Her Best Kept Royal Secret by Lynne Graham

CHAPTER SIX

‘THISISTHELIFE!’ Liz declared with a wicked grin as she nestled back in an opulent leather seat on the Diamandis private jet and saluted her sister, Laurie, and Gaby with a cocktail glass in her hand. ‘I give you a toast—to the woman that broke the mould and exceeded all possible expectations, who is about to become a royal princess!’

‘Pretty sure you just set feminism back by a century or two!’ Laurie groaned for her twin. ‘No, but I will toast Gaby for her power in getting a commitment-phobic prince to the altar! I think that’s the real achievement here.’

‘Alexios...’ Gaby reminded her friend gently.

‘Your prince isn’t so slow that he couldn’t have wriggled out of marriage if he had wanted to,’ Liz opined. ‘You set far too low a value on your own worth.’

‘Gaby, nobody was immune to Angel’s attraction at university and loads of women chased him. You’re the only one he had to chase that I know of and the only one who ditched him!’ Laurie told her with unhidden pride.

Gaby smiled with as much affectionate amusement as she could muster, full of regret that she could no longer be as frank as she had once been with her friends. She bent down to secure Alexios into his seat because the jet was about to land on Themos. It was not that she didn’t trust her friends not to betray her, more that she felt that her son’s privacy had to be protected and family secrets fell under that same label. The true background to the royal wedding due to take place in forty-eight hours would go to the grave with her, she decided morbidly. She hoped she would never be bitter enough to expose Alexios to the reality of his father’s ruthlessness. When it had come down to marriage or running the risk that she might, at the very least, lose full-time custody of her son, Gaby had crumbled, and the matrimonial option had won. Angel had subjected her to his version of a shotgun marriage...

Unfortunately, exposure to Angel generally made her feel that she was weaker than she should be. He was blackmailing her, but she was still fiercely attracted to him and fascinated by him. She suspected that she would always want more than Angel would give her: feelings as opposed to orgasms. Although the latter were wonderful, she craved a stronger connection with him.

Only three weeks had flown by since that final epic meeting with him in Scotland. Everything that had happened during those weeks had exceeded Gaby’s wildest expectations. Angel had phoned her every day, but generally only to ask random questions about Alexios or advance information she needed to know about the wedding arrangements.

A lawyer had arrived with a pre-nuptial contract for her to peruse and had advised her to obtain her own independent advice. Gaby had instead read it cover to cover. Aside from Angel’s conviction that he should keep her in the lap of luxury for the rest of her days regardless of how she behaved, and his desire for Alexios and therefore Gaby, as his mother, to remain on Themos, even in the wake of divorce, she had found nothing untoward in the conditions. It had proved to be a practical, businesslike document and she had signed without further ado.

A woman from a famous fashion studio had flown from Paris to Clara’s house to measure Gaby up for a wedding gown and to give her a preview of exclusive models and accessories. As her matrons of honour, Laurie and Liz had also been included in that procedure at their own homes. The extravagance of such an approach to staging a wedding within so short a time space had stunned all of them.

Clara had received an invitation but had opted not to attend, insisting that she would enjoy her goddaughters’ photos and descriptions of the event more. With her husband currently working abroad, Laurie would be replacing Gaby and helping Clara move into her new home. Gaby’s fiercely ambitious aunt, Janine, who was working towards a partnership in her legal firm, had decided that she couldn’t afford to take time off to see her niece married, and Gaby had not been surprised by that unsentimental decision. Janine’s driving force had always been her career.

‘Oh, my word, look at those beaches!’ Laurie proclaimed and Gaby peered out of the nearest window to see a disorientating blur of tree-lined coves with shimmering golden sands meeting a turquoise sea before the jet swung over land again and she glimpsed buildings and trees. Anticipation blossomed inside her.

The unbelievable opulence of Angel’s private jet, where the three women had been waited on hand and foot from the instant they boarded, had startled Gaby, who wasn’t accustomed to frills or even treats. She had gone from being a teenager always short of cash, and trying to conceal the fact, to an adult who saved constantly for a rainy day...and her rainy day had been pregnancy and motherhood, which had emptied her savings account.

The jet landed at Leveus, the capital city of Themos. An official came on board to check their documentation and then ushered them out into a limousine waiting right beside the jet to pick them up. The hot sun enveloped her, golden and warm on her skin, and Gaby soaked it up.

