In the Royal's Bed: Wanted: Royal Wife and Mother

There it was again. The combination of de Boutaine sexiness that made her want to gasp.

She swallowed it firmly, but both guys had turned to her and were looking at her in frank admiration.

‘Wow,’ said Matty.

‘Wow,’ Rafael repeated and she felt herself blushing.

‘I…it’s what we all have to wear.’

‘My mama’s pretty,’ Matty said, satisfied. ‘Isn’t she, Uncle Rafael?’

‘She certainly is,’ Rafael agreed. ‘Modern men don’t know what they’re missing.’

‘It certainly covers me,’ she said, struggling for lightness. ‘There could be absolutely anything under these hoops.’

‘Hoops,’ Matty said. He walked forward, fascinated, and gave one of her hoops a tentative poke.

Her skirt swayed out behind her.

‘It’s like a little tent,’ Matty said. ‘Mama could have really, really fat legs. Or she could be hiding something. A little dog.’

It was said with a certain amount of hope and for a dumb moment Kelly wished she had a dog.

A dog under her skirt. Right.

‘There’s nothing your mama needs to hide,’ Rafael said, turning his back to the suds, eyeing them with a degree of bewilderment and then sternly turning back to her. ‘Let’s go play on the goldfields.’

‘You haven’t finished washing up.’

‘My suds seem to be taking over the world,’ he said. ‘I just shook the little holder with the washing up liquid in and suds went everywhere. I think we should go out and shut the door and lock it after us. And hope like crazy the suds don’t follow us down the mineshafts.’

They loved it.

Kelly could do the guide thing on autopilot. She walked them through the little town, down to the creek where tourists were panning for gold. She showed the boys how to use the tin pans and then sat on a log and watched them.

The park was quiet. The flu epidemic had hit the whole state. It was autumn. Nearly all the staff had been laid low early and were now returning to work. With the worst of the sickness past, they’d be almost overmanned for the rest of the season. So she could afford to take this day. To simply watch as Matty and Rafael explored.

They were so alike.

Rafael wasn’t even Matty’s uncle, she reminded herself. Rafael had been Kass’s cousin. That made him—what—second cousin to Matty?

But Matty loved him. He trusted him absolutely. Their two heads were bowed over the pan, searching for specks of gold, and she thought that Rafael could easily be his father.

What sort of man was he? The Prince Regent of Alp de Ciel.

It didn’t matter.

It did matter, for there was a burning question hanging over her head. Where did she go from here?

She’d been handed back her son, but Matty was his own little person. He had allegiances. There were people he loved, and those people didn’t include her.

Rafael had said it was her decision to make.

She’d keep him here. She watched as he found a tiny speck of gold in his pan and held it on his thumb, admiring. He could live with her here. She’d take care of him. He could have a wonderful life, living on the diggings. Lots of staff had their kids here—he’d be part of the kid-pack who wore period clothes and treated the park as their personal playground. He’d go to school here. She’d keep him…

Hidden?

It was on the tip of her tongue, the edge of her thoughts. That was what she’d been doing, she thought. For the last five years she’d been hiding. She was hiding still, behind her hoops and her bonnet and her period self.

The Kelly who’d looked up to see Prince Kass gazing down at her, the Kelly who’d ridden out with Kass at dawn, who’d launched herself into life six years back, had been locked firmly away.

Yes, she was hiding. She was still in there somewhere, the Kelly who craved excitement and adventure and…romance? But she was very firmly hidden and there was no way the sensible Kelly would ever let her emerge again.

Pete was walking down the hill towards them. Trouble. She knew the security guard well and the expression on his face had Kelly standing up, moving automatically between Pete and the two gold-panners.

Between the outside world and her son.

‘What’s wrong?’ she called before he reached her, and Rafael looked up from gold-panning, handed the pan over to Matty and came to join her.

