Modern Romance November 2016 Books 5-8. Rachael Thomas

that, there’s been many a time I’ve thought about shooting Dominic.’

      ‘Then I guess we do have something in common.’ Feeling as if he were disconnecting a part of himself, he took her wrist and moved her hand away, then turned his back on her to open the bathroom door. ‘We should get ready for dinner.’

      * * *

      The hotel’s restaurant was a large but dark space with tables of assorted sizes crammed in it, all covered by dark maroon tablecloths.

      Catalina gazed around in astonishment.

      She had never been anywhere like this before. All her dining experiences had been in palaces, stately homes and ambassadorial residences. She’d dined out a few times with Helios but always at somewhere refined and becoming to both their positions; establishments with hallmarked cutlery, chandeliers, serving staff in immaculately pressed uniforms...

      This was something from a different planet, from the world of movies. It was wonderful. And also rather terrifying. All these people... The receptionist hadn’t been exaggerating about how busy they were.

      A young man came over to greet them. She would only have known he worked there by the black pinafore around his waist. When Nathaniel gave their room number, his eyes widened and immediately fell on Catalina’s face.

      She supposed the young girl at the reception desk hadn’t been able to resist telling the other staff that the Princess was staying in their hotel.

      At least the weather was too bad for the press to beetle up the mountain and camp outside. From what Nathaniel had said, they would be getting desperate for a picture of the married couple together.

      They were led to a corner table, the only free one as far as she could see. There were a few glances in their direction but if anyone recognised her, she didn’t notice.

      Anonymity had been easy in Benasque. She’d only ventured out bundled up and with dark sunglasses to protect her eyes from the glare of the sun and the curiosity of strangers. Tonight, she’d kept on her jeans from earlier but put on a clean cherry red cashmere sweater, brushing her hair back into a low loose ponytail. Having nothing to change into, Nathaniel still wore his jeans, shirt and thick navy sweater. His earlier stubble had thickened, giving his handsome features an added touch of danger that sent her pulse soaring.

      Her blood thrummed; tonight she would share a bed with him. She fought hard to temper the anticipation, remembering the nights in his apartment when she’d lain awake wondering if he would come to her, her heart aching with rejection as night after night the door had remained resolutely closed.

      If he were to reject her while she laid beside him...

      She didn’t know if anything would happen between them but she would not lie to herself and pretend she didn’t want it to.

      Menus were placed before them and they ordered their drinks.

      Catalina read through her menu, then looked at Nathaniel. ‘This looks expensive.’ The value of money had become something of an obsession to her over the past ten days.

      ‘Order whatever you like.’

      ‘Are you sure?’

      He met her eye and lowered his menu. ‘Once we’ve got everything sorted in Monte Cleure, I will buy you and the baby a house and give you an allowance. Until then, I will take care of everything for you so, I insist, choose whatever you like and never feel that you have to ask.’

      A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard to dislodge it.

      ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, before adding in a brighter tone, ‘I’ve been thinking that after the baby is born, I could get a job.’

      His brown eyebrows shot up.

      ‘I was thinking it anyway. I’m not used to being idle,’ she said with a shrug. ‘And I need to find a way to support our baby when my father cuts me off.’

      Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed.

      ‘He will.’ She braced herself to say it aloud. ‘When we finally leave Monte Cleure I’ll be cut off for good. It’s the only thing he and Dominic will have left to punish me with.’

      ‘I’ll support you.’ There wasn’t any hesitation.

      ‘It’s not fair for me to be reliant on you.’

      ‘You’ve always been reliant on your father.’

      ‘That was different. With my father it was quid pro quo. The palace paid all my expenses and in return I was a princess who brought honour to the House of Fernandez.’

      ‘You’ll be the mother of my child. I’ll take care of you financially.’

      ‘I do appreciate it, really, but I would like to contribute too. I don’t know how to be idle.’

      ‘What would you like to do?’

      ‘I don’t know. I don’t know what I can do. I’ll think of something.’

      He nodded slowly, before perusing his menu again. ‘You would be good in hospitality.’

      His compliment, as off-hand as it had been, brought a flush of pleasure to her cheeks.

      Their waiter appeared with their drinks and a notepad.

      Nathaniel ordered a fillet steak with fries, salad and Portobello mushrooms. It sounded so good she ordered it for herself.

      When they were alone again, she asked the question that had been going through her mind since their conversation in the car. ‘Why did you only live with your uncle for such a short time after your expulsion? You were very young to go out into the world on your own.’

      The lines on his face deepened.

      ‘You were seventeen when you left?’ she probed.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘How did you support yourself?’

      ‘With the remainder of my parents’ insurance money. It was supposed to pay for another year’s schooling but my uncle transferred it to me. I moved to Marseille and rented an apartment. Tiny thing, it was.’

      Marseille had been where he’d started his business. The land opposite his rented apartment had been for sale. For years he’d known he would be master of his own destiny and, gazing out at the blank spot on the canvas, he’d suddenly known what he was going to do. He’d called Helios—who was still at school—and told him his idea. A month later the land had belonged to Nathaniel. Two years after that, his first development, a decent-sized hotel and restaurant with a nightclub attached, was complete. He sold it, paid Helios back his money and used the profit to purchase his next plot of land. By his third development he hadn’t owed a cent to anyone. He stopped selling his developments after his fifth and had kept all the income for himself.

      Thirteen years after that phone call to Helios, Nathaniel had made the official world billionaire list.

      ‘Where did your uncle live?’ Catalina asked.

      ‘Paris.’

      Her face scrunched up in concentration. He could see her calculating the distance.

      ‘That’s the other side of France, isn’t it?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Why did you go so far away?’ She shook her head in confusion. ‘It seems strange to me that you would move so far from your only support network unless you had to.’

      ‘I did have to,’ he snapped, lifting his beer and drinking half the glass in one swallow.

      Then, taking a deep breath, he put the glass back on the table and forced a smile.

      She didn’t look the slightest bit convinced by it, her eyes piercing his with concern.

      ‘What happened?’

      He opened his mouth to