The Marriage That Made Her Queen by Kali Anthony

Author:Kali Anthony
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-07-02T21:42:21+00:00

* * *

A run hadn’t helped clear her head, not even jogging through the topiary garden, one of her favourite places in the vast palace grounds. In desperation she’d tried texting Sara but there’d been no response, the silence louder than words. Lise’s thoughts once again twisted and knotted, impossible to unravel. Guilt over her friend’s loss. Confusion that Rafe might understand her because he’d been through punishing grief himself, but could she really trust him? She walked down the corridors of the palace towards the pool, bathing suit in hand. A swim, she’d do that now. And maybe he’d join her. A whisper of pleasure slithered through her at the thought. Treacherous body of hers. It knew what it wanted, and he was at the top of its wish list.

As she approached the competition-sized indoor pool, Albert stood near the doorway. She raised her eyebrows.

‘I thought you’d like to know that the prime minister is here, talking to His Majesty.’

Lise frowned. There’d been no official appointments in her diary, this being her first morning back in the palace. Everything had been scheduled for the afternoon. Anyhow, she was the Queen. Shouldn’t the prime minster be talking to her?

‘Did Mr Hasselbeck say why?’

‘He said the King would know what it was about. But His Majesty appeared...surprised.’

Albert was an astute judge of people, but she knew how fine an actor Rafe could be. The blood chilled in Lise’s veins. There was no way anyone should circumvent her, and that was what was happening here. ‘Where are they?’

‘The study, Your Majesty.’

Her study. The other end of the palace. ‘I think I should be there. How long have they been talking?’

Albert nodded. ‘About fifteen minutes, give or take. Were you planning to change, and should I alert them to wait?’

She looked down at her clothes. If they couldn’t handle a bit of spandex and sweat, then to hell with them. She took off at a jog. ‘No, and no need to follow,’ she shouted over her shoulder. Protocol be damned. There’d been more than enough secret chats about her in that study, with Rafe involved. No more.

As she ran through the corridors staff stopped, bowed, curtsied, stared. She tried to acknowledge them but had to be quick. Something was going on and she needed to find out what. It was the thing that had pricked her consciousness for a while now. There was a reason her father had demanded she marry Rafe. She didn’t know why, but he’d wanted Rafe close.

As she approached the door to her study, she skidded to a halt. Took a few moments to catch her breath, check her hoodie was zipped up to a respectable level. Inside she heard Rafe’s growl.

‘How the hell did you let it come to this?’

She threw open the door. No knock, because she was Queen and there wasn’t a door in this palace she had to knock on before entering. Two faces turned to her. The prime minister, who looked her up and

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