Page 29 of Her Red Hot Secret Royal Fling

He groaned. “Oh, Sofia?—,”

Her throat shifted as she swallowed. “My mother couldn’t cope with me. I mean, I was hard. I was a total mess. Hence, boarding school.”

His response was a growl of utter disapproval.

“She thought the structure and routine would be good for me,” Sofia said, with a shake of her head. “Instead, I was ripped away from anything and anyone I knew, from the familiarity of our home, from the places that reminded me of dad, which might, over time, have helped me feel better.” Sofia put her hand on Ares’s chest. “She pushed me away. It didn’t matter what I did, she never looked at me properly again.” He heard what she wasn’t saying.She never loved me again.

Well, that would do it. How could Sofia be expected to seek out love and family when her own examples of that had been so deficient?

“But the Santoros were there,” he reminded her, mainly because he needed to believe thatsomeonehad picked up the pieces.

“Yes. But it was mymother,” she said, and for a moment, all of her walls and shields seemed to slip away in unison, revealing the traumatised little girl she’d once been. “It didn’t matter how much the Santoros loved and accepted me, it didn’t fill the hole, you know?”

“I know,” he said, because he did. He could imagine her emptiness, the pain she’d endured, and the efforts she’d made to get her mother to love her, all for nothing. The thought of her putting herself out on the line for a relationship seemed highly unlikely.

Which made it all the more imperative that he always be honest with her. The last thing he wanted was for Sofia to startto feel something for him that he couldn’t return. For her to experience more rejection.

Then again, she seemed pretty good at looking after herself. Years of having to do so would hone those skills to perfection.

“I guess you do know. You lost everything, too.”

“I was fifteen, not nine. And I remained at the palace, in the only home I’d ever known. I had support, the love of my siblings. I wasn’t adrift.”

Her eyes widened with visible surprise. “That’s exactly how I felt. Adrift. As though every tether had been ruthlessly pulled free. In that respect, the Santoros were a godsend. Being able to travel to their villa, well, it brought back memories of happier times.” Her smile was wistful. “My father always loved it there.”

He stroked her cheek slowly. “It’s a special property; a special family.”

“I’m surprised, in a way, that we never met before. We’re both strays they’ve taken in, in a way.”

His smile was affectionate. “That’s true. I guess our visits just never coincided.” He stroked her side slowly. “Besides, I haven’t been for years. Life here has kept me too busy.”

“I can imagine you have your hands full.”

Silence fell between them, companionable and intimate, and somehow, perfect.

Sofia’s eyes grew heavy and, as he watched, they closed, her breathing grew steady and soft, and a moment later, she was asleep. In the safety of that, he leaned forward and pressed a slow kiss to her forehead, the gentle brushing of his lips to her flesh making something in his chest tighten, like a band, so he knew there was danger here he should be fighting to avoid. He knew that, and yet he still drew her closer to his chest and held her there all night.

The palace was even morebeautiful than Sofia remembered. That first day, she’d been overwhelmed. The stunning building, the fragrance of the flowers, the relative warmth of the day, the formality of the servants, and of course, the physical attraction she’d felt to Ares, had all combined to utterly overtake every single one of her senses.

But after four days in the wild with Ares, Sofia was on heightened alert. She saw every detail. Tiny things she hadn’t been aware of that day—or hadn’t had a chance to notice.

Most of all, she was aware of Ares’s absence.

On the drive back to the palace, they’d spoken as they had in the forest—openly and honestly, but keeping the topics casual and neutral, perhaps to avoid attracting any interest from the driver. She’d asked questions about the suburbs they drove through; Ares had answered thoroughly. But as they neared the palace, the conversation dwindled out, as if they were both conscious of the change that was about to occur and uncertain how to manage it.

Sofia could have kicked herself for not thinking this through better. In the forest, with no one around, she could have asked him more clearly: what next? But she’d simply presumed they’d find time to talk, to work it all out. She knew that they would see each other that night—because they both wanted the next step in this relationship. But she had no cluehowthat would happen, and as the day went on, no answer came to her.

Nor did Ares.

Instead, she spent the afternoon with Salvatore who was, thankfully, back to his normal self. They worked on their proposal—or rather, she reviewed the extensive amount of workSalvatore had already done, pricing up the design, working on hiring policies, all of the behind-the-scenes planning that went into providing a tender of this size. He’d been thorough—of course—and she was glad to be able to throw herself into the work because it offered some kind of distraction from thinking about Ares. And thinking about how much she missed him.

Four days together and she’d becomeusedto him. It wasn’t just that she liked being around him, but somehow, being around him had become her natural state.

WhichterrifiedSofia. Her whole existence was predicated on her ability to ‘up and leave’ whenever she wanted. She refused to have a chain to anyone or anything. She refused to form an attachment, to feel obliged to consider someone else. She was her own person, alone in the world, following her own trajectory. She didn’t need anyone.

Especially not the King of a foreign country. A man who had more ties and obligations than she could possibly conceive of. This was just a physical thing; they both knew that. Hell, he was probably still in love with Louisa. They’d only broken up recently, after all, and they’d been dating for years. While she’d just met Ares this week, she could already tell that he was loyal. If he dated someone for that long, he undoubtedly thought they were going to be his other half. He must still be devastated.

“Earth to Sofia,” Salvatore clicked his fingers in front of her eyes. “You look like you’re in la la land.”

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