The Prince & the Pregnant Princess by Susan Mallery

Author:Susan Mallery
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2010-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Cleo didn’t remember leaving Sadik’s office. She didn’t remember anything until she found herself wandering the halls of the palace. Her whole body hurt, and she had the feeling that she would never feel whole again.

She stopped and rested on a small bench in an alcove. Misery filled her, but it was not the kind to be eased by tears. She hurt too much for that.

She forced herself to keep breathing and stay calm. For the sake of the baby, she told herself, touching her stomach. But nothing about her situation felt possible. How could her life have come to this? One of the palace cats strolled by. She tried to distract herself by petting it, but despite the feel of soft fur against her fingers, her tension didn’t ease.

Was she really to be forced into a marriage with a man who didn’t love her? Who wouldn’t love her because he’d already given his love away to a woman who had died? It didn’t seem possible. She wasn’t completely helpless. She had a brain and she wasn’t afraid of hard work. She could simply slip out of the palace and…

And what? Cleo turned the question over in her mind. Her savings back home were fairly meager and not enough to keep her going while she was on the run. She was already in her fifth month of pregnancy. How long would she be able to work? And even if she could find a well-paying job where no one asked any questions, what about when the baby came? Did she want to spend her life hiding out?

Cleo wasn’t sure of many things, but she was convinced that Sadik would come looking for the baby, if not for her. Should he find her, he would take the child from her. She doubted any American court would side with her once they found out that not only had Sadik offered to marry her, he’d promised to treat her like…well…like a princess.

No one would understand, she thought sadly. No one would get that it wasn’t about wealth and privilege, it was about finding love. She couldn’t marry a man who didn’t love her.

Cleo rubbed her temples, as if she could ease her pain. The worst part of it was that while Sadik was obviously capable of love, he wasn’t willing to love her.

She wasn’t enough to bring him out of mourning for Kamra.

All her life she’d never been enough. Her mother hadn’t cared enough to stick around: drugs had been far more important than her child. Fiona had taken Cleo in but hadn’t bothered to adopt her. Ian had been willing to sleep with her but had never considered her more than a plaything. Sadik was at least willing to sleep with her and marry her. She supposed that was a step up. She should be grateful. She should think it was enough.

It wasn’t.

Cleo rose suddenly. There was only one last place of refuge for her dilemma.

Only one person who could help her.

She

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