Page 39 of Pregnant In The King's Palace

‘I never meant to trap you,’ he offered quietly. ‘I only ever wanted to love you.’

A sob rose up and tore through her throat, and then another, and then she cried, hard and ugly, and he turned her around and wrapped her in his arms where she repaid his steadfast support by drenching his shirt in a waterfall of tears. He held her until she was all cried out. Until she felt as if she’d swum that pitch-black river at her back and crawled up those jagged, wicked-looking stone steps, exhausted and empty.

‘Right. So. Each to their own.’ He put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head until she met his gaze head-on. ‘Feeling better yet?’

‘Yes.’ Dios, this man. ‘Yes.’

Angelique never expected Valentine to be the one to break the news of her pregnancy to her father, but he was. She hadn’t expected him to return to the manor with her, but he did. She couldn’t sit without him asking her if she needed some food, or a drink, or a pillow for her back. She couldn’t work in the stables without him ordering grooms to do her work. He stayed with her for days, no mention of his own work, as he not so subtly fortified the security around the estate.

Vala had indeed arranged a raft of medical specialists to attend them both. Angelique had been poked, prodded and had undergone a paternity test and the results had confirmed what she already knew. The baby was Valentine’s.

As for Valentine’s medical tests, they told him his viable sperm count remained next to non-existent, but there were clearly some that could... One that had...

She had an ultrasound done, with Valentine present, and she had to laugh because although she wasn’t as far along as she’d thought—eight weeks or so rather than twelve—she’d be getting bigger in a hurry.

She was having twins.

If she thought Valentine fussed over her before he heard this news, it was nothing compared to his compulsive desire for her to be seated on a chaise longue for ever, with a bunch of grapes in hand, after he realised she was eating for three.

She bluntly told him that maybe he didn’t have to return to the manor to tuck her in each night, or bear witness to her pale face and uneasy stomach of a morning.

His sister was pushing for him to break the news of his impending fatherhood and upcoming nuptials. ‘Get out there and sell it,’ she’d pleaded during her last visit. ‘God help me, Valentine, you’re not doing yourself any favours by neglecting your duties and holing up here, and if you think you’re protecting Angelique by squirrelling her away, think again. The press know you’re here, they know you’ve had medical specialists in. The stories about you and Angelique are getting wilder.’

‘Have I poisoned him yet?’ asked Angelique.

‘No, you’ve had a riding fall and are at death’s door. That or you’re undergoing artificial insemination with my brother’s teenage sperm—that you kept frozen for years in a facility meant for horse sperm—’

‘Ew...’

‘I hear you.’ Valentine threw up his hands. ‘I’ll prepare a statement and have the palace announce it tomorrow.’ He glanced her way, his expression shuttered. ‘I could announce our engagement and upcoming wedding at the same time as well.’

‘I haven’t said yes.’

And there it was. Happy-clappy noises on the surface and a deep unease about stepping fully into his world underneath.

‘You’re stuck with me either way, you realise.’

‘But he would, of course, prefer his heirs legitimate,’ Vala emphasised, with a glare for them both.

‘I’m working on it,’ he replied coolly. ‘Butt out, Vala. And, Angelique, brace yourself.’

‘I’m ready.’ She summoned a smile.

‘Liar.’

Hard to deny. ‘Are you willing to deny paternity?’

‘Never.’ His eyes flashed dark warning. ‘You know this.’

‘Then I’m ready.’

The news did not go down a treat. It was one thing to make the foreign horsemaster with the terrible reputation and sultry good looks his mistress. It was quite another to inform a nation they had twins on the way.

Angelique said very little beyond, ‘Told you.’

If it bothered her more than that, she didn’t let it show. Her family closed ranks. No comment from any of them or any of their employees. Not one leak from the house of Cordova and that in itself was impressive. No lovers coming forward to spill the beans. Angelique had responded to that with a funny little smile and words that held the sting of hidden truth. ‘I’ve only ever had one lover, so if you want to give an interview, go ahead. The rest of my reputation is pure fabrication—some of it planted by me for reasons I thought valid at the time. For protection, even. It protects me still, in that if I’m never given a chance to succeed, I can never try to win the hearts of your people and fail.’

‘That’s your approach?’

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