Guarding His Royal Bride

The crux of the matter. Nothing he said would convince her that his reasons for marrying her had to do with more than her inheritance. His initial interest was her connection to the king of Valencia, but after he had met her in person, it had developed into much more. “I will state again that I married you because I wanted to do so.”

She frowned at him and then turned her head away again. Demetrius left her to her thoughts.

At the sight of the king’s country estate, Demetrius felt his adrenaline kick up. Demetrius and his servicemen would stay close to Iliana. Though few knew of their visit, those closest to the king would, and they were the people most dangerous to Iliana.

It would have been safer for Iliana to remain in Icarus. It wouldn’t have changed Demetrius’s plans, except Iliana wanted to speak to the king. Not giving her this opportunity robbed her of something she couldn’t reclaim, and Demetrius wouldn’t do that to her. No one should lead a life of regrets.

The king’s wife, Stella, was waiting at the door for them. He’d expected her interest, but Demetrius wondered how involved in the king’s affairs Stella was and what exactly she knew about Iliana.

“President DeSante. I heard that you had an appointment with my husband. Surely you know he is unwell.”

“I am aware of his condition. I need to speak to him.”

Stella didn’t move to allow them to pass. “I didn’t realize you wanted to say goodbye in person.”

Demetrius had met Stella on several other occasions. She was older than Demetrius by a few years and far younger than the king. Their brief courtship and subsequent marriage had been questioned by the country, but if Stella had been unfaithful, she had been discreet about it.

Stella was digging for information, and Demetrius would reveal nothing. He owed Stella zilch. Until he knew who was targeting Iliana, everyone was a possible enemy. It was a hard way to live, but he had been living with enemies at his back for decades. “The king is waiting.”

Stella looked at Iliana. “You must be Iliana Kracos. I saw your name on the visitor request form.”

Iliana stepped forward, extending her hand. No curtseying, though that would have been the accepted practice, and as the personal secretary to the queen of Acacia, Iliana would be well aware of it. Iliana was not playing subservient, and Demetrius loved her for it. “Iliana DeSante now.”

Stella appeared surprised. “You’ve married Demetrius? How...interesting. I wasn’t sure what to make of you accompanying Demetrius on this visit.”

Demetrius wondered how much Stella knew about the king’s will.

“I hope we’ll have time to visit later,” Iliana said. She smiled, and Demetrius hid his amusement. She was giving Stella no information, and she was playing as phony as Stella was.

Stella was standing between him and the hallway leading to the king’s bedroom.

“Excuse us,” Demetrius said. Circumventing the older woman, he and Iliana followed the king’s steward to the king.

* * *

Iliana instantly disliked the king’s wife. It wasn’t only what Demetrius had told her about Stella running the country, but it was clear that the woman was a fake and would have refused Iliana’s visit with the king if Demetrius hadn’t been with her.

Stella seemed afraid of Demetrius, circling him and prodding him indirectly for information. In this case, Iliana was happy Demetrius was here. As much as she didn’t like him right now, his power and courage were inspiring and infectious. Better for the other woman to know her place and not think Iliana was a weakling who could be manipulated.

Iliana didn’t know how she felt about any of this yet, but she wasn’t giving up ground this early. She didn’t want the king’s land or resources, and not because refusing would annoy Demetrius and spoil whatever agenda he was pushing. She didn’t want to be involved in a contentious fight between siblings and their mothers. She was out of place in Valencia. She didn’t belong here. She didn’t know the culture or the traditions, and, aside from sharing genetic material, she had nothing in common with the king.

Her family had been the people who’d raised her. She refused to see them any differently, even if their betrayal and secrets burned hot in her stomach.

Iliana entered the king’s chambers. He was sleeping on a bed in a sterile-looking room surrounded by medical equipment. There were two nurses on duty. A guard was posted by the window, and two more were at the entrance. The shades were open to allow in the sunlight, but the space was still dreary.

She smelled death and disinfectant. Iliana had been near death before. It was a heavy, stale scent, and she felt a combination of sad and nauseated.

No one had said a word. She wondered if the king was sleeping. Should she come back later?

She walked toward the king, unsure if she should speak. Had Demetrius explained why she was here? Would the king know who she was?

Demetrius knelt at the king’s bedside. “My dear friend, Iliana is here.”

The king’s eyes opened. His nurses rushed forward to help him shift to a sitting position, moving pillows and arranging his arms and legs.

“Iliana.” The king’s voice was gruff. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to say or for her to feel in response, but she felt sad and empty.

“Are you really my biological father?” she asked.

