Claiming His Christmas Consequence. Michelle Smart

      To her amazement, Dominic pursed his lips together and stormed out of the room.

      Gripping tightly to the armrest, she tried to adopt the serene, half-vacant look that had served her so well throughout her life.

      Green eyes fixed on her, Nathaniel sat on the uncomfortable armchair opposite. His irreverence had left the room with her brother. All she saw was cool contemplation, although it gave her fleeting gratification to judge that he looked like a man with a serious hangover.

      ‘So it is true. You are pregnant.’ He spoke quietly, unwittingly repeating the words her brother had used the day before.

      Had it really only been yesterday? They had to count as the longest few days of her life, and it wasn’t over yet.

      ‘Can you tell?’

      He gave a quick, rueful smile. ‘There is something different about you. If I didn’t know you were expecting I would assume you were ill.’ He blinked a couple of times and refocused on her. ‘Are you ill?’

      ‘Not particularly. A little sickness, that’s all.’

      ‘Is that why you missed Helios and Amy’s Coronation?’

      ‘I thought I had a stomach bug.’

      He rocked his head forward and grimaced. ‘When is the baby due?’

      ‘The doctor thinks the end of August. A scan will determine it with more certainty.’

      ‘And you are happy to marry me?’

      ‘My happiness is irrelevant,’ she answered coolly. ‘Besides, it will only be for a year.’

      ‘And you are in agreement with your father’s plan for you to remarry once we’ve divorced?’

      ‘I will accept whatever is good for my family and the House of Fernandez.’

      Nathaniel studied her carefully, looking for a chink in the elegantly worn armour. There was nothing to be found. The passionate woman who’d come out of her shell for one glorious night had gone. The Princess he had known from a distance for many years had returned, her mask back in place. This was a woman raised to do her duty and who fully believed in it too.

      Whatever Catalina felt on a personal level about the pregnancy and their situation as a whole she was keeping to herself.

      If he didn’t still have such vivid memories of the night they had created this mess he could believe she was a wind-up porcelain doll. But he knew there was so much more to her than this façade. He’d kissed her most intimate area and had felt the shudders that had taken her over. He could still feel her fingertips on his scalp.

      He shook the memories away.

      If this was the way she wanted to play things, then all to the good. This situation was beyond either of their control. Keeping things professional was the best way to proceed.

      Resting his elbows on his thighs, he leaned forwards. For her part, Catalina, dressed in tight white trousers and a dusky pink silk blouse, was sitting straight with her legs gracefully crossed. Her thick raven hair had been tied into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. The last time he’d seen her it had been loose, falling almost to the base of her spine. He’d gathered it in his hands and buried his face in it...

      As the day had gone on and the initial shock had dissolved with it, he’d come to the conclusion that, regardless of Dominic’s threats, marrying Catalina was the right thing to do. For a start, it would give him proper rights to their child. Meeting the King, Catalina’s father, had only confirmed these feelings.

      The King was a formidable man whose only concern was the reputation of the House of Fernandez and as far as he was concerned this was an exercise in damage limitation. Nathaniel might be a hugely successful businessman with more money than he could ever spend, but the King ruled an entire country. Even with all the resources Nathaniel had at his disposal, the odds of him gaining any custody in this country without marriage would not be in his favour. Marrying Catalina guaranteed him cast-iron legal rights to their child.

      ‘When we part I will make it abundantly clear that you are blameless.’ That much he could do for her. ‘I will do everything in my power to ensure your reputation is not damaged. We can play our parting for all its worth so the whole world’s sympathy will be with you.’

      ‘That’s very kind of you,’ she said with a tight smile. ‘But what about your reputation?’

      He shrugged. ‘My personal reputation is already ruined. And I’m not a princess. Our marriage will be as quick and as painless as possible.’ Although not quick enough for his liking.

      He’d known from the age of seven that he had to look after himself. A decade later he’d been cast aside by his only living relative and he’d been on his own ever since. He liked it that way. He didn’t have to worry about hurting people, or worry what effect his actions would have on someone else.

      He liked being single and never stayed with a woman long enough for emotional ties to form.

      His marriage to Catalina would be like a business relationship. He would not allow it to be anything more.

      She gave a stiff nod. ‘I’m sorry you’re being forced into this.’

      He shrugged again. ‘We both are.’

      ‘I will be doing my duty,’ she pointed out, ‘but I understand Dominic threatened to expel you from the country unless you agreed, and threatened to confiscate your development. That’s very different.’

      ‘Your brother made his position very clear, just as I made mine.’ As Nathaniel spoke he watched her closely. Judging by her demeanour, there was nothing to suggest Catalina had any knowledge of her father and brother’s threat to cut her and the baby off. It was better she didn’t know, he decided. It was too cruel and too personal a threat from her own flesh and blood, and not something that would ever come to fruition, not now that he’d agreed to the marriage. Catalina and their baby would be safe.

      A glimmer of a smile played on her pretty lips but the hint of sadness surrounding it negated any humour. ‘My brother takes his role as heir and protector of the House of Fernandez very seriously.’

      He cleared his throat, biting back the retort on his lips. Whatever his personal feelings towards Dominic, he was her brother and her loyalty would lie with him. ‘Getting back to the business at hand, I want to be clear that you’re in agreement to everything your father’s demanding.’

      ‘Yes. I am in agreement.’

      ‘Then it is done.’ He got to his feet. ‘I need to make a move.’

      Her remarkable chocolate eyes were fixed on him. ‘Already?’

      He didn’t like the tinge of disappointment in her voice. ‘I have somewhere to be.’

      Dominic chose that moment to come barrelling into the room. ‘You’ve had your ten minutes.’

      Nathaniel noticed the way Catalina withdrew into herself at Dominic’s return, how her lips tightened in the most subtle of fashions.

      He remembered the malice on Dominic’s face when he’d threatened to make Catalina homeless and penniless. The Prince was the least deserving person of his title he could think of.

      ‘This really is my cue to leave.’ He had no wish to spend another minute in the palace. This family room was as plush as anywhere he’d been, lavishly adorned with antique furniture and portraits dating back centuries. But there was nothing homely about it, not even with the enormous Christmas tree sitting in the corner. This room, as with the rest of the sprawling stone palace, was cold.

      ‘Father will be hosting a select party for you two on Saturday,’ Dominic said. ‘My people have made contact with La Belle magazine—’

      Nathaniel cut him off before he could speak any further. ‘Tell your father he’s welcome to host a party but