Page 45 of Incognito

He’d done the only thing possible: shut down emotionally and maintained a frosty façade while rage at the futility of their wasted relationship bubbled hot and searing beneath the surface.

Natasha could have said anything, done anything, and he wouldn’t have reacted. He couldn’t. He’d learned a long time ago that the only way to deal with hardship, with disappointment, was to shut down.

This defence mechanism had served him well before and would now.

It had to be his way—the royal way—of accepting his birthright, putting his country first, and his needs last.

Always.

But for the first time ever, he wondered what it would be like to have a normal life, a life far removed from crowns and thrones and a country’s expectations, a life where he could be the man for Natasha.

25

Numb, Natasha clasped her fingers so tight together she didn’t register the pain of her fingernails digging into her flesh until Luigi placed a steaming mocha cappuccino in front of her.

“Your young man left? What a pity,” he said, the old man’s black eyes twinkling in his podgy face.

Luigi loved gossip almost as much as Ella, but right now, Natasha had no intention of becoming fodder for the rumour mill.

“He had to go.” She mustered a wan smile. “Thanks for the coffee, Luigi, it smells fabulous as usual.”

Luigi, a sucker for flattery, preened like a proud peacock before bestowing a huge smile and strutting away.

Leaving her exactly where she’d been a few seconds ago: alone, bereft, and shattered.

She didn’t understand Dante’s behaviour, any of it. From the time he’d strolled into the hotel and enlisted her help, none of it made sense.

Though it was useless to ponder now. She was more interested in his current abrupt turnaround; from welcomingher into his family one night to walking out on her the next morning without as much as a reason why.

It made no sense.

He’d looked surprised to see her, which meant if she hadn’t craved a mocha cappuccino and dropped in at Trevi’s, would Dante have said goodbye?

If his icy demeanour had been any indication, she seriously doubted it.

Shaking her head, Natasha took a soothing sip of her cappuccino, savouring the creamy coffee sliding down her throat, enjoying the kick of caffeine.

Nothing made sense, least of all the empty sadness clawing at her soul, the devastation that indicated she felt a lot more for Dante than she’d let herself believe.

After another soothing sip, she spied the folded piece of paper he’d left on the table. Reaching across, she picked up the small rectangle and unfolded it, not surprised to see a cheque. An old-fashioned prince would favour a paper trail rather than a bank transfer for payment of her PA services. Especially considering her services had been unorthodox. How could he explain to his financiers that they needed to transfer funds to her account for helping him go undercover for a week?

What did surprise her—what shocked her—was the amount.

Enough money to clear her debt with Clay, to set her free, to save her family.

Stifling the insane urge to giggle, she refolded the cheque and slipped it into her handbag. She could tear it up, but couldn’t afford to let pride get in the way of common sense.

She’d wished for a miracle last night, had even considered approaching Dante for help, and ironically, it looked like she’d got exactly what she hoped for.

Then why did it feel like the price she’d paid to gain her miracle had been heartbreakingly high?

26

“Seeing you twice in less than twenty-four hours?” Clay winked and Natasha’s skin prickled with dread. “Are you sure you still haven’t got a thing for me?”

Natasha heard the click of the door to his office behind her and wondered if it was too late to bolt after Clay’s secretary.

If his smarminess made her skin crawl last night, seeing him again so soon made her want to retch.

---