Back in my room, I finally let the tears fall.
I cried for the betrayal.For the lost trust.For the connection I'd thought was real and now didn't know how to categorize.
But mostly, I cried because even now, even knowing what he'd done, part of me still wanted him.
And that made everything so much worse.
CHAPTER 10
Betty
The private jet toSolmarina was every bit as ridiculous as the one that had brought me to Valdoria, except now I had to share it with my husband.
My husband.The words still tasted strange, like biting into what you thought was chocolate and discovering it was actually carob.Technically edible, but a disappointment on every level.
Three days had passed since the revelation in the library.Three days since Peter had transformed into Prince Archibald like some kind of reverse Cinderella.Three days of a wedding I barely remembered, a reception I'd survived on autopilot, and a wedding night spent in separate rooms while the entire palace pretended not to notice.
Now we were trapped in a flying tin can together for the next several hours, and Archie was treating me with the kind of careful politeness usually reserved for unexploded ordnance.
He sat across from me, reviewing documents with the kind of focus that suggested they contained the secrets of the universe rather than whatever boring diplomatic nonsense princes had to deal with.His handwriting was annoyingly elegant.Even the way he held his pen was annoyingly elegant.Everything about him was annoying.
Including the fact that he still looked unfairly attractive in his traveling clothes, a navy sweater that probably cost more than my car and trousers that fit him in ways I was absolutely not noticing.
I turned back to the window and watched clouds drift past, which was only slightly more interesting than pretending my new husband didn't exist.
"The islands come into view soon," he said eventually, his first words to me since we'd boarded.
"Thrilling."
"The staff at the palace will have prepared your rooms.I thought you'd prefer to maintain our current sleeping arrangements."
"Our current sleeping arrangements being complete avoidance of each other?Yes, that sounds delightful.Really capturing that newlywed magic."
He set down his pen with a controlled movement that suggested he was working very hard to maintain his composure.Good.I hoped his composure was having a terrible time.
"Betty, we're going to have to figure out how to coexist for six months."
