The Dreaming Of... Collection. Оливия Гейтс
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‘So by definition...’
‘Sí, the whole House of Navarre hasn’t endeared itself to the people.’
The question she’d been trying to avoid asking ricocheted through her head.
Ask. This is your chance.
‘Back in Spain you said something about not wanting another destroyed life on your conscience. Did something else happen with your mother?’
His features froze and he remained silent for so long, she was certain he wouldn’t answer.
‘Five years ago, I almost got engaged.’
It was the last response she’d expected. Her mind blanked for a second. ‘What?’
His laugh was bitter. ‘You wanted to know why marrying wasn’t my first choice, so...’ He stopped and his face contorted with bitter recollection. Jasmine wanted to tell him to stop, wanted to wipe whatever wretched memory was causing the distress on his face. He spoke before she could form the appropriate words.
‘Anaïs Perdot and I met the last time I was here in Paris. It was my first diplomatic tour. Her father was doing a lot of business in Santo Sierra and Anaïs and I grew...close.’
Jasmine didn’t want to guess what memory was making his jaw clench. She held her breath as he continued. ‘Her parents were eager for a match. I suppose on paper we were an ideal couple. She was young and exciting. For a while she made me forget that I was the son of a queen who didn’t feel any remorse about dragging the family name through the mud with her infidelities. Hell, she even helped me to forge an easier relationship with the father I detested because I thought him weak for not stopping my mother’s behaviour.’ His chest heaved on a deep exhale.
‘For a while?’ she ventured.
His lips firmed. ‘Her parents thought Anaïs should live in Santo Sierra for a while before we announced our engagement. Within weeks, my mother got her claws into her.’
‘How?’
He shrugged. ‘It started off as lunches and shopping sprees while I was busy with matters of state. Then they turned into late-night parties when she wouldn’t return to the palace until the early hours, and then not at all.’
Jasmine frowned. ‘Behaviour not exactly befitting a future queen, but European royalty have been known to indulge in much worse antics.’
His eyes turned arctic. ‘Really? How many female members of your royal family have been photographed having sex with another man the week before their engagement was announced?’
Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh, my God! What did you do?’
Reyes stared at her for several more seconds before he shook his head. ‘I handed over an obscene amount of money to the camera-wielding blackmailer to prevent the pictures hitting the papers. And I set back my relationship with my father by having our biggest fight yet when he refused to lift a finger against my mother for her part in Anaïs’s behaviour.’
‘I’m so sorry, Reyes.’ She laid a hand on his arm and felt his palpable tension.
‘That wasn’t the worst of it. The day I told Anaïs it was over, she went to my mother. My mother convinced her that I was merely throwing a tantrum; that I would get over it. And then she talked Anaïs into partying one more night. On their way back from the club, they were involved in a hit-and-run accident. Anaïs claimed my mother was driving. My mother claimed the opposite. The result was that a teenager was left paralysed for life, his plans to become a doctor shattered.’
‘And still your father did nothing?’
Reyes pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘After I threw Anaïs and her family out of my life, she decided to share her version of her time in Santo Sierra with the media. My father finally tried to do some damage control, but it was too late. We were vilified in the media. My mother’s behaviour spiralled out of control. A few months later, she was dead. That’s when the first ramblings of unrest began.’
‘And your father’s illness just compounded the problems.’
That sadness she’d glimpsed on his face that first night in Rio appeared again. ‘I never really got a chance to tell him that I regretted our fight. Last night would’ve been a good opportunity, had I been home.’
‘You’ll be home in a matter of days. You’ll get your chance.’
He fell silent for a stretch of time, then he sent her an intense glance. The imperious ruler of one of the world’s richest kingdoms was back. And despite the determined look on his face now, Jasmine couldn’t help but feel desperate heartache for what he’d suffered. She realised her hand was still on his arm and lowered it to her lap.
‘You understand now why finding the right candidate is imperative?’ he asked.
Despite her heart taking a cliff-dive, she nodded. ‘Yes, I do.’
Again her heart wrenched at the thought that weeks from now he would be a married man. It would be a marriage of convenience, of course, but one he intended to commit to for a lifetime.
He would be out of reach for ever.
Last night, sharing a relaxing dinner with him, she’d wondered what it would’ve been like if they’d met under different circumstances. Then she’d kicked herself for the absurd thought.
Their backgrounds were too diverse for that to have happened in any lifetime. As she’d thought in Rio, they were two ships passing in the night, never to meet again.
But they’d met once...and again. Right at this moment, they could share a lifetime connection.
Because of Reyes’s tight schedule and his edict that she wasn’t allowed anywhere on her own, she hadn’t been able to get her hands on the pregnancy test yet.
Instead she’d ordered it online and was expecting it to be delivered to the hotel today.
Until it arrived and she was forced to confront whatever consequences it brought, she would concentrate on carrying on as normal. Reality would come soon enough. Certainly before Reyes left for Santo Sierra.
And if her suspicions were right and she really was pregnant...
Reyes’s door opened, and the driver bowed. ‘Your Highness.’
Her heart lurched as she watched him struggle to suppress painful memories behind a bland façade. Again, the need to comfort him grew until she gripped her handbag to stop herself reaching for him.
Jasmine prayed the last candidate would be what Reyes wanted, while studiously ignoring the spear of pain that lanced her heart.
‘WELL, I THINK we’ve discussed everything that needs to be discussed. I hope I’ve proven that I can be trusted and that I will be discreet, especially in matters of media liaisons.’ Berenice Holden smiled at Reyes.
‘You’re comfortable with this arrangement being permanent? Or at the very least a long-term proposition?’ Reyes asked.
‘Of course. I like to think I’m bringing a lot to the table, but I’m aware I have much more to gain by ensuring any union between us works.’
Jasmine tried to keep her composure as the cold-blooded negotiations flew between Reyes and Berenice. They’d been hammering out terms for the last hour. And Jasmine had felt her heart wither each time they’d reached a compatible agreement.
She watched Reyes cross off the last item on his list, set his pen down and reach for his cutlery.
‘Excuse me.’ She rose and stumbled from the table. From the corner of her eye, she saw Reyes jerk to his feet, but she didn’t stop until she slammed and locked