expect to be treated like an equal, you have to act the part.”
She couldn’t deny that his words stung. Wasn’t it just like her brother to assume the worst. “He was at my home, so you just assume I’m sleeping with him? He was here, what, ten minutes? I certainly don’t waste any time, do I?”
“I’m just making sure you understand my feelings on this.”
If she didn’t know any better, she would think that Phillip knew about her complicated past with Alex. But if he did, he surely would have said something about it years ago. He’d never held back before when he disapproved of her conduct.
And she was tired of feeling as though she was living her life under a microscope.
She had half a mind to sleep with Alex just to spite him. But what would that prove other than the fact that he was right about her?
She walked toward the door. “I have to dress for dinner now.”
Her way of saying, “Get the hell out,” without actually saying it. And wonder of all wonders, he actually acquiesced. He walked to the door, then stopped and turned back to her. “You know that I only do things that I feel are in your best interest.”
“I know that, Phillip.”
And that was the problem. Everyone thinking they knew what was better for her than she did.
Thankfully, Alex was seated at the opposite end of the table from Sophie during dinner. And although the entire family was there—Phillip and his wife, Queen Hannah, Ethan and Lizzy, who was looking decidedly green, and their cousin Charles, the family attorney—the tone of conversation was more business than personal. They talked mainly of the hotel and the plans for the new fitness center Alex’s firm would be designing, and when the purchase of the property would be final.
“It’s as good as ours,” Charles assured them. “Old man Houghton has no choice but to sell. Considering the financial ruin he’s facing, what we’re offering is a gift. He would be a fool not to take it.”
“The existing building will have to come down immediately,” Phillip said.
“Demolition has already been scheduled,” Ethan told him.
“But it’s such a beautiful old building,” Hannah said wistfully. “Isn’t there a way to salvage it?”
“Although it may be aesthetically pleasing,” Alex explained. “The building is so old and structurally unsound that it would be more cost-effective to tear it down and put a new building in its place.”
“What about all of the employees who will be out of work when it shuts down?” Lizzy asked, though it was obvious, despite her attempts to join the conversation, that she felt awful. She only picked at her food and often reached over to clutch Ethan’s hand for support.
“We’ll hire as many as we can,” Ethan said. “A deal is already in the works to have Houghton’s daughter, Victoria, brought in as a manager. It’s the one thing he’s insisted on.”
“But is she trustworthy?” Charles asked, because protecting the family was his duly appointed task. “Despite the generous nature of our offer, Houghton hasn’t been shy about his negative feelings toward the family. What if he wants his daughter involved so she can make trouble?”
“We thought of that,” Ethan said. “Until we know we can trust her, we’re going to have her work in your office, so you can keep an eye on her. Once it’s determined that her loyalties lie with us, she’ll be transferred to the hotel. You can find a spot for her, can’t you?”
Charles nodded. “No problem.”
As the dessert plates were being cleared, Lizzy, now as pale as a ghost, excused herself to go lie down and Ethan left with her to be both moral and, apparently, physical support.
Hannah watched with concern, and when they were gone, said to Phillip, “She’s not looking well. I was sick in my first few months, but never that bad.”
“I’m concerned, too,” Phillip admitted. “But according to Ethan, there isn’t anything the doctor can do for her. She just has to ride it out. I told Ethan they didn’t have to be here for dinner, but he said Lizzy insisted.” He glanced over to Sophie. “She’s strong-wi
lled.”
She flashed him a wry smile. “To survive in this family you have to be.”
Hannah shot them both a look that seemed to say, behave, you two, then said, “If you’ll all excuse me, I have to go check on Fredrick.”
As she stood, so did the men at the table.
“I’ll go with you,” Phillip said.
Charles looked at his watch. “I should push off, as well. Hot date tonight.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “Is there ever a night when you don’t have a hot date?”
Charles just grinned.
“Sophie,” Phillip said, “why don’t you take Alex on a walk through the gardens?”
“Oh, yes!” Hannah agreed. “It’s lovely at sunset.”
Either it was a show of faith on Phillip’s part or he was sending some insanely mixed messages. But it wasn’t as though she had anything better to do.
Ethan had Lizzy to care for, Phillip and Hannah were off to spend time with their infant son and Charles was going on a date. Sophie couldn’t help feeling she’d just been handed the booby prize.
But because she was the goodwill ambassador, and God knows she had played this game a million times before, she turned to Alex and smiled. “Would you care to take a walk in the gardens, Alex?”
He returned the smile, and she could swear she saw the spark of a twinkle in his eye. “I would love to, Your Highness.”
They all went their separate ways, and Sophie led Alex outside, with the undeniable sneaking suspicion that this was some sort of test. That Phillip would be watching. She wondered what he would do if he saw her plant a wet one on Alex right there amid the rose and hydrangea bushes.
The light was just beginning to fade and the sun sat like a shimmering orange globe just above the tree line in the cloudless evening sky. The heat of the day had begun to fade and a cool breeze blew from the north, rustling the leaves and spreading the faint aroma of moss. Sophie led Alex down the flagstone path that wound its way carelessly through a long stretch of flower gardens that had become the pride of the royal family. Every year it grew and expanded as new species of plants and flowers were added. Hybrids mostly, and many that had been bred by the palace gardener himself.
She pointed out the different varieties, giving both their common and scientific names, but Alex seemed distant.
“Am I boring you?” she finally asked.
He grinned. “No, sorry. I guess I’m still processing everything that I’ve seen this evening.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s been so long, I’d nearly forgotten what it was like to have a family dinner.”
