CHAPTER NINETEEN
Iliana
The next day, I was sitting across from Aunt Hermione in one of the lower level sitting rooms of the palace trying to delicately explain to my elderly great-aunt that I’d managed to get knocked up by one of the future kings of her country.
I’d already been to the royal physician for a second pregnancy test that morning. Yep, still pregnant. I’d had bloodwork done too and been referred to an obstetrician. Even though I knew I’d conceived on May twenty-sixth, they still went by the first day of my last period to determine how far along I was. According to that calculation, I was ten weeks pregnant, due February sixteenth, just as I’d suspected.
To my surprise and relief, Hermione was thrilled.
“How exciting,” she said, reaching across the table to take my hands in hers. “I always said our line was born of nobility and this will close that circle.”
As an American, nobility didn’t matter a whole lot to me, but I was happy if she was happy. Heck, I was happy that she hadn’t disowned me or called me a national disgrace.
“Will you continue to live at the manor, dear, or…?” She raised an eyebrow, and I wondered if her noble blood kept her tongue from saying anything scandalous.
I chewed my lower lip. “I’m undecided at the moment. I feel like I’m abandoning you and our plans if I move here, but Sebastianos makes a pretty good case for it. Less commuting and greater protection once word gets out. I’m not sure.”
Hermione made a clucking sound with her tongue.
“If you want my opinion,” she began and then waited, giving me a pointed look. I gave her a quick nod, letting her know that, indeed, her opinion was welcome. “I think you should live here in the palace. He’s right about all of those details. With this being your first child, it will be nice to be so close to medical assistance. Edmund is a fine driver, but he’s getting on in years. Not the most expedient means to get you to the city anymore, my dear. I think you’re far better off getting yourself settled here.”
A knock sounded on the door, and a moment later, Sebastianos appeared. He waved my aunt down when she went to stand and pay her respects, but she wouldn’t have any of it. She stood anyway, giving him a perfect curtsey I could only envy.
I stood as well. “Aunt Hermione, this is…” Words failed me. There was protocol for introducing royalty to a close family member, but I couldn’t remember it to save me.
“Please call me Sebastianos,” he said, coming to my rescue. My great-aunt blushed at the familiarity of him using his given name but seemed delighted at the same time.
“Hermione Costas Theodorou. Sebastianos, it’s an honor meeting you.”
“Likewise,” he said. “I’m very grateful for how well you’ve taken care of Iliana since her arrival, and your gracious acceptance of our news, which must have come as a surprise.”
Hermione tittered and blushed like some virginal debutante at Sebastianos’s flattery, and it was all I could do to not roll my eyes at the two of them and their Cassian manners.
When Hermione stood to leave a bit later, she shook Seb’s hand and gave me a kiss on both of my cheeks and hugged me close. “Have you told your parents yet?” she asked as we walked toward the side entrance that would lead to the circled drive where Edmund was parked.
I shook my head. “I don’t expect a call from them for a week or so, and it feels too impersonal sending that sort of news over email, but I will if it gets to be too long without hearing from them.”
“I’m sure they’ll be just as thrilled as I am, my dear,” she said as she embraced me again. “Will I be seeing you and Sebastianos at dinner on Sunday?”
She’d invited us to regular Sunday dinners, and Seb had accepted with zero protest. I figured I’d have to go alone, but he even promised he was looking forward to her legendary Soutzoukakia. I was quickly learning that Seb was a beef type of man.
“This isn’t so different from the way things used to be,” Hermione said as we began to part.
I frowned? People were knocked up before marriage ages ago? “How so?”
She leaned close, holding on to the open car door. “Back in the old days, there were arranged marriages. Things were taken care of for the bride and groom. In a few key ways, this situation is actually very old fashioned.”
I smiled, despite wanting to laugh. Very old fashioned except for the whole pregnant out of wedlock thing. It certainly wasn’t the eighteenth century anymore, but when it came to high-ranking nobility, I was pretty sure the media would have a field day with our story when they got their teeth in it.
I sighed, just thinking about the inevitable.
“Be good to yourself,” she said as she turned to go. “And to him, Iliana. He’s a fine man.”
After waving her off, I turned and retraced my steps back inside where Sebastianos was waiting.
“She’s going to be expecting you every Sunday evening from here to eternity now,” I said with a laugh.
He grinned. “If her Soutzoukakia is as good as she promised, I’ll make good on that vow.”
Sebastianos had to return to his work, and I was due back at the photography office in a few minutes. My lunch break was already up, and I needed to edit the past week’s photos.
“Meet me in the blue room when you’re done?” he asked, his lifted eyebrow making it a question. The blue room was a dining room that sat about six people at most. We had been eating there together the past few nights. I agreed. “Just shoot me a text when you’re done, and I’ll come get you.”
It was a date, and I returned to Thierry’s office with a smile, wondering what Seb was up to.
***
He’d apparently been busy.
We ate quickly and made a little small talk, but mostly we hurried through the meal because Sebastianos clearly had something he wanted to show me.
