24. Hailey

CHAPTER 24

HAILEY

I walk beside Luca through the quiet corridors of the palace, my mind still reeling from the perfect afternoon we just shared. The picnic was like something out of a dream — lounging on a soft blanket amidst the fragrant rose gardens, sampling delectable treats, talking and laughing for hours, just the two of us in our own little world. It all felt so natural, so right.

And yet, as we approach my room, the spell threatens to break. Reality comes rushing back — the complicated nature of our relationship, the impossibly high stakes we both face. I should put some distance between us, maintain the professional boundaries I swore I’d uphold. But my traitorous heart has other ideas.

Luca pauses outside my door when I open it, his gaze drifting to the small decorative touches I’ve added to make the space feel more like home — a few framed photos, a colorful throw pillow, a stack of my favorite books.

“I see you’ve settled in nicely,” he remarks with a smile. “I’m glad. I want you to feel comfortable here.”

Before I can second-guess myself, I blurt out an invitation. “Would you like to come in for a minute? For some, um, tea.”

He hesitates, and I assume he’ll decline the offer, but he does the opposite. “I’d like that very much.”

My pulse kicks up a notch as I usher him inside my private sanctuary. I don’t know why I’m bringing him in here, what I’m hoping to achieve. I just didn’t want our time together to end. It’s too perfect — the kind of afternoon that will never come again, and I want to milk it for as long as possible.

I heat some water in the electric kettle in the corner of the room, my nerves jangling with his nearness in the intimate space. Luca admires the framed prints on the walls, stepping closer to examine one moody black-and-white cityscape.

“Honey? Sugar?” I ask.

“Just milk. Thank you.”

I make his tea and cross the room to hand it to him. When he takes it from me, our eyes lock, and I find myself drowning in the bottomless blue of his gaze, my breath catching at the open admiration shining there. The air between us thickens, charging with the unspoken desires we’ve both been fighting to ignore.

He still has feelings for me. I see it now, clear as the light of day. He’s been fighting them tooth and nail, though. But why?

The moment stretches taut between us before Luca clears his throat and glances away, breaking the spell. “I should be going. I’m sure you have much to do…”

My heart cracks. That’s it? He’s not even going to acknowledge the moment we just shared?

“I don’t have much to do at all.” I snort. “Not unless I’m working on my piece for you.”

“Ah. Yes.” He nods once, looking thoughtful.

“Since you don’t want me going anywhere,” I prompt.

His lips turn down.

“It’s fine.” I sigh. “I agreed to it. It’s not like I’m a prisoner here.”

“If you… if you want to revisit the terms…”

“What are you saying?” I ask, not sure I want to hear the answer. Is he admitting that he would be fine if I chose to leave the palace — and taking our child with me, of course?

Luca sighs. “I don’t want you to leave, of course, but if… if you felt you needed to…”

“I’d still be bound to our nondisclosure agreement,” I point out.

“Of course.”

“Do you want me to go?”

He searches my face. Really searches it, like it’s the first time he’s seen me and he’s trying to make sense of what’s unraveling in front of him.

“No,” he breathes. “Not one bit.”

My pulse picks up, and my skin warms. It’s unfair, how one moment he’ll push me away and then draw me in the next, always giving me just enough to keep me from running away completely.

He starts to say something, then hesitates. “Hailey, I was hoping… well, I know you have a prenatal checkup coming up soon. I wondered if you might allow me to accompany you? I’d like to be there, to support you however I can.”

Tears spring to my eyes at the unexpected request, my throat closing with emotion. “I… yes, of course. I would love to have you there,” I manage. “Thank you, Luca. Truly.”

He reaches out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingertips grazing my cheek and sending a shiver through me. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. We’re in this together now.”

And there it is again, that sense of connection, of rightness. Slowly, almost unconsciously, we drift closer, the air between us growing heavy with unspoken longing. Luca’s eyes darken as they drop to my mouth, his hand lingering against my cheek. My breath catches, pulse quickening, as I tilt my face up to his.

“Hailey…” he murmurs, and I watch, mesmerized, as his tongue darts out to wet his lips. “Tell me to stop. Tell me to go, and I will.”

But I don’t want him to go. Not now, not ever. I want him here, with me, consequences be damned. “Stay,” I whisper, hardly recognizing my own voice, husky with need. “Please stay.”

His breath escapes in a shuddering sigh and then his mouth is on mine, soft and searingly hot all at once. I melt into the kiss, into him, my fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt to anchor myself against the onslaught of sensation. He tastes of the lemonade we shared, sweet and addictive. I can’t get enough.

Luca deepens the kiss, his tongue sweeping into my mouth to tangle with mine as his hands skim down my back to settle at my waist, where they tug me flush against the hard planes of his body. I moan into the kiss, arching closer, craving more of his touch, his taste.

