“Sorry, I shouldn’t keep bringing it up.” He frowned and turned away. “It’s just so… ridiculous. And I have a big investor meeting on Tuesday I must get back for.”
A tiny flame of hope lit in Lani’s chest. He really didn’t plan to stay and marry her. He obviously didn’t want to. She should be offended, but instead she felt relief.
Even if she didn’t believe in true love any more, she’d had enough of marriage for one lifetime.
They’d reached the veranda, where big armchairs nestled under palm fronds with a view over the forested Haialia valley. They sat in two chairs separated by a carved-wood table.
“What do you think happened to Vanu?” AJ turned to look at her.
She shrank from his inquisitive gaze. “One of the boats went missing from the palace dock. A small yacht he used to sail sometimes. Some say he might have taken it out. There was a storm that night.” She swallowed. Images of Vanu disappearing into the dark sea crowded her brain.
“If there was a storm the boat could have broken free by itself. They do that quite often. The palace dock isn’t well protected.” AJ wove his long fingers together and looked out over the valley.
“I know, but the island isn’t that big and everyone’s been searching for him for weeks. He must have left.”
She bit her lip. “And he didn’t take a plane. They’re all accounted for.”
“Why did he go out in a storm?” AJ’s eyes rested on her cheek.
Which heated. No one could know the truth. Her marriage was over now and there was no reason for anyone to know that it had been… hell on earth.
She owed that much to her mother-in-law, who’d done everything to welcome her as a daughter and who worshipped and loved her eldest son.
“I think he was restless. Couldn’t sleep.” She fixed her eyes on the horizon, where rainforest haze hung just above the treetops. “He often walked in the gardens late at night. He didn’t sleep much.”
“Yeah. He was like that as a boy, too. It sometimes seemed like he never slept.”
An odd tone in AJ’s voice made her glance at him. His brow was furrowed in a frown. He must miss Vanu, the older brother he’d never see again.
AJ’s face was undeniably handsome, with broad, well-cut cheekbones and a slightly cleft chin. His mouth was wide and friendly. So different from his brother’s pinched, bony countenance.
She’d married Vanu because she had to. That’s what everyone said. What simple village girl—the daughter of a laundress, no less—would turn down a chance to be queen?
She didn’t have a good answer at the time.
“How’s my mom taking it?” AJ’s frown deepened.
“Very hard.” Lani twisted her fingers together. “She cries a lot, and that’s not like her.”
“It’s a terrible thing to lose a child.” AJ rubbed a hand over his mouth. “At least she has you. I know she adores you.”
Lani pushed a smile to her lips. “She’s been so kind to me. Everyone has.” Well, except Vanu.
“So if I take off back to L.A., I imagine you’ll rule as queen.”
Lani sat bolt upright. “Me? I can’t. I’m not royal.”
“You may not have been born royal, but you’re already queen, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Humor danced in his dark eyes.
“Technically speaking, but not really. I’m just a village girl.”
“I thought you were born in New Jersey.” He raised a brow.
“My parents divorced when I was seven, and my mom moved back to Rahiri.” People tried to make more than they should of her foreign birth and the fact that she was half-American. It gave her unusual features and coloring, nothing more.
“You seem more educated than the average village girl.” His penetrating gaze made her belly tighten.
“We have good schools here. Your father saw to that when he was king. Many of our teachers received scholarships to study abroad, and brought their knowledge back to Rahiri.”
“But your father’s a professor, isn’t he?” AJ leaned closer, until his masculine scent tickled her nostrils.
What was he trying to prove?
“Of geology. He encouraged me in my studies, and I was going to read history at the university, but I left my studies when I became queen.”
Vanu hadn’t liked to see her with her head in a book. He said such a pretty head should be completely empty.
“You should start again. Why not?” He shrugged.
“I never had the patience for school. I’m at my best running around on a set.” “You’re happy in L.A.?”
“Ecstatically so. I can honestly say I don’t miss Rahiri one bit.”
“Your mom misses you.”
“I know. That’s why she comes up with so many excuses for shopping trips to Rodeo Drive.” He grinned. “I enjoy her visits and I think she single-handedly keeps the U.S. economy afloat.”
“Is this your first visit to Rahiri since the wedding?”
“Yes. Maybe I should feel bad, but I’m busy and I don’t fit in here.” He pushed a hand through his thick black hair and leaned back in the woven armchair. The heavy muscling of his body was visible even inside his dark suit.
She was still surprised that he hadn’t visited once. And they expected him to become king?
Not very likely. Which meant she was off the hook as his wife.
She blew out a long, slow, silent breath. The sooner he left, the better.
“It is beautiful here, though.” He stared out at the mist-shrouded horizon, a crevice of gold and blue sky nestled between rainforest-covered hills. A toucan flew up into a nearby baobab tree, its bright beak held aloft. “I’d forgotten how beautiful it is.”
His mom’s quest to convince him to stay continued unrelentingly over the following days and nights.
“Here, sweetheart, have some coconut stars.” Her favorite treat hovered under AJ’s nose on their tooled silver platter.
“No, thanks, Mom, really.” After three days of funerary feasting, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to eat again. “Did I tell you my plane leaves at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow? “
“What?” Her eyes widened with horror. “You can’t. You’ve barely had time to get to know Lani.”
He glanced around, making sure the woman in question was nowhere nearby. “I’ve spent hours and hours with her. She’s sweet.”
“And she’ll be a good queen, with you as her king.” His mom folded her arms. Her gold bangles clinked together.
“Not possible.”
“Not only is it possible, it is inevitable.” Steel shimmered in his mom’s voice and gleamed in her eyes. “Although it took a tragedy to bring you together, you and Lani are destined to be together.”
“I’m destined to begin post-production on Hellcat Four: The Aftermath in three weeks’ time. And after that, if the funding comes together, I’ll be making Dragon Chaser part five.”
His mom waved her hand, jangling her bracelets. “Part four, part five. What will it matter if there are so many already? There is only one Rahiri, and you are our ruler.”
“People are counting on me. There’s a lot at stake.”