“Yes. Too late for a happy reunion or a meeting of the minds.” He struggled to take a breath. “I’ve watched you over the years. I am proud of who you are. I was afraid for you, afraid of what those close to me could do if they saw you as a threat. I was troubled you wouldn’t forgive me if you knew the truth. But I have nothing left to lose.”

Not only did she find it disturbing that he had watched her from afar, but she was confused as to why. If he was so proud, why didn’t he take a chance and tell her the truth before today? Time delivered forgiveness. Not to mention, why send the message through Demetrius? “My parents said nothing to me about being adopted.”

“I asked them to keep the secret to keep you safe.”

“Why did you want Demetrius to tell me about you?”

The king closed his eyes, and Iliana wasn’t sure if he’d fallen asleep. After several labored breaths, he spoke again. “Demetrius has been a good friend to me. When he told me he had found you and had come to care for you, I asked him to protect you and to tell you the truth when the time was right.”

A month ago would have been better, even two months ago.

“It would have come to light after my death, but this way I can look at you, grown and strong. It brings me happiness in my last days.”

He opened his eyes, and this time he smiled at her. “You look like your mother.”

A woman she had no memories of and had only learned existed today. “What can you tell me about her?”

“I met her while I was visiting Kontos. It’s a beautiful and quiet seaside village. She was working at an ice-cream store.”

Before he could continue, Stella swept into the room. “What is this nonsense? Another bimbo with a claim to the throne? I won’t allow it. I won’t allow someone to take advantage of my husband when he is failing. He’s delusional and losing his mind.”

Stella must have been listening at the door. Iliana resented the intrusion.

“You won’t address my wife in that manner again,” Demetrius said. “You will watch your tone. She has made no false claims. She is here at the request of the king.”

The king pointed from his guards to Stella. They moved to escort her out of the room.

Stella shook off the guards and moved toward the door. “If you think I will let some gold digger rob me, you’re mistaken.”

The king coughed, and his nurses rushed to place an oxygen mask over his face. Iliana wanted the king to know she had not come there to make a play for an inheritance, no matter what Stella thought. “I don’t want anything from you,” Iliana said. Had he heard her?

Demetrius looked at her. “It does not matter what you want. You have been named in his will, and it is too late to change it. I fully expect Stella will do her best to manipulate the circumstances, but the law is clear. You will be given your rightful inheritance whether you want it or not.”

* * *

Iliana looked exhausted. She had dark circles under her eyes and her skin was pale. The emotional drain of the past twenty-four hours had caught up with her. On the drive to their hotel, she’d fallen asleep, laying her head against the window. Demetrius gathered her against him, wrapping her in his arms. He wanted to shield her from some of the pain, but that was impossible. She had to live through it, push through the hurt and find a sense of peace.

Demetrius wasn’t sure of his role. He was on thin ice. Persuading her to marry him had been part luck, part chemistry and part manipulation. He wouldn’t feel bad about it. He’d done what he had needed to do.

She shifted. “I am mad at you. This doesn’t change that.”

He kissed the top of her head. She was allowing him to hold her, and he wouldn’t question it. She was too tired to fight. He was her ally and he would protect her. He was grateful to have her in his arms.

She wasn’t just a pawn in this game. She meant more to him, and that rattled him. Caring for her made her a liability. He didn’t need another liability.

They parked in the underground parking garage at their hotel and took a private elevator to the penthouse suite. The secrecy was for security. His servicemen would wait by the elevator. He was armed. Demetrius felt better when he was carrying his gun. His military training had been ingrained in him and it was hard to forget the basics: stay alert, have a weapon close and trust no one.

They entered the suite after his servicemen checked it for intruders. Demetrius took his wife’s hand, and led her to the bedroom. He peeled back the sheets. “Rest.” She sat on the edge of the bed, and he knelt at her feet, removing her shoes.

He was tempted to run his hand up her leg but knew she would reject him. She wasn’t giving him any signs she was interested in anything happening between them. He’d need to take this slowly and let her lead. Demetrius wasn’t good at handing over the reins on anything, but he’d have to learn. She lay back onto the pillow, and he covered her with a sheet.

“Why are you watching me?” she asked.

He loosened his tie and unfastened the top button of his shirt. Dress clothes weren’t his style, but as the president of Icarus, he had appearances to maintain. “Because you are beautiful. It’s hard not to stare.”

“I want to go home,” she said, her eyes still closed. She sounded tired and worn.

She meant home to Acacia. “We will return to Icarus after you’ve had some rest. Perhaps the king will be up for talking again.”

