‘I was thinking more along the lines of personal happiness.’
‘I’m touched, Roman. Truly.’
‘I’m trying to do the right thing here. To stop you from making a mistake that will last the rest of your life.’
‘If you were doing the right thing you would be telling me the truth. You see, you need not worry about my personal happiness at all, Lazarov. Princess Olivia has already made her refusal of marriage to me quite clear.’
Roman felt his chest tighten painfully. ‘Olivia? She came to you?’
‘Not long before you, actually. Strangely, when she spoke of you she bore the same look on her face as you do right now when I mention her name.’
Hot guilt burned low in his stomach as his friend stood up and met hi
s eyes with a cold detached evenness he had never witnessed before.
‘I’m trying to control my temper here, Roman, because I don’t want to jump to conclusions. But I’m struggling. Three months of planning. The future of two kingdoms hanging in the balance. And after a few days with you she’s ready to give everything up.’
Roman remained silent for a moment, taking in the glint of barely controlled temper visible in his oldest friend’s eyes. He knew he should walk away before things became any more heated. Olivia had already refused the marriage—he had no reason to be here.
But something held him rooted to the spot. In his mind all he could picture was King Fabian, planning Olivia’s life for months before informing her of her impending engagement. Using an innocent woman as a pawn in his own political games. The man was cold enough to practically sell his own daughter to the highest bidder—as though she were a commodity rather than his own flesh and blood. It made the proud, possessive street thug inside him roar to life and demand justice.
‘Tell me something,’ he said calmly. ‘In your three months of planning did you ever think to speak to the woman herself to see if she wanted a political marriage?’
He watched Khal’s mouth harden into a tight line as they stood toe to toe in the utterly silent dining room. There were no onlookers here, no palace guards or servants. They did not need to maintain any level of propriety. Right now they were just two men.
‘I will ask you this question, because I deemed it inappropriate to ask the lady herself.’ Khal’s voice was a low whisper. ‘Did you sleep with her, Roman?’
‘Yes. I did,’ Roman said the words harshly, feeling the air crackle with tension between them. ‘And I am not going to apologise. Not to you, or to her damned father, or anybody.’
‘Well, I’m glad to see you showing some remorse.’
‘She is a person, Khal,’ Roman spat. ‘Not mine or yours. She can make her own damned choices—which you would know if you had ever bothered to treat her as such.’
‘Right now this has nothing to do with her and everything to do with you,’ Khal snarled, taking a step forward and jamming one finger hard against Roman’s shoulder. ‘You just couldn’t control yourself—admit it. You wanted a woman and so you had her. Does the Princess know that she is just another notch on your bedpost? Or perhaps you are both just as selfish and impulsive as each other?’
Roman surged forward. Their noses were now mere inches apart. ‘She is nothing like me,’ he said coldly. ‘She is kind and giving and she deserves more in a man than either of us could ever offer her.’
He paused, watching the anger drain from Khal’s face as his brows furrowed with surprise. With a deep, shuddering breath he stepped away, turning to face the window.
A long moment of deathly silence passed before he heard Khal exhale slow and hard behind him, a slight whistle escaping his lips. ‘I don’t believe this... You are in love with her.’
Roman braced one hand on the window ledge, looking out and seeing nothing. ‘Don’t be a fool. You said it yourself—women have only ever served one purpose for me.’
Khal’s low whistle of laughter sounded across the room. ‘I never thought I’d see this day. Roman Lazarov—brought to the edge of his infamous personal control by love.’
Roman shook his head, turning to take in the look of amused wonderment on the Sheikh’s dark features. ‘I am not prone to the sentiment. I simply believe Olivia has been treated poorly and I want to see it made right.’
‘You poor, naïve fool. Sadly, love is not something we can choose to feel or not to feel. Trust me—I know.’
‘I am not like you, Khal. I am not made for family life.’ He took a deep breath, knowing it was finally time to say out loud the words that he had wanted to say for a long time. ‘Look at my history with protecting the women I care for. My sister, your wife... I break things. I always have. I am simply not the kind of man she needs me to be.’
The mention of his late wife was usually enough to put an end to any conversation, but Khal surprised him, standing and placing a hand heavily on his shoulder.
‘It was not your fault that Priya was killed. I have told you this time and time again. Just as it was not your fault that Sofiya was killed. You cannot take on the blame for everything that goes wrong around you.’
‘What about Zayyar?’ Roman said, shaking his head. ‘This marriage was part of your great plan and now it’s all gone to crap.’
‘Perhaps not,’ Khal said cryptically. ‘I am not completely out of options just yet. Once Olivia ran away, the King and I discussed a possible fallback plan.’