“What?” Shock replaced her nausea instantly. “I’m not marrying you just so you can get a title. I want to marry for love.”
Luc’s eyes narrowed. “You say you love me, so why not marry me?”
“Because you don’t love me. I won’t be used as a pawn in your royal quest.”
Air whooshed from her lungs. She’d never thought herself naive, but that’s exactly what she was. She should’ve gone into this with eyes wide-open and seen his motivations for what they were...lust and greed. Any love between them was absolutely one-sided, and she had no one to blame but herself...yet again.
She should’ve seen this coming, should’ve known nothing would ever get in the way of the great Luc Silva and his crown. The man she’d grown to love from the island was just as fake as their engagement. Then, he’d been warm, open. Now he was all business.
“I’m going back to the palace as soon as I get my stuff together,” she told him. “I’ll have the pilot come back whenever you want to leave, but I won’t be flying with you. I also won’t be working for you. I’ll finish out my duties for the next couple of weeks, but after that, I’m done.”
“As my wife, I wouldn’t expect you to work for me.”
Kate clenched her teeth, praying she didn’t burst into angry tears. “I won’t be your wife.”
Luc shoved his hands in his pockets, hesitated, then made his way to the door. “Don’t make any hasty decisions. I’ll leave you to get your dress back on.”
Then he was gone, leaving only the deafening sound of the door clicking shut as she sat there in the rumpled sheets.
That was it? Luc may have walked out of this conversation, but he wasn’t going to back down on this ridiculous notion of them getting married. Kate needed to prepare herself, because this fight was just getting started.
She tossed back the sheet and was thankful she wasn’t dizzy when she got to her feet. At least she had one thing going for her this morning.
Of course, now she had to put on her dress from last night and do the walk of shame down the wide, long hallway to her own suite, to change and pack. Which was fine, because she wasn’t staying any longer. If he planned on using her, using her feelings against her in some ploy to get ahead, then maybe he wasn’t the man she loved at all. Maybe she’d been living a lie this entire time...
There was no way she could continue working for Luc indefinitely. No way she could look at him every single day and know she was good enough for sex, but not good enough to build a life with if the throne wasn’t at stake. They’d made a baby and he still was only looking out for his title. Well, she sure as hell wasn’t sticking around to see him parade his possible future wives in and out of his life.
Kate had been a fool to think their intimacy had changed Luc’s mind. The struggle of seeing him every day, knowing he didn’t return her love, would be just too hurtful.
When she returned to the palace, she would call her parents and make plans. She would finish up the projects she and Luc had begun, and then she needed to get away. She needed to focus on what was truly important in her life.
* * *
Luc brought the sledgehammer up and swung it through the partial non-load-bearing wall. Busting this drywall to expand the living space with the kitchen wasn’t even remotely helping to quell his frustration and anger. All he was doing was working up a good sweat and a bit of nostalgia from when he and Kate had torn into the bathroom.
When Luc had gotten back to the palace, he’d taken his boat—sans guards, much to Kate’s father’s disapproval—and headed to his beach house. Luc knew the workers would be done for the day, and since the house was only an hour from the palace, he needed time to think, to reflect on what an insufferable jerk he’d been in that bedroom three days ago.
His intention had been to get Kate to agree to marry him. He hadn’t cared about her feelings. But the way she’d sat there, all rumpled in a mess of satin sheets, as she’d stared up at him with hurt in her eyes, had seriously gotten to him. He hadn’t expected to feel anything beyond want and need for her. Yet it was hard to ignore the constant lump of guilt that kept creeping up when he thought of how he’d broken her so fast, with so few words.
Luc eased the sledgehammer down on the rubble and wiped his arm across his forehead. His mother would probably die if she saw he had blisters on his hands from manual labor, but he needed the outlet. Unfortunately, it wasn’t doing the job.
