Page 39 of Pregnant at the Palace Altar

He looked up from his plate, a patient look on his face. It would disappear. Everything would likely disappear when she said the words, and still she said them.

“I love you.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

DIAMANDISHELDHIMSELFvery still. It reminded him, oddly and discordantly, of when he’d first heard those gunshots in the castle.

He was frozen.

Because everything would change from this moment on.

No. I will not let it.

“This is...unnecessary,” he managed to say, perhaps more stiffly than he’d ever said anything in his life.

She laughed. He found that as incomprehensible as her words. “Katerina, this is quite—”

“Unnecessary. Yes, you said.”

Love.She could not. She had convinced herself of this foolish notion because...because...she was impressed that her bouquet had contained flowers she liked.

My favorite. How did you know?

He still remembered that moment. It was years ago. She’d received her birthday flowers—a common token of appreciation he gave all staff who might enjoy such things—and she’d smiled so beautifully, so unguardedly.

My favorite. How did you know?

And he’d looked at the bouquet and made sure, every year, that she had her hibiscus blooms.

But that was simply...it was simply what his parents had taught him to do: take care of your staff and they will take care of you.

You’re something like a family, his mother had once told them.

Diamandis pushed this thought away as far as it would go. “You’ve been in the sun too long.” He imagined he sounded quite knowledgeable, certainly not as rusty as he felt.

There had to be some reason, some rationale. She couldn’t really love him. This had come from absolutely nowhere and he was certainly not worthy of such a ridiculous emotion. Not from her. Not from anyone.

“So love is a delusion brought on by sunstroke?” she returned, still with a smile.

“It might as well be.”

“Oh, Diamandis. Honestly! Do you really need to be so dramatic about it?”

“Dramatic?” Offense poked through whatever other feeling had gripped him.Fear.No. He had nothing to fear.

He was the king, and he’d already lost everything.

“Yes, dramatic. I love you. There’s no need to try and discredit my feelings. They are mine. I tried to guard my heart—quite valiantly, if I do say so myself. But I could not, because my heart was already yours long before that night in your office.” She moved to him and put her hand on his chest, looking up at him through inky lashes. “I love you, Diamandis. I know you will not reciprocate this feeling. I think you might even believe you’re incapable of it.”

Love.He had never anticipated this from her. Not today. Not ever. She was too practical. Too rational. She knew him too well.

He could not do this. He could not give in to her words. It would be weakness and could not possibly end well. This was the lesson of his life.

“You do not know me, Katerina.” There was a darkness inside him that no one knew.

She shook her head. “I know you better than anyone, I think. And I love you. I’m not sure it was a choice, but itwasmy choice to say that to you. To accept it. To accept everything that has happened.”

It was impossible. “You will not repeat this.” Love was a weakness for people like him. And she did not know him. Not the way he knew her. She would never understand the dark pit inside of him.

---