Found: His Royal Baby

She stared at him, seemingly startled out of all ability to speak.

“Never mind. I’ll find out. Nine-thirty at your hotel. We’ll talk then. You order in coffee, I’ll bring the brioche.”

Turning on his heel, he walked past the photographer who was still snapping pictures. His hand shot out and grabbed the camera before the man knew what was happening.

“Hey!” the paparazzo yelled out.

Dane flipped him a business card. “Call this number in the morning,” he said. “You’ll get your camera back. In the meantime, I’ll babysit it for you.”

“Hey,” the man yelled again, following but not quite daring to do anything about it. “You can’t do that!”

But he’d already done it, and he was out the door and into his waiting Aston Martin before anyone could stop him.

CHAPTER TWO

ALEXANDRA Acredonna, only daughter of Luther Acredonna, recently deposed leader of the Nationalists, whose rule of Carnethia was ended by Crown Prince Dane, his father and his brothers, was in despair.

It had been a huge mistake to come out in public. She shouldn’t have risked it. It had been so long, and she’d been so hungry for some sort of social contact, that when some dear friends had invited her to a birthday celebration at Chic’s, she’d been too tempted to turn the offer down. She’d gone, swearing she would only be at the club for an hour, in and out, gone before there would be time for anyone to notice her and send out the word.

But it hadn’t worked out that way. Dane had obviously been tipped off. Which meant there might be someone in her entourage who was giving information to the Montenevadas. A chilling thought. If they had leaked once, they would leak again.

She stared into the dressing room mirror, trying to concentrate on solutions. She had to be supersecret and supercareful from now on. She was going to have to become more disciplined. Ridding herself of all the people around her was the first step. Only one or two of her closest advisors should know where she was at any given time.

She was staying at the Lion’s Mane Hotel here in Darnam. It was a huge place and she’d registered under an assumed name and taken one of the cheaper suites for her party, so she’d thought she would be lost in the shuffle.

No such luck. Now she was back in the hotel room, looking forward to a long, sleepless night and wondering who among her people might be a traitor.

But most of all, she was thinking about Dane.

She’d been shocked to see him standing there in the club. He’d looked good—healthier than when she’d seen him last. Her heart had seemed to jump in her chest when she saw him. Every cell, every nerve, came more alive than ever. She saw things, felt things, she didn’t see or feel when he wasn’t near. She knew she would never be free of the emotions he conjured up in her just by being within reach.

The way he’d looked at her! The way his blue eyes had penetrated her self-confidence and stripped her to the bone. For a moment she’d been afraid she had no defense against him. But she’d regained her balance quickly enough and pushed through that to find her inner strength.

Still, she knew now that he was on to her. He’d heard things. He probably wasn’t sure of the facts yet. If he’d been sure, he would have done more than dance around the subject. He would have grabbed her, thrown her over his shoulder and carried her out of that place if he’d known for certain that she’d had his child. And next time, that was probably what he would do.

Her cell phone rang and she picked it up, expecting to see one of her brothers’numbers on the screen. But no. The number wasn’t one she recognized. Again her heart began to thump in her chest. It had to be Dane.

She wouldn’t answer. She’d just let it ring. Biting her lip, she tried to stand firm on that. One more ring and she crumbled.

“Hello?” she said breathlessly.

For a beat or two there was silence.

“Did I wake you?” he said at last, and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“Of course not,” she managed to say airily. “But you are interrupting,” she added, lying through her teeth and unapologetic about it. “I’m having a nightcap with a…friend,” she added, making sure to imply the friend was male.

He chuckled. “No, you’re not.”

She hadn’t thought he could get more infuriating, but she’d been wrong.

“Prove it,” she demanded. “How could you possibly know what I’m doing in my own hotel room?”

“Prove that you’re not two-timing me with someone else?” he said mockingly. “Isn’t that your role?”

That statement was too outrageous to challenge. He might as well have accused her of having an affair with a Martian. She wasn’t even going to dignify it with a comment. At least, she knew she shouldn’t. But in the end, she was just too irritated to let it pass.

“How could I be two-timing a man I haven’t seen for six years until tonight?” she demanded reasonably.

“Are you going to ignore that week during the last month of the war?”

She drew her breath in sharply, wondering how much he remembered, how much he was just fishing in the dark. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do, Alex. I’m sure you remember more about our last encounter than I do. I was unconscious most of the time, after all.” His voice hardened. “But bits and pieces of that scene are beginning to clear up for me. And what I’m looking at presents quite an interesting picture.”