‘Yes, definitely the dream life,’ Liz proclaimed with a grin. ‘Glorious sunshine. No queues, no baggage worries, no waiting for transport. All the hassle has been smoothed away for your benefit.’

‘And there’s no chance of paparazzi stealing a first view of the bride-to-be and the heir,’ Laurie completed with satisfaction.

‘The paps aren’t allowed to operate on Themos,’ Gaby explained, turning pink when her companions looked at her in surprise that she should know such a fact. ‘They’ve been banned on the island because there are so many famous residents here, keen to protect their privacy.’

‘Someone’s been doing their homework,’ Laurie teased.

‘Of course I have,’ Gaby confirmed as the limo filtered into a traffic stream that featured the very expensive cars utilised by an overwhelmingly rich populace. The crowded streets were lined with elegant exclusive stores. Even at first glance the Mediterranean city seemed glossier and brighter than others because there was no litter and the buildings all appeared to be in excellent repair.

‘Oh, there’s the cathedral where we’ll be enjoying your big day!’ Liz commented excitedly as the limo passed through a large, charming square dominated by the tall trees that framed the weathered cathedral, which was centuries old.

Gaby had indeed done her homework on the history of Themos and the ruling family, her retentive brain having absorbed every fact she’d dug up on the Internet. She had also studied numerous photos of Angel’s parents. She had been startled by how much Alexios and Angel both resembled Angel’s mother. Alexios had her distinctive black curls and green eyes while Angel had inherited her movie-star perfect features.

Angel came from an exotic background of almost unimaginable wealth, privilege and antiquity. Over the centuries, many larger than life personalities had graced the Diamandis family tree. Womanisers, warriors and adventurers featured heavily in Angel’s ancestry. For goodness’ sake, she thought ruefully, his mother had been an Arabian princess, a woman so flawlessly beautiful that Gaby had found herself studying her photos in fascination. The story recounted on the official royal website had gently hinted that family opposition had forced the Princess and Angel’s father to run away together, and it had all sounded terribly romantic, which did nothing whatsoever to explain Angel’s deep cynicism about women and life in general. When Angel had pressed her to marry him, he had, possibly without meaning to, revealed that his own childhood might have been less than perfect, and Gaby was very curious to know that story.

The Aikaterina palace was on the coast outside Leveus. It sat at the centre of a fabulous country estate comprising hundreds of acres of historic gardens and woods that were open to the public on certain days of the year. The woods ran all the way down to a private beach. Gaby had studied pictures online, reading about the original medieval fortress at the core of the building, the Renaissance wings and the Versailles-influenced extension that housed public rooms with a spectacular décor. Money, it seemed, had never been in short supply in the royal family.

‘My word...’ Liz sighed in wonder as the car swept between giant gilded gates and proceeded at a stately pace along a gravelled driveway lined with graceful cypress trees. Swathes of lush green grass rejoiced in the sun-dappled shade. ‘This is some place.’

‘It’s really beautiful... I’m seeing my dream woodland garden,’ Gaby remarked shakily, her nervous tension beginning to climb.

‘Dream house, dream life, dream—’

‘Angel may be rich as Midas and look like a dream, but he’s a darned sight more complicated than that!’ Liz reminded her twin wryly.

Very sexually driven though, Gaby was thinking helplessly, recalling that heart-stopping clinch against the wall, her body involuntarily tightening deep down inside. She was remembering Angel’s assurance that they would have a normal marriage and she marvelled at the concept, convinced as she was that Angel had never enjoyed a normal relationship with a woman in his entire adult life. Women were merely the entertainment in Angel’s high-powered unscrupulous world, not equals, never partners. How would he adapt to living with a normal woman with ideas and opinions of her own? Particularly a woman whom he had ruthlessly blackmailed and intimidated into marrying him and who was still as angry as hell over the fact? Well, he would just have to learn, she reasoned with a spirited toss of her bright head as she climbed out of the limo inside the imposing porticoed shelter of the palace entrance and turned back to detach her son from his car seat.

No sooner had she released Alexios’s belt than a hand touched her shoulder and she turned round to find Angel impossibly close. ‘Let me...’ he urged.