‘There’s media at the gate,’ Pete said harshly. ‘They’re asking Diane where to find someone called the Prince Regent of some country or other. Diane told them she’s never heard of anyone like that but they described—’ he hesitated as Rafael reached them ‘—they described you, sir.’

‘Damn,’ Rafael said, but he said it wearily as if he’d expected it.

‘We’ll go back to the cottage,’ Kelly said, uncertain, but he shook his head.

‘They’d find us there. We’ll be forced to stay inside while they camp and wait for us to come out. It’ll just delay the inevitable.’

‘I can see them off,’ Pete said. ‘Begging your pardon, but… are you a prince?’

‘For my sins, yes,’ Rafael said ruefully. ‘And this is a public theme park. They can demand admission. I’ll have to head them off. Kelly, can you blend into the tourist scene with Matty?’

‘I…sure. Are they looking for me?’ She sounded scared. She knew it but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Five years ago she’d been hunted as the press had searched the world for her. She’d been turned into the wicked princess, reviled by all.

To have photographers here now…

‘Not yet,’ Rafael said. ‘At least I hope not. I hope it’s just that they’ve tracked me down. They’ll assume Matty’s at home in Alp de Ciel.’

‘What have you told them? Do they know you’re letting me have access to Matty?’

‘I’ve told them nothing,’ he said, looking grim. ‘But it’s not going to last.’

‘What’s going on?’ Pete demanded, bewildered.

‘It’s private,’ Kelly said urgently, but she knew Pete’s brain was forming questions more quickly than his mouth could ask them.

‘They’ll find us soon,’ she whispered.

‘Yes, but I’ll buy time.’ Rafael shrugged. ‘I’m sorry, Matty,’ he said. Matty had straightened from his panning and was looking bewildered. ‘It’s the press,’ he said, as if that explained all, and Kelly could see that the words were meaningful to her little son. He’d been hounded by the media in the past, then. ‘I need to go.’

‘Will I come with you?’ Matty drew himself up and Kelly had a flash of recognition. This was a prince in training. His shoulders came back and he met Rafael’s look directly. ‘Do they wish to talk to me?’

‘They might eventually,’ Rafael conceded. ‘But your job here is to protect your mother. If it’s okay,’ he said to Kelly, ‘I’ll leave—I’ll give them some sort of interview and try to deflect them—and come back when the park is closed. Matty, is that okay with you?’

‘Y-yes,’ Matty said but his bottom lip trembled again. He really was a very little boy.

‘We’ll have fun,’ Kelly said, stooping to look directly into his eyes. ‘Matty, we can go down a gold-mine. We can play tenpin bowling with old wooden skittles. Do you know how to bowl?’

‘Y-yes.’

‘We can learn how to make damper—it’s a lovely type of bread that’s really Australian. Then we can go back to my little house and sit by the fire and read books. Before you know it, your Uncle Rafael will be back.’

‘I want my Aunt Laura,’ Matty quavered, and Kelly couldn’t help herself. She gathered him to her and hugged. His little body was stiff and unyielding.

‘They’re coming this way,’ Pete said urgently and Rafael looked up the hill and swore.

‘Damn, I…’

‘Just go,’ Kelly said, holding Matty tight. ‘Please.’ She wasn’t ready to face the media yet and the thought of cameras aimed at Matty was unbearable. ‘But you will come back?’

‘Of course I’ll come back.’

‘Thank you,’ she said simply and, as Pete moved up the hill to deflect the dozen or so men and women walking purposefully towards them, she crossed the little bridge over the creek and carried Matty away. Hoping the media had been too far away to guess that she and Rafael had been together.

The Chinese camp was just behind them. Yan, the camp guide, was a personal friend.

‘Can I take Matty through the Joss house?’ she demanded and Yan stepped aside. The inside of the Joss house was a sacred place, out of bounds for anyone but worshippers.

‘Go,’ he said without asking questions, his eyes flicking to the group of men and women clustering about Rafael. Shouting questions. Lifting cameras high and taking photographs over people’s heads.

