Depression rolled over her. Whichever way you looked at it, the whole situation was impossible.
Anguish filled her. There could be no resolution to this. How could there be? Two worlds had collided—the normal world, and the world the Ceraldis lived in. A world that was totally unreal to everyone except themselves.
And Ben was caught in the middle. Crushed between them.
And so was she.
CHAPTER FIVE
RICO stared at his brother. He had been summoned back to San Lucenzo the following morning, and now that he was here Luca had dropped a bombshell on him.
‘This is a joke, right? And, as such, it isn’t funny.’
The Crown Prince of San Lucenzo looked back at him with dispassionate eyes. He was good at dispassion, thought Rico viciously. Great at dispensing insane ideas as if they were commonplace, obvious no-brainers.
‘It would solve the problem we are facing.’
‘Are you mad? It’s not a question of solving problems—this is about my life. And I am not about to sacrifice it for the reasons you think I should.’
‘It’s hardly a permanent sacrifice. Besides, I thought you said you had really taken to the boy.’
Rico’s eyes flashed angrily.
‘That doesn’t mean I have to—’
His brother held up his hand. ‘Yes, I understand. But listen, Rico—what other option is there? She’s the legal g
uardian of Paolo’s son. She won’t relinquish the boy. You’re saying that the only way for us to have Paolo’s son is to have her as well. But how? We cannot have an English unmarried mother, a commoner, whose father kept a shop, living here with legal responsibility for a child who just happens to be our nephew and therefore a royal prince.’ His face tightened. ‘It will cause serious problems of protocol and security. What I’ve suggested cuts those problems right out.’ Both the tone of his voice and his expression changed. ‘I don’t have to tell you that your cooperation in this matter would be appreciated by our father.’
He pressed on.
‘We’re talking a year—eighteen months at the most. That’s all, Rico. Enough to serve the proprieties. Make everything watertight.’
His eyes rested on his younger brother.
‘You’re always talking about having a more active role in affairs. Wanting to take on responsibilities. All your life you’ve chafed at being the “spare”. Well, now you can do something about that. No one else can do this, Rico—only you. You know that. Only you.’
There was an intensity in Luca’s gaze that bored into Rico. For a long, endless moment Rico met his brother’s eyes. Then, with a curse, he broke away.
‘Damn you for this, Luca.’
Luca raised sardonic eyebrows. ‘Damn me all you like—but do this for us all,’ he retorted coolly.
His brother’s voice, when he replied, was even cooler. ‘I’ll do it for Paolo,’ he said.
The sleek, powerful car ate up the miles between the airfield and the rented house. But for Rico it was still too slow. He wanted to drive faster—much faster.
And in the opposite direction.
Instead, he was heading into a cage. He was going to have to put his head into a noose and let it be pulled tight.
His mood was grim. At his side, in the passenger seat, Falieri kept silent. Rico appreciated it. Falieri had been fully briefed, he knew, either by Luca or their father, and he knew exactly what Rico was about to do.
‘Tell me I’m insane,’ Rico demanded.
‘It makes sense, what you are going to do,’ Falieri said quietly.
‘Does it?’ Rico retorted bitterly. ‘Keep reminding me of that, will you?’