Claiming His Pregnant Princess

He looked at her as if she’d gone mad. “Is that what you think this is about? I may be a lot of things, but I’m hardly a sadist, my love.”

A surprised laugh escaped her throat. “I can think of a thousand other things you could call me besides—” She stopped, finding herself completely unable to repeat the words.

My love.

A thousand times she’d said them once. More. An infinity of moments she’d closed down all in the name of tradition.

“Why aren’t you married?”

Shocked at the bluntness of his question, Bea froze as her mind raced for the right answer. The truth might push him away even further. Yank back his olive branch.

Just tell him. You owe him that much.

“The most immediate answer is that he was cheating on me.”

Color flooded Jamie’s face. The show of emotion meant more to her than she could say.

She continued before she could think better of it. “So I gave him back his ring and told him the wedding was off.”

Jamie’s shoulders broadened as he pressed himself to his full height. “He’d better have left the country if he knows what’s good for him.”

“He has.” She had to laugh. “He’s taken his new lover on our honeymoon.”

“The tabloids must be loving that.”

Jamie laughed, too, but she could see he was far from amused.

“I’ve been doing my best to avoid the tabloids.”

“Probably just as well.”

“Why? Have you heard something?”

“No, no.” He held up his hands. “I hate those things as much as you do. They’re...toxic.”

“You’ve got that right.”

He leant against the railing, his back to the view, and folded his arms across his chest. “You don’t seem that upset for someone whose fiancé has ripped her future into tatters.”

It’s so much more complicated than I ever imagined it would be.

“I think you and I both know I never loved him.”

There it was. The real truth. Whether or not it would make Jamie hate her more, or ultimately find a way to forgive her, only time would tell.