Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance 2(94)
A prince?
Really?
As in, royalty? As in…successor to some kind of kingdom?
No, please.
If he was a prince…my mind raced. I recalled all the media attention Kate Middleton got after becoming Prince William’s fiancée.
The press would have a field day with me. Daughter of two convicted murderers. There was no way his family would allow him to marry someone like me.
He cleared his throat. “Daryl, you aren’t saying anything.”
“I’m not sure what to say. Is this for real? Please tell me this is some kind of prank?”
“It’s real, Daryl.”
“Your name. It isn’t Tevin Page?” My hands were shaking harder than ever.
“No.”
“It’s…?”
“Viktor.”
Viktor. Did he look like a Viktor? No. Okay, maybe. Did this beautiful man with that gorgeous body look like a prince from someplace in Europe? No. Okay, maybe.
“Daryl, what are you thinking?”
What was I thinking? That I’d just stepped into some crazy reality TV show? That my dream, which I had only begun to believe might come true, was now completely obliterated? “Where did Tevin Page come from?”
“I had a friend named Tevin in school. And Page just popped into my head.”
“Does Marguerite know?”
“She does. She’s known me since I first came to the US, since before Tevin Page. I’ve been living here for almost one year. Eleven months ago my parents told me I had to be married. They had selected three potential brides for me. Unfortunately, when I met them, I felt no connection to any of them. While arranged marriages are still very common in my culture, particularly among members of the royal family, I wanted more. I wanted a true marriage, based on respect, admiration, yes, but also friendship, chemistry, love.”
“Marriage? Love?” My head was spinning. It was too soon to be hearing those words. Much too soon. Like…a year too soon. When he found out the truth about my family, he wouldn’t be saying those words to me. “Tell me you aren’t--” I couldn’t get the words out.
“Asking you to marry me? No. Not yet. But I would like you to come to my country to meet my family.”
“Meet your family?” All I could do is repeat what he said. I still couldn’t grasp the reality of what was happening. Yes, I’d suspected he wasn’t telling me the truth about the house and the car and the plane and the boat. But I figured he was maybe some rich guy’s son who had been smart with his inheritance. I’d never, not in my wildest dreams, thought he might be from another country, let along the potential leader of that foreign land.
What countries still had kings and queens, anyway?
I looked at him then down at my hands. They were clenched together, knuckles white. As my confusion lifted, I gradually became aware of the disappointment simmering below it.
“Daryl, I’m asking you to meet my family because—“
“Tevin, Viktor, whatever, you don’t know me, and I obviously don’t know you. But you want me to hop on a plane and go to some foreign country?”
“I wanted you to know me, just me, first. Then I wanted you to meet Prince Viktor. Because if you had met Prince Viktor from the start, you most likely never would have known me as just a man. A man who wants you so much I can barely think about living a single day without you. Maybe it’s crazy to be saying this after such a short time, but I think I’m falling in love with you, Daryl.”
I was so shaken by what he’d told me, I couldn’t speak. Dozens of questions were whirling around in my head. What would he do when he found out about my mom and dad? What would his parents think? Did his potential girlfriends have to meet some standard? But one thing I knew for certain. Tevin, the man I had spent the last week dreaming about, believed he was falling in love with me.
And, as insane as it was, I knew I was falling in love with him. Already. After only spending a few precious hours with him.
God, I was petrified.
I had to tell him about my parents. He had to know.
Tevin took my hands in his once again. His thumbs stroked across the backs. This time, as his gaze met mine, I saw no guilt, no doubt, no shame. “Daryl, I’m sorry for keeping my true identity a secret. It was hard, and there were times I wanted to tell you everything. But I held back until I felt you knew me well enough to know whether you really liked me for who I am inside.”
“I kind of understand. Sort of. Because…” I swallowed. “There’s something you don’t know about me, too. And maybe I haven’t told you because I was afraid of how you would judge me.”
“What is it?”