The Irresistible Royal Page 16

  ‘No. I made it quite clear I never want anything more to do with her.’

  Marco would instruct the security team in charge of Chloe’s protection that Lidia should never be able to approach her. ‘Are you aware Barry Stewart has gone to prison on a number of charges, including fraud?’

  ‘I hadn’t heard, but Barry was nothing but another stepfather in a long line of stepfathers. If he was crooked in his business dealings he deserves to be in prison. No doubt Lidia’s already filing for divorce and in search of her next husband.’

  There was no mistaking the utter contempt she had for her mother and Marco had something of an epiphany. ‘Marrying me for the sake of our child; that doesn’t turn you into your mother because I happen to be wealthy or royal.’

  She stiffened. ‘I will never turn into her.’

  ‘No, you won’t. She’s the most selfish woman I’ve ever met and you’re nothing like her. I don’t believe you’d put your interests above our child’s needs.’

  ‘Whoa. I see where this is going and that’s such low emotional blackmail,’ she railed as her fork clattered to her plate. ‘I’m not putting my interests above the baby’s in refusing to marry you. And this isn’t about my mother, it’s about where I feel comfortable.’

  ‘Don’t delude yourself. This is totally about your mother. Your reactions to my lifestyle are all about her. I see now that you’ve set out so determinedly to be nothing like her that you reject everything and everyone you believe to be part of her world.’

  ‘Don’t try to psychoanalyse me.’

  ‘You know I’m right.’

  ‘No. You’ve got me all wrong. I have nothing against wealthy people in general but I know where I’m most comfortable. I know I don’t fit into your social scene and I could never be happy in your exalted stratosphere of society.’ She arranged her knife and fork on her plate then pushed it to one side.

  ‘We’re people like everyone else.’

  ‘Right,’ she scoffed. ‘That shows how little you know about ordinary people. We don’t get followed around by the paparazzi and have permanent bodyguards.’

  ‘I think you’re scared by what you don’t know. You’re scared because you blame the wealth your mother chased for the breakdown of your family. Admit it. That’s why you’re baulking at marrying into a royal family.’

  ‘Marriage to you is impractical. My life is here. Your life is in Europe.’

  ‘You’re clinging to your safe, secure existence in the home town you’ve lived in all your life because of your fear.’ He pointed a finger at her in accusation and challenge. ‘You’re clinging to your father and the familiarity you have around you because you’re afraid of change. It probably stems from when your mother walked away from you. You couldn’t control her desertion but you want to control everything else around you and keep it familiar and unchanged.’

  ‘How the hell do you think you can tap into my psyche when we’ve spent no more than a couple of hours together in total? What you’re saying isn’t true.’

  ***

  Even while she made the denial, she wondered whether there was a more complex, underlying reason for her need for her familiar security. Could Marco be right? Even her law degree had been motivated by a need to succeed academically and carve out a secure, strong career for herself—something she knew her mother lacked. And hadn’t she always wanted to ensure she had a career to make herself financially independent?

  A waiter came to remove their plates, but as soon as he walked away, Marco continued to challenge Chloe. ‘You’re afraid to let go, to develop, and to leave the secure nest and fly.’

  She crossed her arms over her chest, then immediately uncrossed them because she knew the action would make her seem defensive, and even petulant.

  ‘I’d wager that was the reason you’ve turned down lucrative jobs in Los Angeles and huge prospects of advancement and settled for a much poorer paid legal-aid job in a sleepy community.’

  Outrage stiffened her spine. ‘How do you know I turned down those offers?’

  ‘It was mentioned on CNN, but I also had you investigated when I learned of your pregnancy.’

  ‘Your investigators failed to tell you that the work I do is extremely satisfying. I’d hardly call Napa Valley a sleepy community. It hasn’t got the notoriety of being America’s most dangerous city—thank God—and it’s true our overall crime rate is much lower than the national average, but there are still plenty of people who need to be represented and what I do here is as important as what I would’ve been doing had I worked in LA.’

