“Yes, well, it turned out that the man who she thought was Ian was actually Prince Adriano, who now is King Adriano, though he goes by Adriane Graziani when in the States. That he has so many names is a whole other matter,” she said with a faint smile before continuing. “When he discovered the…um…unfortunate accident, he didn’t want to take a chance that a child might be created and he wouldn’t know about it. He apparently had Rachel watched. After she went to the doctor and had a positive pregnancy test, he showed up on her doorstep,” Ari said, speaking as quickly as possible to get through all the information that she had.
“He had my sister followed!” Rafe roared.
“Seriously? That’s what you’re focused on?” Ari asked. Of all the information she’d just given, she’d have thought he’d be a bit more upset with some of the other details.
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“He should have come to me the minute he knew she was my sister,” Rafe bellowed.
“I hate to break this to you, Rafe, but Rachel is twenty-six, not a five-year-old toddler. She’s an adult and can therefore make grown-up decisions. She doesn’t need your permission to date,” Ari reminded him, feeling affronted for her friend.
Rafe shot an indignant look Ari’s way, but when she didn’t back down, he sat back and kept silent so she could continue. Ari rubbed his arm, trying to ease his temper, and yet to let him know that she disagreed with the way he treated his sisters — like adolescents.
“So, Adriane told Rachel she was carrying his heir and that they must wed at once. As you all know Rachel, you can imagine how well that went over,” Ari said with a chuckle.
“You’re laughing?” Rafe asked incredulously.
“I’m just picturing the poor man’s face when he got a hint of Rachel’s temper,” Ari replied with a slight trembling in her voice as she struggled to suppress her mirth.
“I wish he had gotten the full force of her knuckles,” Rafe muttered.
Ari ignored his comment. “She pretty much told him to shove it. I guess he didn’t appreciate that, because here we are now. I don’t think Rachel’s in any danger. She can certainly hold her own against Adriane, or King Adriano, but still, I’m sure we’d all like to talk to her, make certain she’s fine,” Ari said, trying to defuse the bomb waiting to go off in Rafe’s head.
“Of course we’re going to see her. Adriane can’t just come in here and abduct my sister. And this isn’t like Rachel not to talk to me. ” Rafe stood up and started pacing again, too restless to continue sitting.
“Remember that she is pregnant, Rafe. Her emotions are all scattered right now, and she may not be making decisions she normally would make. Perhaps she has decided it best to try to get along with Adriane, try to make a go of things for the sake of the baby,” Ari told him.
“Why would you think this?” Rafe asked.
“Because from our discussions before, I know she really liked this guy. Yes, she was ticked that he had come back demanding marriage, but if you’d seen the look in her eyes when she talked about him, you’d realize there is more to their story than a weeklong affair. I wouldn’t be surprised if we do end up going to a wedding. ”
Rafe was silent, taking in all that Ari was saying to him. Everything inside him shouted that this was wrong — he had to rescue Rachel right now.
“My little girl is going to have a baby. ” They all turned to see the look of wonder on Rosabella’s face.
“Mom?”
“I know everyone is worried. I am, too. But, have any of you stopped to really think about this? Rachel, my youngest child, is going to be a mother. I’m going to be a grandmother. This may not have been how I wanted it to happen, but I can’t help but be filled with joy,” Rosabella said as a tear slipped from her eye.
“Oh, my. I’m going to be a grandpa,” Martin said.
They were all silent as they thought about the new baby. They’d been so focused on the shock of Rachel’s apparent abduction that, until Rosabella’s reverent words, none of them had paused to think about the blessing of a new family member in their lives.
“I haven’t had time to think about that,” Rafe admitted, his own tone far more tranquil as he considered his sister’s pregnancy anew. It wasn’t just an unwanted pregnancy as he’d been thinking of it, but his sister was actually carrying a child inside her. That would make him an uncle.
“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” Ari said, her gaze connecting with Rafe’s. The two of them hadn’t discussed children, but she wanted a dozen of them. Well, maybe not quite that many, but she certainly wanted a couple of kids tearing around their house.
The thought of a little boy with Rafe’s beautiful eyes staring back at her made her heart leap. She would enjoy carrying his child even if she were sick every day of her pregnancy.
“Yes, I want a lot of babies with you,” Rafe said as if he could read her mind. Ari’s heart was filled to overflowing, though she hadn’t imagined she could feel any happier than she had that very morning.
“Nothing would please me more, Rafe,” she said, smiling at him as he crossed the room and sat back down next to her, pulling her tightly against his chest.
“Sorry I keep snapping. It’s not at you, I promise. It’s just that I have always felt the need to protect my sisters, even when they don’t need or want protecting. I hate that Rachel is going through this alone, or that she feels that she is alone in her decisions, and I hate that I can’t be there to take care of her. ”
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“She knows how much you love her, Rafe, and that is what will help her to get through it. She’s frightened, but if you stand by her side, accept that she made a mistake, not dwell on it, and be her big brother, not another parent, she will trust you and lean on you. She’ll gladly let you help take care of her,” Ari said, hoping he would get it.
