“I can go first,” she offered.
“No.” His tone was soft but firm. “I must confess that I have not been completely honest with you about who I am.”
She wanted to jump in and tell him that she already knew who he was.
Before she could formulate a response, he lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. “I am the crown prince of Karltenberg.”
“Okay.”
His eyes widened. “Just okay?”
“Remember that I said I needed to tell you something?”
He pressed his lips together, clearly wanting more of a reaction from her than herokay.
“I realized you were a prince from the first day I met you.”
“What?” He straightened. “How? Did someone else say something? One of the other bankers?”
“No.” She shifted into speaking German so that there would be no doubt in his mind that she knew. “I heard Braun call you Your Highness. And it didn’t take much investigating after that to find out who you were.”
“I see.”
She sat up. “You’re irritated at me.” She switched back to English now that she’d made her point.
“Yes, you should have told me you knew.”
“I could say the same thing of you.”
“This is different. You can speak German and overheard our conversations.”
“I admit, I felt like I was eavesdropping.”
“You were.” He stood abruptly. “You deceived me.”
She pushed up so that she was standing too. “And you deceived me.”
“How could I deceive you when you already knew my true identity?”
“It was still deception since your intention was to hide it from me.”
They weren’t exactly shouting, but neither were they being quiet anymore. She supposed it was good that Braun and Winzig could hear the truth too.
He stood rigid, his chin high and his shoulders straight. He looked haughty and powerful, like a king. Did royalty practice that kind of stance? Because he had it down to perfection.
He held her gaze for a moment, then blew out a taut breath. “You are right. It was still deception. And I apologize for not telling you sooner.”
“And I’m sorry for not telling you sooner too.”
“I have no excuse, but I had just hoped to have a private vacation without any paparazzi discovering my whereabouts and disturbing me.”
“I heard you say so to Braun, which was one of the reasons why I decided to keep quiet about it.”
“What were the other reasons?”
“I admit, I was afraid you’d leave if you knew that I knew.”
“I doubt I would have.”