  ‘You don’t need to emphasise the importance of what you do. The fact you’ve made legal history speaks for itself. All I’m saying is that you turned down a brighter professional career because of your need for security.’ He pinned her with his gaze. ‘You had to seek staffing assistance from a top firm in LA to get the results you’ve achieved. Imagine what more you could do to champion others if you were part of that firm, or a firm like it, every single day.’

  She drew a quick breath and said, ‘Our lower crime rate in Napa means it’s a great place for a child to grow up. Our baby will have a much more relaxed lifestyle growing up in the Napa Valley than it would in a place as busy and as impersonal as London.’

  She watched the pull of the fabric of his suit across his broad shoulders as he crossed his arms over his chest. His green eyes held a light of reluctant admiration, which warmed her. ‘Your passion is very impressive.’

  Damn it. Heat spread through her as her mind flew to the passion they’d shared in creating their child and those sensational feelings he’d unleashed in her again this afternoon in her very office. How she was ever going to be able to walk back into that room again and concentrate on her work remained to be seen.

  ‘Even in this subdued lighting, your eyes seem to have become a deeper blue. Are you remembering our passion, Chloe? Do you wish we were somewhere alone making love so we could both satisfy this constant desire we share?’

  His words wrapped around her like a silken web, drawing her right into the centre. ‘Yes.’ Oh shit. How could she have admitted it to him. Dropping her gaze abruptly as she commanded herself to backpedal out of this situation, she forced herself to relax. Trying to speak casually, she said, ‘Another night in bed with you would be great, Marco, but it would only complicate things.’

  ‘I’m not talking about one more night. I’m talking about a lifetime of nights.’

  Chloe nearly groaned out loud at the thought.

  ‘I promise you I’ll stay faithful to you and do all in my power to make our marriage work and our children happy.’

  ‘Children?’ How could he be talking in plural now? Lowering her voice she was glad to be able to seize on something to turn the tables and challenge him. ‘Marco, you had a vasectomy. Clearly you didn’t even want one child, let alone children.’

  ‘That wasn’t the reason I had the procedure.’

  ‘What other reason could there possibly be?’ Unless... ‘Is there some sort of genetic anomaly I should know about?’

  ‘No.’ The response was swift and definitive. One finger trailed around the rim of his wine glass. She watched as a myriad of sentiments played across his features and his throat worked up and down as he appeared to struggle to find the words to express himself. Finally, he looked at her and said, ‘I loved a woman who had a severe autoimmune disease.’ He spoke quietly and his expression softened.

  Chloe felt his love for the woman so tangibly something tightened around her heart and it laboured to hold a rhythmic beat. She was so absorbed in Marco’s words, she jumped when the waiter arrived at their table.

  ‘The fish with puttanesca sauce for you, madam,’ the waiter announced as he placed a plate in front of her. ‘And for you, sir, the shrimp scampi.’

  They both murmured their thanks, but Chloe had completely lost her appetite. She wished they were out of this restaurant and away from prying eyes so they could speak openly.

 
Marco made no move either to touch his food. Silence stretched between them until he said, ‘For years she refused to go out with me and wouldn’t tell me why. I never gave up. I knew about her condition, but finally she told me it was unsafe for her health to ever fall pregnant. She admitted she loved me too, but said she’d never marry me because she knew I wanted children. She believed it would be unfair of her to have a relationship with me when she couldn’t provide me with a child.’

  Even though Marco didn’t look at Chloe as he spoke, she saw the sheen of moisture in his eyes and his battle to control his grief. She felt a corresponding sting of tears in her own.

  ‘I told her it didn’t matter. She still refused.’ He let out a long breath and shook his head at the futility of the situation. ‘I suggested surrogacy and adoption but she still wouldn’t budge.’ He shrugged. ‘I decided to have a vasectomy to convince her that it was more important to me to become her husband than it was for me to be a father.’

