Alyse sank against the sumptuous sofa, closing her eyes once more. So, she thought with a swamping sense of desolation, the only thing he wanted from her now was her body.
But what if, along with her body, she gave him her heart?
She stilled, opened her eyes and gazed blindly ahead. She’d just realised herself that she’d never actually loved him; her feelings for him had been part schoolgirl infatuation, part desperately wishful thinking. So how could she now offer this cold, proud, hurting man her heart?
Because that’s what I want for my marriage. Because even if she hadn’t loved him all of these years, she knew she could love him now. She could fall in love with him if he let her, if she got to know him as she had done over the last few days.
And that could begin tonight.
* * *
Five silent hours later they had landed in Maldinia on a balmy summer morning and returned by royal motorcade to the palace, unspeaking all the while.
The reporters had managed to get word of their early arrival and were waiting both at the airport and in front of the palace. They posed for photographs in both places, smiling and waving, Leo’s arm snug around her waist. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw that, despite the white flash of his smile and his seemingly relaxed pose, his body was rigid next to her, his eyes flinty. He might be willing to pretend, but he certainly wasn’t enjoying it. And neither was she.
Once they were back in the palace, Leo disappeared to his study and Alyse was shown to the bedroom she would have as her own—and it was clearly her own, not hers and Leo’s; it was a feminine room in pale blues and greys, gorgeous and utterly impersonal.
She sank onto the bed, feeling lonely, lost and completely miserable. A few minutes later, still lost in her own unhappy thoughts, a knock sounded on the door and, without waiting for a response, Queen Sophia swept in.
Alyse stood up, a wary surprise stealing through her. She’d had very few interactions with her haughty mother-in-law and she preferred it that way.
Now Queen Sophia arched one severely plucked eyebrow and swept a thoroughly assessing gaze over Alyse. ‘Why have you returned from the honeymoon so early?’
Alyse licked her dry lips. ‘Leo— He had work to do.’
‘Work? On his honeymoon?’ Sophia’s mouth pinched tight. ‘How do you think the public will react to that? They want to see a young married couple in love, you know. They want to see you celebrating. The monarchy still depends on you.’
Alyse thought of what Leo had said about his parents: their affairs, careless spending and utter indifference to their own people. In light of all that, Sophia’s insistence on royal decorum seemed hypocritical at best. ‘I would think,’ she answered, her voice wavering only slightly, ‘the monarchy depends on you just as much.’
Sophia’s mouth tightened further and her pale-blue eyes flashed ice. ‘Don’t be impertinent.’
‘I wasn’t. I was being honest.’
‘I can do without your honesty. The only reason you’ve risen so high is because we decided it would be so.’
‘And the only reason you decided it would be so is because it benefitted you,’ Alyse retorted, a sudden anger and courage rising up inside her. ‘With Leo and I in the spotlight, you could continue to do as you pleased—which it seems is all you’ve ever done.’ Two spots of bright colour appeared on Sophia’s high cheekbones. ‘Oh, I know it grates on you,’ Alyse continued, her temper now truly lit. ‘To see your precious first-born married to a commoner.’
‘Precious first-born?’ Sophia’s mouth twisted. ‘Has Leo not even told you about his brother? But then I suppose he doesn’t tell you anything.’
Alyse stared at her, nonplussed. ‘His brother...?’
‘Alessandro. His older brother. My husband disinherited him when he was twenty-one and Leo was eighteen. He would have been King.’ For a second, no more, Alyse thought she heard a faint note of bitterness or even sorrow in Sophia’s voice. Had she loved her son Alessandro? Loved him, perhaps, more than Leo?
‘We don’t talk about him,’ Sophia continued flatly. ‘The media stopped raking his story up over and over again years ago. But, if you wondered why the monarchy needed to be stabilised and restored, why we needed you, it’s because of the scandal of Sandro leaving the way he did.’ Sophia’s eyes flashed malice. ‘I’m surprised Leo never told you.’
Alyse didn’t answer. She didn’t sound at all surprised. Had Sophia guessed her schoolgirl feelings for Leo; had she perhaps used them against her all those years ago when she’d suggested their engagement? It seemed all too possible. She was shrewd and calculating and those ice-blue eyes missed nothing.
‘Be careful,’ Sophia continued softly. ‘If the sorry truth of your relationship with Leo comes out now, the scandal will consume us all, including you. You might have enjoyed all the attention these last few years, but it won’t be quite so pleasant when everyone starts to hate you.’ Sophia’s mouth curved in a cruel smile. ‘Besides, you’d be no use to us then. No use to Leo.’
Alyse just stared, her mind spinning sickly, and with a click of her heels Sophia was gone, the door shutting firmly behind her.
Alyse sank back onto the bed. Had the Queen’s parting shot been a threat? No use to Leo. If the media ever turned on her, if she became a liability to the monarchy rather than an asset, would Leo still want to be married to her?
It was a horrible question to ask herself, and even worse to answer. Knowing just what he thought of their marriage, she had a terrible feeling he wouldn’t.
And what about his brother? She could hardly be surprised that Leo had never told her about Alessandro; he had told her barely anything personal about himself.
And yet, it could explain so much. She’d suspected his sense of cold detachment stemmed from his upbringing; with parents like King Alessandro and Queen Sophia, how could it not?
But a brother? A brother who had perhaps been the favourite, who had gone his own way, leaving Leo to try and make up for his absence? To prove himself through his endless royal duty?
She knew she was making assumptions, trying to understand the man who still seemed so much of an enigma to her.
The man who would come to her tonight...
She felt a shiver of anticipation for what lay ahead. Was it wrong—or perhaps just shameless—of her actually to be looking forward to tonight, at least in part? No matter how little Leo felt for her now, she still wanted him. Desperately.
* * *
Alyse didn’t see Leo until that evening, when the royal family assembled for a formal dinner. He looked stunning in black tie, which was the standard dress for these cold family dinners. King Alessandro and Queen Sophia preferred this kind of rigid formality, and as she sat down across from Leo she wondered how it had affected him. How it had affected his brother.
It still surprised her that she’d never even known about him, not from Leo, not from his family, not even from any of the articles she’d read about the Maldinian royal family. Her family.
Her
