Page 50 of Crowned For The King's Secret

Much like herself. This wasn’t a happy man. She had some ideas of what could bring joy back to both of their lives, if he’d only allow it. She had to fight for this, for them. If she didn’t win the battle...?

She’d decide what to do then. Allow her heart to break for good. She was strong enough to survive it, even though she wouldn’t want to.

‘Victoria.’

That voice, so laced with grief and pain it sounded as if it was grinding from him. Forced out of him like cut glass. Then he stood, and something about him changed. His face blanked. He straightened, grew to his full height. In that moment Victoria knew that Sandro the man was gone. She was receiving the full force of King Alessandro Nicolai Baldoni.

It thrilled her.

Still, she curtseyed, playing the game a little longer.

‘Hello, Your Majesty.’

If she didn’t know him so well, she wouldn’t have caught the flinch, that tightening of his eyes. But shedidknow him. She knew all of him. More importantly, shelovedhim.

‘Where’s Nicolai?’ he asked, his mouth a thin, brutal line.

‘With Lance. He’s happy to see his uncle.’

Sandro’s jaw hardened. Clenched. His hands flexed and released. ‘I’m sure he is.’

Sandro’s whole body screamed loudly what it really wanted. Her. If only she could switch off his brain for a little while to let his heart take control.

‘Do you have something to say to me? I have a country to run.’

‘Santa Fiorina will endure without you for a few moments.’ She took a deep breath, ready to make her speech. ‘You know what hurt the most?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

He was lying. A muscle at the side of his jaw ticked.

‘It’s not the rejection of me. I’m a big girl. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. It was your rejection of Nic.’

He shook his head. ‘I never...’

She held up her hand and he had the good grace to be quiet, yet he turned his back on her. That hurt too, except his shoulders slumped. Maybe it was because he was ashamed and didn’t want to hear what she was about to say, because she had no doubt he’d remember his words.

‘You said there’d been no formal acknowledgement of Nic as the future King. That things were more grey than black and white. There’s no grey where Nic’s concerned. Not for me. Those words areetchedin my memory.’

They still ached like a knife being thrust into the heart of her, but she’d come to believe he’d said them to force her away. Because everything changed the night intruders broke into the palace, then after his cousin had been caught. The distance. She had to believe he was a protector at heart. Protecting them. Lance had told her all about their hours of negotiation. Not about Lance coming to the country, but about her and Nic’s security. Everything had been thrashed out over long video calls, with Sandro taking the lead in the negotiations. Lance said nothing he’d ever suggested was good enough. That in the end Sandro had demanded,‘Vow to me you’ll keep them safer than I ever could.’

That was the final piece of the puzzle, confirming that he was doing this out of love, as she suspected. And she loved him right back, with her own cracked, broken and imperfect heart. Was prepared to fight for him, for them, for the little family she wanted them to become. Was prepared to fightdirty. She smiled.

‘I only spoke the truth,’ Sandro said.

‘I’m not sure you did. I think you’re lying, more to yourself than anyone else. But here’s the thing you need to remember: I’m fighting for my son. I have right on my side. And now I’ve spoken to my lawyers.’

He hadn’t been able to look at her before because he needed to set her free, not hold her captive. But the shock of her words... He wheeled round. What did she mean? She must want certainty. Clarity now she was taking Nic away. Their original legal agreement regarding custody arrangements had been meaningless, given it was a fraud negotiated by his cousin, that was all.

‘Of course,’ he said, trying to inject a lack of care into his voice, which wasn’t all that difficult, given he was tired, so tired. Yet the look on her face—cool, detached...

‘Nic should be the one who decides what he wants for his future. You don’t have that right.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘My solicitors advise that, given you personally requested a DNA test, the situation isn’t as grey as you claimed. Like you told me before, it could be considered an acknowledgement that Nic’s your heir, should I want to push the point in the courts.’

He’d always claimed she’d be the perfect queen. In this moment she was the one who should carry the crown on her head. She held her head high, more regal than, in truth, he’d ever felt. When he’d first discovered Nic, the advice to him had been clear, as he’d said. The mere fact of DNA evidence could be seen as an acknowledgement. The catch had been that he hadn’t requested it. His deposed cousin had. Now, however...

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