The Prince's Royal Concubine by Lynn Raye Harris

Author:Lynn Raye Harris [Harris, Lynn Raye]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi
Tags: Romance, Contemporary Women, General, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 9781408918746
Google: b20dcS7uQKgC
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Published: 2010-02-28T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

HER pretty pink mouth dropped open. Cristiano had to force himself not to lean forward and close it for her with a kiss.

“You cannot be serious!”

“Why not? It makes sense, does it not?” He leaned back against the wall and gave her a lazy look. He was so close to achieving his goals now. So close he could taste the triumph.

Her brows drew down as she studied him. It didn’t surprise him she was suspicious. She was far stronger in spirit than he’d given her credit for when he’d first met her. Was it only yesterday? It seemed like weeks rather than hours.

Another woman would have fallen apart after nearly being crushed to death by a tree. But she’d endured, and she’d expertly taken care of his wound without a moment’s hesitation or squeamishness. He was quickly learning not to be startled by anything she said or did.

“Which part makes sense, Cristiano?” she asked. “The part about selling you our ore, or the part where you think I could ever agree to marry you?”

He resisted the urge to scowl.

“Both. You sell us the ore to guarantee your loans, and I agree to marry you as a show of good faith. You and your brother cannot doubt my sincerity if I pledge to make you a di Savaré.”

She snorted. Then she shook her head. “I could never do that to our people. They would see it as selling out to our enemies.”

“Selling out? Or saving your country from a worse fate?”

“What is worse than subordination to Monterosso?”

“Ceasing to exist. Becoming a fragmented people owned and controlled by differing factions. Being consumed by civil war as your people turn against each other. No other nation will risk their assets to help you then.”

Her grey eyes were huge in her face. A small cut over her cheekbone marred the perfection of her creamy skin. She seemed so young and vulnerable just now. Not at all the sophisticated and self-centered princess he’d counted on meeting when he’d flown to Canta Paradiso.

“You intend to gain control,” she said. “I’m not quite sure how, but this is your aim.”

“There is nothing in it for me.” Guilt pricked him, and he shoved it down deep. He could not afford to feel remorse about this too. Lives would be saved. He had to focus on that fact. Once he paid Monteverde’s creditors, it would establish who was in financial control to the world. Cristiano would make sure Monteverde was stripped of its weapons as part of the agreement. Without its ore, or the independent means to repay its loans, Monteverde would never again be sovereign.

Antonella tilted her chin up. Defiant to the end. “We still have options, Cristiano.”

“Time is running out, Principessa. The loans are due in a week’s time.”

He could see the calculations taking place in her head. She was trying to decide if the storm would be finished by then, and how much time that would leave her to explore other options.

“Vega was your last hope, and he’s gone.

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