Maybe he could do this fatherhood thing.
‘I have to go to the palace in the morning. I thought I’d borrow my brother’s dog and bring him back. We could take him for a walk on the beach,’ he said to Toby, who had insisted on sitting next to him, which had filled him with pride.
‘Can I go to the palace with you?’ he asked hopefully. His face and T-shirt were covered in tomato sauce.
‘Not yet. It’s too busy there at the moment. I’ll take you in a week or two.’
Toby thought about this answer, then darted panicked eyes to his mother. ‘Am I still going to Ellie’s party on Saturday?’
Now Jo was the one to look panic-stricken. ‘I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to miss that.’
‘But Aunty Cathy’s got me a Waspman outfit.’
‘I know... I know.’
She inhaled deeply through her nose and smiled at their son, a smile that looked forced to Theseus’s eyes.
‘We’ll do something fun on Saturday to make up for missing it.’
‘But I want to go to Ellie’s party. You promised.’
To Theseus’s distress, huge tears pooled in Toby’s eyes and rolled down his cheeks, landing on his plate.
He placed a tentative hand on his son’s thin shoulder, wanting to give comfort, but Toby shrugged it away and slipped off his chair to run around the table to Jo and throw himself into her arms.
She shoved her chair back and scooped him up, sitting him on her lap so he could bury himself in her softness.
‘I want to go home!’ Toby sobbed, his tiny frame shaking.
‘I know... I know,’ she soothed again, stroking his hair.
She met Theseus’s gaze. He’d expected to see recrimination in her stare, but all he could see was anguish. She dropped a kiss on Toby’s head, saying nothing more, just letting him cry it out.
Only when he’d stopped sobbing and blown his nose did she say, ‘How about we ask the chef for some ice cream?’
Toby nodded bravely, but still clung to her.
Theseus remembered the cold days that had followed his return to the palace from his sabbatical. Night after night he’d lain in his bed, in the moonless dark, and had found his thoughts returning over and over to the woman he’d met on Illya. To Jo.
He would have given anything—all his wealth, his royal title, everything he had—to be enfolded in her arms once again and to feel her gentle hands stroke his pain away...just as they were doing now to their son.
The image of her sitting on the beach watching him sail away had haunted him until he’d blotted her from his mind.
‘I’ll see to it,’ he said, getting to his feet and making no mention of the bell that he could ring if he required service. Suddenly he was desperate to get out of the dining room.
He did not want the look of gratitude Jo threw at him. He didn’t deserve it. Toby’s distress was his fault.
As soon as he was out of the room and out of their sight he rubbed at his temples and blew out a breath of air.
He couldn’t explain even to himself how agonising he’d found that scene.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JO HIT ‘SEND’ and threw her head back to gaze at the ceiling.
She’d done it. She’d finished the biography.
Theseus had given her the green light on the chapters she’d completed earlier and she’d forwarded them to her editor in Oxford. All that was left was for Theseus to approve the last two.
Once she’d imagined that she would want to celebrate. Now she felt that any celebration would be more like a wake.
Her work hadn’t just opened up the King’s life for her, but the lives of his family too. Theseus’s life. This was a family bound by blood and duty.
When she’d arrived on Agon she’d been too angry at Theseus’s deception to understand why he’d lied about his identity. Now she understood.
He’d spent his entire life being scrutinised, having his every waking hour planned for him—whether at home in the palace, at boarding school, or in the armed forces. His life had never been his own to do as he wanted. He really had been like a trapped grown lion in a tiny cage.
No wonder he had kicked back. Who could blame him for wanting to experience what most people took for granted?
But now he was a model prince—a model Kalliakis.
She admired him for the way he handled his role, but wondered what it had cost him.
He’d been happy on Illya. Here, it was clear he did his duty but she saw no joy in it for him.