Kidnapped For His Royal Heir / The Italian's Pregnant Cinderella

Her alluring eyes widened, right before she frowned. ‘We’re leaving? But we’ve only been here a week.’

Considering the words spilling from his lips were a surprise to him as well, he absorbed the astonishment well, he thought. Congratulated himself on the inspired thinking, even. ‘Do you think there’s something more you can learn by remaining here?’ he countered.

She bit her lip. ‘No, I’m sure I can put together an eco-lodge in my sleep now. But I thought we...that I was staying to see this project through.’

‘I’ve changed my mind. Why waste more time here when you can gain more experience on the next project?’

He could tell she was torn between the need to argue and the need to accept the carrot he was dangling. ‘Where are we going next?’

Zak shrugged. ‘I have to return to Montegova at the end of the month. Until then, my itinerary is fluid but it doesn’t lack requests for my presence at various projects. Who knows, perhaps I’ll let you pick the next destination.’

She turned away, casting a longing look over the site and the surrounding landscape. ‘This is a beautiful place. I was looking forward to my half-day off tomorrow to explore.’

Another spur-of-the-moment thought hit him. ‘You’ll have to make do with a visit to the phase two site, provided you can be ready to go immediately?’

She faced him again, surprise reflected in her eyes. ‘I... Of course.’ She looked down at her stained and work-worn clothes. ‘Give me a few minutes to change and clean up and I’ll join you.’

He shook his head, a stab of impatience driving him harder. ‘You’re not attending a red carpet event, Violet. You’re fine as you are. You can shower when we get back. Or, if you insist, there’s a lake you can use to wash up when we get to the site.’

Mutiny rose in her eyes and Zak’s muscles tightened, anticipation flowing through him at the thought of tussling further with her. But she tossed her head and with a shrug waved a hand at him. ‘Fine. Let’s go.’

She headed towards the area where the vehicles were parked. Zak let her go while he issued quick instructions to his bodyguard. The guard nodded and sprinted into action.

‘How long is the drive?’ she asked when he reached her.

‘Normally an hour, but we’re not driving. We’re taking the chopper. Come.’

The pregnant chef had been evacuated two days previously at the first signs of her labour, reducing the likelihood that the aircraft would be needed in the next few hours.

When they reached it, he held the door open for her, unable to resist glancing at her smooth bare legs as she slid into the seat. Her eyes widened when he took the pilot’s seat, leaving three of his bodyguards in the main cabin.

‘You’re flying this thing?’ she asked, tentatively taking the headset from him.

He didn’t miss her scepticism. ‘Courtesy of a full licence from the air force, I’m quite capable of it, Violet. No need to be afraid.’

He was gratified to see the scepticism melt from her eyes, although he wasn’t quite sure how long his groin would sustain the pressure at the sight of her breasts outlined by the dissection of the seat belt.

He was still debating the wisdom of this tour when he lifted off and headed east.

Through the mic attached to the headset, Zak heard her soft gasp as he set down ten minutes later on the flat landscape near the edge of Lake Lengai. Once again Tanzania was showing off its jaw-dropping beauty with another stunning sunset but this time against the backdrop of a cascading waterfall thundering into a shallow pool that fed into the lake below.

He’d chosen this spot for phase two primarily for the ready fresh-water source, but watching Violet dart from the chopper, unabashed joy on her face as she raced towards the waterfall, Zak took a reluctant beat to see the land through her eyes, to appreciate the beauty of his surroundings.

When he joined her, she was straightening from leaning down to run her fingers through the clear water. ‘It’s...beyond spectacular,’ she said a touch reverently, a lot mournfully.

‘Your tone suggests differently.’

‘Because the pool is shallow and wildlife-free. I would’ve brought a swimsuit with me if I’d known.’

Immediately, his brain supplied him with a vivid picture of her clad in a bikini. He shifted, almost growling at his body’s eager response.

His shrug was a masterclass in fabricated calm. ‘We’re both adults, Violet. Unless you’re once again naked beneath those shorts and T-shirt, you can improvise.’

In the fading light, colour washed her cheeks, strumming an elusive thought that faded before he could grasp it. ‘That’s none of your business. Shall we get on with the tour?’

The tour took fifteen minutes, and again she asked pertinent questions, her thoughtful observations backing her conduct on the project so far.

It didn’t prove anything, he told himself.

Her mother was equally as passionate about landing a fat cat for her daughter, preferably one with a title and bottomless wallet. All this...passion could be a carefully orchestrated plan.

Just like the general’s nearly successful strategy in those crucial and terrifying days after his father’s death. Just like the restless factions whose motives and whereabouts were still proving elusive to pinpoint in his homeland.

The reminder restored a little more calm, reasserting his sense and control. Enabled him to summon up appropriate dispassion when they returned to the edge of the lake, where his bodyguards, following his instructions, had set up their evening meal.

He walked past a frozen Violet to their picnic blanket. ‘Are you going to just stand there all night or join me?’

Suspicion filled her eyes as she ventured closer. ‘I... You set this up?’

‘I thought we could kill two birds with one stone. The likelihood that there’ll be anything left to eat when we return is slim. Sit down, Violet.’

Four solar lamps were positioned on each corner of the picnic blanket, providing ambient light as darkness fell.

He watched her sink down, fold her long, shapely legs beneath her before plucking a grape from a bowl. ‘You’re a prince. Isn’t it the done thing to summon a chef to prepare a meal from scratch if the fancy takes you?’

‘Of course, just as it’s this easy to arrange a picnic by a lake because I wish it.’

She’d fully expected him to deny her veiled insult, and he watched, amused, as she blushed again. He reached for the champagne bottle set in the ice bucket and worked the cork free, aware her gaze lingered on him.

‘Something on your mind, Violet?’

‘You mentioned your pilot’s licence from the air force. Why did you leave the service?’

Because the man he’d been dying to impress, the man he’d looked up to and called Father, had died unexpectedly, shattering a secret dream and leaving a nightmare in his wake. Not only had his father not been the man he’d thought him to be, his weaknesses had left the kingdom he should’ve been safeguarding in jeopardy. Only by strengthening their foundations in the eyes of the world had they kept from toppling over into the abyss the King had left by his death.

Not a subject he was in the mood to revisit right now. ‘I served my time until I realised I could better serve my kingdom in another role.’

‘But, from that meeting with the minister, it looks like you’re still in charge?’

‘Some matters of national security will always fall within my remit, yes,’ he said, aware his voice was clipped. He ended her questioning by popping the cork. She flinched but accepted the glass he passed her.

‘You were in a celebratory mood earlier. No reason why you can’t raise a toast to your achievements this week.’

‘You say that with a straight face, yet your dry tone mocks the very thing I’m supposed to be celebrating.’

‘Let’s leave the analysis for now, Violet.’

‘Because you don’t like hearing the truth?’

‘Because I’m famished and don’t wish to invite indigestion.’

For the rest of the meal they ate in silence that drew far too much of his attention to her face, her body, the movement of her throat when she swallowed.

The moment they were done, she rose.

‘Where are you going?’

She threw him another defiant glare as she walked away. ‘To take a better look at the lake, after all. At the moment it’s a little more appealing than the company.’

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