But he letnothingout. He had to control all that whirled inside him. “Yes, this is ideal.”
She gave a sharp nod. “I will always be grateful you brought me our son. The future king of Alis.” She moved to get to her feet, but here she was not quite so graceful or elegant. She struggled to push herself up, and before he’d thought it through, he moved to help her.
One hand on her elbow offering leverage, one hand somehow landing on her stomach. For a moment, they both froze in the warmth of physical connection. And then something under his hand seemed to…jerk.
He pulled his hand back in reflex, then immediately pressed it back to the same spot on her stomach. “Was that…”
“He kicked.” She let out a little laugh, looked up at him now with the vibrant shine oflifein her eyes. “I have been feeling flutters but nothing so certain as that yet, though all the books say I should start. And now…”
He could not help but grin down at her. A kick. It was so…real. So bafflingly real. A reminder that in short months this life inside her would beoutside. Real and his. He would hold his son in his arms and…
Or he would be miles away. In Italy. Living a separate life.
He watched her swallow, look away. Because it did not matter how beautiful the idea of holding their son in his arms was. Their lives would be separate. Everything would be separate.
For Evelyne and the boy’s own good. And since it was, he should start now.
He took two careful steps back, clasped his hands behind him. He regarded her with the same cool detachment she had been giving him. Or tried. “I think I shall fly to Italy tonight. Handle some business.”
She did not say anything at first. Just stood very still. Eventually she inclined her head though. “Of course. Have a safe journey, Gabriel.” She even smiled at him.
He could not seem to manage the same. “Stay well, Your Highness.”
And he left. The palace and Alis andher.
For her own good.
Definitely not for his.
Evelyne cried herself to sleep. That night. And the next. And the next. She tried to tell herself all would be well. She had her brother, her sister-in-law and in two months or so she would have her child. She lived in a kingdom no longer ruled by her father.
All waswell.
She tried to plan. Decorate the nursery. Decide on a name. Focus on the positive parts of the future.
But everything felt as though Gabriel should have some say, even though he had given up his say and gone toItaly.
She would have spent all her time alone, wallowing, but Ines insisted on sharing meals, and since she did not often eat with Alexandre, Evelyne felt honor bound to be company for her.
But now both InesandAlexandre joined her in one of the parlors in the evenings. She must not be hiding her misery very well.
“I can require him to return, you know,” Alex muttered one evening as he read something on his tablet.
Evelyne looked up at Alexandre. Not only was he watching her, but so was Ines. They were both worried about her. She knew this because they were spending their evenings together. With her, to be sure, but usually they did not simply sit in the parlor like this together.
So she smiled. “I think I should only like you to require his return if it were to throw him in the dungeons.”
“I’m sure that can also be arranged,” Ines offered, earning her a sharp look from her husband. Which Ines ignored, going back to the blanket she was knitting for the baby.
Evelyne put her hand over her stomach. She felt some movement and tried to be comforted by his existence. Comforted by the reality oflife.
She was used to not getting what she wanted, wasn’t she? A few weeks of having what she wanted shouldn’t change things.
“I do not want him forced into anything. He has made his choices. I will make mine.” Even if she was struggling to makeanychoice. It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to think about this. She stood.“I think I shall go to bed,” she announced.
And knew their gazes followed her all the way out.
Almost like they knew she was going to cry herself to sleep again.
