He hadn’t known that Charlie wouldn’t live to see her perfect princess room. He’d never suspected that one week after its completion, it would go from the surprise he’d hoped to give to his daughter to a mausoleum to house his pain.
His eyes continued to scan the room until he found the picture that had haunted him for years. Sent to him from Farah’s phone, Charlie and her mother smiled brightly for the selfie as they boarded the boat he’d sent for them. He’d known from their last conversation that Farah was deeply angered by his commands and threats. But even in her anger, she’d found a way to share in Charlie’s excitement at being on a boat for the first time and had thought enough of him to share that moment with him. What none of them had known in that simple moment of joy is that the boat would send his ex-lover and their child to their deaths.
“Save us, Daddy.”
“I couldn’t, dear one. I couldn’t.”
His shaky fingers grasped the framed picture, and he pulled it to his chest, hoping its nearness would slow his heart andcomfort him in some way. Unsurprisingly, there was no comfort in sight. How could there be when he knew his failure to protect them was the reason they weren’t with him today?
He placed the frame back on its perch atop the dresser and stared at it as if he were talking directly to the people smiling back at him.
“I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to them.”
Regina stepped outside their bedroom just in time to see Aléx exiting a room at the far end of the hall. His shoulders were drooping as he walked with his head slightly bent, like he was too exhausted to lift it.
Concern drew her in his direction. Aléx was a tall man, well over six feet, and his broad, muscular body made it impossible for him to not take up most of the space when he walked into a room. As he pinched the bridge of his nose, he seemed so small and frail; she worried he might just shrink until he disappeared into the plush carpeted floor.
“What happened?”
His head snapped up at the sound of her voice. For a moment, she could see what looked like sadness floating in his gaze, but by the time she was standing in front of him, his royal mask had dropped into place, and she could see she was no longer standing before her husband. Now, here stood Aléxandros, the king of Obsidian Island.
“Nothing. I needed to check on something for work.”
“And it was so urgent that you needed to leave our bed and handle it at two in the morning?”
He walked around her, heading back toward their bedroom as if he expected her to follow without question. That wasn’t happening. Something wasn’t passing the smell test.
“I’m a king, Regina. I don’t work a normal nine-to-five. When duty calls, it doesn’t matter how late or early it is.”
She stopped walking, crossing her arms as she planted her feet. “And you had to go to an unused bedroom to do kingly work, why?”
“It isn’t unused,” he snapped at her, the sharpness of his tone sliding across her raw skin like a blade.
Her spine straightened, and the tight set of her jaw must have conveyed he’d crossed a line, because he raised both hands before saying, “It’s a secure storage closet for important files. Trust me, it’s just dusty remnants from the past. Nothing you need to worry yourself about.”
He closed the gap between them, returning to her and taking her hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it, looking at her through his impossibly long, dark lashes that spread out into an elegant fan above his cheeks.
“Come, Treasure. It wouldn’t do for the queen not to get her sleep. You’re growing the future ruler of a nation. You need as much rest as you can get.”
Something niggling at the back of her mind insisted she press him. The king, however, was a skilled strategist. When he passed those same lips across hers, she forgot exactly what she was thinking about.
He pulled her against him, deepening the kiss as his tongue pressed until he was licking inside her mouth, stroking her into a frenzy where the only thing she could think was, “More. Please, more.”
“Come, Treasure.” He laced his fingers through hers and gently guided her toward their room. “Perhaps we both need to burn off this extra energy so we might grasp the few hours of darkness left for sleeping.”
She knew she shouldn’t. Whatever was happening with Aléx, it had nothing to do with work. Of that she was certain. Butletting him stoke her fire until she thought she might explode seemed so much more important in this moment. She’d find out what was going on later in the day. Tonight, she was going to give herself to her husband for as long as he wanted.
Chapter Fourteen
Regina burst intoAléx’s office. Always in tune with her, he stood up behind his desk.
“What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
“Yes and no,” she answered. “At least, it’s not our baby.”
She held her hand to her abdomen. It had formed into a full baby bump and not the cute little thing at the bottom of her stomach. She had to wear maternity clothes now since their little one had decided to make its presence known.
“Reigna’s in labor!” She practically squealed the words. “I need to get to Nyeusi immediately. Can you call for the ferry?”
