Page 20 of His Highness's Hidden Heir

Her mind couldn’t seem to grasp a proper thought. The drive through the city happened without her awareness. Suddenly Ola, her favorite bodyguard, was standing on the curb outside the open back door of the SUV.

“All right, Lexi?”

“Pardon? Yes. Just thinking.”

Snap out of it, she berated herself.

But what would this mean for her chances for landinganyrole if she was pregnant? At least her shares in the agency provided her a small but predictable income. If—

No.She would worry about a baby if there was one. In this moment, she wasn’t pregnant. She absolutely could not be.

She walked through the lobby of Bernadette’s hotel feeling as though she walked through gelatin and found the director waiting at a table on the terrace. She was a sophisticated sixtysomething with a smooth gray bob.

The meeting went well. Bernadette had already read the book that Lexi wanted to adapt and not only saw Lexi in the lead role, she had ideas for additional financing.

Lexi walked out on unsteady legs, optimistic about her career for the first time in years. As she arrived home, she received a text from her lawyer.

X-Calibur has been notified. I’ll call later with details.

Also good news, but it didn’t stop her from running to the toilet, where she threw up every bite of food she’d eaten.

Aside from confirming with her doctor, Lexi told no one, still in a state of denial because a baby would be such a huge life change. She couldn’t understand how it had happened. Why now?No.

The morning sickness said yes, but for the rest of each day she was able to pretend it wasn’t real, which was helpful because she couldn’t fathom bringing a baby into this messy life of hers. Hadley was making a quiet fuss, trying to woo her back, but at least he wasn’t taking it to the public sphere.

That threat of a scandal and a spotlight would always be present in her life, though, which meant any children she had would also live under a microscope. Actors might bring babies onto sets these days, but she knew the downfall of growing up on one.

She also knew parenting washard. Her mother had always had ample funds, thanks to support payments from Lexi’s father, but she had struggled in other ways. And Lexi knew for a fact that the most serene, sentimental moments of a mother holding a baby on film were achieved after hours of waiting for that baby to stop screaming its lungs out.

Parenting was not as easy and romantic as it was portrayed. This was a terrible time for her to become one.

She was pro-choice all the way so she didn’t feel shehadto have the baby, but each time she considered not having it, she couldn’t hold on to the thought.

When Bernadette invited her to stay with her at her home in Nice, and said, “One of my regular investors is in Monte Carlo. You can help me charm him,” Lexi eagerly went.

Filming was at least two years away. Her pregnancy wouldn’t be a factor, but Lexi wanted to look for a new home. France had stricter privacy laws than the US and there were some very discreet maternity clinics in Switzerland.

She might be telling herself she hadn’t made a decision, but she was making decisions as though she had decided.

What would Magnus say about her having his baby, she wondered? She would hide her pregnancy as long as possible, but once paparazzi got wind of it, they would speculate the baby was his. She had to warn him before that.

She wasn’t ready to face him, though. Their night haunted her, sparking every emotion from erotic thrill to wistful longing to the ache of rejection. The only thing she couldn’t seem to feel was regret.

Did he regret their affair? He might, once he learned about the baby. Would he blame her? Accuse her of orchestrating this? They’d beenhiscondoms that he had applied. It wasn’t her fault they’d failed.

Oh, shedreadedtelling him she was pregnant. That was the real reason she was pretending it wasn’t actually happening.

She would tell him when she had all the pieces in place to raise this baby alone, because that’s what she planned to do. Yes. She had decided.

Then she walked into a cocktail party in Monte Carlo and there he was.

As a teen, Magnus had aspired to become an Olympic athlete, but he’d always seen the tech industry as his eventual career. Thanks to Katla’s strategic marriage, Isleif was a growing hub of innovation. Magnus was continuing what Prince Sorr had started by attending trade conferences and high-level summits around every aspect of tech, most lately the impacts of AI, but he was also tasked with encouraging multinational tech companies to set up shop in Isleif.

Many heads of such conglomerates had homes in Monte Carlo, the most expensive real estate in the world. Going to a party there provided casual introductions and it was also a suitable place for a first date with the woman at the top of Ulmer’s list of suitable brides.

Lady Annalise was visiting her cousin in Monaco, a woman who had married into the royal family here. Annalise ticked all the boxes for a future queen: she was a blue-blooded philanthropist, cultured, and had no troublesome scandals in her history. She was stylish and had a quick wit and knew how high-society games were played. She was not averse to moving to a tiny country in the North Atlantic. In fact, their marriage had the potential to strengthen ties with the royal family here in Monaco as well as her highly placed relatives in Denmark.

Magnus really wanted to feel something for her, but she left him stone cold.

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