“Jumani, could you please come here?” Angus called through the intercom, frowning as he sorted through the sheaf of papers on his desk.

A moment later, his butler appeared at the threshold of his office’s doors. “Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Come in.” He straightened the papers into a neat stack, put them in a manila envelope, and handed it to Jumani. “I need these sent to Ewan immediately.”

“I’ll take care of it right away, Sir. Also, His Grace, the Grand-Duke, wants to have a word with you.”

Angus rolled his eyes impatiently. “Tell him I will call him—”

“I don’t give a tinker’s damn about you calling me,” came a gravelly voice from the doorway.

The speaker was Ludwig Von Kroenenberg, a fit, sturdy man with a lionesque head and shock of blond hair and startling blue eyes. Ludwig was Angus’s age.

They’d attended boarding school together, played pranks, discovered girls, and grew up side by side, before going to university together. They’d gone their separate ways briefly when Angus had come back to assume his post as a king, but a scant year after, Angus had made the irrecusable proposal of having Ludwig as his partner in Lekten Royal Bank.

Angus rose and walked to the door to greet his friend. “How did you find me here?”

Ludwig chortled, returning the warm hug. “It’s not as if you don’t come here when you want to hide, my friend. You are a man of habits.”

“I like my routine.” Angus smiled and motioned to Siobhan, who was discreetly watching them from under her eyelashes. “Come, I want to introduce you to someone.”

As they approached, Siobhan lowered her book and looked up with a smile. “What a lovely creature you dragged in, Angus. Is it royal?”

The line surprised Angus and had Ludwig chuckling.

“Ludwig, this is my fiancée, Siobhan.” Angus mastered his composure and motioned with his hand between the two of them. “Siobhan meet the Grand-Duke of Lektenstaten, Ludwig Von Kroenenberg. And yes, he is a member of royalty, though some would say he is a second-class royalty.”

That drew another chuckled from Ludwig, and a lovely giggle from Siobhan.

Angus smiled at her. “He’s my first cousin through my maternal grandmother’s side. We’re childhood friends and partners in Royal Lekten Bank.”

“Hmm. Well, I won’t hold it against him.” She stood up, now with a genuine smile on her face, and held out her hand to Ludwig. “Pleased to meet you, Your Grace. Or would it be Your Highness?”

“Please, just call me Ludwig,” he took her hand and kissed it. “And the pleasure is all mine.”

“Okay, that’s enough pleasure for everyone.” Angus didn’t like the way Ludwig and Siobhan immediately connected. “Siobhan, I’ll let you get back to your book. We’ll have dinner with Ludwig soon so you can get better acquainted. He’s only here for a few minutes.”

Siobhan executed a partial curtsy and sat back down. The men crossed to the far side of the room, where Angus insisted that Ludwig join him for a drink. He served both of them brandy and motioned to the set of sofas on the outside of the room.

Ludwig settled into the armchair and raised his crystal snifter to Angus. “So, you’re engaged.”

Angus raised his own glass, returning the salute. “Yes.”

“I never thought Snow White was your type,” Ludwig said, amused, and took a long sip from his brandy.

Without taking his eyes off of a lounging Siobhan, Angus said, “She isn’t.”

“Nor slim, small women.”

“Yep. Tall, thin, and blonde for me,” Angus said absently.

“Rhetoric aside, Angus, if it is another wife that you want, there were plenty of others to choose from. Catherine Marine was an excellent example, although compared to your feisty fiancée…”

“She is something of a surprise, isn’t she?” Angus smiled. “Beautiful, delicate, informal. Refreshing.” She was simple and uncomplicated and he knew, instinctively, that she would not put him in pressurized situations of demanding impossible things—unless it was his love—or something for the sake of their child.

“And you are infatuated,” Ludwig chortled.

Angus laughed. “It’s just bloody lust.”

“If you say so…” Ludwig chuckled and leaned back into the armchair, getting comfortable. “Let me tell you all about the merger, so you can go satisfy your…bloody lust.”

Despite trying with all his might, Angus’s attention was not on any of the business complications Ludwig was explaining but on the woman curled up on the sofa, reading a romance with a small smile on her pink lips.

“Angus, what is it?” Ludwig asked perceptively.

