This was way too complicated.
‘It’s a business decision,’ he said flatly, trying to move on. ‘Look, that kiss was an aberration. It has to be. If we let sentiment get in the way it’ll never work. I don’t want to pressure you but I must. It’s not our lives, Lily. It’s the fate of an entire country, possible three.’
‘Right.’
‘It is,’ he said. ‘Will you think about it?’
‘Yes. Just go away.’
Just like that. He had her agreement.
There was nothing else to stay for. Was there?
‘If I agree… ’ she whispered. ‘If I was stupid enough to say yes… Could we still be independent? I do not want to fall for you again.’
‘Did you fall… ?’
‘Shut up,’ she snapped. ‘Fall? Of course I fell. I was an idiot over you. I turned my life into a mess, all because I acted like a lovesick teenager. You kiss me and I turn into that stupid teenager again. If what you say is true… if there really is this huge moral need for me to marry—then we do it as a business deal. Nothing more. I’m not letting you touch me again.’
‘I’d rather not… ’
‘Touch me? Then don’t.’
‘Lily… ’
‘Enough,’ she snapped. ‘I’ll think about it. I’ll do the homework. And then, if I must, I’ll outline conditions. But kissing doesn’t come into it.’
‘That’s a shame,’ he said and tried a smile but she glowered.
‘Don’t you turn that charm on me. I know it. I let you kiss me once to see if what I was afraid of was true, and it is. Now I know where I stand, that’s the end of it. If we have to get married then we do exactly what the law requires and nothing more. If I have to do anything that even remotely resembles conjugal rights… ’
‘Conjugal… ’ he said cautiously and ventured a smile.
She didn’t smile back. ‘Enough,’ she said. ‘Get out. Conjugal or no conjugal, and don’t you push me, Alexandros Mykonis—you know exactly what conjugal means.’
‘Right.’
She was glowering at him. She’d promised to think about it. There was nothing to be gained by staying.
He’d got what he wanted.
Hadn’t he?
She heard his steps fade to nothing. She closed the door and leaned on it, and her whole body shook.
Marriage. Alex.
No and no and no.
Marriage to almost any other man wouldn’t be as bad. Because marriage to Alex… it’d be surrender.
He’d kissed her and she’d surrendered, just as she’d surrendered a year ago. Had she learned nothing?
Alex.
She’d have to do the research.
If she was Mia she’d just walk away.
‘I want to be Mia,’ she whispered, but she knew it wasn’t true.
She wanted… she wanted…
Life.
Her body wanted Alex.
She crossed to the window and looked out. He hadn’t gone far. He was just below her window, talking to Spiros.
Was he making her boss this crazy proposition already? To relocate Spiros’s boatyard to Sappheiros?
Spiros would love it. He and Eleni had come to this country because Spiros dreamed of making his living building the boats he loved, but if he thought he could do it on Sappheiros he’d be there in a minute.
It could happen—if she said yes.
If she promised to marry Alex.
She wanted to lean out of the window, yell at them that this was some crazy proposition by a madman. It was emotional blackmail. She had the right to walk away.
When had she ever had a choice?
She sank onto the floor with Michales and hugged her knees. She felt very tired, alone and afraid.
Alex had kissed her.
And that was what she was most afraid of. He exposed her for what she was. Vulnerable and wanting.
‘Love’s crazy,’ she said. Then, as Michales looked seriously at her, she tugged him onto her knees. ‘It only causes trouble. It caused… you.’
Her son would be heir to the throne of Sappheiros. He’d be the legitimate heir, following in his father’s footsteps.
It was unbelievable. It was… terrifying.
She rose again and went back to the window. Alex was still there. Spiros was smiling—more than smiling. He was looking incredulous. He was glancing up at her window and she drew back into the shadows.
This was worse than blackmail. He’d placed the islanders’ fate in her hands. He’d placed Spiros’s fate in her hands.
What if it was a lie? In this day and age, for a marriage of convenience to be the only path to prevent disaster… It was inconceivable.
But she’d promised to do the research, and if it was true…
This was like jumping off a cliff and not knowing what was below. Only knowing that, whatever was at the end, by the time she landed she’d be going so fast the force could kill her.
Sappheiros Times headlines
14th August:
‘Royal Scandal—Secret Baby’
‘Queen Uses Sister’s Baby to Keep Throne’
16th August:
‘After the Lies, Prince Regent Is Ruling Crown Prince’
21st August:
‘Islands Revert to Ancient Lineage’
‘Three Principalities From One Kingdom: Islanders’ Joy’
23rd August:
‘DNA Proves Baby Still Heir!Alexandros Confesses Affair’
‘Prince to Wed Queen’s Sister’
‘Prince Declares Lily a Worthy Princess’
‘Wedding By End of Month’
Two weeks. It was only two weeks since she’d been hit with this crazy proposition and it had moved from crazy to terrifying. She was standing at the entrance to the cathedral, ready to be a bride.
Was she out of her mind?
Maybe she was, but she’d done the research. Everything she’d read confirmed and reconfirmed what Alex had told her. Giorgos and his forebears had brought the Diamond Isles to ruin. The only way they could be saved was for them to revert to their original states; for their original ruling families to take their care into their hands. But there was such distrust…
She’d looked at it from every conceivable angle and there was no escape. From the moment she’d seen Spiros’s face, full of incredulous hope, she’d known what she had to do.
Alex had come back the next day and she had her answer ready.
‘Yes,’ she’d told him. ‘For a year. No more. And you touch me and the deal is off. It’s a marriage in name only. Is that clear?’