Wedding Vows: Say I Do: Matrimony with His Majesty / Invitation to the Prince's Palace / The Prince's Outback Bride

“I’m afraid it is I she doesn’t trust.”

“Of course she does. Otherwise she would have broken her betrothal to you long ago. Please let me try to appeal to her. I’ll be happy to fly there right now if she wants.”

“That would be like pouring acid on an open wound.”

“Why?” she cried out aghast.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You really need me to spell it out?”

“Yes!”

His gaze played over her features. “She says I’m different since coming back from Denver. She senses something she’s never felt before.”

“That’s because you just found out you’re a father. Of course you’re different. Your entire world has been turned upside down.”

“True, but this is something apart from Phillip.”

She feared what was coming but she faced him without averting her eyes. “What exactly?”

“Contrary to what you overheard the desk clerk tell that tourist the day you were checking out of the Hotel Otter, Isabella and I were never a love match. But both of us were willing to fulfill our royal duty in the hope that love would grow.”

She swallowed hard. “Didn’t you ever sleep together?”

“No.”

“Because of rules?”

“No.”

“Didn’t she ever want to?”

“Yes.”

Darrell reeled from his blunt honesty. His admission brought her indescribable joy, but she could never let him know that.

“When I told her I had a son, it changed how Isabella feels about me.”

“But that was thirteen years ago when you were only what? Twenty? Did you tell her Melissa died so she doesn’t need to feel threatened?”

He didn’t answer right away.

Her eyes widened. “She still thinks I’m that woman doesn’t she!” Darrell’s body started to shake. “How could you do that to her? To me?” She thumped her chest.

“I need to tell you a story first.”

“I don’t want to hear it!” she raged while he stood there as calm as a summer morning.

“You’ll want to hear this one. The whole good of the monarchy hangs in the balance.”

Put like that in such a solemn tone, he’d left her little choice but to listen.

“Let’s go out to the balcony.”

She didn’t want to go anywhere with him, but he left her alone in the drawing room, expecting her to come to him. She could either comply with his wishes or string this out until she had a heart attack.

Defeated, she chose the former and found him staring out over the placid water that had formed whitecaps in yesterday’s storm.

He must have sensed her presence. “I wish you could have met my cousin, Chaz. It’s the name I made up for him because he didn’t like the name Charles.”

Darrell blinked in surprise.

“We were the same age. He could be a hellion. That’s what made him so fascinating to me. Growing up I suppose you could say he was my alter ego.

“When I was old enough to read, my father put a little sign at the top of my bathroom mirror. It said, “One day you’ll be king. Remember.”

A moan escaped her throat.

He turned to her. “I agree it was a terrible thing to do to a child. Uncle Vittorio was no different. If anything happened to father or me, the line of succession would go to him and eventually Chaz.

“At times he could be cruel, even abusive. He was a man who believed in corporal punishment to curb any rebellion in his son. When Chaz started drinking too much, I understood. He came to me when things got bad with my uncle. I often covered for him. That’s why he gave me that ring.”

Darrell’s stomach lurched remembering what Phillip had said about the boys’grandfather being mean. How awful they had to live in such close proximity to him.

“My uncle was very ambitious, and still is. He would do most anything to be king, and has resented the fact that Chaz died instead of me.”

“That’s horrible,” she whispered.

“In order to honor my promise to Father to marry Isabella, I’d hoped she could get past this and agree to go ahead with the wedding while believing you are his birth mother.”

“I still don’t understand why you haven’t told her the truth.”

He eyed her balefully. “Because up to now it’s been less complicated this way. The truth wouldn’t change the fact that I fathered a son with a woman from my past. That’s what has hurt Isabella.

“However once my uncle learns of Phillip’s existence and discovers you didn’t give birth to him, he’ll enjoy humiliating you and the memory of your sister. It could bring up a lot of unnecessary pain which could end up hurting Phillip. As it is, I fully expect my uncle to rally the cabinet to repudiate me and my bastard son, forcing me to step down so he can be king.”

The air got trapped in her lungs. “Your own uncle would do that?”

Lines of strain bracketed his mouth. His expression haunted her. He unexpectedly moved toward her and cupped her face in his hands. “The new millenium hasn’t changed the nature of some men,” his voice grated.

“Does your mother know the wedding is off?”

“Yes.”

“Does she know about Melissa?”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad you told her the truth, but she must be devastated!”