Chapter 25
Ramit walked into his apartment and looked around, a deep sense of satisfaction washing over him as he noticed Maggie and Nadia’s things scattered around. His family. He’d married Maggie within a half hour of returning to the palace yesterday. She’d been so frazzled, he wondered if she even remembered the ceremony.
It didn’t matter. Maggie was his. His wife! The records for his daughter were already fixed and submitted to the palace records room and an announcement of his daughter’s birth was released to the news outlets. The country was celebrating his marriage and his daughter’s birth, and everyone seemed to have accepted that he’d done it in secret in order to protect his family.
Ramit didn’t understand his intense need to marry Maggie. On the surface, it was all about legitimizing Nadia’s place in his country. But deep down, he knew it was more significant.
However, now, he had the even larger task of convincing Maggie to give their marriage a proper chance.
With that goal in mind, he walked deeper into the suite, looking for his wife and daughter.
He found them in the courtyard playing in the shallow end of the pool. Maggie wore a floppy hat with a wide rim to protect her delicate, pale skin from the harsh sun. The temperatures would be in the triple digits again today, but right now, it was only in the low eighties.
“Good morning,” he called out softly, not wanting to startle them. “May I join you?”
Maggie looked up at him, those pretty, brown eyes contemplating rejection. Ramit waited, willing her to allow him time with both of them.
“Of course,” she replied, then looked away, splashing more water on Nadia who was wearing an adorable blue bathing suit with ruffles around her chubby legs and arms. Nadia was barely visible under a collection of floating devices, which were probably unnecessary, since she was also lying on an inflatable “swan”.
Ramit paused only long enough to smile at the pair. Nadia obviously loved the water and Maggie looked magnificent in the sleek, black bathing suit. It wasn’t nearly as revealing as he’d like, but it would do. For now.
He hurried into the changing rooms. Five minutes later, he emerged wearing a pair of swimming trunks, praying that he could keep his body’s reaction to Maggie under control.
He walked around to the deeper end and dove into the chilly water, feeling instantly refreshed as he swam towards Maggie and his daughter.