Rafe paused for several moments as he absorbed her words, let them sink in.
“How did I make it through life without you, Ari? How do you put up with me? I shouldn’t question you, because then you might come to your senses and walk away from me again, but I am just so surprised that I not only found you, but also managed to hold on to you,” he said, his lips turned up in a crooked smile.
“We both have our faults, but I think that, overall, we make each other better people. I love you,” she said in answer. “And in our case, love was enough to conquer all that stood in its path. ”
“I wish Rachel had just trusted me,” Rafe said.
“If you want your sister to trust you the next time, then you have to be understanding and not berate her for something she already feels terrible about. ”
“I wouldn’t do that!” he insisted.
Ari just lifted an eyebrow, and waited.
“OK, I might have given a small lecture,” he admitted.
Ari knew she wouldn’t get him to confess much more than that. She gave him a hug and was glad that he was at least willing to listen to her. They would be able to help Rachel, but if he went in there in all his furious glory, it would only make the situation worse.
“Let’s try and get ahold of Rachel before we just jet over there. Maybe she wants to be with Adriane,” Ari said. She knew she should try to be the voice of reason.
“I need to see her, Ari. What if she tells me that she’s fine while we’re on the phone, but that’s because a sword is being held to her throat? I need for her to tell me in person that she is where she wants to be,” Rafe insisted.
“A sword, Rafe? Such melodrama! Adriane is a modern European king, you know, and he does have the civilized world to answer to. I do understand your feelings, however, and I’m sure Rachel is very glad to have such a loyal big brother, but I really think you ought to give this a little bit of time. ”
Rafe held her close as he struggled with what he wanted to do and with what Ari was asking of him. He couldn’t just sit idly by — it went
against everything he stood for.
“Ari…” he said, forcing down the man inside who wanted to come out, the man who would just do whatever he wanted to do.
“All I’m asking is that you give her a little time — a week. That’s not much, is it?”
He froze in her arms. He couldn’t do this. No way. If he went against Ari, though, he feared she would think he hadn’t changed at all.
To go or not to go. That was the decision he needed to make quickly.
CHAPTER FIVE
“STOP SQUIRMING,” SHANE said as he walked into a private room, setting Lia down on her feet. She glared at him and quickly backed away. He followed, placing his arm around her and pulling her to him.
Lia twisted to escape his grasp, not appreciating his boldness, and really not liking her body’s reaction to being close to him. How was she supposed to get over her feelings toward him when he didn’t give her room to breathe?
“I leave in two hours. We have to talk,” he whispered in her ear, causing her body to shiver — and she hated him for making her betray herself.
“We’ve done all the talking I’m willing to do for now, so you can just scurry on out of here,” she said, tugging against his hold.
“I can never seem to find the right words to say to you,” Shane said. He set her free, but he refused to back too far away.
He had to go soon and didn’t know when he’d get back. But he couldn’t leave with Lia upset with him; his mind wouldn’t be with his team, and he needed to be there with them, not half there and half here with Lia.
“Try goodbye, Shane. I have been a fool to love you so much. How can I love a man who I don’t even know?” she asked, hurt heavy in her voice as she gazed up at him.
“Lia, I was going to tell you all that I could, but there never seemed to be the right time,” he told her, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
Life was so much easier when he didn’t have to think about what he could and couldn’t talk about. He wanted to make a relationship with her work, but how could he when all he was allowed to share with her was a small piece of himself?
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“That seems to be something you say to me all the time, Shane. I was going to tell you this or that. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. This is the theme of our relationship. I open my heart to you, trust you, and then you betray me. I can’t keep doing this. You’re just about out the door — heck, out of the country — and there is no way that I’m even close to letting this go. You’re going to have to give me some time, some real time to think about what I want to do. All I know right now is that I feel betrayed, and even worse, I feel that I can’t trust you, that I don’t know you. I thought I did, but then I keep finding out more secrets you’ve kept from me. ”
The anguish in her voice ripped through him.
“I don’t know how to make this better,” he said, inching back toward her.
“Don’t touch me, Shane. I mean it. Yes, you can make me melt at your touch, but is that what you really want? Do you want a piece of my body when it will only make me hate you afterward? Because I will despise you for making me want you. I will forever block you out, just like you’ve been blocking me,” she warned him as she retreated.
“Damn it! I don’t know what you want!” His frustration was clear, as was the agony running through him.
“Just go, Shane. Go and give me time. You’ve betrayed me, and that doesn’t disappear in a day or even a week. ”
“You didn’t give me a chance to earn your trust,” he said.
“Yes, I did, Shane. We had five days on that island. You shared your past with me. I didn’t turn from you, I didn’t treat you any differently. When we were there, you could have told me everything, trusted me with your life. Then, after we got back, you had ample opportunity to tell me. No. I find out a couple days before you leave. And not only that, I find out that my brother once again knows so much more about you. I understand your not telling me before we were a couple, but it just isn’t OK for you to keep shutting me out now, making me feel less than my own brother. I have loved you for so long that I can’t remember a time I haven’t. You keep proving to me over and over again that you don’t feel the same. It’s crushing,” she said, fighting the closing of her throat as she wrestled to turn off her emotions.