She went. But before Yan closed the gate behind her she turned with Matty in her arms to take a last glimpse of Rafael.

Royalty.

She wanted no part of it.

She had a part of it. He was in her arms right now, tense and frightened and to be protected at all costs.

Her Matty. Her son.

The only person standing between Matty and the media—between Matty and the world—was Rafael.

A de Boutaine.

Her world was upside down.

‘Let’s go underground for a while,’ she whispered to Matty as she fled out through the back entrance.

‘I don’t think I want to go underground,’ Matty said and Kelly thought, neither do I.

She’d had five years of being underground.

Maybe it was time to emerge.

Maybe she had no choice.

CHAPTER THREE

THEY explored the goldfields until Matty’s legs gave out. He was cheerful, interested and polite. They ate their dinner early—a damper they’d made together and a thick Irish stew. Kelly settled him into her big bed and his eyelids drooped.

Fatigue was sapping his courage. He was half a world away from his people.

‘I want Uncle Rafael,’ he murmured.

‘He’ll come,’ Kelly said. ‘But he said he might not be able to return until late. I’ll have him come in here and say goodnight the minute he arrives.’

‘Do you promise?’

‘I promise.’

‘I miss Aunt Laura,’ he said fretfully. ‘I miss Ellen and Marguerite. I want to go home.’

Her heart twisted. Home. Home was where the heart was.

Her home was right here. Her home was with this small boy, who was so alone.

The Crown Prince of Alp de Ciel.

‘Let me read you a story,’ she said, and she found an ancient book she’d loved when she had been his age, a book she’d held on to just in case, just in case…

The Poky Little Puppy.

The book was battered and dog-eared. It had been given to her by her grandmother when she had been just Matty’s age. She’d loved it.

So did Matty. He relaxed, snuggling into his pillows. She so wanted to lift him into her arms, to cuddle him to sleep, but she knew he wasn’t ready for that. She was a stranger even if she was his mother.

She had to get to know him slowly.

Could he stay on the diggings with her?

‘My Aunt Laura will like this story,’ Matty murmured sleepily. ‘Can you read it to Uncle Rafael when he comes?’

‘I…yes.’

He had his own people. His own family.

Where did she fit in?

She didn’t know.

He came at nine p.m., after she’d almost given up on him. She’d expected a call from security at the gate, but instead there was a soft knock on the door.

She opened it and there he was.

But it wasn’t the Rafael she’d seen before. This was… This was…

His Royal Highness, Prince Rafael, Prince Regent of Alp de Ciel. He was wearing full dress regalia. A deep blue-black suit, immaculately cut. A slash of gold across his chest. Rows of medals and insignia at his breast and a dress sword at his side.

She took an instinctive step back. Kass…

‘Gorgeous, aren’t I?’ he said and any resemblance to Kass flew out of the window. Kass, laughing at himself? No way.

‘I…yes. Very pretty,’ she managed and he grinned.

‘Can I come in?’

‘Where’s the rest of the royal entourage?’

‘I gave them the slip,’ Rafael said. ‘You have no idea how much trouble I had getting back here.’

‘Maybe jeans and a windcheater might be more appropriate for creeping round after dark.’

‘Yes, but I wouldn’t have had my sword for coping with bogeymen.’ He grimaced down at his gorgeous self. ‘Don’t worry, Kelly. I hate this as much as you do. Politics demanded that I bring it, however, and politics demand that I talk to you now. Can I come in?’

She stood wordlessly aside as he walked in, hauled his jacket off, unbuttoned the top three buttons of his stiffly starched shirt and set his sword by the door.

Royalty off duty.

‘So you thought you might change into dress uniform… why?’ she asked faintly as he opened the fire box on the stove and held his hands out for warmth.

‘Press conference and hastily organised civil reception,’ he said briefly. ‘With your mayor. You can’t imagine how excited everyone is.’

‘Um…why?’

