The Prince's Pregnant Bride(41)

Lani looked down at her lap, avoiding his glance. Maybe she resented the fact that he’d decided to put emotion before duty. After all, she’d demonstrated her readiness to sacrifice everything for the good of Rahiri.

He wasn’t made of such stern stuff.

And he really did want her to be happy. “I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly.” His voice softened. “And that the birth is uneventful. You’ll be able to tell everyone that it’s Vanu’s baby now. No more living a lie.”

Lani swallowed. “Yes. I suppose that’s good.” Her voice sounded flat. “Things did get awfully complicated.”

“Which should have been the first clue we were heading in the wrong direction.” His fingers itched to touch her, just one last time. To feel her soft skin beneath his palm and inhale her delicate floral scent.

But he resisted. “Goodbye, Lani.”

“Goodbye, AJ.” She looked up at last, wide eyes brimming with tears. “Good luck to you. I hope everything works out the way you want it to.”

He frowned. “Thanks. And for you and the baby, too. I’m sure I’ll be in touch after things settle down a bit.”

She nodded, lips pressed together. She hadn’t risen from the bench. Just sat there like a lovely statue, fingers twisted into the silk of her dress.

He spun on his heel and marched away before he could do anything stupid.





Lani slumped on the bench as he walked away. She didn’t even have the urge to run after him. It seemed normal, natural, that she should be left here alone and loveless while he went back to his life in L.A. Isn’t that just what she’d expected, after all?

He’d been swept along on the tide of excitement that they’d mistaken for destiny—all the pomp of the funeral and Priia’s festive gathering—and he’d gotten temporarily sidetracked into thinking he’d like to return to Rahiri.

Vanu’s unwitting intervention had woken him up.

Trust Vanu to ruin everything.

The reappearance of his boat and the resulting hitch in their plans had given AJ time to realize he didn’t want the life Priia had plotted out for him—or her.

It hurt—really hurt.

She pressed her fingers gently into her belly and tried to ignore the hollow space that seemed to be opening up inside her. At least she had the baby to look forward to, and AJ was right, the elders could rule the country without any help from the palace. They’d certainly been doing it while Vanu was king, as he’d taken zero interest in the country’s affairs. Rahiri would be fine.

But would she?

It didn’t seem fair to taste happiness like that, then have it rudely snatched away.

At first she’d been wary of AJ, and hoped he’d leave. But now that she’d gotten to know him, she wanted desperately for him to stay. He’d looked genuinely excited about raising the baby with her. She’d been so sure that—at last—everything was going to work out for the best. That she’d finally get to be happy.

But that had been too much to hope for.

A few weeks ago she’d have been pleased to be left quietly alone. She hadn’t known about the baby then, but she’d at least been relieved to be rid of Vanu. Now she craved the family she’d always wanted as a child. A mother and father together, as hers had been when she was little, before their marriage broke up and she and her mother came back to Rahiri.

She let out a deep sigh, picked up a small stone and tossed it into the pool. A splash radiated out into huge ripples that filled the round surface and lapped against the walls. AJ’s arrival had changed everything, even her dreams.

She no longer wanted to be left quietly alone, merely to live out her days without having to endure cruel treatment from a man she despised. Now she wanted so much more: affection, conversation, humor and, of course, the dangerous and delicious passion that AJ had awakened in her.

But AJ didn’t want to share it with her. He’d chosen to return to his life in L.A. and the freedom that came with it. He wouldn’t be tied down by responsibilities to a nation, or a woman.

Sadness soaked through her. Probably right now AJ was telling the reporters who never left the palace of his plans to abandon Rahiri—and her. In a short while she’d be paraded in front of them to embrace her new, solitary role as queen, and to announce the pregnancy.

And she’d do it all alone. Not physically alone, with her doting mother-in-law and the palace staff all around her, but in the ways that were important, the empty, hungry places in her heart, she’d be alone.

“We must stop him!” Priia’s voice rang out into the garden from the nearby sitting room. “I told him he can’t go. It’s impossible!”