  Chloe’s eyes widened and her heart flipped. To have loved so deeply and be prepared to go to such lengths was simply the most incredibly romantic thing she’d ever heard. A sharp pang squeezed her heart in envy for this woman who’d claimed his love.

  But he wasn’t married and an air of tragedy hung around him so thickly it was like Tule fog in the Sacramento Valley.

  ‘What happened? Surely she didn’t turn down your proposal after you went to such an extraordinary measure?’ She was sure he hadn’t been married.

  The smile he gave her was sad. ‘She ranted at me, hit me, cried, and finally agreed to be my wife.’

  ‘But you’re not married.’ She was almost afraid of the answer. The woman he’d loved had been ill. ‘Did the disease claim her life?’

  ‘No.’ His deep voice was hollow. ‘With careful treatment, she could’ve expected to live a normal lifespan.’

  She reached out and put her hand on his arm as she watched the strong column of his neck work up and down even harder than it had previously. The prominence of his cheekbones became more marked as he clenched his jaw. Everything in her reached out, wanting to comfort him as she felt his pain and his struggle to hold himself together. ‘It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.’

  Seconds dragged before he finally looked back at her. ‘Of course I need to tell you. I’ve asked you to become my wife. You have a right to know about my past.’

  It was impossible not to swallow. Emotion clogged her throat so thickly at the sight of Marco reliving so much pain that she may as well have swallowed cement.

  ‘Eden had established a charitable foundation to help all manner of causes.’ He inhaled deeply. ‘The growing drug problem in her home kingdom of Santaliana came to her attention.’

  ‘Princess Eden?’ she asked in dismay.

  He nodded.

  Oh my God. He’d been in love with a worldwide legend. Even in America she knew of the Princess Eden Foundation and the fundraising work the body did. Even she, who’d never followed any society pages prior to meeting Marco, had heard the devastating news of how the princess had been murdered. It’d been international headline news. ‘You don’t have to go on. I read the news of her death. I know she was killed by a drug dealer at the rehabilitation centre she was inspecting in Paris.’

  Relief crossed his features and she knew that even though it’d been years since Eden’s death, it was still extremely difficult for him to talk about it. Every line of his handsome features spoke of how gutted he was—still.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Marco.’ She felt the emotional wrench—the devastation he must feel to have lost the woman he loved. But there was a layer of sadness for herself too, and even a sharp stab of jealousy towards the deceased princess. How wonderful it must’ve been for Eden to have known she was so loved. How incredible it must’ve been to have the unswerving devotion of this incredibly dynamic, confident, capable man.

  Would Chloe ever be loved to such an extent?

  Giving herself a mental shake, she said, ‘I had no idea you two were engaged. I didn’t even know Princess Eden was ill.’ The princess had always been petite—dwarfed by her two extremely tall brothers. Chloe wondered now whether Eden’s lack of height wasn’t so much due to aberrant genes but a result of her autoimmune disease affecting her growth.

  ‘We hadn’t announced our engagement,’ he said quietly, ‘and her illness wasn’t public knowledge. Eden didn’t want her condition to be made public because she was afraid people would see her in a different light. She was in constant demand to work for charities and it was something she relished. She was afraid if people knew she was fighting her own physical illness they might be less inclined to ask her for her help.’

  Hell. The woman was a veritable saint.

  Marco had loved and wanted to marry an icon—a woman who’d been adored internationally—a woman whose presence had been like a blazing comet enchanting the world with her dazzling personality, her beauty and her charisma in what had been a life cut tragically short as she’d tried to help others.

  Chloe had never felt so inadequate.

  The stark reality was that if Eden had been healthy, Chloe would never have known Marco as her lover. ‘So you see, Chloe, it’s not that I didn’t want to be a father.’

  Feeling dazed and strangely emotionally bruised, she nodded.

  It was crazy to feel so unsettled by his admission—stupid to compare herself to the love of his life.

