Modern Romance April 2020 Books 5-8

His nostrils flared briefly. ‘Then I have my answer.’

‘For someone so hell-bent on safeguarding your family’s reputation, don’t you think this is merely compounding it? What’s to stop me from going straight to the tabloids and reporting you to the authorities once you set me free? Or do you intend to keep me here for ever?’

‘Now, there’s a thought,’ he drawled.

The notion that he would even consider such a thing had her stalking over to where he lounged in the chair, master and commander of all he surveyed. ‘This isn’t funny, Zak.’

‘I’m most definitely not laughing. Sit down, Violet,’ he invited silkily, but with an edge to his voice that sent a shiver over her skin.

Because close proximity to Zak was a bad idea, and because she needed to gain some much-needed solid ground, she retreated to the farthest seat from him and sat down just as the butler entered, bearing a tray of drinks.

She accepted a glass of fruit punch, only realising how thirsty she was after the first sip. She set the glass down with a resolute click. ‘How long do you intend to keep me here?’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘On how agreeable you are to my terms.’

‘What terms?’

Dark grey eyes locked on hers.

‘No child, besides Jules, has been born out of wedlock in Montegovan royal history. And I’m sure you know the circumstances surrounding how my half-brother arrived in my family.’

‘I only know what I read in the tabloids. So unless you’re claiming those allegations weren’t true?’

‘For the most part, si, they were true,’ he stated tightly, his voice discouraging further interest.

It was clear this was a subject Zak didn’t like discussing. ‘Okay, but what does that have to do with the child I’m carrying?’

He regarded her with unwavering intent. ‘What do you think, Violet?’

Suspecting what was coming, she reeled in disbelief and shock. ‘Whatever it is, the answer is no.’

One eyebrow lifted. ‘I haven’t even asked you yet.’

‘No,’ she repeated.

‘Yes, Violet. I bear responsibility for the lack of protection when we had sex, but you also assured me that there was no risk of pregnancy. But what’s done is done. While I’m curious to know why your contraception failed, it’s immaterial at this point. You’re carrying my child and I intend to claim it.’

A handful of words with consequences that stretched far into her future. She folded her hands tightly in her lap to disguise their trembling. ‘What exactly does that mean?’

‘It means my child will bear my name, be brought up in Montegova under my care, take pride in his or her heritage, be afforded every privilege and welcome the responsibilities every royal Montegovan is due. And all of that will come about if his birth comes with the benefit of true legitimacy. Which is why the only sensible recourse is for you to marry me.’

Contrary to the near hysteria that had threatened to overwhelm her mere moments ago, an eerie sense of calm settled over Violet once he’d said the actual words.

‘No,’ she stated once again, thrilled when her voice emerged firm and solid.

Shock flashed crossed his face. Then his eyes narrowed. ‘No? That’s all you have to say? No?’

‘Pardon me, where are my manners? No, thank you,’ she amended, secretly thrilled when he immediately looked…perturbed again.

‘Perhaps you didn’t hear me properly. I want you to marry me, Violet. You will have the title of Princess, wealth beyond your wildest imagination, and, if you wish it a place in my trust to continue your career.’

Marry me.

Her heart lurched as those two words, contrary to everything she’d believed of herself and her future path, making her waver for a moment as she was inundated with might-have-beens. Her fingers bunched tighter. ‘I heard you, loud and clear. And you heard my answer.’

For a full minute Zak stared at her, his gaze unashamedly probing, seeming to delve beneath her skin. Then he eased back in his seat, his face turning alarmingly neutral.

She wasn’t fooled for a second by the arm he raised to rest on the back of his sofa, or the legs he casually crossed.

‘It’s been an…unsettling twenty-four hours. Perhaps you would like some time to consider all this?’ he suggested.

She summoned a small, hopefully dismissive smile. ‘What, the fragile little lady needs some time to wrap her head around everything that’s happening to her? Isn’t that just typical of your sort?’

One eyebrow elevated. And was that a tic going in his jaw? ‘My sort?’

‘Half-decent-looking men of means who believe all they need to do is crook their finger at a woman to have her swooning at their feet.’

‘Since I have first-hand evidence that you’ve never been intimately acquainted with any other man, even my sort, I’ll assume this is a sweeping generalisation?’

Her pretended calm threatened to evaporate as a warm flush consumed her face. Still, she managed a shrug. ‘Are you sure you can trust this evidence? For all you know, I could’ve been living it up in New York while you were…wherever you decided to swan off to.’

