know that he wants to be clear-headed when he becomes King.
Having a wife he never wanted and a child he didn’t ask for doesn’t exactly fit into that vision. I must have been delusional yesterday, when I thought this baby was actually a good thing. That it might bring us closer together.
“You have to tell him, Cara,” Cathy says, resting her chin on top of my head.
“Who?”
Cathy scoffs. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
I sniffle, chuckling through the last of my tears. I pull away from my sister, leaning against the headboard. “I know.”
“The sooner he knows, the sooner you can make decisions. You’re keeping the baby?”
“Yes.” The word comes out with more vehemence than I intended.
Cathy just nods, as if she wouldn’t expect anything else. “So you have to tell him.”
“What if he doesn’t want it?”
“Then he doesn’t deserve it.”
Everything seems so simple when my sister says it, but it feels so much more complicated in my heart. Theo rejecting the baby feels like the same thing as Theo rejecting me—and that hurts. A lot.
I don’t know when it happened, or how, but I’ve fallen for Prince Theo. Hard. Harder than I thought was possible. The feelings I have for him are stronger than anything I ever felt for Luca. This isn’t duty or arrangement. It’s real. It’s powerful.
It’s going to break me into a million little pieces, and I’m never going to be able to put myself back together again.
Sliding my hand over my stomach, I let out a sigh.
Cathy nudges my shoulder. “Sing me something, Cara.”
“What? Why?”
My sister smiles. “Maybe you’ll go to voice school. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll end up with Theo. Maybe you won’t. One thing I know for sure, though? You have a beautiful voice and singing brings you joy. Heck, your singing brings me joy. It’s a gift, Cara. You should use it whether or not you decide to go to Juilliard.”
Tears prickle my eyelids, but I try to contain myself. I don’t want to cry. I don’t want to turn into a blubbering mess and give in to all my worst fears.
Instead, I take a deep breath and I sing the first thing that comes to mind. It’s an old love song that Prudence and I sang together, one that our father used to sing to our mother when we were little. Cathy leans against the pillows on my bed and closes her eyes. When I sing the chorus, she joins in with me.
My heart swells.
I haven’t heard Cathy sing since we were kids.
She’s right. My voice is a gift, and I can’t give it up. As a hurricane of emotion blows around me, whistling through the cracks in my armor, I need to cling onto the things that are real.
My baby is real, and I need to protect it. My voice is real, and I need to cherish it.
My love for Theo is real, and I need to find out if he feels the same way.
The door to my room opens, interrupting our singing. My mother stands in the doorway, eyebrow arched. She looks at the pile of paperwork on the floor and then swings her gaze to my sister and me. Cathy shuffles off the bed, adjusting her clothing and clearing her throat.
My mother stares at me with cold, hard eyes. “The Crown Prince is here. He’s asking for you.”
21
Theo
A maid places a silver tray beside me. A cup of tea lets off a wisp of steam as the maid curtsies and backs away. My knee bounces up and down. Tristan Shoal stares at me from across the living room.
“We weren’t expecting to see you today, Your Highness.”
“I was in the neighborhood.”
Lie.
I couldn’t stay away. I’ve only been apart from Cara for a day, but after my conversation with Dante, I felt like I had to talk to her.
We’re connected. Cara and I share something that I didn’t even know was possible. I thought I wanted to be alone. To lead this country to prosperity on my own. To protect myself from the kind of scandal that marred my father’s rule.
Now, I’m realizing I was wrong. I don’t want that at all.
I want Cara.
“Cara got some good news in the mail,” Tristan says, reaching for his own cup. It looks tiny in his meaty hands. Even as he ages, he looks like an athlete. Still a national treasure, and now the terrifyingly imposing father of the woman I’m falling in love with.
“Did she?”
Tristan nods, a proud smile tugging at his lips. “She