‘I’m expected back in Somalia.’
‘That’s nonsense,’ she told him bluntly. ‘I know enough about organisations such as Medecins Sans Frontieres to know they’d say your first responsibility is to the people of your country.’
‘This is not my country.’
‘Oh, yes, it is,’ she told him. ‘You were born here. Your father was ruler. You’re rich-’
‘How do you know I’m rich?’
‘I’m guessing that not even a creepy crown prince would keep his kids starving. I’m right, aren’t I? You’re rich.’
‘Yes, but-’
‘Look, stop running from it, Raoul. You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, so you might as well wriggle down and make yourself comfortable.’
‘By marrying you.’
‘It’s a perfectly good offer.’
‘So what would you get out of it?’ he asked, and then watched as her face stilled and a wave of anger followed.
‘I’d get a fairy-tale wedding, a prince, a tiara and I’d get to eat caviare and cream cakes for the rest of my life. Every girl’s fantasy. What do you think?’
‘I didn’t mean-’
‘Well, don’t say it if you don’t mean it,’ she told him. ‘You needn’t worry. I don’t want a thing except the reassurance that Edouard will be safe.’
‘So why do you care?’
‘For no reason,’ she snapped, still angry. ‘Except that no one else seems to have cared. Sure, you were doing your best in offering to marry Sarah, but if Edouard had been my nephew and he looked at me like he did tonight, I would have stuck my notice on the palace gate, married the first woman who offered and worried about the consequences later. I wouldn’t have left him in the ghastly Cosette’s care for one minute longer. If you knew how important a little boy’s life is-’
‘I do know.’
‘Then do something,’ she snapped. ‘Marry me and take over your rightful role. You needn’t worry that I’ll take liberties. I’ll do whatever you need to make Edouard safe and then you won’t see me again. It’s a very good offer, Raoul. Take it or leave it. But take it or leave it now.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Because, to be honest, I can’t believe I’m doing this. I can’t believe I’m saying it. But I am. Marry me, Raoul. Yes or no.’
He gazed into her face and she gazed back, her expression calm and determined. She was totally serious, he thought, and the realisation was astounding. She’d do this thing.
And in return… He’d have to stay here.
He could marry her and then leave after she’d gone back to Australia.
No. What was being offered was a gift, and the gift wasn’t personal. It was a gift to Edouard and it was a gift to the people of Alp’Azuri. If he betrayed her trust, if he betrayed her promise…
He couldn’t and she could tell that he couldn’t. She was watching him, waiting for him to make a decision and there wasn’t the least suspicion of mistrust on her face. She’d take his promise and she’d ask no questions.
He’d still be on his own-which was the way he’d planned his life. He simply needed to reorient his career. Incorporating Edouard.
Incorporating his country.
But not Jess. Jess only in name.
She was waiting on his decision and that decision had to be made now. He glanced through to the bedroom- and there was Edouard.
Edouard.
He’d been prepared to marry Sarah because of Edouard.
There was only one answer to be given.
‘Thank you, Jess,’ he told her. ‘I would very much like to marry you.’
Raoul left soon after, walking away as a man stunned.
He might well be stunned, Jess thought as she prepared for bed. This marriage would affect her not at all. For Raoul, however, it would be life-changing. She’d thrown him a challenge he hadn’t been able to refuse but she knew very well what it meant to him.
He’d decided to marry his cousin, Sarah, and then do what she intended-leave and return to his old life. But the marriage she offered came with strings-taking up his responsibilities-and she knew that he’d be feeling as if the floor had been swept from under him.
So she made no demur as he bade her a stunned goodnight and left her.
With Edouard.
Which had its own problems. She approached the bed and stared down at the child curled up in sleep. And her gut clenched in pain. To sleep with him…to feel the warmth of his little body…
No.
She’d sleep on the settee in the sitting room, she decided.
But when she was ready for bed she checked on Edouard again and found he was awake. His eyes were wide and scared, as if he’d woken mid-nightmare. ‘Cosette,’ he whispered, but it was a hopeless little whisper, as if he didn’t really want Cosette, but she was all he knew-and who was this?-and no one would comfort him anyway.
Jess couldn’t bear it. What was she about, thinking of her own pain when this little one was so needful? She sat down on the bed beside him and she took his hand.
‘No, Edouard,’ she said softly. ‘Cosette’s left me with you for a bit. You remember me. I’m Jessie. I’m the lady who gave you Sebastian.’
The terror receded from his eyes. Just a little. He’d remembered a small comfort. ‘Sebastian,’ he said and his spare hand searched the bedclothes and found the bear in question. But his fingers still clutched hers. ‘Jessie,’ he whispered and his eyes closed again.
She was held.
She should pull away.
But she didn’t. She sat looking down at him. She moved slightly and his hand clutched her tighter. Finally she conceded defeat.
She was ready for bed. She didn’t need to leave.
She slid under the sheets.
One warm little body sidled closer. Snuggled.
Oh, God.
What had she done? She lay and stared into the night, her emotions a kaleidoscope.
She’d agreed to marry Raoul.
More. She’d fallen for one little boy. She didn’t want to do it-more than anything she was trying to hold herself rigid in the night-but he was so needful. It would have taken a superhuman effort not to put her arms around him and hold him close and let herself smell the clean-soap smell of a tiny child.
Dom…
She was going to choke. The emotions…
There was a faint knock on the door. She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She was going to cry.
‘Jess?’
It was Raoul. The door opened slowly and she could see his outline in the doorway. He was wearing a big, loose sweater instead of his dinner jacket. His body filled the doorway.
His presence filled the room.
‘Are you OK?’
She couldn’t answer. She was so close to tears. He approached the bed, and she looked up at him in much the same way Edouard had looked at her. Fearful. Not knowing what to say.
She saw his face twist and she knew that he realised what was happening.
‘I wanted to walk,’ he whispered, sitting down on the bed and laying his hand on her hair. It was a gesture she might have made to reassure Edouard. Like Edouard, she needed reassurance. She needed…Raoul?
