Page 115 of Royal Caleva: Luis

Eve might not be part of the royal family, but she wasn’t going to allow their stubborn idiot of a king to exhaust himself to the point of collapse. She loved him too much for that.

She marched across the antique carpet and fetched up beside Luis. He gave her a smile that had a strained quality to it, and he did not let go of the chair. “Eve, our daughter is handling herself with amazing poise and dignity.”

A spurt of pride made Eve pause her mission for a moment as she watched Grace laughing with Gabriel and Quinn. “She’s quite an impressive princess,” she agreed. “But you and I need to talk.”

Luis’s smile vanished. “What is the problem?”

Eve moved in front of him so her back was to the group of royals. “I saw you nearly fall a moment ago. You need to go back to your apartment and rest. Now.”

“I cannot,” Luis said. “Grace and I have an interview with La Voix. It is their reward for killing the photo of us on the beach.” His smile was slightly wicked this time. “I treasure that picture myself.”

Eve’s traitorous body answered his smile with a liquid slide of heat. “Have Bruno cancel it, or I will. If you don’t go to bed now, I will sic Dr. Ibarra on you.”

“Dr. Ibarra cannot order me to bed.” His voice held all the arrogance of his position.

“She can tell your family that you require several days of bed rest. I’m pretty sure they can apply enough pressure to put you back in the hospital.”

“Ay, Eve, you don’t know what you ask,” Luis said.

She stepped closer to him and locked her gaze on his face. “I know that everyone in this room cares deeply about you. If you don’t make an exit in the next five minutes, I will tell them what I saw.”

And then she waited with her fingers mentally crossed. If he refused, no one could actually make him go to bed.

His sigh seemed to come from his toes. “Bien. But you will accompany me to my habitación…as my crutch. I do not wish to stumble on the way.”

He must feel like crap to have agreed so quickly, but not for a second did she think he needed her assistance. However, if she could get him into his bed faster that way, she would do it.

“Please continue to welcome Grace into the family,” Luis said, changing the timbre of his voice so everyone turned to listen. “I must speak with Eve and Bruno privately.”

There was a chorus of goodbyes. Raul met his father’s eye, and Luis gave a small shake of his head. Luis gestured Eve toward a door that Bruno hurried to open for them.

“Bruno, I regret to ask this of you, but I must cancel the interview with La Voix today,” Luis said, striding down a passage lined with suits of armor. “Tell them they still have the exclusive but reschedule it for tomorrow.”

The king’s assistant didn’t blink. “Of course, Señor.”

“That is all I require now,” Luis said, continuing to walk.

“Yes, Señor.” Bruno peeled off at an intersecting corridor.

As soon as his assistant was gone, Luis slowed his pace. “We need to be deep in conversation so no one approaches us.”

“Okay. Um, will Grace have a Bruno equivalent?” Eve asked, matching her stride to Luis’s. Should she take his arm to support him?

“Yes, she may choose from our palace staff, or she may hire from the outside, as long as Mikel has vetted the candidate,” Luis said.

“I could use a Bruno myself,” Eve said. “He’s pretty handy.”

“He would be flattered to hear you say that,” Luis said.

As they made a turn, the corridor became wider and less medieval. It also had people bustling through it. Luis picked up his pace, and people stepped to the side with respectful half bows in a ripple of movement as he passed. Every now and then, someone murmured, “Felicidades,” which Eve assumed was meant as congratulations to Luis on his newly discovered daughter.

One man started to approach them, but Luis looked down his nose while giving a minuscule shake of his head. The man practically doubled over in a bow as he backed away.

“What should we talk about?” Eve asked, remembering that they should be conversing.

“Grace, because she is an extraordinary young woman.” His voice held both wonder and pride. “And you are an extraordinary mother. She is who she is because of you. Gracias a Dios that Odette chose you to raise our child.”

Eve stumbled as his words tore through her, leaving a confusion of emotions in their wake. Gratification at his tremendous compliment was a brilliant glow, but resentment at the way he had taken her daughter away from her seared like acid. Overshadowing it all was the loneliness that hollowed her out.

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