I took a deep breath. “I love you,” I said simply. “I fall deeper by the day.”
“But?”
“You’re a prince,” I said. “I’m… a girl named Peaches.”
“Funny coincidence. The woman I love is named Peaches.”
I sat up. “Don’t be flippant.”
He shrugged. “You could always change your name.”
“I don’t want to change my name,” I snapped. “I don’t want to change anything. That’s the point. I don’t want to have to worry about guards and security and being driven everywhere. I don’t want to have to worry about which fork to use or what greeting each world leader prefers. I don’t want Jack to grow up thinking he can’t…,” I trailed off.
“Become a rock star?”
“Auggie.”
He sat up. “Am I not worth it?”
“Auggie…,” I repeated.
He took my hand in his, toying with the ring that remained on my finger. “When my dad first saw my mother, she was dancing in a restaurant in Barcelona. She was older. American. Brassy. She didn’t care that he was a king. The first one, in fact. He said he fell in love with her that night. She wasn’t like the others. So, he knew she wouldn’t fit into his world. But that wasn’t what she was there for. She was there to blow up those old tired notions and replace them with something new.”
“And you paid the price,” I reminded. “Your mother broke apart your family to spare you from growing up in that world.”
“What if she made a mistake?” he asked softly. “What if she would have stayed and gotten the help she needed? What if we could have saved her?” His voice cracked. It broke my heart.
“The world is full of what ifs, Auggie.”
“Exactly,” he agreed, clutching my hand. “So, let’s just go for it.”
“There’s so much you don’t know,” I hedged.
“Like what?”
“Like the father of my baby.” I said at last.
“Me. Next question.”
I sighed in frustration as I pulled myself out of bed. “You’ve never even asked. It’s like you don’t care.”
“I don’t care,” he agreed. “That baby is between you and me and no one else. He always has been.”
“Until his biological father comes sniffing around,” I said, finally voicing my worst fear. I sighed again. “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Auggie. I know the man who got me pregnant.”
I expected it to land like a bombshell. Instead, “I know.”
My mouth gaped open. “How do you know?”
It was his turn to sigh and rise from the bed. “Sean told me about a run-in you had the day you quit Headliner Pulse. He eluded that there was a previous history with Christopher.”
My eyes widened. “Wait. What? So, in Los Angeles… you knew?”
“It was an educated guess until Los Angeles,” he clarified. “The minute he cornered you, I knew. Then his touching you, like he had any goddamn right to do so.” He took me by the arms. “I could have killed him.”
“So, you see how complicated it would be if he ever got around to doing the math. I got pregnant a full month before I even met you.”
“Women have premature babies all the time,” he shrugged. “We tell them the baby is due in November. When he’s born, we release a statement that though the royal baby is born early, both he and mother are doing well.” He took me into his arms. “Problem solved.”
“Only one,” I insisted. “This lie would put a baby in your same shoes. An heir to a throne he might not even want.”
“Only if I accept my role as king. Once Old Mother passes the torch, and I am not there to accept it, the crown passes on down to the House of Byrne. My cousin Cillian specifically.” He said it as matter of fact as possible, but I could tell there was something laced there underneath. “The House of Quinn can retire. Jack will have wealth. He’ll be protected. He’ll even hold a title. But he will never have to bear the burden of king. A pretty sweet gig if you can get it,” he smirked.
“Sounds perfect,” I acknowledged with a nod as I pulled away.
“Because it is,” he insisted.
“One DNA test could bring it all down, Auggie. I love you too much to do that to you. And I certainly love my son way too much to do that to him.” I slipped the ring from my finger and handed it back.
He glanced down at the ring but did not make one move