Page 15 of The Heir Affair

Xander drew closer, to look over her shoulder at the social media app Theo had opened. And got a lungful of her intoxicating scent for his troubles. He forced himself to detach his gaze from the soft skin of her nape, to examine the photos too.

And immediately understood Poppy’s distress.

They looked like a couple in the snatched shots. He had his hand on the small of her back, was clearly shepherding her to the cab, while she seemed small and fragile beside him, her rounded belly hard to miss. Poppy flicked through the article on screen, which was written in French and had named the restaurant. The app had a whole series of photos—had there been a photographer on the wharf? The shots were surely far too professional to have been taken by an amateur. And they clearly hadn’t wasted any time selling them to the highest bidder, because they had already appeared on this gossip website, with a series of captions identifying him as the man about to declare his engagement to Princess Freya.

Poppy began to tremble, the belligerence of moments ago gone. ‘Do you think they’ll be able to find out my name?’ she asked, but he could already hear her panic.

Theo retrieved his phone, then said, as he cast Xander a meaningful glance, ‘Yeah, I do. They know where you work, Poppy. It’s only a matter of time before someone you work with gives up the information.’

‘But they’re my friends. They wouldn’t…’

‘Money talks, Poppy,’ Theo said. ‘And you’re about to become a big story. You and Xander and the baby…’

‘But I didn’t mean for this to happen…’ she said, and Xander heard the confusion as well as the innocence in her voice he remembered so well from that afternoon.

Before he could think better of the gesture, he pressed his hand to her shoulder, felt her quiver of distress. And wanted to murder whoever had invaded their privacy. He intended to use the press attention to keep her here, but the visceral anger with that photographer felt justified.

He pulled her around to face him and saw hopelessness in her face now as well as fatigue.

‘I need that job,’ she murmured, sounding devastated. ‘The tips are really good, and I don’t have any savings left.’

What foolishness was this now?

He frowned. Surely, she had to know she could not return to work. The restaurant would be besieged by reporters, and so would she. And he had already told her he intended to support her now.

But when he saw astonishment flash across his brother’s face, he clamped down on the angry retort. He had already told Poppy he had no intention of abandoning his responsibilities to her or the baby. But losing his temper—and his hurt at her refusal to accept anything from him—had not helped. Clearly, she was exhausted. And more fragile than she realised. He needed to treat this situation with finesse, no matter what it cost him. Because his first priority at the moment was to impress upon her she could not leave the safety of the yacht.

‘Serge is already understaffed,’ she continued. ‘So I can’t just—’

‘Poppy, this is not rational,’ he cut in to her ramblings, as gently as he could, while tucking a knuckle under her chin and lifting her face to his.

The sheen in her eyes, and the way she chewed her lip, made frustration and something a lot more volatile coil in his gut.

‘But I—’ she began again.

‘Listen to me. You will stay here, tonight.’ If he got his way, she would be under his protection now for the foreseeable future. But he would have to deal with the logistics of that after he had spoken in private to Theo, because he had to persuade his brother to return to Galicos and break off the engagement—and renegotiate the deal with Prince Andreas without a marriage, as there was no way he could marry the man’s daughter now. Theo’s greatest strength was his charm—perhaps he could useit to schmooze the Prince into selling them the land without a marriage?

The cruise line had always been Xander’s baby. Theo had been against the idea from the start—seeing no need for them to diversify. But they had sunk enough capital into the venture now that Theo would be incentivised to find a solution. And it would have to be his brother’s problem to solve. Because buying the land they needed in the principality was now way down on Xander’s list of priorities. By far the most pressing problem was the woman in front of him, looking as if she had just been kicked in the teeth. Keeping her safe from the reporters until he could figure out what the hell he was going to do about her and the hold she still had over him—not to mention his child—was what he must focus on first.

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea…’ Poppy began again. But he simply brushed his thumb across her lips to silence her. Her vicious shudder of reaction reverberated in his groin.

‘I know you don’t wish to stay…’ he said, as calmly as he could manage. ‘But you must think of the baby. Do not be so naïve as to believe the press will go easy on you because you are pregnant and unable to defend yourself against them. They won’t. And Theo is right, wherever you go now, they will find you. Especially if you do not have the resources to protect yourself.’

A tear slipped over her lid. She brushed it away with her fist. A flush of embarrassment lit her cheeks, making it clear she wished he hadn’t seen her weakness.

‘I shouldn’t have come here. I didn’t think this through at all.’ She sighed, her shoulders drooping in defeat.

He captured her waist and went with the urge to pull her against him. She stood stiffly in his arms, clearly unsure about accepting his support, but also unable to stop trembling.

He stroked her narrow shoulders, aware of the compact bump between them. This was a new experience for him too.He had always been a hard man—had always been determined never to let his guard down. Tenderness was a weakness, one he had succumbed to only once before… And this woman had been responsible for those strange urges then, too.

But when she finally stopped trembling and let out a hefty sigh, all he felt was relief.

He drew back. Her chestnut eyes had lost their anger, so the only thing left was vulnerability. He doubted that would last. Poppy was far too independent, and frankly impulsive and reckless, to let her guard down for long. But tonight, she looked too washed out to fight him any longer. And he was glad of that much at least.

‘Meghan has already prepared the Sunrise Suite. Let me take you there. You can sleep and then we will discuss what to do in the morning?’ He tried to phrase it as a question, even though he had already made up his mind.

They could not remain in Galicos. Not if they were to have privacy and Poppy was to be protected from the fallout when news of the broken engagement came out.