He stiffened, as she’d known he would. He even cleared his throat. “Surely you are exhausted from your travel.”
“Funny how a short drive and an equally short flight on a private plane did not quite exhaust me. Besides, I took a nap between lunch and dinner. Do you have any other excuses you’d like to trot out?”
His face became a storm. “They are not excuses, Ines.”
“Then what are they?” she asked, feigning innocence.
But he had no answer for that. Just a disapproving expression. “Very well,” he muttered. “We will go for our walk.”
She noted he did not mention theirappointment, but she let that slide for now. He tucked his arm into hers and led her out of the dining room, through the palace, and then out one of the terrace doors that would lead them down to the gardens.
The night was warm, the scent of flowers and midnight wafting around them. The gardens were extensive and one of Ines’s favorite places in the palace. Some long-gone ancestor of Alexandre’s had planted them, and the gardeners tended them, and in every season there were different delights to discover if a person perused the winding, meandering pathways.
Ines often did just that, alone, instead of with her husband. But tonight, they walked, her arm tucked into Alexandre’s, and she felt something ease inside of her that had been tied tight these past four months.
Perhaps she’d known all along that running away wasn’t the answer, but she was glad she’d done it. Learned something from it. And now she was glad to be back, fighting for something good.
“This reminds me of our wedding.”
“Why?”
The bafflement in his tone made her smile, because the memory was notwithhim. It was before. “My hair and makeup was done, but they hadn’t put me in that monstrosity of a dress yet.”
She watched his face illuminated by moonlight, surprised to see his mouth curve ever so slightly. “It was a bit of a monstrosity.”
Neither of them had been allowed any say in it. Their wedding had not been forthem. It had been for King Enzo to show off his wealth—well, her father’s wealth combining with the king’s power. But still, they had said vows, married and consummated said marriage.
And here they were over a year later. Walking the gardens. A baby on the way. It should be enough, but it wasn’t. Not yet.
“I needed some air while they dealt with how they were going to get me into such a thing. So I came out here. I sat there on that bench and looked at the gardens. I listened to the birds. I told myself that it didn’t matter if I hadn’t chosen this, there were things I could choose. Like being a leader and a good princess. That even if your father was a scary monster, there was…you.”
He eyed her warily as they walked through an archway of blooming trees.
“Do you know what I thought when I first met you?” she asked him. Because they never discussedthem. They never discussed anything but work, and that needed to change.
He did not say anything, and that slight curve to his mouth flattened.
She kept talking. He would not silence her. “You were so handsome, but so severe. And I had no reason to trust my father’s choice in suitor, and, of course, I knew what a despot your father was. Even though people around the palace seemed to speak highly of you, I could hardly take it at their word. And then we met in that reception room. Do you remember?”
The wariness in his expression had only intensified. “Yes.”
“And what did you think of me?”
He took a moment, no doubt searching for therightanswer in his mind, not the actual answer. “That you were very small.”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you always looking for ways to protect, Alex?”
Something flickered in his eyes. She was beginning to think he actuallylikedit when she shortened his name. Few people did it. Evelyne or Gabriel sometimes, but not often.
The longer name suited who he was better, but there was a man inside who was more than his long, royal name.
“You were very polite. We talked of birds. Do you remember? I said I liked birds—just a nervous blurt because you were being so silent and foreboding—but then you spoke, and you very kindly told me there were great places to watch birds in the gardens.”
His gaze lowered to hers, his eyebrows furrowed as if he didn’t quite understand what she was saying.
“And then the next time I came, you showed me. Every time, you always looked after my comfort. You were always gentle. Nothing in my life had ever beengentlebefore. Pampered, yes, but not gentle. Does that make sense?”
He looked at her, not detached now. Maybe a little confused. He didn’t answer, but she thought it did make sense to him. She thought if anyone could understand the difference it was him.
