Page 59 of His Secretly Pregnant Cinderella

“More marble, I suppose.”

“Marble is what my parents like. I... Especially here, I wanted it to be about our surroundings.”

“If you could live anywhere it would be here, wouldn’t it?”

“When I was kidnapped, being kept alone was terrifying. In the end, I learned something from it. That sometimes solitude is the only way to find peace, and if a man can learn to be alone with himself, then he can do anything. I learned to find purpose in solitude.”

And to never cry, she imagined. To never let himself feel anything unfettered. To conquer the deepest fear that he held because he could not ever let himself be controlled by it. Not again.

He didn’t have to say that. But she knew all the same. She just did.

“You spend a lot of time alone,” she said.

He grinned. “It is how I like it.”

No. It was how it had to be. That was another thing she could clearly see. Why deny himself simply because he was paying a penance? She grabbed his hand, put it on her stomach. “They’re yours.”

He nodded slowly. “I know. I do not doubt.”

“Why don’t you doubt me now, Constantine, when you did before? I could easily be lying to you about the fact that I was a virgin.”

His expression turned fierce. “You are not, though.”

“No,” she said softly. “I’m not.”

“My desire for you is beyond measure,” he said. “This is my sanctuary, and I do not bring anyone here. But I wished to bring you. Just like myself on your beautiful body. And to... Keep you from the world.”

And why wouldn’t he? The world had been so unbearably cruel to him.

“Aren’t you angry,” she asked. “With your parents. For allowing you to be kidnapped?”

His eyes went blank. “It does no good. And they are all the family I have.”

“Not anymore,” she said softly.

They weren’t alone. He knew her secrets, and she knew his. They weren’t alone.

“I must go. I have some work to see to.”

“Work?”

“I have an office upstairs. There is Internet here.”

“Oh. Of course. I will...”

“There is food prepared in the fridge. You are welcome to it. It should be prepared and ready for you. You may also swim in any one of the pools, and explore the gardens. You will find many fresh fruits there that you may help yourself to. You may also take a nap. There is a room prepared for you.”

“Thank you. It means something to me, that you always have a place for me.”

His face went hard. “I take care of what’s mine.”

And then he went upstairs, his footsteps echoing against the wood as he went. And left alone, she could hear the sound of the waves beyond the windows, and nothing more.

This was the kind of isolation Constantine preferred. And she understood why.

And she had to wonder if he had to carry so much anger at himself because...

Because of the family he had left. We will be his family now.

She held that truth close, wishing that she could make it his truth as well.

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