“I saw a picture once of Moira as a child. She looked just like Hayden,” Reanna replied earnestly. “But Bryan is undeniably his father’s son.”
“Do you know what happened to their mother?”
“She died when Xander was young. He doesn’t like to talk much about what happened, and I haven’t pushed him for all the details. I think it might have been traumatic for all of the boys. None of them speak of it or her. I don’t think she treated them well,” Reanna answered thoughtfully.
Shea’s heart ached for all of the Demande brothers. If the experience of their mother’s death had been bad enough that none of them discussed it or ever mentioned her, it had to have been bad. Eventually, she asked a question she had really wanted to ask Reanna. “How do you deal with it, living in a country where everything is different, being married to a king, becoming a queen to people who are so different from Americans?”
“They aren’t so very different. People are people wherever you go, and the Rubarians are good, kind people for the most part. Xander’s a great leader, as was his father before him. It’s a beautiful country. I was alone in America except for one friend. Now I have family, people who love me, and I live in a country that’s prosperous and happy. What’s not to love? It was easy for me to give Xander’s country and people my loyalty. I was never happy back home.” She paused before adding mischievously, “Besides, the man bought me my own company, Biostern, so I could keep doing what I love.”
“He bought you one of the biggest research companies in the world? It had to cost billions,” Shea answered, shocked.
“It did. He did it to make me happy. That’s just how Xander is.” Reanna bounced to her feet. “Speaking of my handsome husband, he’s home.”
Shea’s gaze went to the doorway, and she got her first glimpse of the King of Rubare Collina, a breathtakingly handsome man who was searching for only one thing at the moment…his wife. When Xander’s gaze landed on Reanna, he smiled, the harsh look on his face softening.
He loves her. And she loves him.
They looked at each other for several long seconds before Reanna murmured, “Excuse me, Shea. I need to speak with my husband.” Shea watched as the other woman walked briskly to her husband and threw herself into his arms.
After the two of them had properly greeted each other with hugs and a few lingering kisses, they made their way back to Shea hand in hand.
Shea stood as they approached her. She tried to curtsy to Xander, but she was very afraid it looked more like a squat. She might have been a little more graceful if she wasn’t dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a sweater. “Your Majesty,” she greeted him formally.
“Xander, please. I think we’re going to be family soon.” He held out his hand to take hers.
She shook his hand awkwardly, wondering how to respond to his comment. “Nothing has been decided. In spite of the fact that Bryan and I made a child together, we hardly know each other.”
“Easily remedied,” he told her with a genuine smile. “We’ve arranged for you, Bryan, and Hayden to spend some time together at our summer palace.”
Shea gave him a skeptical look. “Will I be drugged, kidnapped and imprisoned again?”
“None of those,” Xander assured her in a soothing baritone. “The media reports are already out that you’re here with Bryan’s daughter. My brother needs a chance to get to know the two of you. This residence will be swamped by reporters soon. You will have more privacy at our summer home.”
“It’s beautiful there,” Reanna added.
For some reason, Shea noticed that Reanna was blushing, making Shea wonder if the king and queen might have some very fond memories of that palace. “I’m sure it’s lovely, but I have jobs back home. I can’t just take an unpaid vacation.”
“We’ll take care of that,” Xander interjected.
Bryan wandered over with Hayden in his arms.
“Mommy, we’re going to see the beach and a big sea at one of my new daddy’s castles. My daddy told me.” The child was nearly bouncing in Bryan’s arms with excitement.
Her eyes caught Bryan’s intense, questioning gaze, and she knew she was defeated. He could give their daughter things that Shea couldn’t even dream of, and she didn’t have the heart to deny Hayden the time with her father. Already in her heart she knew that to separate them now, so soon after they’d found each other, would devastate them both.
She bit her lip as she resigned herself to spending the next week with Bryan. They were going to see the big sea…whether she wanted to or not.
Chapter Six
Shea spent the next few days chasing her daughter around the enormous summer palace. Hayden wasn’t used to having room to roam, and she seemed to want to see everything in the palatial estate as quickly as possible, as though it would go away if she didn’t. One of the senior maids, Lily, had been assigned to act as Hayden’s nanny at the home since Nanny Moira was helping Reanna out with little Alex. Luckily Lily was young and energetic. After two days of Hayden’s non-stop investigation of the castle, Shea let Lily take over for part of the day. The young woman happily followed her daughter, chattering enthusiastically right along with Hayden.
“She’ll be fine, Shea,” Bryan told her with a grin as she watched their daughter and Lily disappear from the dinner table after they’d all eaten, Hayden eager to explore more of the upstairs rooms before her bedtime.
“She’ll have to run out of things to see eventually,” Shea answered with a sigh, taking a sip of the delicious wine she was still savoring.
“It will take a while. My brothers and I kept busy for weeks here when we were younger,” he answered, amused.
Surprisingly, Bryan had been the one who was usually leading the romps through the home, taking Hayden anywhere she wanted to go, happily answering every single one of her questions. He was spoiling her shamelessly, and Shea had let him do it…until now. Small gifts and affection from her new father were one thing, but elaborate presents were quite another.
“Bryan…Hayden cannot have a pony. I wish you hadn’t told her she could.” He didn’t seem capable of saying “no” to anything his daughter wanted, which could be dangerous. A pony was out of the question. Hayden had asked for one just before she left the table, and Bryan had immediately agreed that he’d give her one the very next day.
“Of course she can,” Bryan answered after he swallowed some of the Scotch he was drinking.
It had become a habit in the last few days for the two of them to linger at the table with after dinner drinks and talk about Hayden. Bryan never ran out of questions about her pregnancy and his daughter’s first several years without him. Shea’s heart ached when she saw the remorse in his gorgeous hazel eyes that he’d missed a particular event or her first years of growing up. Unfortunately, Shea knew exactly how he felt. She’d been physically near her daughter, but she’d missed so many significant events in Hayden’s life herself because she’d always been working. She could relate to the regret.
“Every little girl wants a pony, but it’s not possible. And I don’t want Hayden to get her hopes up and then not be able to have one. We live in an apartment, Bryan…a very small apartment. Even if we had the space, I couldn’t afford to feed an animal.” Shea could barely afford to feed herself and Hayden. She’d always regretted that she couldn’t at least get a cat or a dog for her daughter. The best she’d been able to do was a goldfish, and her daughter had taken care of the pet very responsibly. “The best I could do was Nemo,” she told him reluctantly.
“Nemo?” Bryan raised an arrogant brow, but his eyes were laughing.
Shea shrugged and bit back a smile. “Nemo the goldfish. She loves Disney movies. I thought it was kind of cute. Unfortunately, Nemo the goldfish died a few weeks ago. Hayden took good care of him, did everything she was supposed to do, but he jumped out of his tank while I was at work. She was pretty heartbroken. That’s why I don’t want her to be disappointed. She loves animals, and wants more of them
pretty badly.”
“She can have as many as she wants. Besides, it wouldn’t do for a princess not to be able to mount a horse for ceremonial occasions. All Demandes are superb riders.”
“You know we can’t stay here, Bryan. Hayden and I don’t belong here,” she told him adamantly. She wanted Hayden to know her father, even have him in her life, but she and Bryan were from two different worlds…literally.
“Would it be so terrible to be married to me?” Bryan asked in husky voice. “Would it be a hardship to live with me in my own castle, make my people your people, too?”
“You’re a prince, Bryan — ”
“And you’ll be a princess if you marry me. By all rights, Hayden is a princess just because she’s my daughter. She should be able to take her place here,” he answered in an angry, frustrated tone.
