Her Royal Baby by Marion Lennox Page A

to talk,’ he said urgently as she hesitated. She looked back at him, which was a mistake. His eyes wereurgent and compelling, and sending her messages she didn’t understand.
    â€˜Why?’ she managed, and the urgency in his voice increased.
    â€˜Because you and I are all the family Henry has. Because, regardless of what you think of me, I care. Because I have responsibilities I need to face, and because Henry has a heritage neither of us can avoid.’
    â€˜Henry stays with me,’ she said flatly as the security guards looked on.
    â€˜Can we organise a babysitter and talk over dinner?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Do you want us to remove him?’ one of the security guards said, and still she hesitated.
    There was so much she didn’t know. She glanced back and found Marc still watching her with the expression she was coming to know. Watchful and non-judgmental.
    She’d thought when she first met him that he had a good face. Kind. Maybe she was wrong—her wrist was tingling now from the force with which he’d held her—but still he watched, and she needed to come to a decision.
    She thought fast, forcing her confused mind to focus. This was a five-star Australian hotel. Henry was an Australian citizen. Marc could hardly drag the baby from her arms and remove him. If he was planning on removing Henry from the country illegally he’d hardly have gone to the effort of finding her in the first place.
    No. This man was a Head of State. He’d have to do things above board.
    He could try and persuade her all he wanted. She could afford to listen.
    â€˜We’ll have dinner,’ she told him.
    â€˜I’ll organise…’
    â€˜No. I’ll organise dinner. We’ll have Room Service here in my room, where I can watch Henry.’ She glanced backat the security officers and managed a smile. ‘We’ll be fine,’ she told them. ‘His Royal Highness has a temper, but he’s trying his best to fit into civilised society. If he promises to behave then he can stay. You guys are on call if he steps out of line again, aren’t you?’
    There was a sharp intake of breath behind her but she didn’t care. Serves him right, she thought, rubbing her wrist.
    Serves him right.
    â€˜We’re at the end of the phone, miss,’ one of the guards told her. Clearly in this hotel they were accustomed to all sorts, and violent patrons were nothing new. ‘Dial 8 or scream. Either way we’ll be here in seconds.’
    But they weren’t speaking to Tammy. They were speaking directly to Marc, and their body language said they’d like to haul him out of there right now.

CHAPTER FOUR
    â€˜G REAT .’
    â€˜Great?’
    â€˜Do you know what you’ve just done for inter-country relations?’ Marc demanded as the door closed. ‘These people know who I am and now they’re thinking I’m somewhere between Godzilla and Attila the Hun.’
    â€˜As if I care.’
    â€˜You might not, but I do.’
    â€˜Were there reporters out there with cameramen attached?’ They were both past fury now, and moving on to a level they didn’t know. Sparks were flashing off them like two electric cables coming into contact. You could practically smell the burning. ‘Are the press in this country interested in the doings of some tinpot prince? I don’t think so. Broitenburg is a tiny country. I think you have an exaggerated idea of your own importance.. Your Highness .’
    She ended her words on a note of bitter sarcasm.
    Tinpot prince… She’d called him a tinpot prince.
    The words hung between them
    With anger still driving her, she turned her back to check Henry. The child was obviously accustomed to sleeping through noise. Now he snoozed on, tiny lashes fluttering closed over his dark eyes. She’d wrapped him snugly in a blanket and he was using a corner of it for comfort, sucking it in his