The Mills & Boon Stars Collection. Cathy Williams

of love. She had been strong, not weak—and one day she would be grateful for that strength.

      Just not today.

      Myron had agreed to expand her royal role and to give her more responsibility. Just as he had agreed that if she wanted to go abroad and forge a career for herself, she would have his blessing. Because after Rafe had gone and she’d cried the last of those bitter tears, Sophie had realised she needed to take control of her own life and that running away to sail a boat over the Pacific wasn’t the answer this time. She needed to stop letting herself be moved around by these powerful men, like a token on a gaming table. So she had gone to Myron and told him she was planning to enrol on a cookery course in Paris in late spring.

      And Myron had just nodded his head and agreed!

      Maybe independence had always been that simple, she mused as she climbed behind the wheel of her car, which had been brought round to the front of the palace by one of the servants. Maybe all she’d needed to do was to have stood up for what she wanted from the start. Trouble was that she hadn’t really known what she wanted until she met Rafe, and now she was going to have to learn to want other things. Different things. Things which were nothing to do with him.

      Reminding herself of his impenetrable eyes, she headed off on the coastal road towards the eastern side of the island. The sky was a shimmering bowl of palest blue, contrasting with the much deeper blue of the Mediterranean which glittered far below. The roadsides were thick with early spring flowers and the distinctive and unique yellow and white bloom known as the Isolaverdian Star shone out from the grassy verges as far as the eye could see. Sophie glanced into her rear mirror, the bodyguard’s car further away than usual, thinking they were giving her a lot of leeway today.

      Assimenios was the most picturesque spot on an island not exactly short of picturesque spots—a private beach of pure white sand, which was used only by the royal family and their guests. Crystal waters lapped against the sheltered bay and it was as stunning as any Caribbean getaway. She parked her car and began to scramble down the sandy incline, reminded of childhood holidays when she, Myron and Mary-Belle would play beneath the wide beach umbrellas.

      The beach should have been deserted but as her canvas shoes sank into the soft sand she looked up and saw a yacht in the water, lazily swinging to her anchor in the gentle breeze. Her expert eye ran approvingly over the boat’s beautiful curved lines and even from here she could see the glint of sunlight on varnished wooden decks. Her eyes narrowed, because on the beach a short distance away from the boat stood a man. And not just any man.

      She knew straight away it was Rafe. She didn’t need to see the broad shoulders or powerful physique or the black hair glinting in the sunlight; it was much more visceral than that. Every pore of her body screamed out to her in shocked and delighted recognition, but she fought back the latter feeling, resisting the desire to kick off her shoes and go running towards him with her arms spread wide.

      Because they were over and she didn’t know why he was here—appearing in front of her and taunting her like this. Had he constructed some kind of elaborate charade with her brother to be allowed to come here? He must have done. She told herself that the anger which followed this surprising realisation was healthy. That it would help her stay focussed and she needed that. Because they were over. They needed to be over.

      So why was he here, making her heart squeeze with pain all over again?

      The Sophie of a year ago might have turned away, got back into her car and driven at speed to the palace. Because no matter what Rafe’s sudden new influence with her brother was, he would be unable to access the Princess if she refused point-blank to see him. But that would be running away and she was through with that.

      So she took off her shoes and began to walk across the silver sand towards him, her heart pounding out a powerful rhythm in her chest as she got closer and closer.

      ‘Hello, Rafe,’ she said, when she was near enough for him to hear.

      ‘Hello, Sophie.’

      Rafe’s breathing was shallow as she stopped right in front of him but she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring out to sea as if she preferred to look at the yacht bobbing in the lapping water rather than look at him. ‘Whose boat is that?’

      ‘Yours. I bought it for you.’

      She turned then and he could see fury spitting from her blue eyes. ‘You bought me a boat? What’s this—the billionaire’s equivalent of a bunch of flowers to say you’re sorry?’

      ‘In a way. But also because she’s the loveliest boat I’ve ever seen and one I thought a sailor of your calibre might enjoy. I cleared it with your brother—’

      ‘I managed to work that out all by myself and I don’t give a damn about my brother,’ she hissed from between clenched teeth. ‘I want to know what you’re doing here. Turning up like this out of the blue—appearing on a private family beach without any warning!’

      It was the most difficult question he had ever been asked and Rafe knew that he had to get the answer right or risk everything. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her and let his lips demonstrate just how much he’d missed her. But that would be cheating. Even if she allowed him to kiss her, which—judging by the look on her face—he doubted. She needed to hear his words and he needed to speak them. But even so, a lifetime of conditioning was hard to break. ‘I’m here because I miss you,’ he said. ‘Because I’ve been a fool. A stubborn, unimaginative fool.’

      Angrily, she shook her head. ‘I don’t have to listen to this...rubbish,’ she hissed. ‘You made your decision, so stick with it! I’m getting my life back together and I don’t need you.’

      ‘Don’t you?’ he questioned. ‘Then you are very lucky, Sophie, because I sure as hell need you. Nothing is the same without you. I have a whole world at my feet. I can go anywhere I want. Manhattan, Poonbarra, even England—but I don’t want to go anywhere which doesn’t have you.’

      ‘Tough. Go away, Rafe,’ she said tiredly. ‘And take your meaningless words with you.’

      ‘If that’s what you really want, then I will go.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘But before I do, I need you to listen to what I have to say. Will you at least do that for me?’

      He could sense her struggle as she turned her face away from him to look out at the water again.

      ‘Hurry up, then,’ she said abruptly. ‘Because I want to go.’

      He drew in a deep breath. ‘I never really believed in love. I wasn’t even sure it existed—’

      ‘I remember,’ she interrupted acidly. ‘You’d seen it masquerading as lust, or greed.’

      ‘Yes, I had. I’d seen nothing but chaos in its wake,’ he continued. ‘And that made me determined to control my own life and destiny. That’s why I steered clear of any emotional entanglements and it had always worked just fine. And then I met you.’

      ‘Don’t.’ He could see her jaw working now. ‘Don’t tell me things you don’t mean.’

      ‘I won’t. Because what’s in it for me to make this admission, unless to admit that I’m fighting like mad to try to get you back, Sophie? To tell you that you appeal to me on every level which matters? You didn’t just break through the glass ceiling of my life—you smashed your way in, without even seeming to try. Somehow you made me confide in you. Made me realise that talking about painful stuff was the only way of letting it go. You gave me your body in the most beautiful way I could have imagined. You made the hard-bitten workers at Poonbarra fall completely under your spell, because despite everything this princess has the common touch. I fought it as hard as I knew how and I’m through with fighting because I love you, Sophie.’

      ‘I don’t believe you,’ she said.

      ‘You can’t choose who you love,’ he continued doggedly. ‘But if you could, I would still choose you. Even if you tell me you never want to see me again, I will never regret loving you, Sophie. Because