“What?” I asked when he looked over at me and grinned for the third time since we started making our way up to the private residence wing.
“You’ll see,” was all he said.
He walked me past his own door and to the very next one in the hallway.
“This,” he finally said, handing me a key card.
I looked from the key card to the door and back to Sebastianos.
We hadn’t really discussed what our living arrangements would be for the next few months, but we’d talked about talking about it.
“Please explain.”
It was a simple command, but instead of answering, Sebastianos gently grabbed my wrist and made me pass the card over the reader. A half-second later, the green light lit up on the box, and the locks slid open. Seb pulled the door open and ushered me inside as automatic lights turned on as I walked in.
It was a suite of rooms just like his.
They were gorgeous, but were they for me? And why?
My face probably had the question I wanted to ask written all over it, so he was quick to explain. “We’re new at this, right? So, I’m guessing you don’t want to automatically move your stuff into my place,” he said, but then rushed to add, “but if that’s what you want, we can do that too.”
I looked around and took in the classic décor and noted how similar to his place it looked.
“This was my father’s apartment. It’s been vacant since his death, and I’ve not had time to make any changes to the décor, but you’re welcome to change it however you wish.”
I looked around. The creams and soft earth colors were so perfect I couldn’t imagine changing a thing. “It’s beautiful, but are you sure… your father…?” I trailed off, unsure how to finish.
“He would be pleased,” Seb assured me, looking around. Then he stepped closer to me, taking my face in his hands. “I’m not saying I don’t want you beside me every single night I can get you, but this can be where you keep your belongings, so you feel like you have your own space. I can be a bit of a bear sometimes, and there may be times when you want to shut me out for a while and enjoy your privacy. We’re still pretty new at this, so I’m just trying to be practical. I want to do it right and giving you your own space and your own choice just seems right.”
My first instinct had been that he didn’t want me in his space, but as he spoke, I realized it really was the perfect solution. He was giving me my own space so that the time we spent together was my choice, and not forced on me.
The honorable Sebastianos, even when I was knocked up and practically at his mercy.
Before I could think too much into it, I leaned up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I plan to spend most of my time with you, if you don’t mind, but this is perfect. And when I’m working on projects, I can be a jerk, so my own workspace is just what I need. Thank you so much.”
The look of pride on his face was hard to miss, and as I pulled away, he yanked me gently back in for another kiss.
“Can’t just tease me with these,” he said. “I’m getting quite used to kisses from you now.”
About an hour later, I’d given up on unpacking my things for the night, and that was when I discovered the door that joined our suites by a short hallway.
“Clever,” I said as I pushed my way through and found him on his sofa watching television. “Adjoining rooms.”
He gave me a sly grin. “I said I was working on giving you the space you need,” he said, just a little sheepishly. “Not that I’d be an expert on it right away. I didn’t want you on a separate floor and the suite next door was available. It worked.”
“It did.” I sank down next to him on the couch. “I’m happy with it. All of it. Thank you.”
The smile dropped from his face, and he took in a deep breath before speaking. “There is something I have to talk to you about sooner or later, Iliana,” he said, and I braced for impact.
Was there some other secret love child out there he was going to tell me about? Some sort of Jane Eyre-ish crazy wife in the attic he kept hidden away?
“We need to talk with the king about all of this.” I nodded, surprised that he hadn’t already mentioned our little predicament to his uncle. “As he is traveling this week, I made these plans without discussing them with him.”
I blinked. The king didn’t know I was moving into the palace? That couldn’t be good.
“Technically, there are rules that those in line for the throne must follow, and while Uncle Demetrius doesn’t follow every rule, I’m not sure of his feelings on this one.”
Worry tightened my stomach.
Was he saying I could be kicked out… or maybe even banned from the palace?
He pulled my lower lip from between my teeth and pulled me close to him. “I don’t want you to worry because I know my uncle will be happy for us. But he’s a bit old-fashioned.”
I braced for whatever he was going to say next. I pressed my hand over my stomach, protecting my little passenger.
“And I have a feeling that he’s going to put a bit of pressure on the two of us to make some sort of drastic move,” he said. “Because, honestly, he’s been trying to set me up with any single young woman he hears about and this — well, this is an opportunity he’s been waiting for.”
I swallowed hard. “An opportunity for what?”
Sebastianos shook his head. “To marry me off.”
I snorted. “So, even your monarch is trying to tie you down?”
“Something like that. You’ll never have to do anything you don’t want to do, Iliana. Remember that. But you also need to know that my uncle is one charming man and can usually get his way with one method or another. Just be prepared for when we meet with him tomorrow. If he could have us married on the spot, he would. So, don’t freak out, no matter what he says. We’ll make it all work.”
Suddenly, I was terrified of what tomorrow would bring.
Would the king hate me for trapping his nephew into having a child? He seemed so nice when I met him. What would it feel like to be on the receiving end of his bad impression?
But before I could ask Seb, he was kissing me, his hand moving to my overly sensitive breasts, and I wasn’t worried about anything anymore.