Kate Hardy – Soldier Prince's Secret Baby Gift (страница 8)

It hadn’t really hit home until that moment, but Tia realised right then that her baby was of royal blood.

A baby in line for a crown.

‘I…’ She tailed off, hardly able to take in the enormity of the situation.

‘As I said,’ Antonio continued quietly, ‘it’s been a little complicated around here. Luca’s wedding to Meribel has been planned for a very long time. But Meribel told Luca on the eve of their wedding that she was in love with someone else and was pregnant with his baby, so she couldn’t go through with marrying him. We agreed with her family that we’d say the wedding was cancelled due to irreconcilable differences, though the people of Aguilarez—Meribel’s kingdom, on the other side of the mountains—assumed that meant Luca had practically jilted her at the altar, and they blamed him for the wedding not happening.

‘It was politically…’ He grimaced. ‘Let’s just say it was a bit sensitive. If we didn’t tell the truth, it could lead to a great deal of discord between our countries. Yet if we told the truth—that Meribel was the one to have the affair—then it would be putting the blame on her, and that would be dishonourable.’

Tia didn’t quite understand that. ‘How could it be dishonourable when she was the one who had the affair?’

‘It’s still dishonourable,’ Antonio insisted.

‘So whatever you did, you’d lose,’ Tia said slowly.

‘Something like that. Except then someone leaked the truth of the matter. Not from our side,’ he was quick to clarify. ‘Meribel is in hiding right now, and it feels as if the media has put Casavalle under a microscope, scrutinising every move any of us makes and spotting every potential scandal.’ He looked at her. ‘Someone in the palace will have noticed you, and they will have heard you ask to speak to Miles. They will definitely have noticed your bump. So people will be asking questions about you—who are you, and why did you want to speak to the palace secretary? Whose baby are you carrying? They’ll be watching for you to leave the palace.

‘And the paparazzi don’t play nice, Tia. They’ll strike up a conversation at the airport and you’ll think you’re simply chatting to another passenger to pass the time. They’ll ask all kinds of questions and pump you for information without you even knowing what they’re doing, and the next thing you know it’ll be all over the media. They’ll dig on the Internet and they’ll know everything about you before you get back to London—where you live, where you work, all about your mother’s health. They’ll follow you and they’ll doorstep you.’

‘Doorstep me?’ She didn’t understand.

‘They’ll wait outside your front door in a gaggle. The back door, too. There’s no escape from them. The second you open any door, the flashbulbs will go off and they’ll be yelling your name and asking you questions. If you’ve ever seen it happen in a film, I can assure you that it’s been romanticised. In real life, it’s much harsher. You have to push your way through the mob, and all the time there will be microphones shoved in your face and flashbulbs going off and people yelling.

‘If you say anything, it’ll be spun to suit their agenda. If you say nothing, then they’ll speculate, and they’ll do it with the nastiest implications—and you won’t be able to protest because they’ll claim they’re asking questions, not making a statement. Your life won’t be your own.’

That hadn’t occurred to her. She’d simply thought to let Antonio know that their night together had had consequences, then quietly go back to London. ‘I… Look, if there’s a way you can get me from the palace to the airport without them seeing me, then I promise not to talk to a single person until I’m back home with my mum.’

He shook his head. ‘It’s already too late for that. As I said, things have been complicated around here lately.’

And she’d just added another complication to his life. An illegitimate baby.

Her misery must’ve shown in her expression, because he took her hand. ‘Tia. I know neither of us planned this. But you have my support now and you definitely need my protection. I think we both need to get our heads round the situation, and the middle of a royal palace isn’t the best place to do that. I know somewhere quiet we can go for a few days that will give us a chance to think things through and talk about the future.’

‘But I wasn’t planning to stay here, not even for a night. I don’t have even a toothbrush with me, let alone any clean clothes,’ Tia protested. ‘And my mum’s expecting me back home tonight.’

‘Then call her. Tell her that you’re staying here for a little while.’ He paused. ‘Give me three days, Tia.’

‘Three days?’ Tia was horrified. ‘What if Mum needs me?’

‘Do you have a neighbour or a friend nearby who can keep an eye out for her?’ Antonio asked. ‘Or I can arrange for a nurse to come in and help her, if you prefer.’ He looked at her. ‘I apologise. Nathan didn’t tell me much about your mother’s condition, other than that she’d been poorly since you were small. And I was brought up not to ask personal questions. So I’m afraid I don’t know how ill she is.’

‘Mum has chronic fatigue syndrome,’ Tia said. ‘It used to be called ME—myalgic encephalomyelitis.’

When Antonio looked blank, she continued, ‘After Dad was killed in action, Mum went down with a virus, and we think that’s what triggered the CFS because she never really recovered. It’s a bit like having the flu, with joint pains and a headache you simply can’t shift, and absolute exhaustion—but it doesn’t go away after a couple of weeks, like the flu does. She has it all the time. So she needs to rest a lot.

‘It’s a variable condition; some days she’s fine and to look at her you’d never know she was ill, and other days she can barely get out of bed. And she’s not lazy or stupid. It’s not like when you’re feeling just a bit tired after a busy day—she gets absolutely exhausted and physically can’t do anything. If she has a day when she’s feeling really well and overdoes things, then she’ll really pay for it for a few days afterwards. She has to be careful.’

‘And you look after her?’

‘Yes, and I don’t begrudge a second of it. I love her. She’s my mum.’ Growing up, Tia had had days when she’d wished her life had been more like that of her friends, where she’d had time to do homework and hang out with her friends and meet boys, instead of struggling to keep up with her studies and worrying that her mum’s condition was getting worse, and never starting a relationship because she knew it couldn’t go anywhere. But she’d done her best to hide it from her mother, because she loved Grace and didn’t want her mother to feel as if she was a burden.

Grace had encouraged her to go out with her friends, but Tia didn’t like leaving her mum, except when she went to work and she was only just round the corner and could rush back if there was an emergency.

‘Tia,’ he said gently, ‘we’re going to need to talk about the best way to support your mother when you have a small baby to look after as well. Because you’re not going to be able to do everything.’

Oh, yes, she could. She always had. ‘It’ll be fine.’ She lifted her chin. ‘I’ll manage. We always do.’

Meaning that she’d struggle and drive herself into the ground.

Antonio was shocked by the sheer protectiveness he felt towards her. And it wasn’t just because she was his best friend’s little sister. There was something about Tia Phillips. She was brave and strong and independent, not looking for the easy way out—she’d been very explicit that she expected nothing from him. He admired her courage; yet, at the same time, he wanted to take some of those burdens away. What she’d just told him, in addition to the little that Nathan had let slip, made him realise that she must’ve spent most of her life looking after her mother. She’d never really had a normal childhood.

Well, she didn’t have to struggle any more. He could support her. Though he was pretty sure that her pride would get in the way and she’d refuse any help. So he needed to gain her trust, first. And that meant being specific rather than vague.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.