Princess's Secret Baby

Princess's Secret Baby
CAROL MARINELLI

A Princess for the PlayboyThe Princess of Surhaadi is desperate to escape a life lived in the shadows of her family's past. One misguided night of rebellion later and Leila's world comes crashing down thanks to two little blue lines on the pregnancy test!When James Chatsfield - world-renowned bad boy and soon-to-be father - hears the shocking news, he knows he needs to act, and fast! He'll propose to protect his heir, but will Leila ever believe he sees her as more than just the mother of his child?Welcome to The Chatsfield, New York!

‘I am going to raise my baby alone …’

‘Our baby,’ James corrected and Leila felt her throat constrict as she heard the snap of possession in his voice.

‘I don’t need your help in this, James.’

‘It’s not about what you need. It’s about what the baby needs.’ James said. ‘Though I’d suggest that you do need some help. I’ve heard on the grapevine that your credit card has been stopped … I guess mummy and daddy are not very amused with their daughter’s behaviour.’

‘I doubt that they will ever speak with me again,’ Leila said, ‘so I doubt I will find out.’

James looked at her and felt a bit bad then—his parents were trouble enough, but Leila was dealing with a king and queen. ‘I’m sure they’ll come around.’

He took a breath; a gnaw of disquiet was growing as the ramifications of that thought hit home. Yes, her parents would surely come around and what then?

What would happen then to the princess and her baby?

What would happen to his child?

‘How did your parents take the news?’ Leila asked.

‘I’m not here to talk about our families,’ James said, ‘I’m here to sort things out between us.’

Princess’s

Secret Baby

Carol Marinelli

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

CAROL MARINELLI recently filled in a form where she was asked for her job title and was thrilled, after all these years, to be able to put down her answer as ‘writer’. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation. After chewing her pen for a moment Carol put down the truth—’writing’. The third question asked: ‘What are your hobbies?’ Well, not wanting to look obsessed or, worse still, boring, she crossed the fingers on her free hand and answered ‘swimming and tennis’. But, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights, and the closest she’s got to a tennis racket in the last couple of years is watching the Australian Open, I’m sure you can guess the real answer!

Contents

Cover (#u03800d98-80e9-5437-9a89-625ee5c3ec28)

Introduction (#u72858729-1379-5031-b3e0-bc59d98cbb90)

Title Page (#ud993b6a7-c53d-56cd-a258-16f6b709ec75)

About the Author (#u96978186-2187-5413-8c84-30ddb70bac33)

Harrington Family Tree (#ue6ed175d-e264-56b1-a414-5b173b7b1485)

Chatsfield Family Tree (#ue6ed175d-e264-56b1-a414-5b173b7b1485)

CHAPTER ONE (#u88315473-2fea-59c6-bea8-bfb082bf03db)

CHAPTER TWO (#u089660da-0219-51ab-96b4-39894841ecbe)

CHAPTER THREE (#u05e6e003-7b86-5e44-9ce7-a1d4a6ad7e47)

CHAPTER FOUR (#u8d8d68ce-87c9-5411-a652-f520610a407d)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Extra’s (#litres_trial_promo)

Endpages (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_d2083563-c77c-5daa-9e66-66e32767e7dc)

‘I WISH THAT it had been you!’

Princess Leila Al-Ahmar of Surhaadi froze as finally Queen Farrah voiced her truth.

Deep down Leila had always known that her mother would have preferred for it to be Leila, rather than her sister, Jasmine, who had died on that terrible night. Having it verified though, hearing her mother say the words that no parent ever should, felt like an arrow was right now being shot through Leila’s heart and caused an agony that even she hadn’t properly anticipated.

Not that Leila showed it to the woman who was now staring her down.

Only at night, only in sleep, did Leila cry for a love she had never been shown.

The absence of love in her life had made Leila resilient though, so she stood, unflinching, as her mother poured boiling oil onto already raw wounds. Only it wasn’t just resilience that made Leila stand proud and silent—quite simply she was too stunned to react.

For all of her twenty-four years Leila had done everything she could to avoid this moment, but she had finally stopped running from the truth tonight.