Page 45 of Passion and Deception

Maggie accompanied him to the stables to meet the horses and a few of the stable cats. He took her to the palace gun range and taught her to shoot a pistol, then a rifle. They laughed as she attempted to shoot a bow and arrow, missing the target by a wide margin each time. Several of the palace trees became victims of her efforts, but no one seemed to mind.

When Maggie noticed that she was starting to gain weight with all of the palace delicacies, Maggie joined him in the gym each morning, thrilled with the state of the art work out facility. She didn’t compete with Ramit on weight lifting, but she avidly watched him while working out on the cardio equipment.

It wasn’t until the third week that things started to change. She woke up in the morning to him kissing her shoulder. When Maggie rolled into his arms, looking forward to another deliciously slow morning with him, she was disappointed to notice that he was already dressed.

“What’s going on?” she asked, pulling back and staring at his charcoal suit and red tie.

“I have to work, Maggs,” he explained, using the nickname he’d started using after he’d overheard a phone conversation she’d had with Emily and Ann. “I have several meetings today.”

Maggie had known that this blissful time with him was coming to an end, but that still didn’t stop her from wishing she’d had more time with him.

“I understand,” she told him. Leaning forward, she kissed him, trying to be a good wife. “Go!” she told him and even gave him a soft shove on his shoulder. “Go rule the world!”

He winked at her and she noticed that he looked relieved. “I’ll see you and Nadia at dinner, okay?”

Ramit was gone before she could answer, and she sighed at the thought of not sharing breakfast and lunch with him, as they’d done over the past couple weeks.

Then, she heard Nadia squeal. Sighing, Maggie pulled on a silk rob and padded barefoot into the next room. Nadia was sitting up and grabbing toys more easily. She was chubby and happy and Maggie adored her more every day. Especially when she had a break with the nanny who was always standing by, ready to watch her little lady for a few hours.

However, those free hours had been consumed with getting to know her husband over the past two weeks. Now that she didn’t have Ramit to talk with, Maggie was at a bit of a loss as to how to fill her time.

In fact, the extra hours of free time were…boring. And with that boredom came thoughts that were probably irrational, but without Ramit around, Maggie became…not nervous but…?

Okay, she was nervous. Especially since she didn’t see Ramit at all the first day he went back to his normal schedule. The second day, he was already gone from their suite by the time she woke up. Maggie knew that he’d slept next to her because his side of the bed was rumpled. But he hadn’t pulled her into his arms and he hadn’t bothered to wake her up with a kiss before he headed out to do whatever it was that he did during the day. She’d gotten only a phone call from him that night, during which he’d quickly explained that he wasn’t going to make it back for dinner.

“Is it over?” she whispered to herself over a bowl of fruit and some tea at breakfast on the third day.

“Finally!” a female voice interrupted her contemplation of her breakfast isolation.

Maggie jerked around to find a gorgeous woman in a slim-fitting white dress stepping into the breakfast room. Maggie’s flowered sundress looked frumpy in comparison to this woman’s glorious beauty.

“Excuse me?” Maggie asked, jumping to her feet out of habit.

The beautiful woman smiled as she came closer. “You’re Maggie, right?” she asked.

Maggie nodded, completely intimidated by this beautiful woman’s presence. “Yes. And you are?’ she asked softly, trying not to ruffle any feathers in her new home until she knew who was who.

“I’m Ciara,” the woman explained, gesturing to the chair. “Please, don’t stand on ceremony, Maggie. We’re family. I’m your sister-in-law.”

Maggie’s mouth fell open. Yes, Ramit had mentioned that he had a sister, but he’d said she was on a tour of some of the Asian countries. Apparently, she was now aback.

“You’re Princess Ciara?”

The woman shook her head as she gestured to a servant for coffee. “Please, don’t call me by my title,” she said, grinning cheekily. “Or I’ll have to call you Queen Maggie.”

Maggie stared at the woman who laughed delightfully. “Oh, you didn’t know that was your new title?”

Maggie shook her head in response.

Ciara clapped her hands, then grinned at Maggie over a porcelain cup of coffee. “Well, please let me be the first to congratulate you on your wedding. I understand that I also have a beautiful little niece?”

Maggie tried to lift the cup of herbal tea, but her hands were shaking so badly that she set it back down on the saucer, not wanting to spill on her dress.

“Yes. Her name is Nadia,” she explained.

Ciara’s smile widened. “What a delightful name. I can’t wait to meet her.”

Maggie eyed Ciara’s white dress with trepidation. “Whenever you have time, I’m sure that Nadia would love to meet her aunt,” she said, praying that the woman wouldn’t mind wearing something to protect her dress. Nadia wasn’t very discerning about her drools. Or when she burped.

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