And it didn’t help that Kate was everywhere in this house. The empty yellow vase on the scarred dining table mocked him. He couldn’t even look at the damn shower in his master suite. The balcony, the chaise in the living room, the bed, the beach... The memories flooded his mind. She’d touched literally every surface here.
Just as she’d touched every part of him.
Luc reached behind his neck and yanked his T-shirt over his head. His cell vibrated in his pocket and he thought about ignoring it, but with Kate being pregnant, he had to be on full alert.
Pulling the cell out, he glanced at the screen. Swallowing a curse, he let out a sigh and answered.
“Yes?”
“You rushed out of here and didn’t take a guard?”
His mother’s question didn’t require an answer, because she already knew. “I needed to be alone.”
“That’s not smart. You can’t be taking off like this, Lucas. You know your birthday is less than two months away. You need to be home so we can figure out what we’re going to do.”
Luc raked a hand over his damp face and stared out at the sun, which was starting to dip toward the horizon.
“I just needed a few days to myself.”
“Is this about Kate? Darling, I know she hurt you, but that poor girl is miserable. I didn’t want to say anything, but since the wedding she’s been looking pale and drained.”
Luc straightened. “Is she sick?”
“I’d guess she’s pregnant.”
Silence filled the line and Luc’s heart sank. They hadn’t said a word to anybody, and the pain in his mother’s tone came through loud and clear.
“We haven’t told anyone,” Luc stated in a low voice, suddenly feeling like a kid again for lying to his mother. “She just found out before the wedding, and we had a bit of a fight. Is she okay?”
“A fight?” Of course his mom honed in on that and not his question. “Lucas, the woman is carrying your child and you argue with her? No wonder she looks exhausted. She’s been working like a dog since she got back. That’s why I wanted to know why you left the palace so suddenly.”
Luc gripped the phone. “It’s best if I’m not there right now.”
“I think you two need to talk. If you’re worried about the no-fraternizing rule, I think we can make an exception for Kate. Maybe she’s the answer to—”
“I’ve already thought of that,” he interrupted, cutting her off. “Kate doesn’t want to marry me.”
“Why don’t you come home,” his mother stated. “We can’t solve any problems with you brooding alone.”
He glanced at the mess he’d made. It wasn’t as if he knew what to do next, but the contractors had done an amazing job of renovating the bathroom he and Kate had torn into. They’d come to finish the kitchen once Luc gave the go-ahead after this wall was gone.
“I’m leaving now,” he told his mother. “Tell Kate I want to see her.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but she may have left for the day.”
If she’d left, he’d go to her place. She didn’t live too far from the palace, and if he had any say, she’d be inside that palace by the time their baby came.
Anything else was unacceptable.
Having her that last time had changed something in him, and nearly changed his marriage plan. That’s why he’d been up all night, second-guessing his motives. He’d thought he could check out emotionally, but he felt too much—guilt, desire...more.
He’d hurt her in ways he’d never, ever imagined he could. Yet she still did her job. She’d still come with him to the wedding. She still supported him.
And he loved her. His feelings were as simple and as complicated as that. He loved Kate with everything he had and he’d messed up—man, had he messed up.
Luc needed to tell her how he felt. More important, he needed to show her. Saying the words was easy; proving to Kate how much she meant to him would be the hurdle. But he hadn’t gone through all of this to give up now. Kate was his and he damn well wasn’t going to let her go.
Seventeen
It had been nearly a week since he’d last talked to Kate, and he was going out of his mind.
He’d come back to his office and found a letter of resignation on his desk. She’d left a message through her mother that she was fine and the baby was fine, but she wanted to be on her own for a bit.
A bit was longer than he could stand.
He’d lived without this woman for too long and refused to live that way another second.
His birthday was fast approaching, but even the looming date hadn’t entered his mind. For the past few days all that had played over and over was how stupid he’d been, how heartless and crass he’d been with his words, his actions. No wonder Kate wanted to leave, to steer clear of him. She loved him and he’d proposed to her with the pretense that he was doing so only to climb higher on the royal ladder.