Colliding with hawklike dark golden eyes sent the butterflies tumbling through her and an intoxicating wave of awareness claimed her simultaneously, muscles tightening, heart accelerating, nerve endings awakening. On weak legs she stepped back and watched as Angel scooped Alexios out. Her son recognised him and laughed, delighted to see his father again because Angel, who had played with him, signified fun.

‘Welcome to your new home,’ Angel husked, radiating satisfaction and triumph in one fierce charismatic smile as she accompanied him into a vast marble and gilded entrance hall where several small groups of people awaited them. ‘Allow me to introduce you to everyone...’

The first candidate was Marina, a smiling older woman introduced as ‘Head of the Nursery’.

Taken aback and not in a good way, Gaby turned to Angel. ‘I don’t think—’

‘Naturally you will be our son’s primary carer but there will be occasions, such as the wedding and various events, when we will not be available, and we need a good support system. The nursery staff under Marina’s steady hand will step in to fill the gaps.’

Gaby swallowed hard at that blunt appraisal of the near future. She also felt horribly like kicking Angel as though she were a cross and frustrated child. Why did he never discuss things in advance with her? Why did he never warn her? She was not unreasonable. He thought of everything but neglected to share his thoughts with her. That was unnerving. She smiled and shook hands with the older woman.

‘You needn’t worry about the quality of our son’s care. Marina was a nursery maid when I was boy. She’s kind and affectionate,’ Angel murmured in her ear as he led her forward to meet the older man, Dmitri, who ran the household. He brought forward various advisors and administrative staff and, in the midst of those introductions, Gaby was unpleasantly surprised to spot Cassia Romano standing to one side chatting to Liz and Laurie. The slender blonde beauty, who rarely revealed any sort of emotion, wore a surprisingly bright smile. Gaby could see that her friends were disconcerted by that transformation because at university Cassia had not deigned to acknowledge either twin, even though both women had shared classes with her.

‘Cassia has volunteered to show you the ropes around here,’ Angel informed her calmly. ‘She knows how everything works and I believe she has entertainment organised for you and your friends this evening.’

‘Does she work for you?’ Gaby enquired stiffly.

‘Yes. Her father is a senior courtier and I’ve known her since we were children. It’s not easy to define her position because she falls somewhere between an employee and a friend,’ Angel advanced. ‘And she may not have been very approachable when you first met her, but that will have changed because you are now the future consort.’

‘I see.’ Gaby did see and she didn’t like the news that Cassia still held the status of a trusted friend.

Her reading of Cassia in the past had been that, in spite of constantly playing the ‘good friend’ card, Cassia would do and say anything to frighten off other women and catch Angel for herself. Even so, Gaby had never seen the smallest sign of intimacy on his part with the beautiful blonde and back then Angel had been very much prone to treating Cassia like the wallpaper, pleasant to have in the room but worthy of no particular notice. And nobody knew better than Gaby that when Angel wanted a woman, he smouldered and burned like the heart of a fire around her, she acknowledged as she encountered a scorching glance from his stunning dark golden eyes and her entire skin surface prickled.

Cassia moved forward. ‘I hope your flight wasn’t too tiring, Miss Knox,’ she murmured with a pleasant smile.

‘Gabriella, please. How are you, Cassia?’ Gaby asked politely.

‘I can’t address you by your first name. It would break protocol,’ Cassia informed her with deadly seriousness, as if the bending of one little rule would invoke a lightning strike. ‘Let me show you to your suite.’

‘Thank you, Cassia. I’ll take care of that,’ Angel interposed, still hugging Alexios to his broad chest like a solid little comforter. Her son was resting his head down sleepily on his father’s shoulder, eyelashes drooping.

Angel showed her into a lift tucked in below the sweeping staircase. ‘The nursery is on the top floor. I think we’ll go there first.’

‘Yes, Alexios is tired. He gets all excited about new places and new people and he hasn’t slept today.’

Her breath locked in her throat as she looked at him, ensnared by black-lashed tawny eyes that she could not withstand, and it was like standing too close to a fire, getting burned but still craving the pain.

‘Theos mou...’Angel growled in a roughened undertone. ‘I want you.’

