THE UNSUITABLE BRIDE

CHAPTER FIVE

Roseanne was sure she'd misheard. Nothing about what Lisa'd said made any kind of sense, but she was struggling to think straight with Lisa's body pinning hers to the bed. Roseanne wriggled beneath Lisa, but Lisa didn't move an inch. Instead, Lisa stared down at Roseanne, waiting for her to say something. To agree to what she'd just said?

But...what precisely did Lisa mean?

"My place is in Mosar," Roseanne corrected softly.

"There is a very real possibility you have conceived a child. That child is the heir to my throne, and as you are his mother, you belong in Salim. It is obvious."

Roseanne's pulse began to race. This was getting incredibly real. She pressed her palms to Lisa's chest, pushing hard, giving herself just enough space to pull away from Lisa, sliding off the side of the bed and pushing up to stand. Naked, she reached for the closest thing she could find – Lisa's discarded robes – which she wrapped around herself like a cloak.

"I beg your pardon, your highness," she emphasised pointedly, "But no. That's impossible."

Lisa's nostrils flared on a deep exhalation. "Why?"

"Because –," Roseanne floundered for how to answer Lisa. "What exactly do you mean when you say my 'place' is with you?"

Lisa stood up, but stayed near the bed, hands by her side. Roseanne eyed Lisa suspiciously, her heart pounding.

Lisa didn't answer right away, so Roseanne continued, thinking aloud.

"There's no need for me to come to Salim just yet, though obviously I appreciate a baby would – complicate matters," Roseanne conceded, her blood turning to ice as she thought of that scenario and how it would play out. Having been raised with the full knowledge she was the unwanted daughter of a powerful Sheikh, the idea of having carelessly conceived a child with another such woman made Roseanne wish she could be swallowed into the ground beneath her feet.

The press had titled her the 'illegitimate princess' when the truth had come out. All the salacious details of her parents' short-lived love affair had been splashed over the pages and screens of gossip columns everywhere.

That such a fate might await any child of hers was impossible. Roseanne would never let that happen!

"I'll go back to Mosar and wait this out. In a month or so we'll get the all-clear and we can get on with our lives."

Lisa's expression didn't change. Roseanne had the feeling Lisa's features had been carved from granite and stone. "That is unacceptable."

Roseanne blinked in surprise. "But why? Obviously that's the most sensible thing to do."

"Do you understand the importance of my heir?" Roseanne flinched as the harsh words pressed into her. "If you have conceived my child then I cannot let you leave Salim."

"But I haven't conceived anything, necessarily."

Lisa tilted her head in agreement. "And yet, we cannot be sure."

"Which is why my plan makes sense," Roseanne insisted.

"Perhaps," Lisa agreed, so for a micro-second Roseanne thought she might be about to get her way. "If I were not the ruler of this country."

A frisson of alarm shifted down Roseanne's spine. "What difference does that make?"

"You cannot be so naïve?"

Roseanne ground her teeth together, trying not to react defensively.

"Let me lay this out for you, Roseanne. I am thirty years old. It has long been expected I would announce my marriage soon. For the sake of my kingdom's stability and ongoing prosperity, I must choose a suitable royal bride, and she must have my baby soon after that. And so, here we are. You are royal, and you may already be pregnant with my child. The solution is so obvious."