It was barely daylight when Eva woke up the next morning to frantic knocking at her door. She opened her eyes, still red from crying, and saw her apartment was a wreck. She hadn’t bothered cleaning for days. She’d considered hiring a maid, but didn’t really see the point. In a month or so, she’d be leaving the city. Who cared if she kept her place clean? It wasn’t like she needed her security deposit.

Gray light filled the room. There was a tinge of pink, but it was hardly a wisp. She guessed it was maybe five o’clock in the morning.

“What the hell?” Eva whispered.

The knocking still hadn’t stopped. Maybe it was the landlord. Had she forgotten to send her rent check?

No, that didn’t make sense. She was certain she’d sent it, along with a notice that she’d be leaving when her lease was up.

Then who? It could be Marie, she supposed. Maybe Art had come home and wreaked havoc on her apartment. But, if he was going to do that, wouldn’t he have done it months ago?

She didn’t know anyone else in the city. Maybe there was a fire. Or worse, maybe her parents had finally discovered her secret. They’d come to share their disappointment in her character one last time.

“Stop it,” she told herself. “It’s probably just one of your neighbors looking for a cup of sugar.”

Except, she’d never been asked for a cup of sugar in her life.

She rolled out of bed and pulled on her slippers. She snatched the robe hanging off the couch and drew it around her shoulders. She was wearing pajamas, but it wasn’t much more than a tank top and short shorts. Pregnant women had to be comfortable, right?

Walking to the door, she wondered who in the world was so arrogant that they actually expected her to answer this early in the morning. Unless there was an emergency, no excuse was good enough. She deserved a good night’s sleep.

“What do you want?” Eva asked, swinging the door open and slamming it against the wall.

She felt her stomach drop. Her heart started to race.

It was Filipe, weighed down with at least ten bags of groceries.

“Filipe?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I should have been here a long time ago,” he said, struggling with a bouquet of flowers on top of the plastic bags. “Let me in?”

Eva thought about saying no and slamming the door in his face.

It had been five months, damn it. Five months and not a word since she’d gotten pregnant! Why should she listen to him? Why should she let him inside?

Besides, now that he was back, he’d want the baby. And she wanted her baby. They’d already been through so much together.

But seeing Filipe brought back a flood of memories. He looked pale and scared. All at once, she knew he cared. But she couldn’t understand why, if he cared, he hadn’t been there.

There’s only one way to find out.

Eva stepped aside and let him in.

Filipe whizzed into the apartment, dropping the groceries on the kitchen counter and stepping over at least a dozen magazines on the way.

“You live here?” he asked. “You can’t be doing stairs like this anymore. We need to get you moved.”

Eva opened her mouth to speak, but Filipe didn’t give her time.

“I’m making French toast,” he said as he unpacked the grocery bags. “Do you have a pan somewhere?”

Eva nodded and pointed to the cupboard underneath the sink.

“I pretty much keep everything there,” she said.

“I can’t believe this is where you live,” Filipe said. “Joseph should’ve taken you to my place.”

She wanted to point out that Joseph didn’t have access to Filipe’s penthouse while he was away—they’d already discussed the idea at length—but decided to keep her mouth shut. She was curious what Filipe would do next.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch more,” he said as he cooked. “You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been going through in Europe.”

“Yeah, all the social events must be exhausting.”

Eva bit her lip. She tried to stay calm, but it didn’t work.

“What?” Filipe asked, spatula in hand. He turned away from the eggs he was frying.

“You realize I can see you, right?” Eva asked. “You realize there are dozens of articles outlining exactly what you’ve been doing for the past five months? Every social event? Every date with Luiza?”

“Those weren’t dates,” Filipe said. “You know that.”

“Cut the crap,” she said. “You ditched me. I don’t care what happened in Europe. You could have texted. You could have called. You completely abandoned me. You wouldn’t even tell me whether or not you wanted the baby anymore. I’ve been here, pregnant and alone, for five months. I’m going into my third trimester soon, and you didn’t even care enough to be in the country.”

“I told you I was sorry.”

“I want a reason.”

“I’ve been busy!”

“That’s not a reason!” Eva screamed, not caring if the neighbors heard. “You promised me you would be here for this baby. You swore to me, whatever was going on in your political life, you’d be there for her. And you weren’t. You lied to me. You didn’t stay away because of your stupid career or your heartless wife. You aren’t that dense. I don’t believe it. So, I want the truth. Why didn’t you come back?”

“Is that any of your business?”

“I am carrying our child!” Eva cried. “Yes, that’s my business!”

She began to cry. For months, she’d wanted to yell at Filipe. She’d wanted to see his face when he realized what he was doing to her. She’d wanted to listen to him beg when she told him she was keeping the baby for herself. She’d wanted his face to look exactly the way it looked right now. Shocked and hurt and grasping for excuses that didn’t cover it.

But she didn’t feel any better.

Eva dropped onto the couch. She’d held it together this long. She was done being strong.

Filipe took the eggs off the stovetop and walked over to the couch. He sat down and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you like this.”

“Why?” Eva whispered. “I thought you were different.”

“My mother is very sick,” Filipe said. “She doesn’t have much time left. They’re doing everything they can, but nothing is working anymore. I just wanted to be with her.”

“For five months?” Eva asked, the tears slowly subsiding. “Filipe, you know that doesn’t make sense. That doesn’t explain why you didn’t call.”

“I heard your voicemail.”

She sniffled and looked down at the floor.

“I’m pregnant,” she said. “That was just the hormones talking.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

“It doesn’t matter how I feel about you,” she said. “You obviously don’t feel the same way.”

Filipe stared.

“What are you talking about?” he asked. “Of course I do.”

