Page 71 of Second Chance Prince
Niki looked up in surprise at the forceful knock on the door. He had told his men not to bother him until he was done. Francis looked equally irritated by the interruption. They had only just finished with the countess and were discussing the legitimacy of her claims.
The door opened before he could speak, and Roberta stood there, one of his guards with an anguished expression behind her.
“Sorry, Your Highness, but I could not…”
Niki waved the man away and rose to his feet. “Roberta? Has something happened?”
“No, nothingmorehas happened,” she said. “I was waiting for you to come and explain, but then I decided I could not wait any longer.”
He considered her. Roberta’s eyes were bright with emotion, and her soft mouth looked hard.
“I beg your pardon, Lady Roberta, but the prince is busy with serious matters. It is not a woman’s place—”
“I begyourpardon,” Roberta interrupted in the sort of voice he had never heard from her before. There was steel in it. “I wish to speak to my husband. Alone.”
Francis looked incensed and seemed about to argue, but Niki waved a hand at him. “Please, leave us,” he said, a polite request.
“Sir, I do not think—”
“Leave us,” Niki said, and this time, it was an order.
Francis shot Roberta a black look and, snatching up some papers from the desk, left the room. Niki knew he would have work to do to soothe his old friend, but right now, he was more concerned with his wife.
“He is old-fashioned,” he said in explanation.
“I gathered that.” She didn’t sound pacified.
“What did you wish to speak to me about?”
Roberta folded her hands on his desk and leaned over it. “I want to know why you have not told me what is happening. That woman…” She swallowed. “You knew why she was there, and so did the chamberlain. I would bet that Freddie knows too. Everyone knows but me.”
Niki tried to organize his disordered thoughts. “I did not want to worry you. Besides, you cannot know everything that happens in—”
“You kept it from me. I don’t want you to do that. It creates a distance between us, Niki, can’t you see that?”
She was appealing to him now, but suddenly Niki was angry. She was overstepping her boundaries. The matters he discussed with his council, with Freddie, were not for her ears. Couldn’t she see she was being unreasonable? Perhaps Francis was right when he said womenfolk should be kept to their own realm; his father and grandfather would never have allowed their wives to interfere in state matters.
He snatched up one of the documents on his desk and held it in front of her. “Do you want to read this?” He held up another one. “Or this? Do you want to know what is in all of them?” He swept his hand across his desk, and some of the documents fell to the floor. “You are not a child, Roberta, you know there are some things I cannot—”
She didn’t wait for him to finish. “How would you feel if I keptthings from you? Important things. Things that concerned you?”
“Thisdoes not concern you.”
“Of course it does! Anything that is a threat to your life concerns me.”
Reluctantly, he could understand her point of view, but his aim had always been to protect her, not draw her deeper into his troubles. He still remembered how she had thrown herself in front of a pistol to save him. In hindsight, that may be part of the reason he had not shared this with her. And yet how could he deny her when he knew in his heart she was right?
“You make things very hard for me,” he muttered and put his head in his hands.
There was silence, and then he felt the warmth of her touch on his shoulder, and when he looked up, she was beside him. She looked worried but unrepentant, and suddenly he loved her so much. He pulled her down onto his lap, wrapping his arms about her, breathing in the scent of her skin.
“Don’t let’s fight,” he said. “I only want to save you from worry. But if you wish, I will tell you about Countess Becker.”
“Thank you.” She rested her cheek against his. “Niki, I know I am your wife, but I want more than that. I want to be your equal in the life we make together. I don’t mean I think I can help make the laws or whatever it is you and Francis do in here, but I want to understand the things that are important to you. I want to help you, I want to be there for you when you need to talk about what is worrying you.”
“I want that too,” he said. “I was trying to protect you. I shouldhave known you do not need me to do that. You can protect yourself.”
“No, I am not a child.”