Every nerve ending in Gaby’s body melted into liquidity and overheated her. She was frozen there, her brain momentarily in stasis from the sheer rush of excitement. Angel closed the distance between them, pressing her back against the wall of the lift while his mouth hungrily crashed down on hers. His tongue delved between her parted lips and she was electrified, desire like a roaring wave engulfing her trembling body. Her hand flew up, fingers splaying to spear into his hair and hold him to her. He ravished her mouth with feverish urgency, his passion unleashed, and she was utterly lost in the sensation and excitement of the moment when a little squeak of protest alerted her to the reality that Alexios was being squashed between their bodies.

She jerked sideways and back from Angel as though she had been burned by a live wire and, in a way, she felt as though she had been.

Angel stared down at her in consternation. He had not intended to touch her, but no woman made him feel what Gabriella made him feel: that agonising, clawing need to physically connect. He didn’t want that kind of incendiary bond with any woman, he never had because he knew the pitfalls all too well. Hadn’t he watched his father sink into the gutter in his attempt to hold his own with the woman he had married, the woman he’d loved beyond reason?

‘I don’t think that was a very good idea,’ Gaby quipped, controlling her anger at both him and herself with difficulty as she lifted her complaining son out of his arms.

‘It was exactly what I wanted. Celibacy doesn’t agree with me,’ Angel imparted as they stepped out of the lift. ‘I’ll be in your room when you return from your evening out.’

Gaby flushed to the roots of her hair, thinking guiltily that he could hardly be blamed for the assumption that he would be welcome in her bed, and she squashed the instant leap of excitement at that idea. She was annoyed that she had not pushed him away. Why did she always let herself down around Angel? Why could she never deny the irresistible pull he exerted over her? Just for once, couldn’t she have stepped back and told him tartly to keep his distance?

‘No, please don’t bother,’ she warned him. ‘I think you’re forgetting how low you had to sink to get me to agree to this marriage.’

‘No, that wasn’t me sinking low. I believe that I was aiming high! Admittedly I put you under pressure, but I was thinking of the future and taking a unilateral decision as to what was best for the three of us as a family,’ Angel shot back at her without apology. In fact, he had the nerve to give her a questioning look as though astonished that she had not yet recognised the higher purpose behind his intimidation tactics.

Gaby gritted her teeth, reckoning that he was shrewd enough to have justified anything short of murder. ‘I should’ve known you’d behave as though you did us all a favour!’ she snapped.

‘So, you’re pulling a Lysistrata to punish me...you’re on a sex strike,’ Angel clarified very drily, referring to the ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes. ‘And how good a start do you think that will give our marriage?’

‘Right at this moment, I don’t really care!’ Gaby told him truthfully as he led the way into a very grand nursery that was startlingly contemporary.

‘I had it updated for Alexios. It hadn’t been used since I was a little boy,’ he explained when he saw her staring at the very fancy train-shaped cot and the purpose-built storage for toys and books, every shelf already packed in readiness with items calculated to appeal to a toddler.

Marina appeared with Alexios’s shabby baby bag in tow, and Gaby’s rigid stance eased and she smiled in relief. In a matter of minutes, Alexios was changed and tucked into the cot. Angel closed a hand over her stiff fingers and led her away again. ‘Cassia has some kind of hen party organised for you tonight, but I imagine that it will be a very proper event, shorn of phallic symbols and any silliness. She’s invited my uncle, Prince Timon’s two daughters.’

‘Your cousins, who are acting as bridesmaids for us?’ Gaby broke in.

‘Yes, and some other young relatives whom you should meet before the wedding.’

Gaby nodded. ‘Where are you heading tonight?’

‘To a business investment dinner,’ Angel told her, urging her down another flight of stairs. ‘Generally, I have a pretty packed calendar, but I’ve pushed as much as I can to later in the season to enable me to spend time with you and Alexios.’

‘We shall be honoured,’ Gaby responded deadpan, only to still as Cassia emerged from a room just ahead of them.

‘Forgive me for interrupting you but the Crown council meeting is about to begin downstairs, sir,’ she announced. ‘I can show your fiancée to her room.’

‘If you will excuse me,’ Angel murmured, stepping away from Gaby.

‘Come this way, Miss Knox,’ Cassia directed with confidence.

Gaby compressed her lips because she had wanted to tackle Angel about the nursery being a ten-minute hike from her room and Cassia’s company was unlikely to ever be welcome. On the other hand, had she stayed with Angel in the mood she was in, they would probably have had another argument, she acknowledged ruefully. Perhaps she should be grateful for a breathing space.

