Chapter Twelve
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘I T’S NOT TOO late to change your mind.’
Both Azar and Teo swivelled their heads to Valenti, who scowled at them for a second before staring out of the window of the media room of the palace.
‘I swear I didn’t switch bodies with him. I’m still Teo.’ Teo turned to his twin. ‘What the hell has got into you? I should be the one to tell him that, even though I’m told women love it when you make a fool of yourself over them.’ Teo eyed Azar up and down. ‘And you’ve got that tortured lover look down to an art.’
‘Enough,’ Azar growled, wishing he could open another shirt button.
But he’d pushed things already by conducting this interview minus a tie, sending the palace council into apoplexy. If he told them it was because he couldn’t breathe properly they’d have him trussed up in an emergency room before he could explain it was an entirely emotional condition, not a physical one.
‘You can both shut up. Or leave. This is the only way.’
They stopped talking. And the roar in his ears grew louder, his heart slamming against his ribs as Eden’s words echoed in his ears.
‘I know you don’t want me…’
‘I’ll never forgive you…’
The raw pain in her voice had shrivelled his soul to nothing. He’d spent a sleepless night wondering if this decision was the right one. He, a man known for cutting through the dross to the heart of any given situation, was floundering desperately, unnerved by how wrong he’d got the most important relationship of his life. To the point where he’d been avoiding the most important person in his life. The person who held his heart and soul in the palm of her beautiful hand. Avoiding her for fear that he’d wreck that too, before he came within a hope of salvaging what he’d destroyed.
‘Your Majesty? Miss Mallory is ready for you.’
Valenti glanced over at him. Azar thanked his brother with a curt nod. Not that it had been a huge effort to get the world-renowned broadcaster to drop everything and fly to Cartana for a global exclusive with the King.
Clenching his belly, he strode to the blue-cushioned, gilt-edged chair opposite where the middle-aged woman sat.
‘Your Majesty, thank you so much for granting me this interview. It’s an honour to speak with you.’
He nodded briskly, but didn’t reply. She got the message and moved on, touching on economics, social standing, human rights.
He cut across her ten minutes in. ‘You’ve done your homework, I’m sure, Miss Mallory, so you’ll know our GDP is healthy, our healthcare and gender equality are ranked among the top five in the world, et cetera. But I didn’t bring you here to waste time talking about what you already know.’
She hesitated for a minute, wondering if she could smell a trap, before obviously deciding that whatever was coming would be worth it.
‘What would you like to talk about, then, Your Majesty?’
His heart leapt one last wild time, then settled into a rapid thudding. ‘I would like to talk about my wife. My queen,’ he replied, and the pulse throbbing in his voice made everyone in the room—perhaps everyone tuning in—sit up and take notice.
Which was exactly what Eden deserved.
Rachel Mallory nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘As you and the world know, we met some three years ago in Arizona. What you don’t know is that at the time I misjudged her terribly. She was trying to make a living in the most honest way she knew how, and I allowed my past and adverse influences get in the way of seeing her for who she truly is. A generous, warm, supportive and intelligent woman who puts those she loves above everything else in her life. She tried many times to let me know I was wrong in my thinking and…’
He paused, his chest caving in on itself under the overwhelming weight of his guilt. Teeth gritted, he pushed his way forward.
‘I refused to believe her. I was wrong.’
‘Say more,’ Rachel Mallory encouraged, her focus unwavering. Almost daring him.
‘All my life I’ve felt… I’m not quite enough.’ Azar’s lips twisted at the sceptical look in her eyes. ‘And, yes, I see you don’t quite believe that, because I’m a king. But first I’m a human being. With feelings I’ve long suppressed because it hurt too much to feel.’
There was movement in his peripheral vision. No doubt palace advisors, wondering where he was going with this, alarmed that he might be revealing too much. But he didn’t care. Not any more. If baring his soul, relinquishing control, was what it took, then so be it.
But then he felt a unique sensation.
Felt her.
Swivelling his head, searching past the spotlights, he saw her.
Dios mio , she was here. To make true on her promise? No, he would expose every last crumb of himself before he let that happen.
Rachel Mallory followed his gaze, her eyes widening before she quickly pivoted. ‘Your wife, the Queen, is here. Do you mind if she joins us, Your Majesty?’
‘It is entirely her choice,’ Azar replied, though his whole being was straining for Eden.
