“Good. Rocco was helpful.” Lilah’s ears pricked up. She hadn’t known that Will was going to interview Rocco.
“How is my old friend?”
“He was a picture of health and happiness, your highness.”
Kiral nodded. “A visit is overdue.”
“Yes, he mentioned he’s not coming to the wedding,” Will prompted, wondering at the obvious omission from a man who claimed to love Kiral like a brother.
Kiral shook his head. “Regrettably he cannot.” He put an arm around Lilah’s waist. “My sister will give you anything you need, Will.” He dropped his eyes to Lilah’s slightly pink face. “Labimn, I’m counting on you to help tonight go smoothly.”
He kissed the top of her forehead and she nodded, watching helplessly as he disappeared through the crowd. She waited until she could no longer see him and then slowly turned to face the man who had been tormenting her dreams.
“Will.” She didn’t bother smiling. “How are you?” Of course, he looked spectacular. She had seen him dressed casually, and she had thought him perfectly suited to that rugged, outdoorsy life. Yet wearing a crisp tuxedo with a starched white shirt and black bow tie, he looked like a devilish billionaire. Her tummy flipped and flopped. He had shaved for the occasion, and while she missed the stubble that had adorned his chin, his bare face showed a flawless bone structure. A chiseled jaw, dimpled chin, and those lips … She squared her shoulders and forcibly pushed those observations from her mind.
“I’m fine, Jalilah,” he said with a coldness to his words that sent shivers down her spine. He stared at her for a minute and then lifted his gaze to the revelers. “You know how to throw quite a party.”
She swallowed. Just pretend he is someone else, she urged herself. “It’s spectacular, isn’t it?” The jewels glistened in every direction. Diamonds and gemstones and gold, the room was awash with glitz. “These events are always very grand. There will be fireworks at midnight and the display will be visible from the capital city.”
“So this is how you live,” he remarked, and she understood, because she knew him, that there was disapproval in his words.
“No, not all the time,” she said thoughtfully. “This is a special occasion.”
“It seems … frivolous.”
She ground her teeth together. “What would you expect? My brother is one of the most powerful rulers in the world. He is about to marry. Of course there is fanfare and fuss. These are traditions …”
“And I know how you value the traditions of your people,” he responded tautly. “Even to the exclusion of your own happiness.”
“This isn’t the time nor the place to discuss what happened between us,” she whispered warningly.
“There is no need to discuss it ever, so far as I’m concerned.” And as though he flicked a switch, his manner relaxed, and he seemed to push away the brooding sense of betrayal. “It’s ancient history.”
Was it? Not for Lilah. But she nodded, assuming an air of complacency that matched his. “Perhaps I could introduce you to Melania,” she said thoughtfully.
“I met her yesterday,” he said with a shake of his head. “She is just as you described.”
“Yesterday?” Lilah’s pulse was firing through her body. “How long have you been in Delani?”
“I flew in a week ago.” His eyes studied her face, pleased to see his remark had hit its mark. She was visibly shaken by his admission. But it wasn’t enough. “I have … friends here.”
The way he said the word friends flared jealousy in her gut, as he’d intended it to. There was enough suggestiveness in that single word to make her wonder: did he mean a woman? Lilah covered the sharp pain, nodding and plastering a disinterested smile on her face.
“I see.” She knew it was a sign of weakness but she was powerless to ignore the burning question. “Where are you staying?”
“In the palace now,” his expression was mocking. Her chest hurt. “Why? Are you thinking of mounting a midnight visit, for old time’s sake?”
“Don’t be crass. It doesn’t suit you,” she snapped, her insides clenching with the unmistakable flame of need.
He turned his gaze back towards the party. “It was simply a question.”
“Were you staying in the city before coming to the palace?” Lilah was drawing on every ounce of will-power to be strong and well-mannered, when she felt like a maelstrom of emotions was firing her blood. She wanted to cry. She wanted to shout. She wanted to kiss him. She was shocked that she wasn’t shaking like a leaf.
“I was with a friend, remember?”
She blinked her eyes shut and drew in a deep breath. Slowly, she turned to face him. “You are trying to make me ask more about this friend, from which I can only surmise that it is a woman, and you’re invoking her in an attempt to make me jealous. So I will play along, if that’s what you want, if only to prove that I am above such a juvenile emotion.” She leaned closer, a polite smile on her features that belied the words she was uttering. “Well, Will? Tell me about her.”
His chest compressed with shame. He had been doing everything she’d accused him of. “It doesn’t matter.”