LITMIR.BIZ

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would be over soon. The test kits had arrived. Her attempt to take the test had been thwarted when Reyes had summoned her to grill her about Berenice before his meeting with her, and then insisted Jasmine accompany him.

       Breathe...

      In just over an hour she would know. Among other things, she didn’t think it was healthy, if she was pregnant, to reside in this perpetual state of anxiety.

      Her fingers trembled as the thought took root. She...pregnant...with Reyes’s baby.

      She closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe through her anxiety. Waiting until it was impolite to linger any longer, she returned to the table, sat through the last course. Tried to stop herself from trembling each time Berenice looked at Reyes.

      Vaguely she noticed Reyes stand. ‘Jasmine?’

      She raised her head, met his probing glance. ‘Yes?’

      ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

      Her head hurt when she nodded. He touched her arm to get her attention. All of a sudden, each of her senses zinged to life.

      She looked round. Berenice had left. Jasmine was alone with Reyes again.

      ‘Are you ready to leave? Or would you like dessert since you hardly touched your food?’ He frowned down at her plate.

      ‘I’m fine. I wasn’t that hungry.’ She rose and followed him out to the waiting limo. Heart in her throat, she slid in beside him. Silence throbbed in the car for several minutes, until she couldn’t take it any more.

      ‘So, you think she’s the one?’ Jasmine realised she’d stopped breathing as she waited for him to answer.

      After a few moments, he shrugged. ‘Sí, she ticks all the boxes. I’ll call a meeting of the council when we get back to Santo Sierra tomorrow. Tell them to start planning my wedding.’

      * * *

      She was pregnant.

      Three sticks had confirmed it. Several online translations of the word enceinte along with three thick blue lines had sealed her fate.

      Setting the tablet down on the bedcovers, Jasmine lay back on the bed and spread shaky fingers over her stomach.

      Several emotions eddied through her, but gradually the fear, the anxiety, the complete and utter paralyzing notion that she was in no way equipped to be a mother, fell away to be replaced by one paramount sensation.

      Joy.

      She had a child growing inside her. Not just any child. Reyes’s baby. The situation was completely messed up, but if fate had requested in a normal world that she choose the father of her child, Reyes Navarre would’ve been her first, her only choice.

      Reyes...

      She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She had to tell him. No question about that. The pain of never having known her father was one she’d smothered away during her childhood and teenage years. And although Stephen had filled the desolate hole left by her father’s rejection, the dull ache remained.

      She would never dream of subjecting her child to the same fate by choice. But then this wasn’t just any child...

      The enormity of what this pregnancy entailed burned through her joy.

      God, she was pregnant with the future heir of the Santo Sierran throne. And its father was getting married to someone else in a matter of weeks.

      Jasmine rolled to her side and hugged a pillow to her chest. Her eyes stung. She blinked rapidly. When her vision continued to blur, she dashed her fingers across her eyes, cursing the hormones running riot through her veins.

      Think! She’d faced the worst dilemmas, protected herself and her mother from the most vicious thugs. She’d even faced bullies in juvie and emerged victorious. Stronger for it.

      But did she possess the right skills to be a mother to a future king or queen? She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the tears. She wasn’t a crier. Never had been...

      She just needed a minute to absorb the life-changing news before—

      ‘Jasmine!’

      She started and opened her eyes to see Reyes crossing the vast suite towards her bed.

      Sitting up, she eyed the tablet, breathing a sigh of relief to notice it’d gone dark. The actual pregnancy tests were safely tucked beneath her pillow.

      ‘Have you heard of knocking?’ she demanded. Her heart slammed into her ribs with its usual state of excitement at the sight of Reyes. But this time there was an added urgency. He was the father of her child. Which meant, one way or the other, they would be connected to each other for ever.

      ‘I knocked. Several times. I entered because I was concerned. Are you okay?’ He frowned down at her, those hawkish grey eyes tracking her face.

      Too late, Jasmine remembered she’d been crying and probably had dried marks on her face. She dashed her hand across her cheeks.

      ‘I’m...fine. Just a little tired.’

      His frown didn’t dissipate. Mouth dry, she slid her legs to the side of the bed and stood up. ‘Did you want something?’

      ‘You were supposed to supply my press secretary with Miss Holden’s details. He hasn’t received them yet.’ His eyes narrowed further. ‘Are you sure you’re okay? You look pale.’ He started to move forward, one hand raised to touch her.

      She jerked out of reach, propelled solely by self-preservation. Her emotions were on enough of a roller coaster for her to risk disturbing them further by letting Reyes touch her. She needed to formulate her thoughts rationally before she broke the news to him. And Reyes touching her had never triggered rational thinking.

      She risked a glance at him. His jaw was tense and his hand suspended mid-air. A look of hurt passed over his face before it was quickly veiled. She sucked in another breath. ‘I’m fine. Really. I’ll send the details now.’

      He nodded tersely. Expecting him to leave, she gasped when he stepped closer and cupped her cheeks. ‘You’ve been crying. Tell me what’s wrong.’

      ‘Reyes—’

      ‘Don’t tell me it’s nothing. Something is wrong with you. You’ve been jumpy lately. The chef tells me you hardly touched your breakfast and I know you didn’t eat more than two mouthfuls at lunch. If you insist you’re not sick, then it must be something else. Are you worried about what will happen to you when we get to Santo Sierra?’

      ‘Should I be?’ Honestly, she’d been too preoccupied with whether she was carrying his child to worry about whether Reyes would throw the book at her once they arrived at his homeland.

      ‘I don’t condone what you did, but I understand the motives behind it.’

      She searched his gaze, and only saw steady reassurance. ‘You do?’

      He nodded. ‘You were boxed into a corner, trying to save what was precious to you. It felt wrong when I chose to pay the blackmailers for those compromising photos of Anaïs instead of turning the whole thing over to the police but—’

      ‘You were trying to protect your father from the pain of finding out.’

      ‘Sí. And also myself to some extent.’ His thumbs brushed her cheeks, traced the corner of her mouth. She locked her knees to keep them from giving way. ‘You did what you had to do to protect your family. I can’t condemn you for that.’

      She swallowed hard as a lump rose in her throat. ‘Thank you.’

      His gaze drifted from her eyes to her mouth. In that moment, Jasmine didn’t think she’d craved anything as she craved a kiss from him.

      Her gaze caressed his mouth, and every nerve in her body screeched with delight. Then reality crashed. She couldn’t kiss him. Would

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