‘Alp de Ciel is known for its gold-mining,’ he said blandly. ‘We’ve heard that this is the best theme park in the world for showcasing historical events. What could be more natural than the Prince Regent of Alp de Ciel—needing a little breathing-space from the demands of his royal duties—doing a little exploring?’

‘They never believed it.’

‘They did,’ he said. ‘The press believe what they want to believe. This makes a fabulous story. Prince found incognito in local theme park. Prince agrees to have dinner with local bigwigs for photographic opportunity. Prince excuses himself towards the end of dinner pleading jet lag but everyone’s got their photographs by now. So I slipped away.’

‘You had your dress uniform with you just on the off chance of a photographic opportunity?’

His smile faded. ‘I did suspect,’ he said, ‘that this journey might be discovered. Like it or not, I’m now head of state of Alp de Ciel. For me to come to Australia and not give a press conference at least would be an insult. The palace officials told me that in no uncertain terms. So yes, I brought my royal toggery. No, I didn’t want to unpack it but here it is, in all its glory.’

She was staring at the medals, fascinated.

‘So tonight,’ she said. ‘You just…slipped away from your royal reception. You called a cab—wearing that?’

‘Yes, it was hard giving everyone the slip but the limousine driver’s currently miffed because I took a cab and a cab driver’s happily pocketed a fare and a half for dropping me in the middle of nowhere and saying nothing. It was only a mile or so down the road and I kept to the shadows.’

‘Wearing your dress sword.’ She couldn’t keep her eyes off his chest. It was some…chest.

‘Aprince has to be prepared,’ he said patiently. ‘In case of bogeymen.’ His smile deepened. ‘Stop looking like that. Pete let me in and he’s under instructions to say no one’s come. He’ll admit no one else.’

She shook her head in disbelief. ‘You think you’re clever,’ she said wonderingly.

‘I do,’ he said smugly.

‘Matty wants you to wake him and say goodnight.’

His face stilled. ‘He was okay with you?’

‘Yes.’

‘But he was asking for me?’

‘He loves you. You and your mother.’

‘I guess that hurts,’ he said cautiously.

‘I can’t expect anything else.’

‘He’ll learn…’

‘I don’t think he can stay here,’ she whispered and something in her face had him crossing the room to

her in two swift strides and taking her hands in his.

‘Kelly, don’t look like that.’

‘Like…like what?’

‘As if you’re tearing yourself in two.’

‘I’m not. I’m not. Go and say goodnight to Matty.’ She pulled away from him roughly. For a moment he stood, looking down at her face, obviously troubled, but she wouldn’t look at him.

Finally he wheeled away. He disappeared into the bedroom. She stood, feeling lost, bewildered, distressed, listening to the sound of the two faint voices. Matty must have only been snoozing. He’d been waiting. Waiting for his Uncle Rafael.

He’s a good man, she thought. This was no Kass. She could trust him with her son.

Matty’s home was in Alp de Ciel. Matty was royal.

But how could she let Matty go again?

And then Rafael was back, returning to warm his hands by the fire. Were they really cold, she wondered, or was it just to give him something to do?

‘They’ll find Matty here,’ she said miserably, going straight to the heart of the matter. ‘The press might think Matty’s safely at home in Alp de Ciel now, but as soon as they figure he’s missing they’ll put two and two together. You come out here on a whim. Prince Mathieu disappears at the same time. It’ll take them no time at all to figure where Matty might be.’

‘And?’

‘And I can’t protect him here,’ she whispered. ‘Not from the goldfish bowl that’s the royal way of life.’

‘So what do you want to do?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Come back to Alp de Ciel?’ he said, and then, at the look on her face, he came to her again. Once again he took her hands in his, his rough, callused hands completely enclosing her smaller ones. ‘It’s what my mother and I hope for. It’s what should happen. That you should come home to the castle.’

‘It’s not my home.’

‘It’s your son’s home.’

‘I hate it.’

‘So do I,’ he said surprisingly. ‘I can’t tell you how much I loathe being part of the whole royalty bit. But there’s no choice.’