She opened her eyes, and unshed tears shone in them. “I don’t want to return to Icarus. I’ve been attacked in my home, I slept with a man who is a total enigma to me, then I married him at midnight, slept with him again, found out I’m an heiress and that my biological father’s wife thinks I’m a bimbo angling for the crown. I need stable and normal. The closest I have to that is Acacia.”

The idea of her returning to Acacia panicked him. He felt her slipping away. Her connection to the king of Valencia was important to him and to Icarus. He needed her.

He would offer everything he had to keep her close. “I will be your rock. I will be anything you need to get through this.”

She blinked, and tears slipped down her temple. “I don’t think so. We made a mistake.” She sat up. “Please be reasonable. Marrying you was impulsive. I was caught up in the moment.”

Marrying her had been part of his careful plan. But revealing that wouldn’t make things better.

“We can fix this. We can have the marriage annulled. The rumors will die in a week, and we can return to our lives as they were before,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she had been thinking about it and had resolved the problem entirely with that one decision.

Their lives before what? Before he had met her? Before he knew about her? “Could you do that? Walk away from me and forget any of this happened?” He could have told her to forget about a divorce and hold that line, but he wanted to convince her. He didn’t want to look too deeply into why it mattered that she accept their marriage as real.

“I wouldn’t forget you. But I could move on.”

Unacceptable and intolerable. “I won’t pretend that I didn’t marry you.”

“You want my inheritance that much? Then take it. Take it and let me go.”

“I can’t do that.” The laws of Valencia were clear. The money she’d inherit was useless to him. He needed her title and her power granted with that title. She was naive if she thought she could walk away without this following her. She wouldn’t survive on her own. The person or people targeting her would succeed in killing her without him to keep her safe.

Apparently he wasn’t the only one interested in Iliana’s inheritance.

She wiped at her eyes and looked at the ceiling. “You’re boxing me into a situation I don’t want.”

“Give me time to prove to you that I am the man you married. I haven’t changed.”

“But who is that? I didn’t know you at all.”

“Let me prove to you I am an honorable man.”

“You have already hurt me and lied to me.”

Demetrius wasn’t accustomed to negotiating. He gave directions, and the people around him followed without question. He struggled to find a compromise, an offer that would change her mind about leaving. “Give me until the king’s will is read. Much will be revealed, and events will be set into motion. I will keep you safe. I will protect you. If after the reading and after you understand the consequences of your inheritance, you don’t want me in your life, I’ll walk away and let you go.” He could offer that because she would change her mind about leaving him. They’d had an undeniable chemistry and given enough time, she would fall to his charms.

“If I refuse my inheritance?” Iliana asked.

He hid his reaction to those words. “That will be your choice, but Valencia has their customs and traditions. Walking away free and clear isn’t an option. The inheritance cannot be given away or denied.”

She shook her head. “What if I had not been found? What if no one knew I was the king’s daughter?”

“He named you in his will. You would have been found, or it would have waited for you.”

“Forever?”

“Perhaps.”

She sighed. “I will stay with you until the reading, then. For my safety.”

Though he was pushing his luck, he set the terms. “You will give our relationship effort. You will sleep beside me, and you will behave as my wife. Give me a chance to convince you that what we have is good and it works. No silent treatment.”

She narrowed her gaze on him. “You are not in a position to negotiate.”

“Do you think I will agree to a quiet annulment? If you want your way, you will give me mine in this. You can trust my words.”

“If I behave as your wife, then you’ll give me an annulment after the reading of the king’s will?”

Her words set his teeth on edge. He nodded once, reminding himself their marriage would not end in an annulment or a divorce. “Yes.”

His phone buzzed, and Demetrius reached into his pocket and glanced at the display. It was the head of the National Security Service, a man who went by the name Amon. He answered. “Yes.”

“Nicholas Floros was found dead, floating in the Mediterranean this morning at 11:00 a.m.”

Nicholas Floros, the king’s second son, born to his first wife, Kaliope. Nicholas was a playboy who partied too hard, but if the head of the NSS was calling, his death wasn’t accidental. The timing alone was suspicious.

“Persons responsible?” Demetrius asked.

Iliana was watching him, her mouth pursed. He found her sexy even when she was brooding.

“No leads yet. The body had been in the water since the early-morning hours.”

“Thank you for your call.” Demetrius disconnected.

“Problem?” Iliana asked.

Demetrius could pretend it was a state matter that didn’t concern her. But she seemed eager to flee. Despite her agreement that she wouldn’t, Iliana was a fiery and passionate woman. She could take off running and find herself in danger. “The king’s son Nicholas died this morning.”