She closed her eyes, wishing she knew how to convince him to drop his probing. Wasn’t there something she could say, something she could imply? “Your imagination is working overtime.”

“You think so? Well, that’s exactly what we need to talk about. See you in the morning.”

“Wait,” she said, her fingers clenching the cell phone tightly. “How did you get my number?”

“I’m the head of state of a country with an intelligence service, Alex. You should remember that. Your family used to be in charge here, and I know you had one. Our people are a little rusty, but they’re getting the hang of these things.”

“Of course,” she said softly.

“See you in the morning,” he said again.

She closed her phone without answering.

She shivered, her heart in her throat. It was time she faced facts. She was at such a disadvantage. He had all the power now, and she had none. If he knew the truth, if he was sure, he would find ways to take her baby from her. She had to do something to protect him, to protect herself.

She would take measures. She would become even more elusive. She would dye her hair and wear a veil and…and…

She groaned. No matter. He would find her. And he would find the truth. It was only a matter of time. What could she do?

Run. That was the only thing she could think of. Run and hide and keep running.

For how long?

She closed her eyes.

For as long as it took.

“Excuse me, miss.”

She looked up. Grace, the new nanny, was in the doorway looking hesitant. Or was she looking guilty? Was she the one who’d snitched? Alex winced. Was she going to have to go through the rest of her life not trusting anyone?

“What is it, Grace?” she asked.

“I know it’s late, but the baby’s fussing a bit. I thought maybe…”

She nodded, feeling her milk come in. The anticipation of holding her child made her smile despite everything. “Of course. I’ll be right there.”

Baby Robbie was the one shining bit of happiness in her life. Just looking at his precious little face gave her hope.

But he was hers and hers alone. She would never let Dane take him away from her. Never.

She woke from a dream, gasping. Was the man even going to haunt her sleep? She shuddered, trying to erase the erotic turn her subconscious fantasies had taken. True to her fears, she’d only slept a few hours.

Closing her eyes, she quickly went over all the possibilities. She could foresee what his next move would be. A normal man might have begun by charming her and trying to convince her that he deserved to know the truth, and that once he knew the truth, he would act reasonably and fairly and wouldn’t do anything rash.

But Dane couldn’t promise all those things, because Dane wasn’t reasonable and fair. He wasn’t going to ask her to sign papers or make agreements. He was going to try to force her to tell him what he wanted to know, and if she didn’t comply right away, he would do something to convince her she had no choice. And then he would find a way to take her baby.

Panic shot through her and she held herself tightly, rocking back and forth. What was she going to do? How was she going to protect herself from that?

It didn’t matter how many obstacles she put up or how many security guards she had around her, Dane would find a way to break through all that. There was only one answer. She had to make a move before he did.

What was she still doing here? She knew she had to leave before Dane got here in the morning. She might as well get the show on the road. There was nothing important keeping them here.

The only problem was she didn’t want to take many of them with her. Grace, the nanny, of course. And Henri and Kavon, her personal guards. The rest could go back to Paris.

Yes, she told herself as she rose and began to dress. She had to leave. She had to get out before Dane arrived. Just before going to bed, she’d had word that her brothers, Marque and Ivan, were on their way to Darnam as well, and she didn’t want to risk seeing them before she went into hiding. She knew they were probably coming to try to enlist her in their latest wild scheme to get back at Dane and his family. One of these days they just might gather enough of a force together to do the Montenevadas real harm, but she didn’t want to be involved. It was time to declare the war over.

Should she pack? There was no time. Now that she’d thought over all the ramifications, she wanted to hurry, to run, to dash out the door, her baby in her arms, straight to a hiding place.

She called Henri on her phone. He was her ever-alert, ever-faithful one and she knew the older man would be awake in the next room.

“I’m up,” he said. “I’m ready to go. I was hoping you would see the wisdom in it.”

Quickly, she went over plans with him and he agreed to take care that the others left for Paris right away.

“One thing,” he said. “I’ve heard your brothers are heading here to join you. Should I let them know…?”

“No,” she said quickly. “I don’t want them to know what we’re doing. I’ll call them later, once we get there.”

“The usual place?” he asked carefully.

“Of course.”

It was settled. She felt energized, now that she saw a clear path in front of her. She woke the nanny and went in to change Robbie’s diapers and prepare him for the trip. As always, she found herself forgetting her worries and smiling as she tended to him. He gurgled and cooed. What a love he was.

“Hurry, Grace,” she urged. “We’ve got to get on the road.”

