Raoul met Diego up on the battlements, as per his brother’s request. He had a feeling he knew what the conversation was going to be about, and also why Diego had chosen it. Every single time Raoul had given Diego a lecture on behavior and responsibility, he’d taken him to the top of the castle where they could survey all of the royal grounds, and much of the surrounding island.

That he and Diego had seemed to have switched places was disturbing.

Diego was waiting, his hands resting on the stone wall and the wind ruffling his hair and he looked south toward the ocean. When Raoul approached, his shoes clacking on the rooftop, Diego turned.

His brother looked happy, and grown up. It made Raoul proud, and also, for the first time, a little out of his depth with his brother.

“I’m glad you came,” Diego said, holding out a hand. Raoul shook it, felt a reassuring connection there. Diego had become a man he was comfortable with, and he was glad of it.

“I figured you’d want to talk after you met with Steph. She told you everything?”

“Congratulations,” Diego offered dryly.

Raoul pulled his hand away and went to the wall as well, needing to feel the wind and sun on his face. “I’ve messed things up in a big way. And I’m sorry about your project.”

“Don’t worry about that. Brenna’s still keeping things going and she’s going to look at hiring. I’m more worried about you.”

“Don’t worry about me. Worry about Steph.”

Diego sent him a sideways glance. “Steph has her shit together. You don’t.”

Raoul bristled, said nothing. The lecture was starting, it seemed.

“Stephani will have this baby with or without your help.”

“She knows I’ll help her. Mierda, Diego, I would never shirk my responsibility.”

“She doesn’t want your responsibility, brother. You’re always responsible. You take care of things and she knows you’ll make sure neither she nor her baby want for anything. Except your love.”

Raoul turned sharply to look at Diego, only to find his brother watching him with a mild look in his eyes.

“I offered to marry her.”

“Begging your pardon, and correct me if I’m wrong, but you offered to minimize the scandal with a slapped-together wedding.”

Raoul rubbed a hand over his face. “For God’s sake, it’s not that simple.”

“But it is,” Diego replied. “Do you love her?”

“Again, not so simple.”

“And again, that’s bollocks.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with your British friends.”

Diego laughed. “Actually, that’s too much time with my British wife, and there’s no such thing, because I adore her beyond reason.”

Raoul’s heart thumped. “I know you do.”

“That’s right. Because you loved Ceci that way.”

“Ceci’s gone.”

“Yes, she is, hermano. And you’re alive. And you have a woman who loves you, who is carrying your child, and you are too afraid to love her back.”

Raoul’s insides trembled.

“I’m not ready,” he answered, his voice barely a whisper above the breeze.

“No one is ever ready. It just happens. And either you reach out and grab it or you mess it up and regret it for the rest of your life. Steph doesn’t care about a crown or a palace or any of the things you offered her. She wants you, and just you. She wants you to look at her and say you love her, and to mean it. She wants you to make her feel like she matters, more than any crown or royal duty. She’s looking for a partner, Raoul, and you have to prove yourself worthy of her love. Because make no mistake, that woman loves you. She loves you for the man you were and the man you still are, in here.” He thumped a hand on Raoul’s chest. “But you can’t have her and protect your heart at the same time.”

“I’m scared,” Raoul admitted finally, letting out a long, shaky breath. “I never want to go through something like that again. And the children . . . how do I tell them I’m going to love someone else? Max has nightmares still. Emilia clings to the memories she has left.”

“You stop doing what you did to me.”

Raoul looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”

“You stop trying to shelter them from anything bad, or try to make everything right for them. You did that after mama died and I felt utterly useless. You grab at life, and you live it. And you teach them to live it, and you teach them that you embrace the love and embrace the fear because locking your heart up in a box for safekeeping is no way of living at all.”

Tears formed in Raoul’s eyes and he blinked them away. Sniffed, blinked again. Diego was right. It killed him to admit it. He’d always tried to do everything right, he realized. “After mama died, I tried to be perfect,” Raoul said. He looked out over the palace grounds, so expansive that he couldn’t see where they ended and public land began. Beyond was the capital; inland was another city teeming with people who depended on the Navarros and their government. “I tried to be the best son and brother to spare you and Papa. And then I met Ceci, and I didn’t have to try so hard. I never wanted you to feel the pain I felt. And when Ceci died, the pain was back and I swore I’d never do it again.”

“I know. And it’s not wrong, Raoul. It’s just that you have to choose which life you want, and live with the consequences. Unless you’re willing to open your heart again, you’re going to lose her forever.” Diego put his hand on Raoul’s shoulder.

He walked away, leaving Raoul alone on the ramparts to think things through.

* * *

Stephani didn’t take much from her desk. There were her special pens, and she was keeping her laptop, so she could work from home if either Sofia or the new assistant, Marcella, needed help. But today was her last day working full time at the palace. She was going to go home, take a week or two’s vacation, and then take it from there. She was planning on spending a little time in Corfu. With all the upheaval lately, the idea of going to her childhood home held a wistful appeal.

She packed the pictures off her desk—ones of Emilia and Max, another of her with Ceci on her cousin’s and Raoul’s wedding day. She touched the glass with a finger and felt tears well up in her eyes. “I tried,” she murmured, her voice catching. “I’m sorry.”

She sniffed, put the photo in the box, and folded over the flaps.

Then, with a heavy weight in her stomach, she went to Raoul’s door and knocked.

“Come in.”

She opened the door and stepped inside. “I just wanted to let you know . . . I’m going now.”

His gaze held hers for a long moment. Then he held out a hand, motioning to a chair. “Please, sit for a minute.”

She did, wanting to leave, wanting to prolong the moment at the same time. Today felt very, very final.

