Page 59 of Her Red Hot Secret Royal Fling

“No one can be happy like this, surely,” Sofia teased. “This kind of euphoria is reserved just for us.”

“Ah, how right you are, my love, my queen.”

“Do you have to call me Your Highness now?”

“I’ll call you whatever you’d like, though my favourite name of yours will always be Sofia Christou Diamantis.”

Her heart lifted. Her future married name. “I like the sound of that.”

“It’s perfect.” He kissed her forehead. “As are you.”

In Moricosia,they spent the night alone, in the stables, before returning to the palace and privately resuming a life together, getting used to this new stage for both of them, and also giving Sofia time to get to know Ares’s younger siblings without the pressure of the whole country watching. Eventually though, on the eve of Christmas, they took the final step, of releasing a press statement, fully aware that it would set off a fever pitch of excitement. And it did, indeed. The whole country was in raptures, though it was nothing to the anticipation of Ares’s brother and sisters. Sofia couldn’t believe her luck. She’d gone from being isolated, pushing everyone away, to finally accepting her role in the Santoro family and knowing that they did indeed love her as one of them. But more than that, she was now also a valued member of Ares’s family.

She felt blessed indeed.

A weekafter returning to Moricosia, and still feeling as though he were walking on cloud nine, Ares made a call he had not been looking forward to.

Each of the Santoros dialled in, and Sofia sat at his side, having been forewarned of his intention.

“The development tenders will be managed by my Prime Minister, going forward.” He looked at his bride to be, his heart threatening to burst from his chest. “To avoid any appearance of favoritism—and the actual existence of it—the decision should be taken out of my hands, in light of recent events.”

“That makes sense,” Dante was quick to agree. “And we’re not worried. Our proposal will go on its merits—that’s what we always wanted.”

The rest of the family followed suit, with similar reassurances, and Ares felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He hoped the Santoros would be awarded thebusiness, though he suspected his marriage to Sofia would make it incredibly difficult for his parliament to go that way. He hated to be any instrument of disappointment to friends he valued so dearly, but it was a small price to pay for getting to marry the love of his life.

Their first Christmastogether was a special time. On the morning after the announcement of their engagement, they attended Ares’s church with his family, and there were thousands of people lining the path, craning to get a look at the future Queen. Despite the coldness of the day, Sofia and Ares spent over an hour slowly proceeding along the rope line, talking to people, shaking hands, accepting flowers.

“You really are a natural,” Ares said, later, when they were in the car, alone, driving back towards a beautifully decorated palace.

“I do like connecting with people,” Sofia murmured. “And I get the feeling there’s so much I’ll be able to do here, Ares. When we’re married, and everything calms down a bit, I mean.”

“You can do whatever you want, my darling.”

And she would.Queen Sofia Christou Diamantis would go on to become a patron for many worthy charities, as well as establishing her own task forces about issues that were of vital importance. But she would also lose herself, completely, in the joys of her marriage, and, not long after, the delights of parenthood. The arrival of their first son was such an absorbingly happy time for Sofia—and made all the more so because Maria Santoro came and spent several weeks with them, to help out—that she couldn’t believe it when only four months later, she was pregnant again!

Another child, this time a daughter, followed, and so began an intensely busy, exhausting and joyous phase of Sofia’s long, happy life.

She travelled regularlyto the Santoro villa, because family was everything, and when his schedule permitted, Ares went with her. There, all the pomp of royal life fell away, just as it had in the forest, and they were simply a man and a woman, being swallowed into the bosom of loving family.

As for the forest, that was their favourite way to spend time. Even if they could only escape for one night, they went out there together, hiking, and sleeping under the stars, connecting in the way that had shaped their relationship and their souls.

One of the most remarkable things, for Sofia, was discovering how much closer she felt to her father, now that she was a parent. She heard herself say so many things to her own children that he had once said to her, sing songs that were familiar from childhood, play games that her father taught her, and it softened her a little, towards her mother, so one day she texted her a story about the children, and a game they’d played that afternoon.Do you remember how daddy and I would play this?

Sofia wasn’t even sure she’d expected a reply, so to hear back, almost immediately,He loved that game—he loved you, too. So much, Sofia,made something inside of her twist. Not with pain, but nostalgia, and she supposed with sadness, because of how much she had lost, at a time when she’d desperately needed it.

It was a start, the first building block in a relationship that needed much work, but Sofia suddenly felt like maybe, after all these years, her mother was coming out of her fog. And if she wanted to reach for Sofia, Sofia would be there, with open arms. Because family really was everything, after all.

THE END