Iliana inhaled sharply. “How? Was he murdered?”

Demetrius needed to give her a compelling reason to stay close to him. “I suspect he was. An autopsy will determine cause of death.”

“Someone wants to kill the king’s heirs,” Iliana said.

“Yes.” He would have Amon follow up and see if attempts had been made on the other heirs or if any suspicious incidents had occurred of late that had been reported to the police or the royal guards.

Iliana shivered. “I don’t want the inheritance. I don’t know the king. I won’t ever know him. Why should I be given anything? And at what cost? My life?”

“You are safe with me.”

Demetrius’s phone buzzed again. Another call he needed to take. He excused himself and stepped into the living room.

* * *

Iliana thought she might come out of her skin. She was tired and cranky and felt completely out of sorts.

She had imagined spending the days following her wedding wrapped in her husband’s arms, perhaps lounging on a hot beach or swimming in the warm waters off the Hawaiian Islands. Not holed up in a hotel room in Valencia, worried about being killed because of her newly discovered connection to the king.

Iliana dialed Serena and was pleased when her cousin answered.

“How is the bride today?” Serena asked.

Serena sounded happy, and Iliana wished she had good news to share in return. “Haven’t you heard? I’m in Valencia.”

“That’s a strange place for a honeymoon.”

“Not on my honeymoon. Demetrius brought me here after he told me that my father is the king of Valencia.”

Serena scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. I knew your father and your mother. Was it a strange cover story for an elaborate surprise?”

She wished it had been a weird joke. “The king confirmed it’s true.”

Serena’s silence indicated she was as bewildered as Iliana. Iliana was relieved to know that Serena, one of the people she trusted most in the world, hadn’t been keeping the secret from her.

“I don’t know what to say about that. Are you okay? Are you sure the king has the right woman?”

“Demetrius tested my DNA.”

“That was fast.”

“He tested it before we married. He knew who I was for months.”

Serena swore, and since she rarely did, it had an impact. “I’ll call Casimir and find out what he knows.”

“Demetrius already said he told Casimir nothing about this matter.”

“That’s good news for Casimir.”

Iliana smiled, thinking of how strong her cousin had become. Since being crowned queen, she had found confidence and happiness. “Did you learn anything about the break-in at my place?” Iliana guessed the trail would lead to Valencia, if it hadn’t already.

“The police chief is looking into it. The man was a hired assassin. I assume there’s a connection to this news about the king.”

“I heard from Demetrius that another of the king’s heirs was killed. Someone wants us dead.”

“Slow down for one minute. Who else besides Demetrius knew you were one of the king’s heirs?”

A great question. Since she hadn’t known herself, Iliana didn’t have answer. “I can’t imagine.”

Serena groaned. “I cannot believe I am saying this, but you need to stay close to Demetrius.”

“Even after he lied to me?”

Iliana heard Serena drumming her fingers against her desk, a nervous habit she displayed when she was thinking hard. “Demetrius is a difficult man. I want to talk to Casimir about this, but I think Demetrius will protect you. If Demetrius is involved in this, he has a goal in mind and will keep you safe while accomplishing it.”

She didn’t want to be part of his plan, a tool to use to meet his agenda. “He only married me because I’m the king’s heir. I am so angry and confused. What is it that he wants from me?” She had hoped he’d wanted to share his life with her, but now even the thought seemed ridiculous and naive.

“He wants more than your inheritance. I saw how he looked at you.”

“He was playing a game.” More than anything, she wanted to be convinced that Demetrius cared for her, for her nagging distrust of him to be silenced.

“I can’t believe that,” Serena said. “Think about how he has behaved since you met. He has a soft spot for you, and he’s a man who has a soft spot for no one. Even if he had another motive, if he went through this trouble to use you for his purposes, then you are valuable to him. I can’t imagine you being in a safer place. The man is ruthless.” Serena paused. “Unless you think he would turn on you?”

Demetrius wouldn’t physically harm her. He didn’t have it in him. He was cold and calculating, but he wouldn’t lay his hands on her in anger. “I am physically safe with Demetrius.”

“If you want to return home to Acacia, you know you are welcome anytime, right?”

“Of course.” Except, speaking the words, Iliana felt out of place. She had lived in Acacia all her life. Her memories were only of Acacia and her parents. To think that she didn’t belong now because she was the biological daughter of someone else was wrong. But somehow, she felt shaken. As though a piece had been pulled from the foundation of her life and now everything on top was shifting and rocking.

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