He stood behind his desk, hands clasped behind his back. Tall. Severe. Just like the first time she’d met him. His dark eyes unreadable.
But she had seen them clouded with passion, direct with fury, lost, sad. She had seen every emotion in his eyes, no matter how hard he’d tried to hide them. So she wanted to rush over to him as Evelyne had done on Gabriel’s arrival last night. She wanted to cry—at least that she could blame on hormones.
But she stood across from him, frozen to the spot because he surveyed her with that detached calm that left her feeling travel-frazzled even after her bath.
I am so glad to see you in one piece. I am so proud you handled this the way you did. Your country will love you because you are a good king, but I love you because you are a good man.
All words she might have tried to say if her throat wasn’t so tight.
“Good morning, Ines. I am glad you are back.”
She blinked. Those were not exactly the words she’d been expecting. They hadn’t exactly left on happy terms, so it worried her that he wasgladshe was back. Had he come up with some horrible new plan that would crush her?
She cleared her throat. “I am glad to be back. Gabriel’s parents were more than kind, but I prefer…”Home.Not just this place, but a place she knew he was. Safe and sound andhome. “I have approved the pregnancy announcement.”
“Excellent. It will go out at once.”
Ines nodded, feeling little more than adrift. Why was she here? She wanted to scream that at him. And yet all she did was stand here, waiting for him to speak.
He picked up something from his desk. A little notepad. She could see he’d written some things in his blunt but elegant hand. He crossed to her and held it out.
“I have made you a list, Ines.”
“A list…” He’d successfully stopped a revolution, and he had alistfor her. A list when he’d told Jonet, or rather his assistant to Jonet, this was someurgentmatter. She took the outstretched pad of paper, but she couldn’t quite make herself look down at it.
She couldn’t take her gaze off him when he was whole and in one piece and something was just off. Something she couldn’t put her finger on.
“It is a list of things we must accomplish before the baby is born,” he said regally, perhaps noticing she wasn’t reading.
He was giving her a…to-do list. Perhaps to keep her busy and away from him? Maybe that was for the best. But she couldn’t seem to look at it. Not when he was within reach. Not when…there wassomethingin his eyes she didn’t recognize, didn’t think she’d ever seen.
It terrified her. What if this was it? The end of the line. He’d stopped a revolution and now he’d stop her.
No. He doesn’t get to stop you loving him.
“I have also thought long and hard about it,” he continued, though Ines had no idea whatitreferred to.
“There was a queen of Alis many generations ago named Phillipa. She was highly regarded as brave and intelligent, no small feat for a woman to be given any credit in that time period.”
Ines stared at Alexandre, wondering if he was suffering from some sort of sleep deprivation, because why was he talking about old queens? A history lesson?
“It is history, family, but it is also a symbol,” he continued, his gaze steady and serious, but something was lurking in their dark depths that Ines couldn’t quite identify or understand.
“I believe it would be a nice name for a princess.”
Princess. Ines’s mouth dropped open. Something cracked open inside of her. “You thought of…a name.” Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them back. She didn’t know what that meant.
“Before you cry, read the list, Ines.” His voice was…soft. She could not remember his tone ever being quite so resonant like that before.
So she finally looked down at the list in her hand and began to read.
We will breakfast together every morning. If I must miss a breakfast, I will make it up at the other meals of the day, and if I must be away for the entire day, you may punish me accordingly.
Punish…This didn’t make sense, so she kept reading.
There will be no more separate bedrooms. You will move into mine—you may adjust the decor accordingly.
But that seemed to mean… Ines shook her head. Maybe this was a very elaborate dream.
