Page 39 of Royal Surrogate 1

“Well, as I said, my father requested a change or two to our arrangement.”

My gut tightens, though I’m not sure what I’m afraid of. “Can he do that? Isn’t the contract legally binding as is?”

He pauses. “Yes, it is.”

“But you think we should sign the new one?” I ask, reading between the lines. “So that he’s on board with everything?”

Again, he seems to have to drag the words out of himself—he clearly detests having to appease his father.

“It would certainly make things easier,” he says. “It’s my fault for doing things this way—I should have been upfront with them from the start. This is a lot for them to take in on such short notice.”

“I get it.” Relief sweeps through me, now that I see where this is going. “Legal or not, you want your parents to be fully supportive of your heir.”

He nods. “And you as well, Renae. I know this didn’t start as a traditional relationship, but—” He pauses, then finishes, “But I want the best for you, truly. And I want you to be welcomed in this family.”

My eyes flick to the papers in his hand. “So, what does your father want? I’m assuming that’s the new contract for me to sign?”

He nods again. “He wants… well, first of all, he added a few provisions to the morality clause. Essentially, he wants your consent to hire a company that will scrub the internet of any questionable photos or posts from your past.”

“That makes sense,” I say. Frankly, I’m surprised there wasn’t one in the initial contract. “And don’t worry—I don’t think there’s anything for them to scrub.”

“Then he added a few lines to the confidentiality section, tightening it up,” Caspar goes on. He flips to one of the pages and shows it to me, and I skim the new lines. They make sense, too.

“Is that it?” I ask, feeling more relieved by the second.

“There is one more thing…” A slight crease appears on his brow as he flips to the second-to-last page. “He, uh…” Again, I see that flash of reluctance. “He also added a couple of sentences in the section where you give up your claim to certain decisions about the child’s future.”

This time, I feel a slight pang in my chest. The deeper I get into this, the more I’m coming to understand the sacrifice I’m going to be making.

But that’s part of the deal. I think of my dad—of the life this will be giving him—and remind myself that this child will be in wonderful hands. He or she will be a royal, for god’s sake. I can’t offer my child any better than that.

“Do you have a pen?” I ask him. “I’ll sign it right now.”

He pulls one out of his pocket. “You’ll need to initial every page to confirm you agree to all the new terms. And they’ll be signing this new one as well, so everyone is officially and legally on board.”

“Fine, that’s fine,” I tell him, wanting to get this over with. I can’t be second guessing this decision now—I won’t. I stride over to a side table and quickly flip through the pages, initialing them without even glancing at the terms. I’m afraid that if I linger too long on this decision, I’ll be forced to face all the emotions I’ve gotten so good at shoving down.

When I get to the final signature page, though, Caspar is suddenly beside me, his hand coming down over mine and stopping me from moving the pen.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” he says softly. “We don’t have to do this. We can tear up this contract right now.”

“And do what?” I can hear the desperation in my own voice. “I need this money, Caspar. Don’t worry—I’m not backing out. I’ll do whatever it is your father wants. I don’t care. I need this.”

He looks at me for a long moment, like he’s studying something deep inside me—something I don’t want him to see. I tear my eyes away from his, shrug his hand off mine, and sign the contract before he can stop me again.

“There,” I say. “It’s done.”

He looks down at the papers. “Yes, I suppose it is.”

CHAPTER 31

Caspar

I might be the world’s most horrible man.

My heart races at the knowledge Renae will be mine—for the next twenty years, at any rate—and she didn’t even hesitate. Not that she read that teeny, tiny little passage near the end of the contract, of course, but it wasn’t as though I kept her from looking at it.

But what will she do when she finds out?

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