“Where is my daughter?”the king asked in a surprisingly vulnerable voice.
Quinn’s eyes stung.He looked the part she’d always imagined, but he sounded nothing like it here.What if they were right, and he’d been a victim too?She’d invested years in hating him from a distance.If she softened her attitude, would her mother take it as a betrayal?
Everyone had turned to look at Quinn, and her bio dad’s gaze landed on her.He strode toward her but stopped a few feet away.
For the first time, she saw a crack in his royal mask.His eyes glistened, and he pinched his lips tightly in the same way she did when she didn’t want hers to quiver and give away how emotional she felt.Like right now.All these years she’d resented him, and here she was seeing herself in him.
The king finally spoke.
“For nearly a quarter of a century, I have rued the hasty marriage with your mother—” When she opened her mouth to protest, he held up his hand.“Not because I hadn’t loved her or the memories of the glorious months we’d shared, but because I hurt her.We were young and foolish, impulsive, and we wanted to rebel against the demands being made on us.I knew I had responsibilities at home, but your mother’s love let me pretend I could walk away from them.”
“So you walked away from her instead.”Quinn’s words came out less bitterly than they used to.
“If I’d truly understood the problems I would create with the impetuous decision to wed, I would have made different choices.I regret I wounded her so much that she kept the knowledge of you from me.When I contacted her two months ago, she explained her fear that my father would take you from her.”
“Wait.What?”Quinn jumped off the stool.“You and my mother have been in touch?”
“Who do you think gave me your email address?”
Now it was Quinn’s turn to feel betrayed.All this time, she’d been trying to protect her mother, and she’d already known.And hadn’t said a word.Heath must have sensed Quinn’s distress because he’d risen to stand beside her and took her hand.But he said nothing.
“Your mother’s fears were justified,” the king continued.“Had my father known about you, he would have moved heaven and earth to take you from your mother’s arms.”
All Quinn had remembered was her mom’s feelings of rejection.In grief, she’d thrown away her Oxford scholarship and fled to America to live with a cousin.
“I wish I could have seen you grow into the beautiful woman who stands before me.Mydaughter… who resents and hates me.”His voice broke off with emotion.
Quinn’s lips trembled.Here he was, surrounded by people he didn’t know, showing his pain.She felt unsteady.How could her life have flipped, with her feelings of resentment toward her mother and compassion for her father?
“Are you all right?”Heath whispered.
“I don’t know.
“Is there somewhere we could speak privately?”the king asked, sending a quick glance around the crowded room.
Quinn’s mind was overflowing with questions, and she itched to pull out her phone and call her mother.
“I think that’s a good idea,” she finally said.
“If you’re sure, you’re welcome to use the game room upstairs,” Sara offered.“The loft is far enough back we won’t be able to hear, but you won’t be isolated.”
The king offered Quinn his arm, and she took it.
Heath watchedQuinn and her father walk up the stairs, already talking animatedly with each other.The two bodyguards positioned themselves at the bottom.Would the king talk her into moving to Glenloria?It’d give her a home base to photograph Europe.Would she still want to pursue a relationship with Heath if she were rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous there?
“You and Quinn will need to consider setting up security measures.”Kayn pointed to the laptop where they’d watched the limo.
“What do you mean?”Heath asked, following him to it.
“We haven’t kept it secret that Viktor’s from Glenloria,” Kayn said, “and now the king of said country has been driving through town in a limo flashing his little flags.Boone might have a high-tech district now, but it’s still a relatively small city.We rarely get visitors who warrant paparazzi, but someone’s bound to have noticed.”
“What are your security concerns?”Heath asked.
“If word gets out that the king of Glenloria has a daughter he didn’t know about, it’s going to be big news.”Kayn gave Heath’s shoulder a sympathetic pat.“I doubt Quinn will want people finding her from her website.”
“Or from the Citadel’s, where she’s listed as the staff photographer.”Sona leaned back so they could see the screen.
“But what about her photography?People have to find her business online.”Heath felt sick.Quinn would hate this.“Can she keep her name out of the press?”