The tic intensified and the look he sent her was anything but neutral. It thrummed with volcanic fury. ‘I was in Australia. And for your sake, I hope you’re merely attempting to get a rise out of me.’

‘What if I am? Will that earn me a quick exit off this island?’ she countered.

His face tightened and she could’ve sworn his stomach muscles clenched hard. ‘It won’t, but confirmation of a dalliance with another man while you carry my child will definitely not sit well. Did you?’ he enquired with smooth, silky lethality.

Violet held his gaze in bold silence for a handful of seconds before the denial erupted from her throat. ‘No, I didn’t. But I assure you, I won’t be a well-behaved little prisoner if you insist on keeping me here. In fact, I’m certain you will regret it if you don’t put me back on that plane immediately.’

A layer of that ferocious tension eased from his frame as he took a slow, controlled breath, that regal head cocked mockingly. ‘We have time. Please, enlighten me as to how you plan to make my life difficult.’

And allow him to use that shrewd steel trap of a mind to counter her strategy? Not likely. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough if you insist on pursuing this absurd caper. And it’s not just me you’ll have to contend with, you know. Did you stop to think about how my mother would take my disappearance at all? Do you think she’s going to just sit by and allow you to kidnap her daughter?’

Without the slightest hint of unease, he shrugged. ‘I’m confident I can handle your mother. Next.’

Unfortunately, Violet believed him. She suspected he could have her mother eating out of his hand with minimum effort.

Her heart clenched with that shame she’d never managed to shrug off when it came to her mother’s blatantly grasping antics. Heck, she was fairly certain Zak would receive a resounding endorsement of this kidnapping from her mother if it meant she could brag about it ad nauseam at future dinner parties.

As for the discovery that Violet was pregnant, it was why she’d guarded her new state with feverish zeal. Why she intended to keep it under wraps for as long as possible. Her mother’s discovery that she carried the next Montegovan royal would see her thrust into the sort of limelight her mother adored but Violet desperately abhorred.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t keep this a secret for ever. Neither could she avoid her mother for ever.

And it certainly didn’t mean she wanted to be kept here against her will, regardless of how stunning this prison was. She pursed her lips. ‘How about your staff? You employ the type of people who condone kidnapping, do you?’ she taunted.

‘Their loyalty is absolute and faultless or they wouldn’t be here,’ he stated, his voice deep, firm and completely unfazed by her cold accusations.

About to challenge him some more, she froze for a moment, unsure why until the distant rumble of aircraft engines had her surging to her feet. She rushed to the French doors in time to see the jet rising gracefully into the sky, its wings glinting in the dappling sunlight.

‘No!’ She whirled towards him, fury and an emotion she refused to name flaming through her veins at the realisation that she was alone, secluded and stranded, on an island with Zak Montegova.

‘Yes,’ he countered smoothly. ‘Calm down, Violet.’

‘No, I won’t calm down. You want another reason? How about the simple fact that I don’t want this? That what you’re doing is plain wrong?’

He simply shrugged, unfazed by her outburst. ‘As you can see, it’s going to take more than the seductive promise of a temper tantrum to change my mind about this.’ His voice was low, deep, sexy in an authoritative way that highlighted his innate masculinity.

A shiver danced through her.

Seductive? Did Zak actually want her to throw a tantrum? Recalling that their last two arguments had ended up with varying degrees of intimacy, the second achieving the ultimate, she fought a blush and decided then and there to do the exact opposite.

She was paying the ultimate price for her folly in Tanzania. There was no need to throw more fuel on a fire that had almost consumed her once already.

And how could she have forgotten that mere hours after the fact he’d done a disappearing act on her? That he wouldn’t be taking this course of action if he didn’t have a selfish reason in mind.

By flailing and protesting at every turn, was she playing right into his hands? Several scenarios tumbled through her mind, each one as disturbing as the last. She slowly sucked in a calm breath, ignoring her thundering heart.

After one last longing look at the aircraft, which was now a tiny speck in the sky, she turned back to him. ‘Very well. You want to play this game? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

The raw glint that lit his eyes for a few stomach-hollowing seconds sent a wave of panic through her. It reeked of relished anticipation. Of the kind of marauding conquests his ancestors were renowned for and Montegovans were intensely proud of. He didn’t exactly say the words, bring it on, but they flamed in his eyes for those seconds before Zak rose, all litheness, power and blood-quickening animalistic grace, to stride assuredly to where she stood. And up close, she saw something else.

Sexual attraction.

