Rafi moved closer, shaking his head.“No, Carys, I didn’t kiss your best friend on Saturday.”He moved even closer, taking the phone from her and tossing it onto the destroyed sofa.“I would never do that to you.”He pulled her closer and Carys whimpered, her hands clutching at his.
“You didn’t…?”she asked, her eyes pleading with him to explain.
“No, Carys.I haven’t kissed anyone.I want only you,” he told her.“I love you.I want to marry you and prove to you that I will never leave you.”He kissed her softly.“I want only you,” he whispered, kissing her again.
Carys’s head spun with everything that had happened over the past few days.Her world had been shattered, then ripped open, and now…this man that she adored to distraction wanted her!Rafi hadn’t cheated on her!He hadn’t kissed Andi!
“I…I don’t know what to say!”she sobbed, allowing Rafi to enfold her in a hug.With his strong arms wrapped around her, Carys burst into tears.“I fell in love with you, you big jerk!”she said, punching his arm, but since he had her pressed against his chest, there was no force behind her jab.Rafi only kissed her forehead again as Carys pressed herself harder against him.“I don’t want to love you!”
“Too late,” he said and Carys heard the smile in his tone.
She pulled back to glare at him.“It’snottoo late,” she snapped.“I don’thaveto love you!”
He grinned.The bastard actually grinned!When she tried to pull away, Rafi merely tightened his grip.“Accept it, Carys,” he said with a grin.“You love me and you’re going to marry me.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the other couple.Laith knew exactly what was coming next.But instead of slipping away and giving him and Carys some privacy, Laith grinned, leaning a shoulder against the wall.“Hey, I wanted to see how an expert gives her the news.Because trust me, just blurting it out wasn’t the best way to go.”
Carys looked at the other man, then at Andi’s eye roll.Her friend even huffed as if she were put out by something.Finally, Carys turned back to look at Rafi.
“Okay, I’ve had a few issues rock my world,” she said with a tone of exasperation.“My father’s wife trashed my apartment, I thought I’d lost the man of my dreams and my best friend, thought someone was stalking me and…!”she paused, looking at the two men who were looking similarly confused.She looked up at Rafi.“Okay, I’m ready for whatever comes next.”She braced herself.“Tell me what?What are you hiding from me now?”
Rafi glanced around at the room, finally noticing the torn cushions.“Your…step mother did this?”
“Yeah.I think she’s insane.”She rubbed a hand over the bridge of her nose.“But I have her on surveillance video, so…at least I’ve figured out one mystery.”She looked up at him.“So hit me with it.”
Rafi pulled his eyes away from the destruction, taking both of her hands in his.He tightened his grip when she tried to pull away, chuckling at her stubborn expression.
“Now, don’t get angry with me.But this next bit of news is going to be almost as difficult to explain as the twin thing.”He took her hands in his, almost as if he needed to keep her steady.
Carys’s shoulders stiffened.“The ‘twin thing’?”she snapped back.“You say that like it’s just a funny issue when, in reality, it nearly ruined my life!”
Rafi’s smile widened at that piece of news.“Well, that’s…uh…good to hear.”He laughed when she smacked his shoulder.
“I’m a prince.”
Carys stared at him without a word.
“A royal prince.”
Carys shrugged.“Okay.”
“After we marry, you will become a royal princess.And our children,” he rested a hand against her stomach, “hopefully very soon, will be princes and princesses.”
Carys’s hand dropped to cover his.“I don’t understand.”
“I’m Prince Rafi Al-Sintra of Lativa.”He jerked his head toward his brother.“That’s Prince Laith Al-Sintra.My father is Prince Joran Al-Sintra.My uncle is Sheik Khal Al-Sintra, ruler of Lativa.I have several cousins, and one of them is Crown Prince Zayn Al-Sintra of Lativa, heir to the throne.”
“So…you’re…?”
“A prince.And when we marry,” his gaze turned stern, “which will happen soon, by the way, you will become Princess Carys Al-Sintra.”
There was a long silence, but she vaguely heard the door to her apartment close.All she could say was, “Oh!”in a small, timid voice that annoyed her.
“But…” Carys licked her lips.“Do you…actually care for me?”she asked.
His gaze softened, and so did his grip on her wrist.His touch was softer, sweeter now.“Carys, you have rocked my world from the first moment I saw you.I love you more than I’d thought it possible to love a human being.”He kissed her softly.“When you didn’t show up on Saturday, I was out of my mind, worrying about you.”He kissed her again.“Then you slipped away from your security detail this morning and I was ready to kill someone.”
Carys had been kissing him back, eager for more.But at the words “your security detail”, she pulled back, blinking at him.“What do you mean?What security detail?”
