Page 64 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 5-8

‘Remember I said you interested me?’ Her lips parted in a gratifying way. Her pupils were wide and dark in the low light. ‘When doing business, I asked after you to your father. And the rest, as they say, is history.’

It had been natural to ask after the princess those times he’d seen the King. His mother had known the Queen, and that connection made it easier. Conversations had been surprisingly cordial as he’d mentioned his parents’ desire for him to marry. Soon, the conversations had been less about the business of champagne and more about the business of negotiating his engagement to marry a princess who, when he looked back now, had been conspicuously absent in the whole deal.

In the end, finalising the arrangement had been surprisingly easy. Likely Ana wouldn’t want to hear that story about how quick her family had been to give her away.

He took a bracing sip of his champagne, one of Girard’s finest vintages.

‘It still doesn’t answer why a modern man would choose this method.’

Because it hadn’t been a choice but a necessity.A supressed anger in him sparked. He tried to tamp it down. ‘You could ask yourself why a modern woman would agree if she found the idea so objectionable.’

Anastacia had been prepared to marry Santori. Was the problem here that he wasn’t a prince? That she felt he was somehow beneath her as a commoner? He gritted his teeth and breathed slowly through the annoyance of the thought. She could have told her parents to go to hell, but she hadn’t—so she must be at least somewhat interested.

‘And yet here you are, wanting to marry me because your parents think it’s time.’

Touché,Princess.It wasn’t the whole story, but there was no need for her to know it all.

‘That’s different. You have siblings. Your brother’s the Crown Prince. There’s a certain freedom for the one who isn’t going to carry the family mantle. The heir doesn’t have as many choices. I have obligations.’

Ana put down her glass. ‘So you have no “spare”, as royalty like to call it?’

He didn’t like thinking of Michel that way. They’d been brothers, best friends, then the universe had cruelly snuffed out Michel’s life. To this day Aston had trouble fathoming how a person so full of a desire for living could simply cease to exist.

‘No,’ he said. It still made him want to rage at the unfairness of it all. ‘I’m all there is.’

Aston’s staff had served the main course. As Ana sat across from him, eating a delectable dish of duck, she couldn’t help but think once again how stark he looked. As if he carried the weight of the world. She wanted to reach out, to comfort him.

He’d made two telling comments.

I always sleep alone.

I’m all there is.

She’d had trouble accepting the first, but now she wasn’t so sure. He seemed to hold himself apart. In a world of people rushing about, she could see him standing solitary, as distant and as solid as one of the mountains he climbed.

‘I’ve always wondered, was it difficult being an only child?’

She had siblings, and in many ways at least she and Cilla were united against a common enemy: their parents. Gabe was distant, but Ana had little doubt, if the crunch came, he’d be there for her as much as his role and his own emotional intelligence allowed.

Aston stopped eating, carefully placing down his knife and fork. He took a sip of his champagne. His Adam’s apple bobbed distractedly as he swallowed. He looked so handsome in a blue-and-white-striped shirt, sleeves rolled up showing his strong, tanned forearms.

‘I had a younger brother—Michel. He died.’

Ana’s heart missed a beat, her stomach clenching uncomfortably. She had no words. She felt awful for raising a sibling in such an unthinking way. She reached out her hand, placing it over his, and squeezed. His skin was warm to the touch.

‘I’m so sorry.’

‘It was a long time ago,’ he said, but he didn’t move his hand from under hers. He simply looked at it. She didn’t know what to do now, and didn’t want things to become awkward, so she slowly pulled her hand away, immediately missing the connection her touch gave them.

‘Is that why your parents want you to marry?’

He shrugged.‘Peut-être.’

Perhaps.

It seemed there was more to the story, though she appreciated she might be touching his tender points. Ana couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose either of her siblings. She also had a little more understanding for what might be driving his decisions.

‘I understand dynasty—royalty, remember?’

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