Page 117 of Royal Caleva: Luis

“Promise you will be here when I wake up,” he murmured as he closed his eyes.

She couldn’t stop herself from coming back to his bedside. Leaning over, she smoothed her hand over his gleaming hair and laid a gentle kiss on the smooth skin of his temple.

The gladness in his smile almost broke her heart.

Luis woke up slowly and with some confusion, opening his eyes to find himself in his bedroom in the dimness of dusk. A line of bright light from the barely open door traced across the Persian rug, but no voices came from beyond it.

He pushed himself upright as memory returned. Eve had forced him into bed but had refused to join him. It would have been so much better to wake with her lovely body curled against his side.

But she had promised to stay outside the door to keep his sleep from being interrupted. That prodded him to throw off the covers, scrub his hands over his face a couple of times, and cross the room to push open the door.

Raul sat at Luis’s desk, typing away on a laptop. Grace perched cross-legged on the sofa with a tome of Calevan history open on her lap, earbuds in her ears.

And Eve was curled in an armchair by the fireplace, reading on a tablet. Someone must have brought her a change of clothes, because she wore jeans and a pale green shirt. The sight of her bare feet with their bright red nail polish sent a flicker of lust through him.

She looked up even though he swore he hadn’t made a sound. “Luis!” Her tablet slid out of her hand to thud onto the floor as she stood. “How are you feeling?”

He felt her gaze roam over his face and body as though she touched him, but her inspection was clinical. A doctor examining a patient.

“I hate to admit it, but better,” he said, raking his fingers through his hair as he realized he must look disheveled.

Raul leaped up from his chair, while Grace pulled out her earbuds, both of them calling out their chosen names for him. Pater. Dad. He grabbed the doorframe as his heart twisted in his chest.

This! This was what he wanted his life to be. No more of the solitary ruler knocking around in his lonely habitación. He wanted to be greeted by a woman who stood up to him for his own good and his two children who worried about their father’s well-being. This was what it felt like to be loved.

Grace bolted across the room to give him a quick hug before she stepped back to survey him with a critical gaze reminiscent of her mother’s. “Are you sure you feel better?”

Raul followed his half sister but contented himself with giving Luis’s shoulder a firm squeeze. “You slept for over five hours, Pater.”

“Ah, that explains the darkness in my room,” Luis said, but he was looking at the woman across the room. The woman who kept this distance between them.

That had to stop.

Tomorrow, he must convince her how wrong she was about him.

CHAPTER 28

Eve and Grace sat in the back of a black SUV, escorted by two other black SUVs, on their way to Casa en las Nubes. Eve leaned her head against the leather seatback with gratitude. The last three days had drained her.

After the morning’s interview with La Voix—which Grace had handled like a champion—Luis had called the royal family together to brief them on the identity of his poisoner. While the mood was solemn, no one seemed overly shocked that a crazed math professor had nearly murdered Luis. It made Eve wonder how often such things happened but were covered up. Which made her worry about Grace’s safety even more.

As soon as Luis had answered all the family’s questions, he had left the room, saying that Dr. Ibarra was waiting to examine him, which sent a ripple of relief through Eve. He was pushing himself too hard after his brush with death.

Then Bruno had informed Eve and Grace that Luis thought they would be better off at his private home, away from the media frenzy that the announcement about Grace had stirred up. Their belongings had already been packed and awaited them in the SUV.

Grace had surprised Eve by not objecting to being removed from the hubbub at the palace. Her daughter was lit up with energy and purpose, the way she had been when she was applying to vet school.

Eve snuck a glance at Grace and found her frowning. “What is it, sweetie?”

“I was just thinking about Felipe Camacho,” Grace said. “What an asshole!”

“Er, that seems mild, considering he tried to kill your father,” Eve said. The memory of Luis’s too-still body in the hospital bed socked her in the gut.

“He’ll be punished for that,” Grace said, sounding a lot like Luis in that moment. “I was thinking about how he treated his daughter. When she needed him the most, he behaved like crap.” She turned to Eve. “If I had gotten pregnant, you would have been there with me every step of the way, no matter who the father was.”

“I’m glad you know that,” Eve said, counting her blessings that she hadn’t had to deal with that particular situation.

“Of course I do,” Grace said without a moment’s hesitation. “I don’t blame his daughter for leaving Caleva. Felipe Camacho doesn’t deserve to know his grandson.”

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