She came to her senses with a gasp, the stark reminder of her father’s condition and the growing dread that the only solution to his recovery was walking out the door galvanising her into movement.
Somewhere between rushing out of the kitchen and throwing herself against the front door to stop Remi from opening it, she wondered if she’d been struck with some sort of madness. But what choice did she have? Her father wouldn’t make it for another six months.
So she placed herself before him, forced herself to look up into the stone-hard, brutally gorgeous face of Crown Prince Remi Montegova and said one word. ‘Wait.’
One very regal, very haughty eyebrow lifted. ‘You need to say more. I wish to hear the words, Maddie.’
‘Are...are you sure this is what you want?’
Ruthless determination blazed through his eyes. ‘I’m sure of what I want. Be sure of what you want and tell me.’
Maddie swallowed, and with the strongest notion that she was stepping into a dangerous abyss she whispered, ‘I’ll marry you.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
MADDIE CLENCHED HER jaw tight against the urge to take the words back, to step away from the precipice of the wild unknown upon which she somehow found herself poised. But an even greater power kept her rooted to the spot, kept her words locked in her throat as she stared up at the man she’d just agreed to marry.
In turn, he stared down at her, the light that gleamed in his eyes moments ago gone, and in its place a flat regard that set a whole new wave of anxiety blooming beneath her skin.
What had she done?
She finally managed to unglue her tongue, but before she could speak he stepped up to her. One hand rose, hovered next to her face before his fingers slowly brushed her cheek, her neck, rested on her shoulders.
‘A word of advice before this thing goes forward, Maddie. This is merely a transaction—a marriage of convenience for the sake of Montegova and my people. It would be wise not to think any more of it.’
Something withered and died inside her—something she hadn’t even known existed until she’d lost it. The yawing emptiness it left behind made her furiously regroup, tighten the reins around her scattered emotions.
‘Are you warning me not to fall in love with you?’ She infused her voice with as much haughtiness as she could and knew she’d struck the mark when his eyes narrowed.
‘That is exactly what I’m saying,’ he confirmed.
She inhaled shakily and for a moment was ashamed of her treacherous body and the weakness Remi evoked within her. Was it that same weakness Greg had seen in her and taken advantage of?
The thought straightened her spine. ‘Thank you, but that somewhat presumptuous warning isn’t necessary. I’ve already learned my lesson once before. You may be a great catch in your royal circles, but you’re not exactly my type.’
His expression morphed from coldly forbidding into...something else. Something that removed the flatness from his eyes and replaced it with a gleam of challenge.
Maddie ignored the skitter of alarm and attempted to shrug off the hand that lay too close to the pulse hammering at her throat. His hold lightened, turned into more of a caress as it drifted down her arm to rest at her elbow.
‘And what exactly is your type?’
Less charismatic. Less overwhelming. Less...everything.
She didn’t voice the words. He was gorgeously imperious, irresistibly arrogant enough.
A round of deep coughing shattered the thick silence, dragging her attention from the enticing magic of his touch. When she darted away from him Remi dropped his hand, but he didn’t step out of her way.
‘I have to go and see to my father,’ she said.
‘We have further issues to discuss.’
She swallowed, the enormity of what she’d agreed to hovering like an electric storm. ‘I know.’
He nodded. ‘But first I’ll make arrangements for your father to be moved from here in the next few hours.’
Surprised by the dizzying speed of his actions, she nodded. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’m merely facilitating your smooth transition into my life, Maddie.’