‘These are your rooms,’ Cassia announced, throwing wide the door of a large sitting room and standing back for Gaby to precede her over the threshold. ‘Last occupied by the Prince’s mother and freshly decorated for you.’

The décor was very grand in airy shades of white, pale blue and green. Delicate panels painted with classic flowers ornamented the walls, providing the perfect backdrop for the beautifully crafted modern furniture. A huge bunch of artistically arranged flowers in a crystal vase scented the air. Cassia opened doors to show her the bedroom, the adjoining bathroom and the dressing room, saying, ‘I hope you like the clothes...’

‘Clothes?’ Gaby queried with a frown.

Cassia slid back some doors to display a multitude of garments hung in zipped bags and entire shelves of folded clothing. ‘The Prince ordered a new wardrobe for you.’

‘That was very generous of him but I shan’t need all this,’ Gaby said.

‘Living on Themos, you will need all of it. Wearing designer apparel is part of your public image as the ruler’s wife,’ Cassia informed her. ‘I would suggest you choose a cocktail dress for dining out tonight. I hired a maid with the experience to do your hair and advise you on outfits.’

Gaby pushed a polite smile onto her lips. ‘How thoughtful of you,’ she said quietly.

‘In the circumstances, I’m being very generous,’ the blonde told her disquietingly.

‘Which circumstances would those be?’ Gaby asked.

Cassia folded her rather thin lips. ‘Your bridegroom was originally planning to marry me... Oh, the Prince never said so, but I knew that he saw me as an ideal match.’

‘Good heavens...’ Gaby muttered in a shaken undertone. ‘I had no idea.’

‘Why should you have?’ Cassia responded dismissively. ‘That’s water under the bridge now...forget I mentioned it.’

‘Yes,’ Gaby agreed, grateful to move on from an awkward subject but thoroughly needled by the blonde’s coy little announcement. It stung, made her feel like a usurper in the position that Angel had given her. Cassia just oozed smugness and conceit. But was her contention true? How could the blonde beauty make such a claim when even she admitted that Angel had never discussed the subject with her? Of course, Cassia enjoyed unlimited confidence.

And Gaby could quite see that, as a local, accustomed to the royal lifestyle by her father’s standing, Cassia Romano, with her icy aristocratic elegance and perfect diction, would have been an excellent choice of bride for Angel. Only the fact that Angel had never actually got around to mentioning marriage to Cassia or even reviewing the idea with her struck Gaby as revealing, much more revealing than Cassia was willing to accept. In reality, Angel had been in no hurry to marry anyone and only their son’s accidental arrival had changed that.

‘Your friends are in the suite opposite,’ Cassia told her as she departed. ‘We’ll be leaving for dinner at seven.’

Liz, who was a real fashion buff, had a ball trawling through Gaby’s new collection of clothing. Both women were shell-shocked when she shared Cassia’s announcement.

‘I know,’ Gaby groaned. ‘I didn’t know how to feel about her saying that either.’

‘Perhaps she’s simply a very honest person and preferred to put the fact out there,’ Liz opined with a wince.

‘Maybe it was all in her head, this idea that Angel was planning to marry her, and she just likes to play the victim.’ Laurie was less charitable. ‘I can see no good reason for her to share her personal belief that she was to be his wife with anyone...particularly with the woman he’s about to marry.’

‘I think possibly Cassia may just be a little strange.’ Gaby sighed, fingering a silky blue dress that appealed to her and tugging out a strappy pair of blue pearlised sandals that she couldn’t wait to try on. She would not complain to Angel about the new clothes he had provided because her own wardrobe contained very few fancy outfits and none at all that could have qualified as designer. ‘I think I’ll wear this...it’s smart without being over the top.’

‘Do you think we’ll be heading to a nightclub after the meal?’ Laurie asked wistfully.

Gaby grimaced. ‘I doubt it. Cassia doesn’t strike me as the type, but look on the bright side...eating out is infinitely preferable to a formal reception staged simply for people to meet the bride.’