Her brothers. What if they did come here? She wanted to avoid them almost as much as she’d wanted to avoid Dane, whom they hated with a passion. They might even kill him if they found him here. At the very least, they would harm him, and despite everything, she couldn’t stand the thought of it. Should she warn him somehow? Leave a note? Make a call?

Closing her eyes, she laughed softly. See how crazy she was getting? Even as she was running from the man, she was thinking of his welfare.

“Are you ready?” she called in to Grace.

“Just a moment more,” the girl called back. “I’ll be there.”

Alex sighed, rocking her baby in her arms. Soon they would be safe. Very soon.

The sun hadn’t made an appearance yet as Dane knocked, then waited patiently for the young man to come and open the outer door to the Lion’s Mane service entrance for him. The employee handed him a small ring of keys and he handed back a folded bill. Nodding, he took the back stairs and climbed quickly to the fifth floor, then used the keys to unlock the service door and let himself onto the floor.

He paused, listening at the double doors. She would have a full party of servants and escorts in her entourage, but they wouldn’t all be staying here on this floor with her. He figured two or three guards at the most. He was hoping to avoid them, but if the muffled sounds he heard were any indication, they were already up and probably getting ready to head out of town. Good thing he’d come early.

Another twist of a key and he was inside the suite of rooms being used by the Acredonna party, standing in the wide entryway that had three rooms leading from it. His heart was pounding but he wasn’t sure if that was because of the danger involved or the prospect of seeing her again. He chose one of the rooms on instinct, walking softly to the doorway. And there she was.

She didn’t see him at first. She was dressed in jeans and a bright, tucked-in shirt that was full in the sleeves. Her hair was loose in a glorious riot of red curls. She was bending over a pile of CDs, reading labels and pulling two out of the stack.

“It’s getting late,” she said without turning as she sensed the presence of another person in the room. “Did you bring the car around?”

“No,” he responded softly. “And I forgot to bring the brioche as well.”

Dropping the CDs, she whirled, hand to her mouth as though to stop a scream. “Oh!” she gasped, her eyes huge.

He smiled, soaking in the sight of her. “You’re even beautiful at four in the morning,” he noted. “But then, I knew that.”

The tension between them was electric.

“What are you doing here?”

He shrugged casually, but his eyes were alert, following every nuance of her reactions.

“Keeping track of you is like trying to catch a rainbow in your hand. I thought I’d better get here early.” His smile faded and he regarded her narrowly. “It looks like that was a wise decision on my part.”

She glanced back at the doorway nervously. “I have guards with me, you know.”

He looked at the doorway, too, sure that was where any attacker would be coming from and planning accordingly. It was automatic, second nature. The only thing that might get in the way of his natural protective radar was this woman who seemed to be able to cloud his senses as though she wore a magic perfume.

“Of course,” he said to her. “Are you going to order them to throw me out?”

She hesitated and he could see that she would love to do just that, if she thought she could get away with it.

“Not if you behave,” she said at last.

He made a short bow. “You have my word. I promise not to ravish you right here on the Persian carpet. Is that enough?”

“Be serious.” She took a deep breath, steadying herself. “I’m afraid we aren’t going to have time to have that talk,” she said, making an attempt to sound lighthearted and failing utterly. “We’ve decided we must leave right away. So…”

One quick step closed the gap between them. He moved before she had time to react and took her hand in his, looking down into her startled eyes.

“Alexandra, you’re not going anywhere until we have our talk. We’ve got things we need to clarify between us. You know that.”

She tried to pull her hand away but he wasn’t going to let it go.

“Don’t you have something you need to tell me?” he asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?” He stared into her eyes. “Where is the child?” he asked firmly.

Even though she’d known what he was here for all along, that sent a shock through her system.

“What child?” she said breathlessly, fighting for equilibrium.

He pulled her closer, staring intently into her eyes.

“The baby you had five months ago in Paris. Where are you keeping him?”

She lifted her chin defiantly.

“That’s just nonsense.” She felt stronger as she fought back. “Who told you I had a baby?”

He looked pained. “Alex, please. People tell me all kinds of things. I have to sift through a lot of lies to get to the few kernels of truth. I’ve had a lot of experience at this.”

“Then what makes you think you’ve got hold of some good information for a change?” she demanded, trying to buy time.

“More than one trusted source.” He shrugged. He’d only recently gathered enough evidence to know he was on firm ground. “I’ve seen proof. You had a baby just about five months ago at the Sisters of Mercy private clinic on Gereaux Street, the little building behind the art gallery. I’ve seen pictures.”

She closed her eyes, feeling faint. Her head was reeling. He had more than she’d thought. There wasn’t much she could do but bluster her way through this.

