Claiming His Christmas Consequence

* * *

Christmas was the one time of year Nathaniel detested. All that fake bonhomie, the commercialisation, the forced proximity with so-called loved ones. All of it.

It brought home as nothing else did that the three people Nathaniel had loved with all his heart were gone, had been dead now for twenty-eight years. On Christmas morning, the time traditionally spent opening presents and leaving a trail of discarded wrapping paper everywhere, the loss felt as fresh as it had the first morning he’d woken without them.

This year he’d made the decision to spend the period in Monte Cleure rather than in any of his other homes. Other than the fact it was the site of his most current development, Monte Cleure had a relatively temperate winter climate, situated as it was on France’s southern border with Spain, meaning there was little to no chance of snow.

He’d avoided snow for twenty-eight years.

The only sign of festivity in his apartment was the empty bottle of Scotch on the floor by the sofa, which was where he found himself when he was rudely awakened early on Boxing Day morning by the shrill tone of the intercom.

He sat bolt upright, clutching his pounding head and cursing himself for not making it to his bed. If he hadn’t given his household staff four days off each to spend the holidays with their families, he would let one of them deal with the caller.

Stumbling to his feet, he punched the intercom.

‘Yes?’ he growled. He’d left instructions with the concierge that he was not to be disturbed until tomorrow when the madness of Christmas was over.

‘Monsieur Giroud, His Highness Prince Dominic from the House of Fernandez is here to see you.’

‘What does he want?’

The concierge’s voice dropped to a scared murmur. ‘It is not my place to ask.’ Nathaniel might be the boss and owner of the entire building, but Dominic was heir to the throne of the entire country.

Nathaniel left unsaid his thought that the Prince might not be such a self-satisfied moron if people asked questions of him.

‘Send him up.’

While he waited for the elevator to bring Dominic to him, he staggered to the kitchen and downed a pint of water.

Whatever the Prince wanted could not be good.

A loud rap on the door announced his arrival.

Nathaniel pulled the door open. The burly figure of the heir to the Monte Cleure throne strode in, followed closely by a bodyguard.

‘What can I do for you, Dominic?’ he asked, deliberately not using his title. Then, also deliberately, he turned his back and walked through to the living area. ‘Here to celebrate some festive cheer with me?’

When there was no answer, he said, ‘Can I offer you a drink?’

‘From the look and smell of you, you’ve already had enough to drink,’ Dominic sneered. He had the air of a junior silverback making a show of asserting its dominance. If his head didn’t hurt so much, Nathaniel would find it amusing.

‘If I’d known you were coming I would have showered. So, drink?’

‘I’m not here for a social visit.’

‘I didn’t imagine you were. However, I am of the opinion that even the most boring business conversation can be sweetened with a pot of fresh Columbian coffee.’ It could only help his pounding head.

‘I’m not here for a business meeting either.’

‘Then why don’t you tell me what’s so urgent you turn up unannounced at my home demanding an audience.’

‘Your home?’

‘Bought and paid for. The title deeds to the Ravensberg building are held with my lawyer if you wish to see them?’ Nathaniel hadn’t rented since the first apartment he’d had when he’d been seventeen and his landlord had dragged his heels over fixing the broken heating system during a particularly cold spell.

He liked to be master of his own destiny, reliant only on himself. All his properties, business and personal alike—and he had so many he’d lost count—were solely his. He didn’t owe a cent to any person, bank or organisation. His business was his and his alone. No one could take it away from him. Bricks and mortar he could count on; permanent fixtures in a fragile world full of horrors.

‘Title deeds are only worth something if you own the land the property is built upon. Take your development here in my country for example.’

‘For sure,’ he agreed amiably. He knew it infuriated Dominic that his father had overridden his objections and granted Nathaniel all the necessary permissions. ‘But I think you will need to use a different example with which to make your point. I always purchase the land itself for any development I undertake.’

Nathaniel was over halfway through the construction of a hotel and business complex that would be Monte Cleure’s highest landmark. It was his most ambitious project to date, a skyscraper of magnificence and beauty. Architect Monthly magazine had declared it a potential contender for Building of the Decade.

So far he had invested one hundred million euros in the development and fully expected to spend the same amount again by the time the project was complete.

‘Now why don’t we stop all this pussy-footing around and you tell me why you’re here, and then I can go back to bed?’

‘My sister.’

‘Which one?’ he asked with a nonchalant shrug, although his head immediately began to whirl.

Dominic swelled up like an overinflated balloon, and his eyes grew cruel and dark. ‘Catalina.’

Nathaniel made sure to keep his features neutral.

He hadn’t breathed a word about his night with the Princess. Not to anyone. He didn’t for a moment think Catalina would have spoken of it either, not when she had her virginal reputation to protect. From the moment she’d admitted him into her room she’d made it clear it was something that could never be spoken of or alluded to.

It had been the perfect one-night stand, one in which there would never be any danger of the woman waking in the morning and dropping casual hints about getting together another time.

He’d left Catalina’s room as the sun had risen, both of them knowing their goodbye kiss would be their last.

What they’d shared had been one incredible night that could never be repeated.

Dominic had to be here on a fishing expedition. His spies had probably reported that Nathaniel and Catalina had danced together at Helios’s wedding.

He hadn’t seen her since. She hadn’t attended Helios and Amy’s Coronation last week. A few discreet enquires had determined that she’d had a stomach bug...

Something cold snaked up his spine.

He leaned back in his chair and inhaled. ‘What about her?’

Dominic’s eyes glittered with malice. ‘She’s pregnant.’

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_e5a9f179-ac46-5d0d-8b90-46ac867f9dd5)

NATHANIEL’S HEART SHUDDERED to a halt.

His brain whirled and it took a few beats before he found his voice. ‘Catalina’s pregnant?’