Roman snarled, but remained dutifully silent.
‘Father, I had planned to have this conversation at a better time,’ she said, looking around to see that the palace guards had descended to herd the guests to the other side of the room, offering the royal family some privacy.
‘The
re is nothing you can say to save yourself now, girl.’ Her father shook his head sadly. ‘I hope he’s worth giving up your place in this family.’
‘He has nothing to do with me giving up my place,’ she said, as Roman frowned. ‘Well, he does—but not in the way that you think.’
She took a deep breath, facing her father head-on.
‘By giving up my right to succeed to the throne I am free of your control. That’s worth more to me than being a princess ever could be.’
Roman reached out to touch her arm, ‘Olivia, you don’t have to do this.’
‘I do. You see, my father has made more life-altering decisions on my behalf than this one.’ She looked back at her father, noting his gaze darken. ‘Such as when I inherited sole ownership of my grandmother’s foundation ten years ago and he had me sign away my rights to him. At sixteen years old I didn’t understand the repercussions. But now I do. And I know that by stepping out from under your thumb I’ll get to take control of my own destiny for once and truly start helping people.’
‘You can’t do that.’ King Fabian laughed cruelly. ‘You can’t simply walk away from this life.’
‘I already have, Father,’ she said sadly. ‘I’ve been in contact with external advisors over the past few months to discuss the legalities. Once I relinquish any claim I have to the throne the foundation goes back into my name alone. Just as Mimi wished it to be.’
She hated it that her own father could look at her with such open disgust simply because she had chosen to go against his wishes.
Her own personal happiness did not matter to him.
* * *
Roman’s eyes had widened as he listened to the exchange but he did not speak for her again. Nor did he attempt to interrupt as Olivia finished her conversation with her father and simply turned and walked away.
He took a moment to stand toe to toe with His Majesty, King Fabian. The urge to say everything he wished to say was so intense it consumed him. But Olivia had handled the situation with all the style and grace of the Princess she truly was. There was nothing he could add that wouldn’t ruin it.
And so he walked away, following the woman he loved and ignoring the slew of vulgar curses in Catalan shouted in his wake.
He followed her in the direction of the outer terrace, instructing the two Zayyari guards Khal had lent him to stand sentry by the doors and make sure they were undisturbed.
Olivia stood with her back to him, staring out at where the moonlight shone across the ornamental pond in the gardens.
He moved to her side, reaching out his hand, needing to touch her. She flinched away and something inside him flinched too, with the hurt of that small movement.
‘You’re angry with me...of course you are,’ he said softly, silently urging her to turn to look at him.
She didn’t speak. Instead she wrapped her arms around herself defensively and stared resolutely ahead.
‘I came here because I wanted to save you,’ he said. ‘I never even entertained the possibility that you were completely capable of saving yourself.’
‘I’m glad I surprised you,’ she said, irony dripping from her words as she turned to face him.
‘Olivia...’ he breathed. ‘I came here to make sure that the marriage would not go ahead. I told myself that I was doing it for you, to save you from making a mistake that would last a lifetime. But I know now that I was only lying to myself.’
He braced one hand on the balustrade beside her, making sure to keep some space between them.
‘I have never told anyone the things that I told you about my past.’ He looked away for a moment, out at the darkness of the water. ‘Something about you makes me want to tell you everything. To confide in you and trust you, even though I have spent a lifetime trusting no one. It scared me to death, to be quite honest.’
‘Oh, Roman...’ she said softly, reaching out her hand to touch him.
He raised his hand, holding her off. ‘Wait just another moment. I’ve been thinking all evening about what I would say when I got here, you see.’ He inhaled sharply, felt the adrenaline coursing through him. ‘I’ve spent years—decades—blaming myself for my sister’s murder at the hands of a man I trusted. She was shot right in front of me by Alexi, to teach me a lesson.’
Olivia’s hands covered her mouth and tears filled her eyes. This was all going wrong, he thought. He hadn’t meant to upset her—he just needed her to understand.