than that one visit to see about investing. The press never had any reason to take an interest in him being there. Or even think that he would be there.
There were a great many advantages to having a relatively low profile.
“What I mean,” he said, attempting to soften his tone, “is that I have lovers, not girlfriends. Women that I carry out affairs with. I don’t date. That’s the issue with being a prince. You cannot simply go public with women, not without expectation being attached. However, I was hardly going to live my life celibate.”
“You had a fiancée.” The words were low, carrying with them an edge of violence.
“Allegra was nothing more than a convenience. She is from one of Italy’s most revered families. She was a reasonable choice for a man in my position. She was not my lover.”
“Well, I guess that’s something,” she said. “So. I figure we need to come to some kind of child support arrangement? I’m having your baby. If you need me to get a paternity test, fine, whatever. I’ll hate you, but I already do. Whatever you need. A cheek swab, my blood. Though I’d prefer not to give blood. I’ve already bled for you. I’m not doing it again.”
“What are you talking about? A child support?”
“Presumably you have a castle. I would like to not live in a heap.”
“And so you want money?”
He found her fascinating. This woman who had not known who he was. This woman who was standing there with a tabloid featuring him at her feet, who had been a virgin when he’d first taken her. Who was asking for child support, and not threatening to go to the press. Not demanding a pied-à-terre in various cities or pieces of the crown jewels.
Clearly, she had no understanding of the situation she found herself in, in spite of what she thought.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable,” she said. “My own mother was single. And my father didn’t give us anything. I’m not going to consign my son or daughter to that life if I can make it better. I have a responsibility. And so do you.”
“Undeniably I have a responsibility to this child, but I do not think you understand exactly what you’re dealing with here,” he said, staring at her, mystified.
“I’m dealing with an unexpected pregnancy and the best way that I can think to handle it. I want to make sure that you are not living in the lap of luxury while your son or daughter has nothing.”
“Oh, I have no intention of my son or daughter lacking for anything. But if you think that I’m leaving them here in Colorado to be raised alone by you, you have failed to understand the man that you are involved with.”
Her entire face turned pink, her rage seemingly silent for the first time since he had aroused it three months ago.
“I am not sending child support checks, cara. There will be no more discussion of it.”
“What do you mean you aren’t allowing me to raise my child in Colorado? Under what authority? This is America! And last I checked, you probably aren’t a citizen.”
“Diplomatic immunity,” he said, waving his hand, “and a desire to preserve relations with my country, will no doubt see any kind of court battle you should wish to wage fall in my favor. Who would give custody to a waitress from Sweater Bunnies when a prince is on hand to raise the child to rule?”
“You’re going to take my baby from me?” Her voice had turned shrill, and he could see that she was looking around the room, her eyes darting back and forth. Probably looking for a weapon.
“It should not come to that.”
“Start speaking slowly, and spelling out what exactly you’re implying. Obviously I’m not picking up on it.”
“Of course,” he said, “there will be no discussion of my sending you child support checks, and no discussion of the child being raised here, because you will both be in Santa Firenze.”
“I thought I wasn’t fit to be brought back to your country.”
She wasn’t. Even now, looking at her, that intense possessiveness had him in a stranglehold. Taking her, claiming her seemed to be the most obvious choice.
Which was what gave him pause. A ruler was meant to be cool. A ruler was meant to direct his actions with his mind, his sense of honor, not with anything half as fickle as desire or heat.
He wondered what his father might have done in this instance. And then had to concede that his father would never have been so foolish as to get himself in this situation.
He was forced then to weigh his options. To bring back a woman such as this, one he had already decided was unsuitable for his kingdom...it was unfathomable.
But honor. Honor and duty were at the center of all of it, regardless of what she made him feel. His duty was to his child.
“That was before I knew you were carrying my heir.” He took a step toward her, the word mine pounding itself through his head in time with the thundering of his heart. “Of course you are coming back to my country with me now. But not as my mistress. Bailey Harper, you are going to be my wife.”
“YOU HAVE A private jet.”
“Of course I do,” Raphael said, brushing past her and walking up the stairs into the sleek-looking aircraft.
“Were you in your private jet the night that we met?”
He treated her to a withering look. “I wasn’t flying economy.”
“I just...” She let the words trail off. There wasn’t much to say. Not really. He was not the man she had thought he was. That had become apparent when he’d broken her heart the way that he had, when it had been revealed that there was another woman in his life. This was just another layer to it. She supposed that some people would view this as good luck. The fact that the man who had gotten her pregnant was wealthy, titled and powerful should be some kind of boon.
She looked up at the plane. She didn’t really feel like it was a good thing. Not now.
She just felt small. Small and so desperately out of her depth.
She had argued with him about the marriage thing, and she intended to argue with him even more. But...what could be done? He presented a pretty ironclad case when it came to how he would go about getting custody. And she didn’t want to lose her baby.
Are you sure part of you just doesn’t want to go off with him because it sounds easy?
She banished that traitorous voice, began to walk up the steps and into the jet. And that feeling of being tiny only increased. She was nothing. No one. Just a girl from Nebraska who had gone to Colorado seeking mountains and a fresh start. A girl raised by a single mother in a drafty house built in the 1920s with a sagging foundation and a crack in the ceiling.
She looked around the cabin, her jaw a little bit slack. It was...she had never seen anything like this on the internet. She had idly scrolled through