‘There must be a choice.’

‘If I don’t take the Regency on,’ he said, ‘there are others who would. Others like Kass. You know Kass and his father were lousy rulers. They stripped the country of all they could get their hands on.’

‘Of course I know that,’ she said angrily. ‘But it’s nothing to do with me.’

‘It is,’ he said harshly. ‘In as much as it’s your son who’ll eventually make the decisions about the country’s future. If I refuse to take on the Regency, then someone else will take charge until Matty is twenty-five. The next in line is my cousin, Olivier. Olivier is a compulsive gambler. He’d see the Regency as a way to get his hands on the country’s coffers. And worse,’ he added softly, ‘he’d also have absolute say in how Matty is raised. Neither you nor I nor my mother, who until now has been his one constant, would have any influence at all.’

Kelly gasped. ‘But…’

‘It is unfair,’ Rafael said. He was still holding her, using his strength to augment the urgency of what he was saying. ‘I know that. But there’s not a thing I can do about it. My mother says I don’t have a choice and she’s right.’

‘Your mother…’

‘Don’t get me wrong. My mother hates the royal bit as much as I do. We’re not doing this for personal gain, Kelly.’ He hesitated. ‘Look, it’s too much. I hoped I’d given the press the slip, which would have given you a few days to sort things out. But tomorrow morning the press will be camped outside my accommodation…’

‘You’re not staying here?’

‘How can I?’

‘You’ve gone back to the Prince Edward?’

‘I’m being put up in the mayoral residence,’ he said ruefully. ‘They think I’m home in bed now, getting over jet lag, instead of here, trying to convince you to come with me back to Alp de Ciel.’

‘I don’t want to.’ She sounded like a child—petulant—and she winced but he looked at her with understanding.

‘Of course you don’t. But this way you’ll have your son.’

‘There must be another way.’

‘There is,’ he said reluctantly. ‘We could set you up somewhere else, some gated community where you’d be safe. You have all the royal allowance you’ve never touched, and if it’s used to care for Matty even you might swallow your principles and use it. But you’d be even more isolated than you are here.’

‘I’m not isolated.’

‘I think you are,’ he said softly. ‘You’ve been so badly hurt that you’ve run, not just back to Australia but back in time. Kelly, you’re the mother of the Crown Prince of Alp de Ciel. You knew that when you bore Matty. The crown is his birthright, and it’s your duty to be his mother.’

‘But your mother loves him. His Aunt Laura…’

‘Are you saying you don’t want to be his mother?’

‘No, I…’

‘He doesn’t know you yet,’ Rafael said. ‘He will. He’s already proud of what you do—fascinated. He already thinks you’re beautiful. Trust takes time, and so does love. Kelly, can you give that to him?’

‘But to go back…’

To where she’d been stripped of everything that was important to her—her heart, her pride, her son. How could she go back?

‘You won’t be alone. My mother will be there.’

The grip on her hands grew stronger. ‘You didn’t meet her last time. She comes across to Manhattan in the worst of Alp de Ciel’s winter and spends time with me. You were at the castle for only six weeks after the old prince died, in the last stages of your pregnancy and after Mathieu’s birth. The fuss was such that my mother stayed longer with me and when she returned your son was there but you were gone. You’ll love her.’

‘I don’t do love,’ she snapped and he stilled.

‘Are you saying you don’t love Matty?’

‘Of…of course…’

‘Of course you do,’ he agreed softly. ‘Love isn’t something you can turn on and off again at will.’

‘And you know this how?’

He winced. A shadow of pain crossed his face and she thought, I know nothing about him. Nothing. A toy-maker from Manhattan. The Prince Regent of Alp de Ciel.

Rafael.

‘You need to come,’ he said softly but she was replaying the conversation over in her head, trying to sort it out. There was something not right.

You won’t be alone. My mother will be there.

‘Will you be there?’ she asked. She’d hit a nerve. A muscle moved at the side of his mouth. Infinitesimal—but there was something.