When his fingers twitched, rising towards her almost independently of his thought, his breath snagged in his chest.
To his shock and awe, she stepped into the light, her eyes pinned on his as she accepted the invitation, swaying and poised and so damned beautiful he wanted to drop to his knees in worship of her.
She was here.
Perhaps all was not lost.
She took his hand and sat in the hastily produced chair, barely acknowledging their interviewer. ‘Go on,’ she encouraged him, her husky voice composed.
He cleared his throat of the surfeit of emotion. He had a confession to finish. The most important of his life.
‘We all seek validation in some form or other. And when that validation is withheld from us by one of the most important people in our lives, and repeatedly given less priority, it has a way of eroding self-worth. I have every material thing I could dream of at my fingertips, but the most important thing…the love I thought—knew—I deserved…was withheld by…’
He shook his head. The issues between him and his mother were private. He would not air her inadequacies now. Maybe never.
‘Deep inside I knew better than to accuse one person of another’s behaviour, but reality goes out of the window when feelings you’ve never truly experienced rip your insides out.’
‘What are you saying, Azar?’ Eden whispered, her fingers convulsing around his.
‘I was falling in love. Deeply. Irreversibly. And I didn’t know what do with those feelings. So when I believed you’d chosen someone else, I let that colour my judgement. And I lost you because of that.’
‘Azar—’
He shook his head, ploughing on with a desperation he hadn’t felt in a long time. If ever.
‘I wasn’t good enough for you then. You had every right to walk away. And I haven’t been good enough for you since you agreed to be my wife.’ He reached for her other hand, his insides shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm. ‘But you have my vow, here and now, that I will not rest until I’m worthy of you. And if it carries me into the afterlife, I will spend an eternity winning you back.’
Her fingers trembled as they threaded with his, and he saw her nostrils quivering as she tried to hold back her emotions. Then she went one better and cupped his undeserving cheek.
‘You don’t need to win back what you have never lost, Azar. You only need to open your eyes and see what is in front of you.’
His jaw dropped, and he knew he was the furthest thing from cool and calm when he sucked in a sharp breath. ‘Eden. Mi reina. I—’
‘I forgive you for all of it, Azar. Just tell me what I want to hear.’
He swallowed, then laid the last of himself bare. ‘I love you, mi corazón . With everything I am. Inside and out. With every cell of my body. I love you, and I would be honoured if you would spend this life with me.’
For the longest second she simply stared at him, her eyes beautiful, her spirit glowing bright with the merest hint of reproach.
‘Took you long enough,’ she murmured.
The moment she swayed towards him he scooped her up, deposited her in his lap, then gruffly instructed her, because he was still a king after all, ‘Kiss me, my queen.’
She spiked her fingers in his hair and dragged him down to meet her lips.
Gasps echoed all around them. Feet shuffled. Some people probably attempted to give them privacy.
All Azar Domene cared about was that the most precious thing in his life was where she belonged.
Her cheeks were a deep pink and her beautiful eyes bright when they parted, and she clutched at him. ‘We’re breaking two dozen protocols…do you know that?’ she whispered, her sweet breath brushing his mouth.
He ignored the rolling cameras and carded his fingers through her hair. ‘I’ll break three dozen more just to keep you right here, in my arms.’
When her bottom lip quivered, he dropped his forehead to hers.
‘I’m so sorry for everything I’ve put your through, tesoro . I was a coward who hid behind his pain and distrust.’
She swallowed. ‘I should never have gone with Nick that day. I should’ve stayed and done everything in my power to show you how wrong you were. But it’s behind us now. I love you, Azar.’
He groaned under his breath, then rose, hitched her up more securely.
Then he walked out.
Ten minutes later he was deep inside his wife, in their bed, with her arms and legs wrapped tightly around him as if she’d never let him go. He planned never to let her.
‘Tell me again,’ he pleaded.
‘You first,’ she taunted throatily as he pushed even deeper, as if their newly revived souls were rising to wrap around each other.
‘Maybe these three years apart were exactly what I needed. Because your every breath, your touch, your scent, your love is so much more precious to me now, Eden. I will give up everything for you. I love you. I love you… Dios , I love you so much.’
Tears dripped from her eyes as the words poured out of him. ‘And I love you, my king. With every one of those breaths. For ever.’