She should’ve seen this coming, should’ve known nothing would ever get in the way of the great Luc Silva and his crown. The man she’d grown to love from the island was just as fake as their engagement. Then, he’d been warm, open. Now he was all business.
“I’m going back to the palace as soon as I get my stuff together,” she told him. “I’ll have the pilot come back whenever you want to leave, but I won’t be flying with you. I also won’t be working for you. I’ll finish out my duties for the next couple of weeks, but after that, I’m done.”
“As my wife, I wouldn’t expect you to work for me.”
Kate clenched her teeth, praying she didn’t burst into angry tears. “I won’t be your wife.”
Luc shoved his hands in his pockets, hesitated, then made his way to the door. “Don’t make any hasty decisions. I’ll leave you to get your dress back on.”
Then he was gone, leaving only the deafening sound of the door clicking shut as she sat there in the rumpled sheets.
That was it? Luc may have walked out of this conversation, but he wasn’t going to back down on this ridiculous notion of them getting married. Kate needed to prepare herself, because this fight was just getting started.
She tossed back the sheet and was thankful she wasn’t dizzy when she got to her feet. At least she had one thing going for her this morning.
Of course, now she had to put on her dress from last night and do the walk of shame down the wide, long hallway to her own suite, to change and pack. Which was fine, because she wasn’t staying any longer. If he planned on using her, using her feelings against her in some ploy to get ahead, then maybe he wasn’t the man she loved at all. Maybe she’d been living a lie this entire time...
There was no way she could continue working for Luc indefinitely. No way she could look at him every single day and know she was good enough for sex, but not good enough to build a life with if the throne wasn’t at stake. They’d made a baby and he still was only looking out for his title. Well, she sure as hell wasn’t sticking around to see him parade his possible future wives in and out of his life.
Kate had been a fool to think their intimacy had changed Luc’s mind. The struggle of seeing him every day, knowing he didn’t return her love, would be just too hurtful.
When she returned to the palace, she would call her parents and make plans. She would finish up the projects she and Luc had begun, and then she needed to get away. She needed to focus on what was truly important in her life.
* * *
Luc brought the sledgehammer up and swung it through the partial non-load-bearing wall. Busting this drywall to expand the living space with the kitchen wasn’t even remotely helping to quell his frustration and anger. All he was doing was working up a good sweat and a bit of nostalgia from when he and Kate had torn into the bathroom.
When Luc had gotten back to the palace, he’d taken his boat—sans guards, much to Kate’s father’s disapproval—and headed to his beach house. Luc knew the workers would be done for the day, and since the house was only an hour from the palace, he needed time to think, to reflect on what an insufferable jerk he’d been in that bedroom three days ago.
His intention had been to get Kate to agree to marry him. He hadn’t cared about her feelings. But the way she’d sat there, all rumpled in a mess of satin sheets, as she’d stared up at him with hurt in her eyes, had seriously gotten to him. He hadn’t expected to feel anything beyond want and need for her. Yet it was hard to ignore the constant lump of guilt that kept creeping up when he thought of how he’d broken her so fast, with so few words.
Luc eased the sledgehammer down on the rubble and wiped his arm across his forehead. His mother would probably die if she saw he had blisters on his hands from manual labor, but he needed the outlet. Unfortunately, it wasn’t doing the job.
And it didn’t help that Kate was everywhere in this house. The empty yellow vase on the scarred dining table mocked him. He couldn’t even look at the damn shower in his master suite. The balcony, the chaise in the living room, the bed, the beach... The memories flooded his mind. She’d touched literally every surface here.
Just as she’d touched every part of him.
Luc reached behind his neck and yanked his T-shirt over his head. His cell vibrated in his pocket and he thought about ignoring it, but with Kate being pregnant, he had to be on full alert.
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Pulling the cell out, he glanced at the screen. Swallowing a curse, he let out a sigh and answered.
“Yes?”
“You rushed out of here and didn’t take a guard?”
His mother’s question didn’t require an answer, because she already knew. “I needed to be alone.”
“That’s not smart. You can’t be taking off like this, Lucas. You know your birthday is less than two months away. You need to be home so we can figure out what we’re going to do.”
Luc raked a hand over his damp face and stared out at the sun, which was starting to dip toward the horizon.
“I just needed a few days to myself.”
“Is this about Kate? Darling, I know she hurt you, but that poor girl is miserable. I didn’t want to say anything, but since the wedding she’s been looking pale and drained.”
Luc straightened. “Is she sick?”