Page 14 of Pregnant In The King's Palace

‘I’ll let Lucia know to brace herself. Maybe she can wear a name tag.’

‘She would never.’ Carlos smiled fondly. ‘We’re Cordovas. Family solidarity is our strength.’

She nodded and rubbed at her temple with the heel of her palm. ‘I told Valentine he could ride our horses today.’

‘Why on earth did you tell him that?’

‘Because I’m weak and pitiful and thought it might help. Nothing to see here, no feuds of old. Just regular people going about their business. Wonder if I can take it back?’ But she knew she wouldn’t, just as she knew Valentine would ride a Cordova horse today regardless of the hatchet job they’d done on him in the press, or maybe because of it. It was a matter of pride.

‘There’s one more thing they’re speculating about in this article.’

‘What now?’ But the sudden rough gravity in her brother’s voice made her uneasy.

‘Not about you. It’s about Valentine and his recent illness.’

She didn’t even know he’d been ill, but it explained a lot.

‘They’re saying it made him infertile.’

‘They’re saying what?’

‘No children for the King of Thallasia. No direct heirs. No need for him to take a wife or even for him to stay in power. He may step down.’

Suddenly Valentine’s behaviour of yesterday and last night began to make sense. His reckless defiance. His interest in her. He didn’t need to marry well any more. If he couldn’t sire children, he didn’t need to marry at all... ‘That ratfink bastard!’

Her brother’s eyebrows rose. ‘Not quite the reaction I was expecting.’

‘He’s going slumming.’ She waved the hand with her sweet roll in the air to emphasise her point. ‘Sniffing around me all of a sudden because he’s got it in his head he’s only half a man now and no respectable woman will want him. Why not have me now, after all these years? He has nothing to lose!’

‘To be fair, his thought process might be a little more nuanced than that.’

‘All last night I worried about him.’ Carlos was giving the man way too much credit. ‘Twice, I asked him what was wrong, three times, but did he answer me? No. He couldn’t even give me honesty! She waved her food in her brother’s face and he leaned back and gently pushed it sideways. ‘I’m going to castrate him.’

‘Don’t threaten with your food. Also, if this report is to be believed, he’s already been unmanned. Give him a break.’

‘You do not get to take his side in this.’ Maybe she would want to eat her roll eventually, but as of this moment she’d quite lost her appetite. ‘I’m right and he’s an imbecile who can’t come to terms with his new world order and is feeling sorry for himself. Boo hoo!’

‘Are you done?’

‘Would you like me to continue?’ Because she could. ‘Spoilt, self-obsessed, delusional, irritating...’ Hurting... ‘Don’t you dare tell me he’s not.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’ Anyone would think Carlos was used to such outbursts from her and knew exactly how to slide his way around them. ‘But are we letting him on a horse?’

If there was one thing a man could count on in this world, it was Cordova family solidarity, decided Valentine as he stepped inside Theo’s royal stables and headed for the Cordova horses. Carlos and Luciana had both joined Angelique in tending to their mounts today; preparing them for riders, making them look like the wildly expensive animals they doubtless were.

Carlos was point man, by the look of things, meaning anyone waiting for a horse dealt with him. Angelique and Luciana stayed in the background, glamorous and unattainable as they readied the animals for handover. Didn’t matter to Valentine if he had to wait to be served, like everyone else. Didn’t matter if Angelique had glared at him when he’d first arrived and then ignored him. He was here for Cordova horses to play polo on, because last night she’d made that offer and he was damned if he’d let his country’s gutter press bleed every last vestige of pleasure from his existence.

‘Angelique,’ Carlos barked. ‘Get the King’s horse.’

Guess they weren’t intending to keep him standing in line after all.

Carlos sent him a measuring stare and then gestured with his head for Valentine to pass through the invisible line Carlos had so effectively drawn to keep people away from his sisters. ‘You’re getting our very best today. All of them are bred for endurance, agility and speed, but these ones are special. Fit for a king.’ Fine words, when every line in the other man’s body conveyed a very different message. Screw this up and we’re done. ‘Interesting article in the paper this morning.’

‘You read that?’ Who was he trying to fool? Everyone he’d met so far this morning had read the salacious ‘interview’. Interview with whom? Not him. Not Theo, the other King had been quick to inform him. No, the piece had the air of an article that had been a while in the making, with the distinct sniff of leaks from his own court. His personal secretary had his suspicions and had already set a trap. It wasn’t the first time someone in his inner circle had chosen money over honour. It wouldn’t be the last. The billionaire shipping magnate’s quote had been nothing more than an opportunistic addition.

‘Any of it true?’ asked Carlos, and at least the man was blunt about it.

‘The bit about your sister being a good horsewoman is true.’ Valentine supposed more openness wouldn’t go amiss at this point but he still couldn’t bring himself to address other parts of the interview or clarify their truth. ‘My apologies for bringing your family under scrutiny again.’

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