Eva’s heard snapped up.

“What?”

“Of course I have feelings for you,” he said. “Didn’t I make that clear?”

“No,” Eva said. “When I told you I was pregnant, you acted like you’d won some kind of prize. You didn’t seem to care about me at all.”

“I was trying to distance myself,” he said. “I told myself, if I left and let you handle things on your own, maybe the feelings would go away. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that night in the penthouse. And, if I’m being honest, it started before that. It started at Oasis.”

“You didn’t ask me to carry your baby because I’m poor,” she said. “You asked me because you have feelings for me.”

“I wanted an excuse to be around you. I tried to treat it like a business arrangement. But it hurt too much. I had to get away. That’s why I didn’t call. I knew you felt the same way, and I couldn’t risk making a mistake. Did you really not know?”

Eva shook her head.

“How was I supposed to know?” she asked. “You don’t make any sense. I told you I can’t read you.”

Her heart was beating fast. Her hands shook. Filipe loved her, too.

But you can’t be together.

“Why are you telling me all of this now?” Eva asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing’s changed, has it? You still won’t leave Luiza.”

Filipe sighed and shook his head.

“No,” he said. “Not now. I can’t. My mother is too sick. This can’t be the last thing she knows about me.”

“What happens after she’s gone?”

“I still can’t do it,” Filipe said. “I’ve thought about this, Eva. I thought about it every single day I wasn’t with you. But there’s just no good way to make this work. Luiza is vengeful. She’ll tell everyone the truth. It’ll be an insult to my mother’s memory.”

“But you can take her down with you,” Eva said. “You aren’t the only one living a lie, Filipe. She’s letting you. And she wouldn’t give you a child. She won’t come out looking like the good guy.”

“It’s not about that,” he said. “It’s about the dignity of my family. I told you, we haven’t had a scandal in decades. I’m not going to be the first.”

“But you love me,” Eva said. “Don’t you?”

Filipe nodded.

“You’re more than I bargained for,” he admitted. “Much more.”

“Then why can’t we be together?”

“Maybe we can,” Filipe said. “I’ll have to bring the baby to Europe sometimes. Otherwise, people will start to wonder where I’m keeping her. We could stay in the city for school and things like that. You and I could live together in the penthouse. We could raise her. We could be a family.”

“But it’ll be a secret,” Eva said. “No one will ever know that I’m her mother.”

“She’ll know,” Filipe countered. “Isn’t that enough?”

“But she’ll be living a double life too,” she said. “Don’t you see that? She’ll have to grow up knowing her father is married to another woman. One day, something is going to slip. One day, this is all going to come out. You can’t keep prolonging it. Besides, how do I know you aren’t going to abandon us again?”

“I’ll have to go back sometimes,” he said. “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s not going to be easy.”

“You’re going to have to kiss her in public,” Eva said. “Luiza, I mean. You’re going to have to kiss her and be with her and give interviews about how happy you are together. You’re ignoring reality, Filipe. I can’t live that way.”

“Then I can’t give you what you want.”

“Then I guess we have a problem,” she said. “Because I’m not signing away my rights as a parent.”

“You meant that, then,” Filipe murmured. “I was hoping, if I came here, you’d change your mind. Being a single mom is hard.”

“It’s not any harder than being a single dad,” Eva pointed out. “This is your own fault. You disappeared for five months. I had no idea if you wanted the baby anymore. I had to make a choice. I had to assume the worst. I’m not going back after that. She’s my child now. I started looking at houses upstate. I started shopping for a car. I started looking for names. You can’t take her away from me.”

“I’m not going to take her away from you,” he said. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“You said, if I changed my mind during the pregnancy, you’d sign away your own rights.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Isn’t that what you said?”

Filipe sighed.

“Eva,” he said. “I can’t leave Luiza. But I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I have a child with the woman I love and not be a part of their lives.”

“I guess you have a problem, then.”

“Why can’t you work with me?” he asked. Eva could hear the pain in his voice. “Why can’t we come up with a solution that works for both of us?”

“Because what you’re asking is ludicrous,” Eva said. “You’re asking me to live a lie, too. I’ve been doing that long enough.”

Filipe leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. It was soft, but emotional.

“I love you,” he affirmed. “I want to be with you. I want to be with both of you.”

“You can’t have it all,” Eva whispered. “You have to choose.”

“We could share custody,” Filipe said. “You could have her during the school year and I could take her during the summer. I could visit.”

“But we couldn’t be together,” she said. “If we’re living separate lives, I’m not waiting on you.”

“At least I could be her father,” he said. “That’s better than nothing.”

“You don’t seem convinced.”

“I want you both.”

Eva shook her head and stood up. She went to the closet to change. She was tired of sitting around in her pajamas. Filipe went back into the kitchen.

She didn’t know what to do. She loved Filipe, and it was amazing to know that he loved her back. But he wasn’t willing to leave Luiza. It didn’t help that Eva was still angry about the past five months. Even if he’d been avoiding his feelings for her, he’d left her in literal hell. Formally or informally, she couldn’t be with someone like that.

Still, just being around him made her toes curl. His kiss was everything she’d been waiting for. She could imagine them raising a daughter together. She’d be beautiful and smart and imaginative. Eva would never pressure her to be a lawyer. Filipe would never pressure her to be a royal. She’d know both of her parents. She’d have everything she ever wanted and more.

But at what cost?

Eventually, the story would break. Everyone would know Prince Filipe di Benici had a secret baby mama in the city. Their child would be the story of the year. Eva and their daughter would never be able to escape the stigma. And what if then, after his whole world fell to pieces, Filipe still didn’t want to be with her? Would it be worth it then?