Silence and then a whoosh of breath from his end. “All of it.” His words grew more clipped in rebuttal. “I am sending the plane for you. O’Connor will escort you to the airport and travel?—”
“No.” She didn’t dare let him finish, since his words already weakened her. Her pulse picked up at the mention of his plane and heat flooded through her body. She couldn’t see him. Maybe it was the coward’s way out. God knew he was a fantastic lover and when they were together—yes, he focused one hundred and ten percent of his attention on her. No woman could withstand the sheer force of his personality and devotion.
But when they were apart? They were always apart. The time they did have together shortened repeatedly while the time in between visits elongated…
“Darling, listen to me. I promise, we will talk all of it out. Ineedto see you.” Music to her ears, but how many times had he said the same thing before? Yet how many nights had she gone to bed alone, thousands of miles separating them and no one, not even her family, knew about the most precious relationship in her world?
“I said no, Bastian.” Gripping the phone tighter, she tried to calm her respiration. Anger, resentment, misery, and joy tangled together in her stomach. An icy cold sweat broke out on her skin.
“Meredith, I amnotengaged. I understand the false story distressed you, but this is no different than all the others the last few years. Baseless speculation on the part of the press, their attempt to feed?—”
“Actually…” She interrupted him before he went down the road of belittling her upset. He wouldn’t mean to—henevermeant to—but he would because he appeared to know better. He lived in a different world, one she wasn’t even allowed to visit. “It is quite different. This time I don’twantto understand. I don’t want to pretend it’s all right you spend half your life gallivanting around the world, dancing, kissing, and in general allowing all those women to be with you…”
His voice sounded tight when he snapped, “Theyare not important.” Impatience fractured his normally calm and playful reserve, a first in their exchanges.
“Can’t you understand?” She almost felt sorry for him, because he didn’t seem to see it. Maybe he couldn’t—maybe his upbringing precluded understanding the role of ‘mistress.’ “Theymay not be important, but they have easy access to you. You’re not ashamed to be seen in public with them, and you certainly didn’t seem to be fending off their affections. I teach math for a living, Sebastian. Maybe I don’t understand protocol and politics, but I understand one plus one. Please respect my wishes, and leave me alone.”
She hung up because if she didn’t, he might keep talking and her traitorous heart would have listened. As she swiped away the tears on her cheeks, the phone began to vibrate again. She depressed the power button and held it down until the phone silenced.
It was over.
The sooner they both accepted it, the better off they’d be.
Chapter 2
Sebastian
Sebastian stared at the nearly dead phone in his hand until a single knock on the door interrupted. Slotting it onto a charger, he slid it into the drawer. “Enter.”
His brother’s secretary, opened the door and curtseyed politely. “Excuse me, Prince Sebastian, but His Highness requests you join him in his office.”
“I will be along directly. Thank you, Gretchen.” He turned his attention back to the window and the sprawl of the city below once she’d closed the door. Though he’d expected a summons from Armand, he needed his mask firmly in place before he spoke to his brother.
Another knock announced a new arrival. Discipline schooling his features, he turned. “Enter.”
Eduard Vidal stepped in and closed the door behind him. “O’Connor has Miss Blake under observation, sir. I’ve booked him for the full week and instructed him to keep a twenty-four hour detail for the foreseeable future. He has two men he trusts on rotation for when Miss Blake returns to her home.”
So, she wouldn’t be alone and someone would be looking out for her. The thought provided a small measure of comfort.
“However,” Vidal was not finished. “O’Connor stated that if Miss Blake refuses protection, beyond reasonable measure, he cannot legally force it on her.”
“The man can’t follow instructions?” The last thing Sebastian needed was for Meredith to break away from her protection.
Unmoved by his annoyance, Vidal shrugged. “Your Highness, without her permission, it becomes stalking. As of yet, Miss Blake has not asked O’Connor to vacate, but it is a possibility.”
Fine.He would simply have to deal with it before the idea occurred to her. Meredith had never shown any sign of rebelling against his need to see her safe before. Of course, she’d never told him they were over nor refused his calls before either.
Infuriated, he fought to control his breathing and lock down his reaction. “Understood. Please inform O’Connor I would be grateful if he would maintain his position for as long as possible.”
“Do you still want me to make arrangements to send the plane?” Vidal’s tone was careful, but beneath it lurked doubt. Sebastian couldn’t really blame him for the question.
“Have it on standby. I don’t want it going anywhere. Also, inform the staff on St. Christos to ready the house.” What he and Meredith needed was time away from it all. Together. If she felt neglected and underappreciated, then it was on him to fix it. “Please make sure no one else is there.” The family’s private island was one of the few carefully kept secrets guarded against the press and other interlopers. He’d never taken Meredith there, unwilling to share her with anything in his public life, but the only people who lived at St. Christos were trusted members of the staff, making it an utterly private paradise.
Vidal nodded. “I’ll see to it.”
Wishing he could already be aboard his plane or, better still, be in Boston, Sebastian made his way to the end of thelong, cream carpeted hallway to Armand’s office. His eldest brother of late eschewed their New York, London, and Paris holdings, spending more and more time in Los Angeles. At first, he’d attempted to foster closer ties with their newly-discovered cousin. More recently, Sebastian suspected Armand’s reluctance to continue his usual duties could be attributed to his focus on his new marriage.
Gretchen rose at his approach then opened the doors with only a knock to announce him. Nodding his thanks to her, he entered and closed the doors himself.
