Revealed: A Prince and A Pregnancy by Kelly Hunter Page B

my patience with your boorish behaviour to continue.’
    He smiled tightly. ‘You’re not bored.’
    She could be gentle with him, just this once. ‘Neither are you. Why is that, do you think?’
    ‘Shut the door, Simone.’
    ‘In a minute.’ There was something else he needed to know. Something he would already know, damn him, if only he’d let himself remember the past. ‘Gabrielle and Luc are wonderful together, Rafe. I want their wedding day to be perfect. I want their marriage to bea success. The demands of the Duvalier empire can be harsh and unforgiving but Luc and I are aware of that. We’ll see to it that those demands don’t crash down on Gabrielle all at once. We’ll take good care of her. On my life and Luc’s, we’ll protect her as you have.’
    He nodded and looked away, his jaw set. ‘I know you will.’
    She stepped back and slammed the passenger door shut. She didn’t bother raising her hand as he drove away.
    He didn’t look back.

Chapter Four
    G ABRIELLE’S dinner fork clattered to her plate, lightly steamed carrot and snow pea still attached, as she stared at Rafael as if he’d grown horns and a tail.
    ‘Etienne de Morsay’s coming here?’ she said on a rising note of panic.
    ‘Yes.Tomorrow.’ Rafe studied his sister curiously from the opposite side of the dining table. ‘Is that a problem?’
    ‘Yes,’ she said tightly. ‘What does he want?’
    ‘He wants to look around the vineyard, and then he wants to discuss a vineyard restoration project he’d like me to oversee.’
    ‘Rafe, please…’ Gabrielle looked almost frightened. ‘You don’t want to work for this man. Cancel the meeting. Tell him he can’t come. Tell him you’ve too many wedding preparations to attend to!’
    ‘Everything’s done. Besides, apparently he’s a king. Can you cancel an audience with a king?’
    ‘You can do any damn thing you want,’ said Gabrielle fiercely. ‘You owe him nothing .’
    ‘Except an explanation,’ said Rafael dryly. ‘I’d like one too. What’s going on, Gabrielle? What do you have against me conducting business with this man?’
    ‘Nothing,’ she said quickly, as if only just realising how much her reaction would intrigue him. ‘Nothing, except that I’ve met the man, I don’t like him and I don’t think we should have anything to do with him.’ Gabrielle’s mouth set into a stubborn line. ‘He’s not an honest man.’
    ‘How so?’
    ‘Rafe, please!’ Gabrielle picked up her fork and Rafe watched in silence as her hand shook so badly that she had to put the fork back down. Bowing her head, she hid her trembling hand from his view. ‘I don’t want to go into it. Just…tell him not to come. It’s not a good time. The wedding’s in three days, Luc won’t be here for another two, and I just can’t cope with the thought of Etienne de Morsay right now. I can’t.’ Ashen-faced, she stared at him. ‘Please!’
    ‘All right. I’ll put him off until after the wedding. But then you’re going to tell me what this is all about.’
    Gabrielle looked away, but not before Rafael had seen in her eyes a mixture of unbearable pain, stark fear, and defiance. Rafe knew that look. He’d seen it throughout their miserable childhood, in his own eyes, as well as in Gabrielle’s. He never thought he’d see it here. ‘Tell me what’s wrong,’ he said in the dialect of their youth, in the language of Caverness and all that went with it. ‘Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll fix it.’
    ‘But you can’t fix it.’ Gabrielle stood and placed her napkin on the table. ‘Not this time. No one can. Don’t let him come here, Rafael. I’m begging you.’
    ‘Shh.’ Dinner forgotten, he rose and enfolded his sister in his arms as he attempted to ease her distress. ‘Shh. It’s all right. I won’t let him come here. Just tell me why?’
    ‘I can’t.’ Her arms tightened around him and she sobbed as if her heart were breaking. ‘I can’t.’
    The day of the