I don’t even hesitate with my answer. “No.”

His jaw drops, and he stares at me for a moment before his grip on my hand finally loosens, and I yank it away from him. His eyes are clouded, and his voice is cracked. “Elle, please. This is all I’ve ever wanted—”

I shake my head and fold my arms across my chest, tucking my hands under so that he can’t pull them into his again. “You’re lying to me, Leo. I know you feel bad, and I didn’t want you to find out like this. I really didn’t. I shouldn’t have come here tonight. I…I haven’t really even made a decision about what I’m going to do. But whatever I decide, I’m going to do this on my own. After tonight—”

“After tonight…? Elle…” He shakes his head, his eyes wide. “I don’t… And I’m not lying to you. What on earth could I be lying to you about? I just told you how I feel. How much you mean to me…” His shoulders are drooping—his expression has gone slack and his eyes are dull, almost distant. “I don’t understand.”

“You expect me to believe that you just happened to have an engagement ring in your pocket? Do you think I’m an idiot, Leo?”

His brow furrows as he climbs to his feet again. “I… Of course I don’t think you’re an idiot, Elle. I tried to tell you—”

“You brought Karina to the ball tonight. You had no idea I was going to be there. I saw your face—you were shocked as hell that I showed up, so I know that ring wasn’t meant for me.” I glare at him. “You were going to put on a show, weren’t you?”

His mouth drops open. “I—”

“That’s why she had to come with you tonight, even though she was in labor, right? No one is that stupid, Leo, not even her. She knew what you were planning to do tonight—she knew you were planning to propose to her. You had this evening all planned out and she tried to save it by pretending her baby wasn’t already well on its way to being born.” I motion toward his hand—the ring he had shown me is tightly clenched in his fist. “That ring was never meant for me. And we both know it.”

“Elle…”

I tilt my head, forcing him to meet my gaze. “Tell me I’m wrong, Leo.”

“You’re not…wrong. Not exactly.” He frowns. “But you’re not right, either. This ring was always meant for you. When Matthias told me he was arranging a car for you tonight, I ran to my suite to get it before I raced to the car. I only beat you there by a few seconds—I knew there was no way you would have gotten in if you had seen me. And Elle…” He reaches out and touches my face, tracing his finger along the line of my jaw. “Everything I’ve said tonight is true. Every single thing. I’m not lying to you. I want to marry you—I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.”

“How much?”

His forehead creases for a moment and his hand drops to his side. “More than anything—”

“No, I mean how much were you getting for the engagement story? How much were the tabloids going to pay you to make an ass of yourself tonight?”

“Oh.” He stares down at his feet for a moment before lifting his gaze to mine again. “A million dollars. But it was only going to happen if I asked her before the baby was born—and only if it happened at the state dinner. It’s beside the point now, Elle, but you should know the money was going to go into a fund for the baby—”

“Go to hell, Leo.” I spin on my heel and walk through the automatic doors into the airport.

I don’t even get a few feet inside before Leo is behind me. He grabs me by the elbow, turning me around to face him again. “Elle—”

I lift a brow. “You paid off a few hundred thousand dollars of my student loans. And a few hundred thousand more for my mortgage. I imagine I can get at least a million or so for my story, don’t you? And unlike your beloved Karina, my paternity test will show the tabloids exactly who the father of my child is. That should make my story even more valuable, shouldn’t it, Your Highness?” I fold my arms across my chest. “Don’t worry, Leo. I’ll pay you back every single penny you’ve spent on me—including what you paid for those stupid dresses and everything else—before I put the rest of the money into a fund for my baby.”

He blinks at me a few times. “Elle… Our baby.”

I shake my head. “No, Leo. My baby. If I even let it go that far.”

“You don’t mean that.”

Tears well in my eyes, and I blink them back. My voice is hoarse and I can barely get my words out. “How the hell am I supposed to bring a child into the world knowing it has a father like you?”

He winces as though my words themselves have slapped him and my stomach twists with guilt, seeing the pain register on his face.

“Elle…” His chin is almost trembling. “We should go somewhere and talk. Somewhere less public.”

“No, Leo. You just said you were willing to let me go. You said you wouldn’t be following me this time. So prove to me you aren’t a liar.”

I spin on my heel again, but he catches me by the wrist and pulls me back to face him.

“I also said that I choose you. That I’m never going to let anything come between us again.” He tilts his head, forcing my gaze to meet his. “Tell me, Elle, how I might come away from this without looking like a liar?”

“You did this to yourself, Leo. Don’t blame me—”

“Tell me you don’t love me.”

My brow furrows and my mouth drops open. “What?”

He nods, staring into my eyes. “Tell me you don’t love me. Say the words. Look into my eyes and say you don’t love me, Elle.”

I lift my chin—we’re so close our foreheads are almost touching. I open my mouth to say it. Part of me wants to say it, even though none of me actually believes it. “I—don’t.”

“Finish it, Elle. You have to say all of it—the whole sentence while you look into my eyes.” He pauses for another moment. “Say you don’t love me.”

My jaw clenches and my gaze narrows. “I don’t…love.” I almost growl in exasperation. “This has nothing to do with anything, Leo. I don’t have to say anything. I don’t owe you anything. And you need to let me go.” I try to twist my wrist out of his grasp, but his hold only tightens.

“Not until I hear you say it. If you can say it, I’ll let you go, Elle.”

I say nothing. I drop my arm and stop fighting him. I only stare at him, challenging him with my gaze.

He stares back at me, unblinking. “Say it.”

I shake my head, finally breaking our eye contact. “This is a huge, huge mistake, Leo. All of it…” I look back into his eyes. “I don’t want to be your pity wife. I don’t want you to look at me in a few months when I’m as big as a house and have you wonder what the hell you were thinking. I don’t want you resenting me for trapping you into a marriage you never wanted. I don’t want you hating me because I made you change your ways. I—”

His lips cover mine and I have no choice but to stop speaking. After a moment, he releases my wrist, sliding his arms around my waist. My hands find his chest and our kiss deepens as I surrender to him.

He pulls away from me suddenly, tipping his forehead against mine. “I love you.”

I close my eyes at his words. I pause for a moment, trying to figure out what the tears that fill my eyes again mean this time. I wait for the heavy aching to fill my chest again, but it doesn’t. There’s something warm in my chest this time. Something almost too big to contain.

I open my eyes, searching his for a moment. I’m not sure what I’m looking for, but part of me hopes I can see if this is a lie. Part of me almost wishes that I’ll see he’s playing me. But I think I can see the same warm something inside of him that I feel inside of me.

I can’t quite smile. Not yet. “I love you, too.”

“Will you marry me?”

I don’t know what happens, exactly, but I nod, my forehead still tipped against his.

He grins. “Is that a yes?”

I have no idea if this is the right thing to do in the long run. If I’m going to regret my answer for the rest of my days. But it seems like the right thing, at least at this moment. My voice drops to something barely above a whisper.

“Yes.”