“I will make this up to you. I will prove to you that you can trust me, that I will never keep anything from you again,” he vowed.
“It may be too late, Shane. I just don’t know,” she sighed, feeling more drained than she could ever remember feeling before.
She wanted nothing more than to rush into his arms, but she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t keep letting him hurt her so badly.
Maybe they just weren’t meant to be. As much as she loved him, she couldn’t change him, couldn’t erase the past, and couldn’t undo what had already been done. That meant she might have to let him go forever. He would take a piece of her, but at least if they parted now, there would still be something of herself left to rebuild from. If she stayed with him, she might just fade away.
“I will prove to you that we are meant to be, Lia. I swear to that. ”
Shane stepped forward and leaned down, his lips capturing hers in a sweet kiss that made her eyelids droop.
When she opened her eyes again, she was standing alone in the room, longing coursing through her body as a deep loneliness filled her. Was that really it? It was what she wanted, wasn’t it?
As she walked into the quiet hallway in search of Ari, Lia just didn’t know anymore. This was all too much for her to deal with.
Trying to keep her head high, she took a breath before opening the door to the room that held Ari and Rafe. Even if she hadn’t known which one it was, she couldn’t miss her brother’s loud and frustrated voice coming through the thick wood.
At least she didn’t need to explain what had happened with her and Shane. Rafe had to deal with a very missing Rachel. Lia wasn’t worried about her little sister. She was concerned about her, of course, but she saw the light that entered Rachel’s eyes when she spoke of Ian, or Adriane, or Adriano — whatever the heck the man’s name was — so she knew Rachel would be fine. This was just another journey that Rachel seemed destined to take with the man who had caused her to do something so against her cautious nature.
The thought was almost enough to make her smile. Time did heal all wounds, right? She’d soon find out. OK, soon might be the wrong word.
CHAPTER SIX
SOMETIME IN THE late afternoon, the plane landed and an extremely exhausted Rachel was transferred to a vehicle. There was no fight in her as she was tucked in the back seat with Adriane at her side.
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Ian, the man she’d grown feelings for, the man who had been so carefree when she’d met him on the beach, was long gone. Now, she was having a child with a king, Adriane, or Adriano of Corythia. She’d wanted to do some living and she certainly had done just that — but not in the way she’d planned.
The medicine the doctor had given her did its magic and she fell asleep again, drifting against Adriane’s chest as he cradled her securely. She could hear Adriane speaking, but his words came to her faint and distorted as she gave in to the medicine and rested.
“Sire, is this a wise choice?”
Adriane turned to Nico, a question in his eyes. His adviser resumed speaking.
“I don’t wish to speak out of turn, but she was raised in America at least half the year, and attended college in an American university. She doesn’t understand our culture or what would be expected of her as our queen. You have a list of potential brides who are supposed to start arriving here — a list that has been approved by the council. ”
Adriane knew that his adviser was simply doing his job, counseling him in matters of state, but he still didn’t appreciate the man’s words.
“As
Ms. Palazzo carries my child, none of that matters. Would you have me deny my heir?” Adriane asked with a deadly calm.
“Of course not, Sire. But do we know for certain that the child she carries is yours? You haven’t been with her for months,” Nico reminded him.
“Yes, Nico, I am very aware of that fact, and I won’t allow a statement like that to be made again,” Adriane warned. Nico backed off immediately, and he handed Adriane a folder containing documents for him to go through and sign.
Adriane’s country was in a fragile state at this moment and he really didn’t have time to cater to Rachel, but because she was carrying his child, he also couldn’t afford not to. What he was doing was less than ethical, but in his mind, it didn’t matter. His biggest concern was getting her to see reason, having her accept that as she was carrying the heir to the Corythian throne, the only way for them to move forward was for her to remain with him as his wife.
Her brother would be a problem. Adriane had known Rafe for some years now, and he knew he wasn’t a man to back down. As king, Adriane surely didn’t want a major diplomatic disaster, but he’d do what he had to do. And Rafe would have to admit that he’d behave in the same way if it were his child a woman carried.
It was time to speak to the man he considered a friend and occasional business associate. If Rafe could just see reason, maybe they could avoid an international scandal.
Both he and Nico were lost in thought as the car moved through his country. It was a beautiful land, one that he’d always been proud to belong to. The hills were lush with foliage, and the fields were abundant with crops.
Their country’s main source of income was tourism. The island offered several large, exclusive resorts that catered to the rich and famous, giving them a private place in paradise to escape from the media and from fans and stalkers. These visitors were free to walk the islands with no one bothering them or taking pictures.
They also spent a good deal of their money at Adriane’s casino, his pride and joy. He’d fought a lengthy battle with his father to build it, and he had finally won the argument five years before. It had brought much wealth to Corythia.