The baby would be the next King.
So he was stuck, Alex thought, still watching for Lily, still distracted by his friends but never getting away from his overriding disgust at the way things had played out. He’d be playing father to the child of a man he’d loathed. He’d be playing Prince Regent to a country whose rule he despised, with no authority to change things. And his friends… Behind their smiles there was desperation. They hid it as they’d always hidden it. With humour and false bravado.
‘Hey, look at you!’ Stefanos exclaimed, clapping his hand on Alex’s shoulder. ‘One more tassel and you’ll be declared a Christmas tree.’
‘All you need is some fairy lights,’ Nikos agreed, laughing. ‘Hey… ’
‘Mia’s sister’s here,’ he said before they could continue. ‘Lily.’
Their banter ceased. They were great friends, Alex thought. If this baby hadn’t been born, how much good could they have done?
These two had met Lily. They’d seen how he felt about her. Maybe his feelings were still showing in his face, but he couldn’t prevent them.
‘Why the hell… ?’ Nikos demanded, looking round. ‘I can’t see her.’
‘She’s playing a drab country mouse—black skirt and jacket, and a scarf over her hair. I guess she thinks it’ll stop people recognising her.’
‘She has a nerve coming here,’ Stefanos said. ‘If the people knew… They’re aching to lynch Mia.’
‘Lily’s not Mia.’
‘I seem to remember she wound you round her little finger,’ Nikos said, still smiling, but his eyes were watchful and tinged with sympathy.
‘Yeah, I fell hard,’ Alex said, trying to make his voice light. ‘I was conned, as Giorgos was conned.’
‘Hey, Mia didn’t con him. She married him and she bore his child.’
‘She married for power and position.’
‘And you fell for the sister.’
‘It was little more than a one-night stand. Why the hell’s she here?’
‘Ask her.’
‘I guess I must,’ he said heavily. ‘If Lily thinks she can still play at being part of the royal family… ’
‘You’ll set her right?’ Stefanos asked.
‘Of course I will,’ Alex said heavily. ‘And then she’ll leave.’
A royal birth, a royal death and a baby abandoned by a royal mother… It had taken Lily most of the day to figure out exactly what had happened.
She’d listened. She’d asked discreet questions of other guests, and she was appalled. She knew enough now to realise the islanders were almost as appalled as she was. There was massive dissent. One more shock might well bring down the monarchy and, for some reason she hadn’t figured out, that’d be a disaster.
But it couldn’t matter, Lily thought bleakly as the day wore on and she sifted information. She wasn’t royal but she wanted the baby. She wanted her baby.
Finally she made her way to the nursery. She found it simply by asking for directions from a maid, sounding authoritative, then slipping quietly in without asking.
The nursery was empty, apart from its tiny prince.
Michales was sleeping. He was tucked on his side in his crib, rolled in a soft fuzz of blanket, sucking his thumb in sleep. He had a thatch of thick black curls, amazing for a baby so young. His long lashes fluttered over his tiny cheeks as he slept.
He was… beautiful.
He was hers.
Michales, named after her father, Michael. That was the only promise Mia had kept.
Over the last few weeks she’d wondered how she’d feel when she first saw him, but now, as she gazed at her sleeping son she knew what she felt. Anger? Betrayal? Yes, both of those, but overriding everything… love. He was perfect, she thought in wonder as she gazed down at her sleeping baby.
Her son. Her baby. Michales.
‘What the hell are you doing?’
Alex’s voice made her jump. Everything about this man made her jump. He was like a panther, moving with stealth wherever he was least expected. She whirled and found him watching from the doorway, his face impassive.
Twelve months ago she’d found him irresistible. Drop dead gorgeous. Passionate. Even tender.
Now he just looked angry. Regally angry. So far from the Alex she remembered that she cringed.
‘I came… I came to see my sister,’ she managed.
‘As you see—Mia’s gone. Abandoning her baby. Abandoning everything to join a man so rich he can buy what she thinks she deserves. Are you saying you didn’t know?’
‘I didn’t.’ She fingered the invitation in her pocket, fighting for courage. The anger on Alex’s face was enough to frighten a braver woman than she was. ‘She asked me to come. She sent me an invitation. I arrived this morning to find her… ’
‘Gone,’ he said bluntly. ‘With the son of a sheikh. Apparently she’d been planning it since her husband died. Maybe before. Who knows?’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘You’re sorry?’ He stared at her as if she were part of her sister. They looked alike, Lily thought numbly, and he wasn’t seeing her. He was seeing Mia, and the way he felt about her was dreadfully apparent.
There was a long drawn-out silence.
She forced her mind back to the first time she’d met him. He’d been here—reluctantly, she gathered—for the King’s celebration of forty years of rule. Not knowing the celebrations were underway, shocked by what the doctors were telling her, she’d been frightened enough to try and visit her sister. She’d been stupid enough to hope Mia would care.
Mia hadn’t even wanted to listen. ‘Lily, please, this is a very important evening. Everyone else is here to party. Here’s a dress. Enjoy yourself. I can’t listen to your problems tonight.’
So she’d sat numbly on the edge of the celebrations, trying not to stare into the chasm of her future. But then Alex had smiled at her and he’d asked her to dance.
And here was the result. Michales. Thought by the world to be Queen Mia’s child. Thought, therefore, to be the new King.
No, she thought numbly. Whatever Mia had told the islanders, it was a lie. The true heir was Alex—looking splendid, looking royal, playing his part with ease.
‘Have you talked to Mia?’ he demanded.
She shook her head. ‘That’s… that’s why I’m here. But I gather she’s left… ’
‘A mess,’ he snapped. ‘This baby stands to inherit the throne. I’m left in the role of caretaker but I’ve no power. And here you come… You have no right to be here.’
‘I accepted an invitation. I have every right to be here.’ She met his gaze calmly, or as calmly as she could manage. Surface calm. Underneath she was jelly.
But somehow she had to break through his anger. She wasn’t her sister. He had to see that. ‘Alex, last time we met… ’ she started but his look would have frozen braver souls than her.
‘Forget it,’ he snapped. ‘I don’t know what game you were playing… ’
‘I wasn’t playing a game. I was… ’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ His anger slashed the stillness. ‘What matters now is the future of these islands, and that’s nothing to do with you. There are bigger issues.