‘I’ll be there when I need to be.’

‘You’ll be there when you need to be.’ She almost gasped. ‘Prince Regent of Alp de Ciel…a country that’s desperate for reorganization… There when you need to be?’

‘Yes.’

‘So…once a week? A week a year?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘Then I’m not going,’ she said flatly, suddenly sure that she was right. ‘The minute I step into the goldfish bowl there’ll be no going back. I know how hard it was to shake the press off last time. I had to change my name, change my country, change my whole way of life. I can’t do it twice. And you… You’ll be there when you can. What sort of commitment is that?’

‘Do you want me to be there?’

‘No. No!’ She should pull away from his hands but she didn’t. What she was trying to say was too important. She almost needed personal contact to get it through.

‘You’re asking me to trust,’ she said softly, thinking it as she spoke. ‘You’re asking me to take my place in a role I hate. Yet you want to be a part-time prince. There’s no such thing.’

‘Kelly…’

‘Your toy workshops could be relocated to Alp de Ciel, couldn’t they?’

‘Yes, but…’

‘And that way the pressure’s off Matty,’ she said, suddenly more certain of her ground. ‘You’re Prince Regent. You’ll be swanning round the country doing Prince Regent things. Going to movie premières with gorgeous women in tow.’

‘Hey!’

‘You’re not married already, are you?’ she demanded and looked down at his ring finger. ‘Tell me you’re not married.’

‘I’m not married.’

‘Engaged?’

‘No.’

‘There you are, then,’ she said. ‘No celebrity magazine in its right mind will focus on Matty when one of the world’s most eligible bachelors is doing his thing in the country.’

‘So let me get this straight,’ he said faintly. ‘You want me to stay permanently in the country and provide fodder for the gossipmongers for the next twenty years to keep the limelight off you and Matty.’

‘Yes.’

He blinked. ‘I don’t…’

But she wasn’t to be interrupted. ‘If neither of us return,’ she said, thinking it through, ‘if I don’t take Matty back and you return to Manhattan, there’ll be no royal permanently in the palace. Which is, I gather, unthinkable. That’s why contracts stipulating Matty belonged to the palace were meant to be watertight. Even in my short time with Kass I learned the alternative was chaos. Kass said his father was stuck with him. If he didn’t go home the government converted to rule through Council. The Council’s been corrupt for generations. Only a prince residing permanently in the country keeps the Principality from turmoil.’

‘Which is why we need Matty to stay at the castle.’ Rafael tugged his hands back from hers and raked his fingers though his thick black curls. ‘Hell, Kelly, I don’t want to stay there permanently.’

‘Neither do I.’

‘It’s your…’

‘Duty?’ Her green eyes flashed anger. ‘Don’t dare give me that. I wasn’t born into royalty like you were. I was lied to, I was married in an attempt to infuriate the old prince and I was kicked out of the country. You said you came here to give me my son. More lies. How dare you say I have a duty now?’

‘You have a duty to your son.’

‘As you have a duty to the child who will be Crown Prince. Snap.’

‘But…’

‘There’s no but, Rafael,’ she said grimly. ‘I have no idea what I’m getting into. More than anything in the world, I want to be with Matty, to watch him grow up, to be his mother. I’m willing to sacrifice a lot for that. But not everything. He will not be the total royal focus.’

‘You can’t ask that of me.’

‘I’m not asking. As you’re not asking me to be Matty’s mother. I’m simply stating facts. You came here to offer me my child back. That’s what you said. But you’re making no such offer. Not really. You’re simply blackmailing me into returning to the castle.’

‘I am giving you Matty back.’

‘With no strings?’

‘He’s the Crown Prince of Alp de Ciel. Of course there are strings. Hell, Kelly…I didn’t come here to be pressured.’

‘No, you came here to pressure me. If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave. I’ll do what I think best with Matty.’

‘Which is?’

‘It’s none of your business.’