I’m drowning in him, lost to everything but the heat of his mouth, the slide of his lips and tongue against mine, the secure weight of his hands spanning my back. In this moment, nothing exists but Luca and the exquisite pleasure unfurling within me. I want to crawl inside him, to brand myself on his very soul so that neither of us can ever forget this feeling, this moment.

Eventually, reluctantly, we break apart, chests heaving, foreheads pressed together as we struggle to calm our racing hearts. Luca raises a hand to cup my cheek, thumb tracing over my tingling, kiss-swollen lips.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he rasps, but there’s no censure in it, only wonder and longing and an echo of the desire still pulsing through my veins.

And as I gaze up into those brilliant blue eyes, dark with passion and something infinitely tender, I can’t find it in me to disagree. Because kissing Luca, being with him like this… it feels like flying.

And falling.

Like finding a piece of my soul I never knew was missing, and coming home.

He opens his mouth to speak again, and I brace myself, worried that he’s about to say this is wrong, that he needs to leave. But instead of uttering a word, he only closes his lips over mine again.

There’s a new, desperate tinge to this kiss, and he sweeps his arms around my back and under my butt. He’s lifting me up, pressing me against him as he carries me to my bed.

Still kissing, he rests me on the mattress and crawls on top of me. Our hands are just as frenzied as our lips, fingers tearing at clothing. There’s the sound of something ripping, but I don’t pause to see if it was my shirt or his pants. It doesn’t even matter. This moment, as passionate as it is, is always fragile. If I don’t throw myself fully into it, it could crack. It could break and be gone from me forever.

“Hailey,” he murmurs into my mouth as the naked planes of his muscular chest press against me.

I can’t respond. I’m too busy drinking him in, gripping the roots of his hair as he slides my panties down my hips.

His thumb brushes across the space between my thighs, and I gasp with pleasure. It’s an electric shock of the highest ecstasy, a barely-there touch that somehow still makes me feel like I’m losing my mind.

I grip his shoulders, pulling him closer to me, yet it’s still not close enough. I want to merge us together until we become one.

Gripping my hips, he positions himself on top of me. I’m aching with hot, desperate desire, and he seems to be in the same boat.

He drives into me like it’s something we’ve done a thousand times, and it might as well be, for the way he knows my body. I moan at the delicious sensation of him filling me up, my nails digging into his shoulders.

Luca’s mouth finds mine again, swollen and greedy. He rocks into me, the rhythm taking me deeper and deeper into bliss. We’re one, moving as one, breathing as one, existing as one.

He sits up, pulling me with him so that I land on his lap. Sweat is already forming on his hairline, carving thin trails down his neck and onto his chest. His eyes widen at the sight of me, like he’s shocked to find I’m the one in his arms.

“Hailey,” he gasps. “I don’t want to fight this any longer.”

“I don’t either,” I whisper.

He grips my ass, and I rock into him. My hair falls across my face like a screen, and he pushes it back with his nose to press kisses anywhere his lips can reach. My cheekbone. My throat. My ear.

“Luca,” I groan, the pleasure making me blind.

He holds me tighter. Kisses me harder. It’s all I need and more, and I’m falling over the edge, tumbling into a world of bliss.

We collapse on the bed, our gasps filling the room. Luca’s arm is around me, and sweat sticks my cheek to his chest. Everything is perfect.

Too perfect.

What’s next? Did we just make a horrible mistake? The last time we almost found ourselves in bed, he told me that it could never happen again — and that was before we knew I was carrying his baby.

“Hailey.” His voice is soft yet commanding.

I swallow, both glad for and hating the fact that I can’t see his eyes. “Yes?”

There’s a pause. “Thank you.”

I blink. “For what?”

“For being here.” It’s such a simple statement, and yet he says it like I’ve given him the whole world.

I smile against his chest, some hope coming alive in me once more. Maybe this wasn’t a mistake at all. And maybe, no matter what happens between us next, things will be just fine.

“You’re welcome,” I whisper back.

“I wish we could stay like this forever.”

His words are a shock to my system. We can’t stay this way?

Of course not. What was I thinking? This was only a one-night thing — or, rather, two-night thing if you count New York. Luca has already outlined why we can never be together. Tomorrow morning, he’ll go back to being the dutiful prince, and I’ll be the secret to be kept in the shadows — always and forever more.

I need to kick him out of my room, pull the Band-Aid off before things go further and this becomes more painful. Yet, as I lay against his chest, my eyelids growing heavy, I find it impossible to move.

Tomorrow… tomorrow I’ll face the music. Tonight, though, I just want to pretend that all the things I want are real.