“Well, the topic usually doesn’t revolve around business. Typically it’s everyone sticking their noses into everyone else’s business. But in sort of a good way, I guess.”
“Even so, it was remarkably…cohesive.”
She supposed that it was. They were a close family. Now, anyway. They didn’t used to be. The only family dinners she and Phillip ever shared with their parents was during holidays or royal functions. Their mother and father led very separate lives. From not just each other, but their children, as well. Child rearing in their opinion was better left to the nannies. Sophie often used to feel that it was her and Phillip against the world.
“I take it you and your wife didn’t share dinner,” she said, realizing immediately the personal nature of the question, but it was too late to take it back. And she was at least a little curious about his life.
He shook his head. “Not for a long time.”
He looked so sad, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. And she found herself asking, “Do you have children?”
He shook his head. “That was a major sore spot. She wanted them, I didn’t.”
That surprised her. Ten years ago he had seemed eager to start a family, but then, so had she. If the family she would have been starting was his, that is. Now, there didn’t seem much point. She couldn’t imagine finding a man she could care enough about to bear his children. She no longer had the energy to look. The men she passed the time with these days were, as Phillip had pointed out, nothing more than a temporary distraction.
“But I wasn’t being entirely honest,” he admitted. “I wanted kids. Just not with her.”
So why did he marry her?
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “Why marry a woman I didn’t want to start a family with?”
Whoa, that was weird. And she couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Why did you?”
“Pressure from my family. I was young and naive and thought that in time I would learn to love her. By the time I realized that you have to like someone before you can learn to love them, it was too late.”
That was the difference between them, she supposed. She knew that she would never fall in love with the man her parents had chosen for her. That only happened in fairy tales. Her parents’ arranged marriage had been riddled with problems, the least of which was their father’s seeming inability to keep his fly zipped. And because of it her mother, despite all the money and power, had been a lonely, incomplete, miserable woman.
As far as Sophie was concerned, life was too short to spend it with a spouse she could only barely tolerate. She would rather be alone.
“So I’m guessing you didn’t,” she said. “Learn to love her, I mean.”
“It would have been tough, seeing as how I was in love with someone else.”
That admission nearly floored her, because she suspected the someone else he was referring to was her. She glanced up at him and could see from the look in his eyes, the way they cut through her, that she was. It was both disturbing and a little exciting to know that a man had loved her so much no other woman could make him happy. It also made her feel guilty, as though she had ruined his life somehow. Which was ridiculous. She hadn’t forced him to marry a woman he didn’t love. Just like her, he’d had choices. Any mistakes he’d made were his own.
So why wasn’t that much of a consolation?
“But,” he continued, “she didn’t love me, either. So I guess you could say we were even. She was just in it for the name. And society rank. Beyond that, she had few real ambitions.” He tucked his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “Why is it that you never married?”
“I suppose I never met a man I would want to marry.”
He laughed and shook his head.
“You find that amusing?”
“In fact, I do. You claimed that you wanted to marry me. Or is that your M.O.? Seduce men, make them believe you want to marry them, then dump them with no explanation.” He sounded more curious than angry, but there was an undeniable undercurrent of tension in his voice.
“It wasn’t like that, Alex.”
He laughed, a sharp and ironic sound. “It was exactly like that.”
She shook her head. “What difference does it make now?”
“Just tell me this much—did you care at all, or were you just bored?”
“Of course I cared,” she said softly. She had been weak, unable to stand up for herself. For their love. It’s not something she was proud of, but there was no changing the past, and rehashing it all now wasn’t going to solve anything. “I did what I had to.”
That should have been the end of it, but Alex wouldn’t let it drop. “So what that means is your parents disapproved, and you didn’t have the guts to fight for us. Or maybe you just didn’t care.”
“I did care, but it’s…complicated.”
“I’m a marginally intelligent man, Princess. Why don’t you try explaining it to me?”
Nothing good would come from this, but maybe after all this time he deserved the truth. “When my parents found out about our plans to elope, they were against it, of course. But I told them I loved you, and I was going to marry you, and there was nothing they could do to stop me.”
“At which point they forced you to break it off?”
She shook her head. “They started…planning.”
He look
ed confused. “Planning what?”
“Our life together, Alex.”
“Are you saying that they approved? That they were going to let us get married?”
She bit her lip and nodded, and she could see he was clearly confused.
“I don’t understand. If they were okay with it, why did you stop taking my calls? Answering my letters?”
“I wanted to escape, Alex. I wanted…freedom. To live my life and make my own decisions. And there I was, right back in the very situation I was trying to avoid. My parents controlling my every move.”
He digested that for a moment, then said in a very calm voice, “So what you’re saying is you didn’t really love me. You were just using me. You needed a ticket out, and I was convenient.”
She shook her head. “No, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I loved you.”
“As long as I served some sort of purpose,” he said. She could see that he was angry. Angry and hurt.
“No! Letting go of you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But I had to. You had so many dreams. So many plans. You would have had to give them all up. By letting you go, I was giving you a chance to live your life.”
“But that’s a decision I should have made for myself.”
“You would have had no idea what you were getting yourself into. Eventually you would have hated me for it, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of that.”
“And if you could go back and do it over?” he asked.
Had it not been for Alex, she wouldn’t have known how true love, true passion and yearning felt. She may have even married the man her parents had chosen for her and spent her life lonely and miserable. Simply because that was the way things were done. In a way, Alex had saved her life.
He reached up, brushed his fingers softly against her cheek. The gesture was so sweet and tender, she wanted to cry. And she wanted to kiss him again. She wanted to feel him hold her. But Phillip’s words about business and what was proper ran like a ticker tape through her head.
Affair with the Princess Page 3
