The Mills & Boon Ultimate Christmas Collection. Kate Hardy

until she found what she was looking for.

      She took the scissors into her hands and carefully placed them at the sleeves of her dress. And then she snipped. She snipped her dress until the fabric fell away and she could step out of it.

      It felt like shedding skin.

      * * *

      ‘Are you sure this is all the stuff that was sent from the palace?’ Catalina asked Clotilde, who was watching her anxiously. They were in her dressing room. It wasn’t even a quarter filled.

      Clotilde nodded. ‘Two suitcases. Were you expecting more? It doesn’t seem very much for a princess.’

      Catalina pasted a smile to her face, fighting hard not to let her anxiety show. ‘Thank you for helping me look. I’m sure it’s just an oversight. I’ll call my father and have the rest of my possessions sent on.’

      Nathaniel had said she could trust his staff’s discretion but he hadn’t been the one who’d spent a lifetime living with spies and turncoats. Clotilde had introduced herself twenty minutes ago when she’d brought Catalina breakfast in bed, proudly informing her that she would be her dedicated companion. Her eagerness was touching.

      A few years younger than herself, Clotilde was a breath of fresh air and reminded her of Aliana, her favourite of her palace companions.

      But, however nice and eager to please Clotilde appeared to be, Catalina didn’t know her. It was far too early to trust anyone in this household. She couldn’t rule out the possibility that her father had already bought them and that every word or deed made under this roof would be reported back to him.

      Clotilde nodded brightly. ‘What shall I do for you now?’

      ‘Can you show me how to use the shower?’ She’d been desperate for a shower once she’d cut off her wedding dress but hadn’t been able to work out how to turn it on. Now, after discovering what her father had done, she wanted nothing more than a few minutes of peace to wash it all away and gather her thoughts before the stinging behind her eyes turned into tears.

      She followed Clotilde into the bathroom, where her new companion opened the shower door.

      ‘Turn the left side for your temperature...’

      ‘Does red indicate hot?’

      She nodded. ‘The right side one is the pressure.’

      ‘And how does the bath work?’

      The look Clotilde gave her made her feel like a child.

      ‘I’ve never run a bath for myself or turned a shower on before,’ she said quietly, wishing she didn’t feel the need to explain herself.

      Clotilde’s eyes resembled an owl’s. ‘Never?’

      ‘Never. My companions have always done everything for me.’

      After showing her how to turn the taps on, Clotilde said with a theatrical sigh, ‘I would love to be a princess, and be waited on all the time.’

      Catalina gave a wry smile, biting back the retort that being a princess wasn’t all it was made out to be. ‘I’ve never even brushed my own hair.’

      ‘I am very envious of your hair. Would you like me to brush it for you now?’

      How hard could brushing hair be? ‘I think it is time I learned how to do the basic things for myself, don’t you agree?’

      From the look in Clotilde’s eyes, she most definitely did not agree.

      ‘I thank you for all your assistance but I can manage on my own now.’

      ‘I don’t think Nathaniel will be pleased if I leave you to look after yourself.’

      Was that because he wanted reports on her behaviour like her father had always insisted on from her palace companions?

      ‘Then don’t tell him.’

      ‘But he said I was to stay with you at all times.’

      Catalina gritted her teeth behind her smile. None of this was Clotilde’s fault. Nathaniel was her employer. She was obeying orders. ‘Why don’t you wait in the bedroom for me?’

      ‘You will call me if you want anything?’

      ‘I will,’ she promised. ‘Thank you, Clotilde.’

      Her new companion beamed as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

      Alone for the first time since she’d awoken that morning, Catalina closed her eyes and wished away the tears still gathering behind her lids.

      She’d had three dedicated rooms in the palace. How could all that have been reduced to two suitcases of basic everyday clothing? Everything of sentimental or monetary value had been left behind. Her portion of her mother’s jewellery...

      She could understand why her father had kept the heirlooms that had been passed down through the House of Fernandez, although it would have been nice if he’d mentioned his intentions to her. But why would he take her mother’s personal pieces, the items she’d been gifted or had inherited from her own family? They had never belonged to him.

      Placing a hand to her stomach, she wondered, not for the first time, if it was a boy or a girl growing inside her.

      It wasn’t just her mother’s jewellery and most of her wardrobe, everything passed on by her mother had been kept behind. The same went for her book and art collection, all of the things Catalina had expected to pass on to her own children.

      Nothing could have told her more that she was an outcast from her family.

      Nathaniel might have dismissed her fears but she knew in her heart that her instincts had been right. Her father and brother had fired a warning shot at her. She was owned entirely by the House of Fernandez. This was their way of telling her that if she didn’t behave herself, she would never be allowed back in the fold.

      She was doing everything they wanted and still they wanted more for their pound of flesh.

      For the first time she questioned whether she wanted to return to the fold.

      She’d spent her life believing in duty and loyalty. Was it too much to expect some loyalty and compassion in return?

      * * *

      Nathaniel put his files away, turned his laptop and desktop off, checked his phone for messages and decided to call it a night.

      As he stepped out of his office, movement behind him made him turn.

      Catalina stood half in and half out of the sitting room, hovering in the doorway. ‘I thought I heard a noise,’ she said softly.

      ‘I’m just finishing for the night.’ He shut the door behind him and kept his hand on the handle, trying not to notice that she was wearing a long white Victorian nightdress with a high neck but also the thinnest of sleeves that showed off her slender arms. Her raven hair was loose and spilled down her back and over her shoulders. She looked innocent. Clean and pure. Yet her innate sexiness shone through.

      He cleared his throat. ‘Where is Clotilde?’ Assigning Catalina a dedicated companion in his household had worked out as well for him as it had for her. He’d made it to three days of living under the same roof without finding himself alone with his wife. Until now.

      ‘She’s making me a hot chocolate.’ One bare, creamy shoulder lifted. ‘She wouldn’t let me help.’

      ‘I should think not.’ His staff had strict instructions—under no circumstances should the Princess do anything for herself. Frederic had spoken to a senior member of the palace staff who’d informed him the only personal duty the royal family performed for themselves was the brushing of their teeth. The King, however, left even that for one of his minions. It was an alien lifestyle to Nathaniel, even with the vast wealth he’d accumulated, which easily rivalled that of the House of Fernandez. ‘How are you settling in? Have you everything you need?’