‘It is my business,’ he snapped, exploding. ‘Hell, woman, I have total control. According to the contracts you signed, I can take him back tomorrow. I thought I’d give you the choice.’

‘No, you didn’t. You thought you’d persuade me to come.’

‘You’re supposed to be meek!’

There was a loaded pause. It went on. And on. And on.

‘Funny, that,’ she said at last, almost cordially. ‘I’m not.’

‘I can see you’re not,’ he snapped, goaded.

‘You want me to be meek?’

‘I want you to be sensible.’

‘What’s sensible about living as royalty?’

‘It’s every girl’s dream.’

‘Hey, I’ve lived the dream, remember?’ she said. ‘It’s not a dream. It’s a nightmare.’

‘Which is why I don’t want…’

‘To be part of it. Neither do I.’

‘You have to be.’

‘So do you,’ she snapped. ‘I’ve been thinking and thinking, all day while I’ve been waiting for you. I know I can’t bring Matty up as I’d want him brought up here. There’ll be too much media attention when people realise who he is. I know I can’t give him a normal childhood. To haul him away from everything he knows…’

‘So you will come?’ he demanded, starting to sound relieved.

‘Only if you agree to stay permanently in the castle.’

‘That’s not fair.’

‘It is fair,’ she snapped. ‘It’s entirely fair. It’s your inheritance—Prince Regent. It’s your responsibility to take the pressure off Matty until he’s twenty-five. If he stays here, even if we buy into a gated community, he’ll be cloistered and not able to have a normal boyhood. And he’ll miss you and your mother desperately. But if he goes back to the castle and you head off back to your very important life in the States it’ll be much, much worse. So fair doesn’t come into it. We’re both having to do what we do to survive. I won’t have Matty in the limelight any more than he has to be.’

‘You mean you don’t want to be in the limelight.’

‘Of course I don’t. Neither do you, but from where I’m standing you’re the one who can take it best.’

‘You know nothing about what I can take.’

‘Ditto,’ she snapped. ‘I’m making judgements. But, the way I see it, there are two of us I’m protecting. Me and Matty. You think I’ll let you stand aside and leave Matty exposed?’

‘No, I…’

‘You came here saying I was welcome to keep Matty with me,’ she said. ‘If I did that you’d be stuck.’

‘I never imagined…’

‘That I wouldn’t jump at the chance to be princess again? I can see that.’

‘Kelly…’ He reached for her hands again and held them urgently.

‘Rafael.’

This was ludicrous. It was like some weird tug of war. But she wasn’t giving in. The thought of staying in the castle as the Princess Royal, of having all that media directed at her and her small son… She’d been through that. She never wanted to go there again.

She didn’t care about this man’s story. She couldn’t care that there might be valid reasons for him to wish to avoid the limelight. She had to make a decision now and she could only do that on the information she had.

He was gripping her hands with a strength that almost frightened her. How had that happened? With the linking of their hands he seemed almost an extension of herself—she was arguing with herself instead of him.

But…it was different. The feel of his hands on hers was doing strange things to her. It was feeding her strength, she thought obliquely. If he withdrew his hands she might falter. She might not have the strength to stand up to him.

She held on and his grip tightened still more, as if it were the same for him.

‘Kelly, you can do it,’ he said urgently and she shook her head.

‘Rafael, you can do it.’

‘I don’t…’

‘Neither do I. And my reasons are better than yours,’ she said. ‘As far as I know. Is there anything you’re not telling me?’

‘No!’

‘There you are, then.’

‘It’s blackmail,’ he snapped and she shook her head.

‘It’s no such thing. It’s sense. You bring your toys and you come home.’

Home. The word drifted between them, strangely poignant.

Rafael stared down into her eyes, seemingly baffled. She met his gaze firmly, unflinching. Did he know he was feeding her strength with his hold? she thought. Why didn’t he pull away?

She didn’t want him to pull away. She had a feeling that if she did… Well, the world was a huge and scary place. To think about going back…to relive the terror…