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 the toilet door behind her. Shaking, she collapsed onto the closed lid.
Breathe...
This would be over soon. The test kits had arrived. Her attempt to take the test had been thwarted when Reyes had summoned her to grill her about Berenice before his meeting with her, and then insisted Jasmine accompany him.
Breathe...
In just over an hour she would know. Among other things, she didn’t think it was healthy, if she was pregnant, to reside in this perpetual state of anxiety.
Her fingers trembled as the thought took root. She...pregnant...with Reyes’s baby.
She closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe through her anxiety. Waiting until it was impolite to linger any longer, she returned to the table, sat through the last course. Tried to stop herself from trembling each time Berenice looked at Reyes.
Vaguely she noticed Reyes stand. ‘Jasmine?’
She raised her head, met his probing glance. ‘Yes?’
‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
Her head hurt when she nodded. He touched her arm to get her attention. All of a sudden, each of her senses zinged to life.
She looked round. Berenice had left. Jasmine was alone with Reyes again.
‘Are you ready to leave? Or would you like dessert since you hardly touched your food?’ He frowned down at her plate.
‘I’m fine. I wasn’t that hungry.’ She rose and followed him out to the waiting limo. Heart in her throat, she slid in beside him. Silence throbbed in the car for several minutes, until she couldn’t take it any more.
‘So, you think she’s the one?’ Jasmine realised she’d stopped breathing as she waited for him to answer.
After a few moments, he shrugged. ‘Sí, she ticks all the boxes. I’ll call a meeting of the council when we get back to Santo Sierra tomorrow. Tell them to start planning my wedding.’
* * *
She was pregnant.
Three sticks had confirmed it. Several online translations of the word enceinte along with three thick blue lines had sealed her fate.
Setting the tablet down on the bedcovers, Jasmine lay back on the bed and spread shaky fingers over her stomach.
Several emotions eddied through her, but gradually the fear, the anxiety, the complete and utter paralyzing notion that she was in no way equipped to be a mother, fell away to be replaced by one paramount sensation.
Joy.
She had a child growing inside her. Not just any child. Reyes’s baby. The situation was completely messed up, but if fate had requested in a normal world that she choose the father of her child, Reyes Navarre would’ve been her first, her only choice.
Reyes...
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She had to tell him. No question about that. The pain of never having known her father was one she’d smothered away during her childhood and teenage years. And although Stephen had filled the desolate hole left by her father’s rejection, the dull ache remained.
She would never dream of subjecting her child to the same fate by choice. But then this wasn’t just any child...
The enormity of what this pregnancy entailed burned through her joy.
God, she was pregnant with the future heir of the Santo Sierran throne. And its father was