He and Angus had shared confidences since their friendship began in boyhood. They were as close as brothers—indeed, closer than many. Each trusted the other with his dreams and desires, hopes and fears.

Angus took a deep breath. Suddenly, everything rushed out of him in a frustrated confession. “She’s, argh, she’s so aggravating at times and so damned ravishing at others. I can hardly keep my head straight. I’m trying, but I don’t understand what she wants. One minute she looks at me like I should kiss her, the next, like I’m insane for trying. Hot, cold, hot, cold, she makes my head spin in circles until I can hardly see straight.”

Ludwig chuckled knowingly.

Angus frowned and continued, “I’m a smart man, Ludwig, a ruler of a country, a cunning businessman. I’ve outsmarted and out-guessed some of the worthiest of adversaries. I’ve won the Romanis over to our side, against the worst odds, I must say, but I can’t seem to conquer her. I can’t figure her out.”

“Maybe the problem is that a woman doesn’t need to be conquered, Your Majesty,” Ludwig said thoughtfully.

Angus’s brow furrowed in thought. He’d had women as lovely as she, so why did he feel an inexplicable sense of urgency to send Ludwig away and join her—to have her again in his bed? Angus knew he would have her again—soon. So why do I want her at this moment?

Ludwig sipped his brandy. “Maybe she needs to be won.”

“Maybe,” Angus mused. He knew why he was attracted to her but he didn’t understand the degree of his attraction. “But I don’t have time to woo her, I must marry her and soon. She’s pregnant with my heir.”

Ludwig choked and banged a fist on his chest, coughing, drawing Siobhan’s attention to them.

Angus gave a her a smile as he thumped Ludwig’s back.

“Thanks, I’m fine,” Ludwig said, with a last cough. He cleared his throat and stared at his friend. “So, old man, how many times do you suppose we have sat in this very spot and contemplated the nature of the world?”

“Hundreds, maybe more.”

“And how many times have we vowed never to allow any woman to trap us into the unrelenting bonds of matrimony?”

“I can’t recall one.”

Ludwig rolled his gaze toward the ceiling. “Very well. How many times have I vowed never to be trapped into wedded bliss?”

“You? Once again, hundreds at least. But it’s not precisely a trap if one is heading into it willingly,” Angus said mildly.

“Call it what you will, a trap is still a trap. And pregnancy?” He rested his elbows on his knees, leaned forward and whispered, “Are you sure it’s yours?”

He was not mad at his friend for voicing the question. Ludwig knew about his disappointment with himself for not getting Innes pregnant and Angus couldn’t stop the grin which opened in his face. “Yes. It’s mine.”

“How do you know that for sure?”

“I saw the proof.” Angus looked over at her, hesitating for a second, before confiding in his friend, “I was her first.”

“Well…” Ludwig was stunned for a moment, then he clapped his friend’s back, saying, “Congratulations!”

Which made Siobhan look at them. She caught Angus’s eyes and gave him a smile.

“I should be going,” said Ludwig, as he noticed Angus and Siobhan exchanging glances. He stood up and hugged Angus. “Don’t forget, my friend, women want to be won.”

“I won’t,” Angus nodded. He would court her the good old-fashioned way. Marriage as a business proposition would not be her style, and he wouldn’t blame her. But it certainly would work for him. Love was a complication, and after years of no complications in his dealings with women he was ready to concede what he needed might be a challenge.

Ludwig clarified, “Won, not conquered.”

“I hear you.”

Ludwig walked over to Siobhan on his way out. He took her hand, his eyes gleaming with amusement, and whispered, “Make Angus beg for it. The hardest battles have the sweetest victories.”

Then he was off.

Siobhan did not know what he was referring to. And though he smiled as he spoke, and apparently had good intentions as far as Angus was concerned, she was haunted by the mystery long after he had gone.

Make Angus beg for…what? Me? Yes, please. She wanted to be a prize worth winning.

But…no. She shook her head at herself. Make up your mind already! You want him, you don’t, you want him again.

In an effort to distract herself, she folded her bookmark in half, neatly lining up all the corners, and kept folding it until it was nothing but a thin strip the size of her finger. But it didn’t help much, because her mind insisted on bringing Angus to the fore, forcing her to muse about her situation.

She didn’t know what to do.

And hours later, after tossing and turning in bed, she still didn’t know.