Opening her eyes again, she glared at him.

“Even if I did have a baby, what business is it of yours?”

His blue eyes were searching her face as though he would find answers in her gaze.

“Alex, we were together at exactly the right time to make it my business.”

She shook her head firmly. “You don’t know that. You can’t remember what happened to you during your recovery. You’ve said so again and again. It’s even been in the papers.”

He hesitated. “It’s true. I have very little memory of that period of my life. I was unconscious most of the time.”

“There, you see? Then what makes you think…?”

“Certain memories are coming back.” He touched her cheek with the palm of his hand, and his gaze softened as it traced her hairline. “Memories of skin like silk and hair like fire,” he murmured.

She stiffened, determined not to let him get to her. “Maybe you were dreaming.”

“No.” He shook his head. “No, Alex.” His fingers touched her small, shell-like ear, then curled softly around it. “I remember how you taste. I remember you slipping into my bed, soft and willing and…”

“No!” She tried to pull away, but his hand held hers like a vise.

“You tasted like fine wine.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. That’s crazy. Women all taste alike.”

His smile was slight but deadly. She shivered, wishing she had the strength to look away.

“No, they don’t,” he said. “No one else tastes like you do.”

Her heart was thudding in her throat, beating so hard she could hardly breathe. “How would you know that? It’s…it’s been years, and then you were wounded and…”

He captured her chin in his hand, tilting her face to receive him. “I’ll show you,” he said softly, then lowered his lips to hers.

She tried to gather the wherewithal to resist, but it was no use. His mouth felt so warm, so good, and she opened to his kiss as though she’d been starving for him.

But it only lasted for a moment. He drew back and looked at her, shaking his head. “Alex,” he began.

But she never heard what he was about to say. Her attention was caught by something behind him on the other side of the room. Henri was there, his long, thin body bent over, a tranquilizer gun raised and trained on his target. He was going to shoot a dart into Dane.

Of course. It was the only way they could possibly get out of here without Dane and his security people following them. Good for Henri. Quick thinking. It made sense. And yet the feelings that filled her were overwhelming. She couldn’t do this. She had so much hidden affection for this man, despite everything. She couldn’t let him be hurt in any way.

“No!” she cried out to Henri. “Wait!”

Dane looked at her, startled, and by the time he realized there was someone else in the room, it was too late. The dart had been shot from the tranquilizer gun. He looked at her in disbelief, reached back to try to pull out the dart, swore and crumpled to the floor.

“Did you hurt him?” she cried, though she knew the question was moot. Dropping to the floor, she swept his hair back off his forehead and searched his unconscious face for signs. “Didn’t you hear me say to wait?”

Henri shrugged. Leaning down, he pulled out the dart and noted it was empty. The fluid would do its work.

“I couldn’t risk it. He had to be rendered harmless.” He reached for her hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

“No.” She rose, looking down at the prince. Emotion choked her throat. “We can’t leave him like this.”

Henri looked at her, incredulous. “What are you talking about? We have to go. He might have others outside. And in any case, your brothers will be here soon. You don’t want to have to talk to them about this, do you?”

“No.” She put a hand to her head, trying to sort things out. “We must go. But…”

“Come along, then. Grace is already in the car with the baby. I’ll tell the manager to hold our bags and things in storage until we send for them.”

She nodded, still looking down at where Dane lay like a wounded stag.

“We have to take him with us,” she said softly, a feeling of wonderment growing inside her. How could she even think of such a thing? And yet, there wasn’t any choice.

“If we leave him here…” A few horrendous consequences flashed through her mind. She looked up at Henri. “Don’t you see?”

He looked pained, his thin face haggard. “Your brothers…”

“Yes.” She threw a hand out, half in a sense of command, half beseeching him to understand. “Who knows what they would do to him?”

“But, miss, we can’t,” he said, his usually stoic expression twisted into a special sort of agony. “What are we going to do with him? What will he do when he comes to? Don’t you see how dangerous that would be?”

She stared into his worried eyes. “But don’t you see how impossible it is to leave him?” she said simply.

He stared back and what he saw in her eyes seemed to explain it all to him. Slowly he nodded, and a look of resignation began to relax his face.

“All right, then,” he said, resolved and back to being the normal unflappable paragon of efficiency. “I’ll take care of it. You go.”

“No.” She shook her head, tears trembling in her eyes. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. It was just that she couldn’t bear to risk anything happening to Dane. She had to be involved. All the way.

“No, I’ll help carry him. I’d rather.”

He nodded curtly. “Let’s do it, then.”

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