The Royal Wager: Persuading the Playboy King / Unmasking the Maverick Prince / Daring the Dynamic Sheikh. KRISTI GOLD

Residence? The King’s Office?

      On the fourth ring, Kate leaned over the desk, grabbed the receiver and settled for a simple, “Hello.”

      A long silence ensued until a breathy feminine voice asked, “Is this Marc’s secretary?”

      Kate was overcome with an insane spark of jealousy. “No, this is not Marc’s secretary.”

      The woman released a grating laugh. “Then you must be my replacement. I do hope you are taking advantage of Marc’s expertise. He is quite a skilled lover, isn’t he? Has he taken you to the little mountain cabin yet?”

      Kate had no desire to confirm or deny anything to this woman, especially since she appeared to be one of Marc’s erstwhile lovers. “May I ask who’s calling?”

      “Why, darling, this is Elsa,” she fairly purred.

      As if that should mean something to Kate. “Well, Elsa, is there something I can do for you?” Darling.

      “I am calling to see if Marc received the gift I had delivered to the palace.”

      Gift? Surely she didn’t mean… “Does this gift happen to have blue eyes and blond hair?”

      “Why yes, darling, it does. A little reminder of our time together. Tell Marc to enjoy.”

      The line went dead and Kate could only stare at the receiver before slamming the phone back on its cradle.

      Obviously she had been wrong to believe Marc. Obviously this Elsa was Cecile’s mother, if you could actually call her that. What kind of woman would just drop her baby off at a gate and then leave? A heartless, cruel woman who didn’t have a maternal bone in her body.

      Kate’s heart felt weighted with the knowledge that her questions had now been answered. Marc had fathered a child by some flighty femme fatale who had no business being a parent. And Kate dared Marc to deny his daughter now.

      Marc couldn’t deny he was in a huge hurry to see Kate. He entered the palace through the back access at a fast clip, Nicholas dogging his every step. “Where is Dr. Milner now?”

      “She is waiting in your study, Your Eagerness.”

      Marc muttered an oath. “This is no time to joke, Nicholas. Did she seem concerned about anything?”

      “Actually, she did seem a bit on edge.”

      Striding down the corridor toward his office, Marc pulled his sunshades off his eyes and tossed them and his keys to Nicholas. “Have someone park the car, and make sure I am not disturbed until I say otherwise. Is that clear?”

      Nicholas stopped outside the study and saluted. “I live to serve you.”

      After sending Nicholas a harsh look—which the man did not seem to heed—Marc opened his office door to find Kate leaning back against his desk, her arms stiff at her sides and her eyes reflecting displeasure. Obviously Renault had used his torrid tactics to try to bed her, or she had confirmed Cecile’s blood type as his match and still believed he wasn’t being truthful.

      After closing the door behind him and tripping the lock, Marc decided to begin with his concerns over her colleague. “Did Renault do something to you?”

      “I didn’t see him again after your left. I did see a few patients after I typed Cecile’s blood.”

      “Then you have the results?”

      “Yes, and I also have a message for you.” Her tone was clipped and cool, devoid of welcome.

      “A message?”

      “From Elsa, darling. She called a few minutes ago. I answered the phone because I thought it might be you.”

      Why in the devil was Elsa calling him? He’d made it quite clear that he wanted no contact from her, not that his demands had ever stopped her. “What did she want?”

      Kate strolled around the room for a moment before facing him again. “She wanted to know if you received her gift, the one with blue eyes and blond hair. She had it delivered to the palace. So I suppose you could say the mystery of Cecile’s mother is solved.”

      At first Marc was perplexed, until he realized what Elsa had been referring to. He couldn’t stop the chuckle, not a good thing to do considering the acid look Kate sent him. If her eyes were dueling pistols, he’d be a dead man.

      Marc pushed away from the door, crossed the room and reached behind the armoire to retrieve the “gift” in hopes of clearing up this whole misunderstanding.

      Grabbing the edge of the frame, he withdrew the photograph and presented it to Kate. “This is Elsa’s gift. An eleven-by-fourteen glossy from her recent photo shoot. You will note that she has blond hair and blue eyes.” And practically no clothes on aside from a skimpy swimsuit.

      Kate took the picture from him and stared at it for a time before bringing her gaze back to Marc. “She considers this a gift?”

      “Elsa considers herself a gift to all mankind.” He took the photo back and hid it away again behind the armoire before returning to Kate, maintaining some distance even though he wanted to kiss away her doubts. “She thought I would be interested enough to keep it as a reminder of our brief association. She was mistaken. I’ve meant to have Nicholas discard it, but I’ve not had the time with everything that’s been happening of late.”

      “But you don’t deny you were lovers.”

      “No, I cannot deny that.” He also couldn’t deny the jealousy in Kate’s tone, nor could he deny that on some level that pleased him.

      She narrowed her eyes. “And there’s no way she could be Cecile’s mother?”

      “There is as much chance of Elsa being a mother as there is a chance that her breasts are real.”

      A hint of a smile teased at Kate’s full lips, but it didn’t quite form. “How can you be so sure?”

      He offered his own smile, hoping to lighten the mood. “I happen to know when a woman has natural attributes.”

      She frowned. “I meant about her not being Cecile’s mother.”

      So much for his attempt at humor. “If Elsa had been pregnant, she would not have abandoned the baby. That much I know.”

      “Then she’s not just another pretty ego?”

      “Elsa is very self-absorbed and she would not risk an end to her modeling career with an unplanned pregnancy. She made it quite clear she never wanted any children. And if by some chance she’d chosen to have a baby, she would have turned it into a publicity campaign, especially if that baby were mine.”

      Kate remained silent for a few moments as if attempting to digest the information. “Okay, I guess I believe you.”

      She might as well have slapped him. “You guess? Have I not given you enough proof?”

      “You’ve provided proof that Elsa probably isn’t Cecile’s mother. But I have the proof that odds are Cecile is either yours or Philippe’s child.”

      As he’d suspected. “Then she has our blood type.”

      “Yes. I confirmed the results with Dr. Martine.”

      He saw mistrust in Kate’s eyes, and he hated that. “You must believe me when I tell you that Elsa was the last woman in my life for well over a year, and I have exercised the greatest care. The baby is not mine.”

      “It doesn’t really matter what I believe.”

      “It does to me.”

      “Why?”

      A difficult question, and one he had avoided asking himself. “Because you’re a very special person, Kate. I need you to trust me. I know that you hold the truth in very high esteem.”

      Kate’s