He may have avoided her for weeks after Tanzania, may have pretended she didn’t exist at his brother’s wedding. But Zak still desired her.

And, damn her, her body’s wild and fierce surging to life announced that the feeling was intensely mutual. But feeling was one thing. Acting on those feelings quite another. She intended to deny every ounce of this fevered attraction if it was the last thing she did. She’d already spent far too many nights dwelling on why she couldn’t get this man out of her damned head.

‘Now that we’ve established you’re staying for the foreseeable future, would you like to familiarise yourself with the property?’ he asked, all arrogant charm and effortless masculinity.

About to snap that she wasn’t in the mood to tour her prison, she swallowed the heated words.

Self-containment.

Aloofness.

Grace.

She would epitomise the very word if it killed her. ‘Maybe later. I’m rather tired. Just point me in the direction of where I’m to sleep and I’ll get out of your hair.’

Wary suspicion narrowed his eyes. She would’ve laughed if she wasn’t terrified he would see through her intentions, somehow find a way to dismantle them. Hadn’t he done that very thing by that waterfall in Tanzania?

After an interminable minute, he gave a curt nod. He curled his fingers around her wrist and Violet fought a wild, frenzied battle not to pull away. That would be admitting his touch seared her deep, awakening sensations she was absolutely loath to admit she’d missed—even craved—in the weeks of his absence.

Nevertheless, she didn’t intend to allow him such careless courtesies. So, under the pretext of returning to her seat to retrieve her clutch, she smoothly eased her hand from his.

The merest flaring of his nostrils was the only indication that he’d noticed. Making sure to keep a few necessary feet between them, she walked with him to the door.

Together they climbed a wide, sweeping staircase, at the top of which were hallways that branched out in two directions. Zak took the east hallway, leading her to the farthest set of doors.

He threw them open and Violet barely suppressed a gasp. The suite was tasteful magnificence personified. A different level of luxury from the rooms at the Montegovan palace but jaw-dropping nonetheless. Eggshell-blue walls and white muslin curtains gave the room a light and airy feel. Cleverly accented with pale gold fixtures and furnishings, she felt as if she was floating in the sunlit sky.

The grounding force in the form of the solid, powerful man who was watching her with a steady gaze brought her back down to earth.

‘A tray of refreshments will be brought up to you. We will have dinner at seven. If you need me before then, the staff will tell you where to find me.’

‘Why on earth would I need you?’

A mocking smile twitched the corner of his sensual lips. ‘To give me your answer, of course.’

In all the furore surrounding her kidnap, she’d momentarily forgotten that he’d asked her, no, decreed that she marry him.

A pulse of shock ricocheted through her. She curbed a hysterical snort. If anyone had told her just yesterday that Zak would demand that she wed him, and that she would actually forget that demand, she’d have crowed with laughter.

She raised a hand to her head as it threatened to spin. Instantly, he was before her, cupping her shoulders in a firm hold and frowning down at her. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked tersely.

‘I’m just…a little dizzy.’ And the warm, seductive fire of his touch wasn’t helping.

His lips flattened. ‘You’ve worn yourself out.’

‘No, you’ve worn me out. Leave, please. I really want to be alone.’

He didn’t release her. As he’d done when they’d left the plane, he swung her up into his arms, strode a few steps to where the huge, queen-size bed, festooned with pillows, waited. With a gentleness belying the bristling purpose stamped on his face, he set her down in the middle of it, slid the cover from beneath her and, with one sizzling scrutiny from head to toe, settled it back over her.

‘I’d offer to help remove that dress, but I’m guessing you’re going to oppose me on principle,’ he drawled.

‘Give the Prince a prize,’ she responded drily.

For a moment he froze, his eyes narrowing ominously. She held her breath, a curiously hot and heavy anticipation oozing through her belly.

Then, instead of the sharp retort she’d expected, he extended his hand, trailed his forefinger down one cheek in a silent, electrifying caress.

Violet was glad the covers hid her body’s reaction. And while she was battling the pearling of her nipples and the damp neediness between her thighs, he stepped back.

‘Rest now. We will pick this up again later.’

She chose silence. Because all of a sudden she wasn’t sure she wanted him to leave. Actually felt curiously bereft in the pit of her stomach as his broad-shouldered frame headed for the door.

And when she winced at the gentle but definitive snick of the door shutting, she feared how deflated she felt, as if he’d taken her very vitality with him. As if he’d dimmed the sun with his absence.

More than anything that’d happened since she’d stepped onto the plane what felt like a lifetime ago, it was what terrified her the most.

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