An hour later, fully dressed and ready to join her friends, Gaby emerged from her bedroom and came to a halt when she found Angel awaiting her in the sitting room. He was poised by the window, sunshine gleaming over his black hair, accentuating his hard, bronzed features and the sharp edges and hollows that made him so strikingly handsome.

‘I forgot to give you this,’ he murmured, stalking forward and reaching for her hand. Without hesitation he threaded a giant square-cut sapphire and diamond ring on her wedding finger. ‘Everyone will be expecting to see a ring...why disappoint them?’

Gabriella looked fabulous in an understated dress that made the most of her feminine curves and slender shapely legs. The colour brought out the blueness of her eyes, the porcelain fairness of her skin and intensified the copper vibrance of her tumbling hair.

‘Oh, I don’t know...’ Gaby stretched out a hand to watch the gorgeous jewels glitter in the sunlight. The sapphire was a deep velvety blue, surrounded by tapered baguette diamonds in a ballerina setting. She was shaken by its sheer presence on her finger. It was the sort of a ring that would stop traffic in the street, and she struggled to act as though she were accustomed to such magnificence. ‘Is it really necessary to fake an engagement?’

Angel frowned, black brows pleating. There were times when Gabriella frustrated him beyond belief, and this was one of them. He didn’t understand her in the way he had long understood other women. She didn’t go into ecstasies over expensive jewellery, and she hadn’t even mentioned the clothes. The gestures that usually smoothed feminine pride and other sensitivities didn’t work for him with her.

‘I meant well,’ he breathed tautly. ‘It’s hardly fake when we’re getting married the day after tomorrow, is it? But we skipped the conventional steps.’

‘We skipped a lot of stuff,’ Gaby told him tightly.

Intoxicating dark golden eyes framed by lush black lashes held hers. ‘But this is a fresh start.’

‘No, it’s another chapter. We didn’t have a proper start so we can scarcely have a fresh one,’ Gaby contradicted, her tension easing only when her friends appeared in the doorway. ‘Sorry, I have to go.’

All the way down to the entrance hall where Cassia awaited their arrival, Gaby castigated herself for her ungracious behaviour with Angel. She dug out her phone and texted him straight away, telling him how much she loved the ring and she thanked him very much for the new clothes. Sometimes in an effort to play it cool with Angel, she got things badly wrong and slid into sulky ingratitude, she acknowledged uneasily as her friends exclaimed in wonderment over the glittering sapphire and Cassia’s lips flattened to a thin line on her words of congratulation.

The restaurant was very large and imposing and frantically busy. Gaby thought it was a surprising venue in which to stage a small, supposedly discreet dinner party. They were met at the door and conveyed straight to a central circular table. Several other young women were already seated there. In the flurry of bright introductions that followed and the serving of drinks, Gaby’s tension began to lift. She sipped the glass of champagne that was served to her first, noticing that Cassia seemed to intimidate the other women present, giving her the impression that the blonde was not widely liked.

Not long after she had ordered her meal, she began to feel very hot. ‘Are you warm?’ she asked Liz.

‘No, I’m fine. The food looks amazing,’ her friend confided. ‘But I’m surprised Cassia decided to stage this somewhere so public. Every diner here is frantically trying to work out which of us is Angel’s bride and I’ve seen people taking covert photos on their phones.’

Gaby struggled to focus on Liz’s amused face. Her mouth was very dry, and the room felt airless. As her tummy gave a nauseous lurch that terrified her, she flew upright. ‘I’m off to the cloakroom.’

‘Want company?’

‘No, no, thanks.’ Gaby didn’t want an audience if she was about to be ill, nor did she wish to cast a dampener on the evening out. As she straightened, she felt dizzy and she wondered if she had picked up some ghastly bug travelling. Well, she would just have to get over it and fast, she thought worriedly as she followed the sign into a plush cloakroom. Her legs felt weak. Her breath rattled in her chest and something akin to panic assailed her at the rapidity with which she was falling ill. She dug out her phone and, without even thinking about it, pressed Angel’s number.

‘I’m not well,’ she whispered. ‘I’m feeling really ill, Angel...don’t want to wreck the party—’

‘Where are you?’

‘Don’t know name of restaurant...in the cloakroom,’ she slurred as she slumped down on a padded chair.

The claustrophobic room was swirling round her, and the phone slid from her fingers as her head fell back, too heavy for her to hold upright. A moment later, she knew no more.