27. Luca

CHAPTER 27

LUCA

T he architect, a slight man with wire-rimmed glasses, points at a place of concern on his plans for the new greenhouse. “Your Majesty, if we could just finalize the placement of the?—”

Stefan materializes at my side, his face grave as he interrupts. “Sir, there’s something you need to see.”

I stare at him. Stefan isn’t known for butting into a conversation. If he’s popping up like this, it must be serious.

He hands me his tablet, and my heart seizes in my chest as I take in the images splashed across the screen. It’s Hailey, her beautiful features twisted in fear, surrounded by a swarm of people.

Anger and betrayal war within me, battling for dominance. How could she do this? After everything we’ve been through, everything I’ve done to protect her?

“There are photographers amassing outside the palace as well,” Stefan says delicately.

I thrust the tablet back at him, my jaw clenched so tight it aches. “Get rid of them. I want every last one of those vultures off the premises. Now.”

He bows his head, hastening to carry out my command. I turn away, my mind racing as I struggle to process the implications of Hailey’s reckless behavior.

The coronation is tomorrow. The eyes of the world will be upon me, scrutinizing my every move. I can’t afford any distractions, any hint of scandal.

And yet, even as fury courses through my veins, I can’t shake the image of Hailey’s stricken face from my mind. The raw vulnerability in her eyes, the way she seemed to shrink in on herself…

It tears at something deep inside me, something I didn’t even know I had. A fierce, primal need to protect what’s mine.

Because despite everything, that’s what Hailey is. Mine. And I’ll be damned if I let anyone, even her, jeopardize that.

I lock eyes with my head of security, who is standing along the wall waiting to be told what to do.

“Bring her to me.” The words are hard, unyielding. A command, not a request.

The man nods, his face an impassive mask as he slips out of the room. I pace back and forth, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.

Minutes drag by, each one an eternity. I can’t stop picturing Hailey out there, alone and afraid. It’s a physical ache, a twisting in my gut that grows more intense with every passing second.

Finally, the door opens. Hailey stumbles in, her face pale and drawn. She’s shaking, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as if to hold herself together.

I start towards her, my anger momentarily forgotten in the face of her distress. “Hailey! Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” She hugs herself tighter.

“Why…” Anger flares in my chest. “How could you do that?”

She looks up at me, and the accusation in her eyes stops me cold. “Don’t ask me that, Luca. Not when you’ve kept me like a prisoner here.”

I recoil as if she’s slapped me. “I was trying to protect you!” I snap, my temper flaring. “Do you have any idea what those vultures would do if they found out about us? About the baby?”

She flinches at that, her hand fluttering instinctively to her still-flat stomach. But then her chin lifts, defiance sparking in her eyes.

“I can’t live like this, Luca.” Her voice is steadier now, determination threading through each word. “I won’t. Our child deserves better than to be hidden away like something shameful.”

I rake a hand through my hair, frustration boiling over. “You don’t understand,” I grit out. “The coronation is tomorrow. I can’t risk anything going wrong.”

“And what about after?” she demands, taking a step towards me. “Are you going to keep me locked in this palace forever? Pretend to the outside world that I don’t exist?”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Is that what she thinks of me? That I see her as nothing more than an inconvenience, a problem to be dealt with?

I close the distance between us in two long strides, my hands coming up to grip her shoulders. “Don’t you dare,” I growl, my face inches from hers. “Don’t you dare think for one second that you mean nothing to me.”

Her eyes widen at my intensity, but she doesn’t back down. “Then prove it,” she challenges. “Tell the world about us. About our baby. Now.”

I stare at her, my heart hammering against my ribs. She’s asking for the one thing I’m not sure I can give her. The one thing that could bring everything I’ve worked for crashing down around me.

“You can’t, can you?” Tears fill her eyes. “You never will.”

“Maybe…” The word sticks in my throat, bitter and acidic. “Maybe it would be better if we kept the baby a secret. Forever.”

The moment the words leave my mouth, I regret them. I see the shock, the hurt, the betrayal flash across her face before she shutters her expression, going eerily calm.

“I see.” Her voice is flat, emotionless. She steps back, out of my reach. “In that case, I’m done. I’m out.”

Panic claws at my chest, sharp and jagged. “Hailey, wait?—”

But she’s already turning away, striding towards the door. “I gave up everything for you,” she says, not looking at me. “My job, my life in New York. I was willing to try and make this work. But I won’t let my child grow up thinking they’re something to be ashamed of.”

She pauses at the door, her hand on the knob. For a moment, I think she might turn back. Might give me a chance to take it all back, to beg for her forgiveness.

But she doesn’t. She just shakes her head, her voice cracking with the sound of heartbreak. “Goodbye, Luca.”

And then she’s gone, the door slamming shut behind her with a finality that makes my knees buckle. I sink into a chair, my head in my hands.

What have I done? Simon and Stefan both warned me that I was making a mistake, that I wasn’t dealing with Hailey properly. And now… now I might have lost the best thing that ever happened to me.

The woman I love. Our child. My chance at a real family, at a future beyond duty and obligation.

And for what? A crown that feels heavier by the second? A legacy that will never bring me true happiness?

I’ve been a fool. And now… now it might be too late to fix it.