  ‘I want very much to be a father to our child.’ There was conviction in the stamp of his features and in every syllable of every word.

  ‘But this isn’t the way you would’ve chosen to become a father.’ She raised the palm of her hand to smooth across her forehead and temple. ‘It’s not the way either of us would’ve chosen to be parents.’

  ‘You’re right. But clearly, life doesn’t always go according to plan and we have to play with the hands we’re dealt. I have no doubt you’ll be a fabulous mother.’

  Their gazes locked and for the duration of those long moments, Chloe found it difficult to remember to breathe. It wasn’t the sexual awareness keeping her spellbound. It was something far more intimate. Some connection on a much deeper level than mere physical lust bonded them and she was sure his confidence in her capability to mother his child made her glow.

  Looking away, she tried to break free of the sensation because it was way too personal and dangerous. She tried unsuccessfully to identify the fathoms of various feelings swirling through her.

  Marco was evidently capable of deep love.

  Watch out, Chloe, her inner voice cautioned. On top of the overwhelming attraction she already felt for the prince and found supremely hard to control, this baby created an unbreakable bond between them. It would be all too easy to fall in love with Marco. It was something she simply couldn’t do, because it was clear she could never expect to win his heart when it still belonged to the beautiful, wonderful Princess Eden.

  Why did the realisations feel like someone had taken to her chest with a razor?

  ‘Chloe, I promise you we can make a happy life together.’

  Unthinkingly, she blurted exactly what was on her mind. ‘Marco, I’m not a princess, and I’m not anywhere near as beautiful as Eden.’

  He sent her a piercing look. ‘You obviously haven’t looked in a mirror lately. You’re a stunningly beautiful woman and you know very well I was instantly attracted to you and I am still. I was attracted to you, Chloe—the young, American woman who cradled her champagne flute and stood across the room from me, projecting the contradictory vibe of being ultraconfident and very lost. This attraction isn’t only about sex. I’m attracted to the person you are, not just the body and looks you possess. It goes far deeper than a superficial level.’

  For a moment she believed him—believed that perhaps his strong desire for her might be enough.

  Stupid. What are you thinking? the ever-present inner critic castigated her. You could never sustain his interest.

  Hang on. When did it
become important for you to sustain his interest? Haven’t you said all along that he’s not the man for you?

  Her gaze darted frantically around the restaurant as she tried to untangle all her confused thoughts and her overwhelming physical attraction to him.

  ‘Sir? Madam? Is there something about your meals that’s not to your liking?’

  Chloe felt like asking the waiter to wear a bell around his neck so he didn’t startle her every time he appeared like this beside them.

  ‘No. Simply deep in conversation,’ Marco told him.

  ‘Sorry.’ She picked up her fork and tried the fish. ‘It’s delicious.’ And it really was.

  After that, they both focused on their meals and their conversation was general. Eventually they were on an even enough keel to lead the conversation back to the baby and especially the fact that since she’d got over the severe morning sickness she’d been plagued with, she felt like she ate enough for ten people now. Marco asked about the scan she’d had when she’d first found out she was pregnant, and spoke of how much he was looking forward to the one scheduled on the Friday of the following week.

  When the meal was over, he asked if he could drive her home and have one of his security team take her car back to the vineyard for her. Chloe surprised herself when she agreed.

  Pulling up outside her home, Marco switched off the engine. ‘I fly to Santaliana tomorrow.’

  ‘To King Gabriel’s wedding?’

  ‘Yes.’ He reached out and took her hands in his. ‘Come with me.’

  ‘I can’t.’ She tried to slip out of his hold, but he held firm, and she registered she’d only made a half-hearted attempt to pull away. Every sense sharpened as he rubbed his thumbs against her hands.

  ‘Why not? Surely after your successful court case you can be granted some time away from your desk?’

  There was too much work on her desk for that to happen. Her success in the Wycosta case had led to a multitude of case files being handed to her. ‘That’s not the issue. For one, I haven’t been invited.’