Chapter Fourteen #2
The man laughed, but the sound was devoid of humour or warmth.
‘I would warn you not to fall for her charms, Caras—as I fell for her mother’s.
Freya is very much like Anjelica. Disobedience and wilfulness wrapped in a deceptively beautiful package.
Sleep with her if you wish, pamper and indulge her, but do not be fool enough to trust her.
Or she will take advantage of your indulgence, just as her mother took advantage of mine. ’
‘I’m not here to discuss my relationship with your daughter,’ he said, cutting off the conversation.
It sickened him to hear her name on her father’s lips. But worse was the realisation he wasn’t that different from this man, or his own father, because he was going to be forced to use her, one last time.
She’ll thank you for it in the end. You must believe that.
‘No, because you are a man not unlike myself, are you not?’ her father said as if he had read Theo’s mind. His smile became sly. ‘We both know this is about the port land. That is why you have agreed to the marriage, is it not?’
It wasn’t, not any more. He would quite happily have forgotten about the damn land at this point, found another place to house the cruise business, or better yet sell that part of the business, because it had been tainted from the start.
But he already knew marriage was the only way to finally free Freya from this man’s influence. And he would have to buy the land as well, or the prince would refuse to let a former Athens street rat marry his daughter, because it was the money from the land deal the bastard was really after.
‘Draw up the contracts at Xander’s original offer price and I’ll sign them,’ he said, the bitter taste in his mouth starting to engage his gag reflex.
‘I believe you are already aware the sale can only be finalised once the marriage has taken place,’ Andreas replied, finally coming clean about the stipulation in the country’s constitution.
Theo frowned. ‘You leaked the information deliberately.’
The prince’s eyes gleamed. ‘Of course I did. Do you really believe I would have allowed that constitutional anomaly to be public knowledge if I was not desperate? A man has his pride, after all.’
Theo nodded. The shrewd bastard. So, the prince had kept the constitutional need for a marriage to take place before the Crown land could be sold a secret simply to preserve his pride. But it didn’t change anything. Not now.
‘You’ll get your marriage. On New Year’s Eve as agreed,’ Theo said, the sick feeling rolling over in his stomach.
He and Freya would be wed in two days’ time.
She’d looked shocked and wary at the news, but after hours of negotiation with her father’s emissaries as soon as she’d agreed to the engagement, it had been obvious neither of them had a choice.
Her father would have destroyed her reputation—and her country would have been left bankrupt.
How would she ever have been able to start a new life—free and clear—after that?
‘But you are going to hand over guardianship of Freya’s brothers to her, today,’ Theo demanded. ‘I want her to have control of all aspects of their care until they are both twenty-one. And that includes handling any trust funds that belong to them, or her.’
The prince’s smug smile dissolved, his expression becoming tense with anger. ‘You expect me to transfer the care of my heirs? To a woman who besmirched her royal name, her own legacy, to have a torrid affair with a Greek playboy? Are you mad?’
‘Take it or leave it. This isn’t a negotiation, Andreas,’ Theo said, his voice rough with contempt. ‘You want the port deal to go ahead, to get you out of the financial fix you’ve created for yourself and your country, Freya becomes her brothers’ guardian, today.’
Because she loves them, and wants what’s best for them, unlike you. And whatever happens you’re never going to use their welfare as a bargaining chip against her again.
‘And don’t even try to stiff me. My legal team will be going over the guardianship agreement with a fine-tooth comb to make sure you can’t renege on it.’
‘How am I supposed to explain such an aberration to my subjects? To the press?’ Andreas replied, his voice lifting to a shriek.
‘I don’t give a shit how you explain it.’ Theo glared. ‘Just get it done, or there’s no deal. And no marriage.’
The prince’s face went an interesting shade of red, which gave Theo a grim feeling of satisfaction.
If Freya was going to be forced to marry him, he intended to make sure she would at least never have to deal with this bastard again.
‘The guardianship agreement must remain private,’ the prince finally declared, clearly realising Theo wasn’t budging. ‘I will not have the press speculating on the affairs of the royal family. She has already compromised the monarchy’s reputation with her juvenile decision to run away with you.’
Theo ground his teeth, hating this man even more. ‘Perhaps if you had been a better father, and hadn’t tried to exploit her for your own ends, she wouldn’t have wanted to run away in the first place…’
The prince had the gall to look affronted. ‘Do not lecture me on exploiting women, when you kidnapped and seduced a virgin because she was of royal blood.’
Theo flinched, the well-aimed barb hitting home.
He didn’t want the land any more, had tried to convince himself he was marrying Freya for her own good.
But how true was that really, when he had always had a hidden agenda where Freya was concerned—and he still hadn’t come clean with her about his real motives for pushing through with a marriage…
? At first, he’d wanted to force her father’s hand, then he’d simply wanted to possess her.
And now he wanted to make her his, without her even knowing he would never be able to offer her what she truly wanted…
His love. Because he simply did not have it in him to ever give anyone that much.
‘Do we have a deal, or don’t we?’ he said, his voice laced with menace.
The prince’s chest puffed up, as if he were going to object again. But then he seemed to deflate. And finally, he nodded. Because like all bullies faced with someone even more ruthless than they were, Prince Andreas was a coward.
‘You can announce the wedding as soon as Freya has signed the guardianship forms,’ Theo clarified, then marched out of the study without waiting for a reply.
His assistant was waiting for him at the door. ‘Sir, we have secured a suite for you at the Grande Hotel, as per your request.’
He nodded and pulled out his phone. He typed out a message to Freya, explaining his absence for the next two days. She would know soon enough that her brothers were free for good, when her father rushed through the guardianship.
It was going to be torture, sleeping without her in his arms, but he needed to start weaning himself off her.
Once they were wed, she would be free of her father’s influence—but he couldn’t give her a real marriage with the emotional commitment she craved.
And the sooner she understood that, the better.
He tucked his phone back into his jacket pocket and nodded at his assistant. ‘Let’s go,’ he said, heading out of the palace and into the waiting car.
But as he watched the white walls of Freya’s luxury cage recede in the rear-view mirror, a cage he’d locked her back inside, he was forced to accept he was an even bigger coward than her father.