Page 52 of Expecting Royal Twins!
CHAPTER NINE
JULES headed back to the castle, but Izzy stayed in the garage. She wanted to repair the oil leak on the truck. She found tools and drained the remaining oil.
“You need a pair of coveralls so you don’t ruin your outfit.”
Izzy’s heart lurched at the sound of Niko’s voice. Pathetic. She hated the way she responded to him. He was only being nice because Vernonia needed her. She focused on the engine. “A little grease on my clothes won’t hurt anything.”
“I wonder what Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney would say about that.”
She recognized the names of the famous fashion designers only because she now owned some of their clothing. “You mean Henry Ford.”
Niko gave a short laugh. “I believe these belong to you.”
His words forced her to glance his way. He looked out of place in the garage dressed so proper in a blue suit, white dress shirt and yellow silk tie. Her shoes dangled from the crook of his fingers. Out of place, but as sexy as a model in a magazine.
She wouldn’t deny his physical appeal, but that didn’t mean she would fall in love with him. Worse, what if she fell in love with him and he didn’t fall in love with her?
She forced her gaze back to the truck and bent over the engine.
“I found one shoe in a bush and the other embedded heel down on the grass,” he said.
“Keep ’em.”
“They are not my size.”
A smile tugged at her lips. She couldn’t help it. “I’m sure you can find someone else they fit.”
“They fit you, Isabel.” He set them on the cement floor next to her. “Perfectly.”
Izzy bit back a sigh. He was making an effort. The least she could do was meet him halfway. She straightened and stuck her foot in one of the shoes.
Niko kneeled to help her.
“I’ve got it,” she said.
He stood, letting her do it herself.
She slipped on the other shoe.
“I am sorry for what I said earlier. For all of this,” Niko apologized, his expression contrite.
She fought the urge to reach out to him. Self-preservation, not the grease on her hands, kept her from doing so. “Me, too. I shouldn’t have run out like that.”
“You had every right,” Niko said. “We have been pawns in my father’s game. His agreeing to let you marry Boyd was simply his own ruse to put his plans into action. He is the one who leaked the information about you to the press. He never intended to allow us to annul the marriage.”
Dee had been so nice to her. The queen, too. “Why would he do that?”
“To unite Vernonia. That has been his goal as king. It’s the same goal he shared with your father when they married us off.”
Her father. Izzy’s chest tightened.
“What do you want to do?” Niko asked.
“There’s a choice?” She’d been trying to resign herself to her fate since talking with Jules.
His eyes darkened. “I hate what my father has done. I won’t force you into…”
“Marriage.”
He nodded. “I told you the first day I wouldn’t lie to you. I don’t want to coerce you into remaining my wife.”
Izzy appreciated that. “I’m not what you wanted for Vernonia.”
“No.” His word, though honest and expected, jabbed her heart like a knife. “But it’s what the country needs. Part of being a princess or a prince is putting your people first.”
Niko believed that wholeheartedly. Jules, too. Izzy understood the necessity of peace, but not this duty they kept talking about.
That made her uneasy. Especially when she thought about the future.
How would Izzy know if Niko came to care about her or if he was simply doing his duty, the way he had been doing since the first day they met? The question left her as unsettled as the thought of unrequited love.
Still she appreciated his leaving it up to her. Too bad she really didn’t have a choice.
“I don’t like what your father did, but I will remain your wife. For Vernonia,” she clarified, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.
“Thank you.” He sounded relieved. “I know what you are giving up.”
“Keeping peace is the most important thing. I couldn’t live with myself if I was the reason for people being hurt.” She fiddled with the engine to keep her hands busy. “I just hope your father is more honest and open in the future. Otherwise it will make things…difficult.”
