‘When I was too late to say goodbye to my grandmother, and I saw the depth of my grandfather’s pain, I knew I had a choice to either be a real part of my family or leave it for ever. So I put everything about my time exploring the world into boxes, taped them up and put them away. All my memories. I packed Theo into that box. I couldn’t be that man and be the Prince I had to be.’
He swallowed.
‘I wanted to make amends to my grandmother’s memory and prove to my grandfather that I am proud to be a Kalliakis. I’d spent thirty years pursuing my own pleasure and it was time to grow up and be the man he’d raised me to be. I threw myself into palace life and the Kalliakis business with my brothers. I was determined to prove myself. But inside I was empty. And then you walked back into my life.’
He reached to brush a thumb down her cheek, a wan smile playing on his lips.
‘If you’d told me a month ago that I’d fallen in love with a woman I slept with once five years ago I would have said you were mad. But that’s the truth. You were there to catch me when I was at my lowest point and you caught my heart. It’s been yours ever since that night. There hasn’t been another, and only now do I know why—it’s because I’ve belonged to you heart, body and soul since the night we conceived Toby. You came back into my life and the emptiness disappeared. But I didn’t see it until I sent you away and the hole was ripped open again. Don’t speak,’ he urged when she parted her lips. ‘I know you love me. I’ve always known. Just answer me this. When I sent you back to England it was so you could have your freedom. I was so high and mighty, thinking that I was doing the right thing, that I took away your freedom to make a choice.’
‘My choice would be you,’ she said immediately, before he could ask.
‘But—’
This time Jo placed her finger to his lips. ‘Your turn to keep quiet. I’ve never craved to see the stars. All I’ve ever wanted was to find a place where I belong, and I’ve found that with you. You make me whole. You make me proud to live in my skin. And that’s the greatest gift you could ever have given me.’
She traced her fingers across his jaw, finally able to believe that this was real—that he had come to her, had met her back in the place where it had all started between them.
‘Palace life doesn’t frighten me the way you think it should, and as long as you’re by my side I will adapt. I will be proud to be your princess and to represent the greatest family on this planet.’
He sighed and pressed a light kiss to her mouth. ‘After the way I treated you I didn’t dare to presume...’
‘Freedom comes in many forms,’ she said gently. ‘You don’t have to hide the essence of yourself away for ever.’
‘I know that now. My grandmother was a strong, warm-hearted woman—she would have forgiven me. Now it’s time to forgive myself.’
The look he gave her warmed her right down to the marrow of her bones.
‘It’s strange, but when I’m with you all my craving for freedom disappears. You make me feel free. You bring sunshine into my life and I swear I will never let you or Toby go again.’
She cupped his cheeks in her hands. His skin felt so warm. ‘I will love you for ever.’
‘And I will love you for ever.’
His hands dived into her hair and then his mouth came crashing onto hers.
* * *
It hadn’t been a kiss, Jo thought a few hours later, when they were entangled in the sheets of the bed in the cabin where they’d first made love five years before. It had been more like the breath of life. It had been filled with promises for the future, something that bound them together for ever.
‘Where are you going?’ she asked when he slid off the bed.
He grinned and dug his hands into his shorts pocket. He pulled out the penknife he carried everywhere.
He climbed back onto the bed and placed the blade on the wooden wall. He etched the letters ‘TK’ and ‘JB’ into the wood.
‘There,’ he decreed in his most regal voice, snapping the blade shut and dropping it onto the floor. ‘It’s official. You and me—together for ever.’
EPILOGUE
‘GOOD MORNING, PRINCESS.’
Jo opened a bleary eye and found her husband sitting on the edge of the bed beside her.
She smiled and yawned. ‘What time is it?’