“We’ve been through a lot in this office,” he said quietly. “And you have always, always been an asset to this monarchy and to Marazur.”

“Thank you, Raoul.”

“Don’t thank me for that. Please, don’t. Because while it’s true, I’ve done you such a disservice, Steph. And I am so, so sorry that I hurt you.”

She put her hand to her abdomen without thinking. Their child rested there. She was eight weeks along now, not showing, but feeling a change inside her, nonetheless.

“We were friends long before we were lovers. We’ll sort it out. It’s okay.”

He got up from behind his desk, went to her, and as he had once before, moved a chair so he could sit facing her. “It’s not okay. The truth is, I started having feelings for you and I got scared. So scared that I put up roadblocks that didn’t need to exist in order to protect myself. And by doing that, I hurt you.”

She didn’t know what to say, and didn’t quite know where he was going with it, but she also sensed he felt the need to get whatever it was off his chest. Her fingers twisted together in her lap. “What are you scared of, Raoul?”

“Losing you,” he answered simply. “Not like I’ve already lost you, but like I lost Ceci. Afraid of giving you my whole heart only to have it crushed again.”

“But Ceci’s death was an accident. The chances of that happening again . . .”

He paused, then inched a little closer until he could reach out and touch her knees. “My mother died when I was just a boy. I watched my father grieve for her. I listened to Diego cry himself to sleep at night. I decided that I was going to be the best prince I could be. I’d help my father and protect my brother. I fell in love with Ceci and vowed I’d be the best husband. But I lost her, too. Like my mother. And I told myself I would never love like that again.”

“I understand, Raoul. I really do. But I’m not sure how this changes anything.”

Nor would she allow herself to hope. He wasn’t the only one who’d been hurt, after all.

“I’ve spent the last few weeks doing a lot of soul searching.” He took his hands off her knees, but rested his elbows on his own so that he was leaned toward her. “I’ve thought about the kind of king I want to be. The kind of father I want to be. I’ve thought over and over about some things Diego said to me, because my little brother has grown up far wiser than anyone gives him credit for. And the truth is . . . I have a choice. I can choose to be afraid, to keep my heart under lock and key, to never get hurt again, and to never experience pure joy.”

Her pulse began to hammer, despite her resolve to stay unmoved.

“Or I can open myself up to loving again, take a risk by knowing life sometimes deals us horrible blows, but accept that a chance at joy and happiness is worth it.”

Her breath caught in her chest. “And what did you choose?”

He held her gaze. “It came down to asking myself, if I’d known what lay ahead, would I have still married Ceci? And the answer was yes. All the pain, all the grief . . . it was still worth it. And if I’m lucky enough to find that kind of love again? Well, I’d be a fool to let it slip through my fingers because I’m too much of a coward to own it. To give it.”

There was no stopping her pulse now, or the quickening of her breath. “Raoul . . .”

To her utter shock, tears filled his eyes. They shone at her as he said, “I love you, Stephani. I love how smart you are and your confidence and your intuition. I love how you laugh and how you love my children and talk to them as if they matter. I love your sweet tooth and your apartment and the way you feel in my arms.”

He sniffed and two tears dropped out of the corners of his eyes. “And I love that you’re carrying my baby and that you’re so beautiful it hurts. Please, reconsider. Marry me. And not because we need to legitimize this baby or throw together a quiet wedding, but because I love you and you love me and we need to be a family. We can take out a headline in The Sun for all I care. If the world knows this baby was conceived two months ago . . . so what? I’m tired of being the perfect prince. I want to live again, Steph. And I want to do that with you. Just you.”

She nodded, swiping away tears of her own. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice tight as she tried to keep control.

“What on earth for?”

“I don’t even know.” She cried a bit and laughed at the same time. “Just that this ended up such a mess. I’ve loved you for so long, and when you shut me out and pushed me aside, it hurt so badly. I wasn’t patient with you, when I promised myself I would be.”

“I didn’t deserve your patience,” he countered, smiling a little. He reached over to his desk for a tissue and wiped her eyes with it. “When Papa had his heart attack, all I could see was how I was going to have to step up and that our trip had been so self-indulgent. So . . . out of character for me. I felt guilty because of it, like I should have been here.”

“But being in France didn’t cause his heart attack.”

“I know that.”

She gazed into his eyes. “I wouldn’t trade those days for anything,” she answered. “Not a moment.”

“Me either.”

He patted his knee. “Will you come over here, please, and let me hold you?”

She got up from her chair and slid over onto his lap. Oh, it felt good to have his arms around her again. He snuggled her close and the put one wide hand over her belly. “I didn’t even get to tell you that I’m happy about the baby,” he whispered. “Or how beautiful you are carrying it.” He looked up into her face. “You tell me how you want to proceed, and that’s what we’ll do.”

“I want us to be a team,” she responded immediately, touching his face. “I want us to make decisions together. I want to rely on you and oh, Raoul, I want you to rely on me. For all things. For work and for play and for raising a family. I love Em and Max. And I think they would want you to be happy. It doesn’t mean forgetting their mother. She’ll always be a part of all our lives.”

“Consider it done.” He turned his head and kissed her palm. “Now, there’s just one thing left for you to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Answer my question.”

The hope she’d tried to tamp down blossomed fully in her heart, along with a wide smile. “Your Highness, el Príncipe Raoul Navarro a Marazur, I have very good recall. And a question was not asked. I was, however, issued a command.”

“Then allow me to rephrase. Stephani Savalas, will you marry me? Will you be my wife, mother to my children, queen of my country?”

Oh my. The gravity of it reached in and grabbed her, but she took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes,” she replied, hugging him tightly. “Yes, I believe I will.”