Royal Desire (Maid for the Billionaire Prince Vol 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

can be, under the
circumstances,” she says.
    “I heard your father is really upset.”
    “It’s a slap in the face for him. My
engagement to Alex was a very public announcement after all.”
    “Is your father . . . treating you OK?” I
don’t know how royal fathers act towards their daughters, but
suddenly, I am worried for Tatiana.
    She smiles. “He hasn’t hit me, if that’s
what you are implying. But he’s disappointed in me. He has always
wanted a son, and this incident does not sit well with him.
It’s an affirmation of his belief that daughters are and will
continue to be disappointments to his lineage.”
    “But it’s not your fault.”
    “He insists it is. If I had been more
persuasive with Alex . . . more beguiling, more giving.” Tatiana’s
shadowed eyes flit away.
    I feel really, really bad, but we are not
close enough for me to reach out and clasp her hand. I’m not sure
she would welcome my comfort either – I who have stolen away the
love of her life.
    “He thinks I should have been more
ruthless,” Tatiana continues.
    “How?”
    She shakes her head. “There are things some
royals do that never see print. You don’t want to know what they
are capable of.”
    Her eyes regard me again, and I suddenly
feel a cold shiver slide down my spine.
    She says, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to
have you murdered.”
    A smile ghosts her lips.
    The thought of her hiring someone to kill me
has never crossed my mind, and now she is suggesting that it
should. Oh God. What am I playing with? Surely things like these
don’t happen these days? With my heart thudding, I remember
Princess Diana’s fatal crash in the French tunnel when she was with
her lover.
    That can’t be . . . no, no, it simply can’t . That was an accident, wasn’t it?
    “You should see the look on your face,” she
says, once again amused. She reaches out to grasp my hand instead,
a gesture that takes me completely by surprise. “Don’t worry,
Elizabeth. I am not your enemy. My father is not your enemy, if
that’s what this visit is all about. We will not declare war upon
Moldavia over this.”
    I’m more than surprised. I’m shocked. Is she
a mind reader?
    She laughs. “I’ve hit the nail on the head,
haven’t I? Yes, you are here because you want to barter peace. Very
noble of you. We have no armies, but we can request defensive aid
from Germany if necessary, just as Moldavia can request armies from
France. But no army is going on the offense for us if we want to
attack Moldavia over something as trivial as loss of face.”
    That’s a relief to hear. But I’m still not
out of the fire when it comes to assassination.
    Tatiana turns a shade more serious.
    “No, Elizabeth Turner. Neither I nor my
father will be protesting this turn of affairs, although when it is
made public, I cannot gauge the reactions of my fellow countrymen.
They have been primed to accept it, however, thanks to the endless
stream of photos featuring you with Alex for the past couple of
months. No, the enemy is much, much closer to your home.”
    “What do you mean?” I say.
    “Exactly what I mean,” she replies
cryptically. “It would do you well to keep your eyes and ears
tuned. When the strike comes, it would be from the most unexpected
of places.”

5
     
    I spend the next four months being afraid of
my own shadow.
    I’m jumpy and nervous. “Is our food tasted
before it’s served?” I ask Alex. “You know, as by royal food
tasters?”
    He’s astonished for a split second, and then
he throws back his head and laughs.
    “Oh Liz, darling.” He wipes tears from his
eyes. “Where did you get that? We’re no longer in the middle
ages.”
    “It never hurts to be safe,” I argue.
    “Yeah, but who in the hell wants to poison
us?”
    You never know, Alex, I think soberly. You
just never know. It’s like the proverbial sword hanging over our
heads. I don’t know when the strings tethering it to place are
going to be severed.
    To calm my