RAUL stared unseeingly out of the chopper as it followed the coast south from Sydney. He shouldn’t be here when the situation at home was so delicately poised. But he had no choice.
What an unholy mess!
His hands bunched into fists and he shifted his long legs restlessly.
The fate of his nation and the well-being of his subjects were at risk. His coronation, his right to inherit the kingdom he’d been born to and devoted his life to, hung in the balance. Even now he could scarcely believe it.
Desperately the lawyers had sought one legal avenue after another but the laws of inheritance couldn’t be overturned, not till he became king. And to become king …
The alternative was to walk away and leave his country prey to the rivalries that had grown dangerous under the last king, Raul’s father. Civil war had almost ripped the country apart two generations ago. Raul had to keep his people safe from that, no matter what the personal cost.
His people, his need to work for them, had been what kept him going through the bleak wasteland of disillusionment when his world had turned sour years before. When paparazzi had muckraked and insinuated and his dreams had shattered around him, the people of Maritz had stood by him.
He would stand by them now when they most needed him.
Besides, the crown was his. Not only by birthright. By dint of every long day, every hour he’d devoted to mastering the myriad royal responsibilities.
He would not renounce his heritage. His destiny.
Tension stiffened every sinew and anger simmered in his blood. Despite a lifetime’s dedication to the nation, despite his experience, training and formidable capacity, it had all come down to the decision of a stranger.
It scored his pride that his future, his country’s future, depended on this visit.
Raul opened the investigator’s report, skimming familiar details.
Luisa Katarin Alexandra Hardwicke. Twenty-four. Single. Self-employed.
He assured himself this would be straightforward. She’d be thrilled and eager. Yet he wished the file contained a photo of this woman who would play such a pivotal role in his life.
He closed the report with a snap.
It didn’t matter what she looked like. He wasn’t weak like his father. Raul had learned the hard way that beauty could lie. Emotions played a man for a fool. Raul ruled his life, like his kingdom, with his head.
Luisa Hardwicke was the key to safeguarding his kingdom. She could be ugly as sin and it would make no difference.
Damn! The cow shifted, almost knocking Luisa over. Wearily she struggled to regain her footing in the bog at the edge of the creek.
It had been a long, troubling morning with early milking, generator problems and an unexpected call from the bank manager. He’d mentioned a property inspection that sounded ominously like a first step to foreclosure.
She shuddered. They’d fought so long to keep the small farming co-operative going through drought, illness and flood. Surely the bank couldn’t shut them down now. Not when they had a chance to turn things around.
Overhead came the rhythmic thunder of a helicopter. The cow shifted uneasily.
‘Sightseers?’ Sam shouted. ‘Or have you been hiding some well-heeled friends?’
‘I wish!’ The only ones she knew with that much money were the banks. Luisa’s stomach coiled in a familiar twist of anxiety. Time was fast running out for the co-op.
Inevitably her mind turned to that other world she’d known so briefly. Where money was no object. Where wealth was taken for granted.
If she’d chosen she could be there now, a rich woman with not a financial worry in the world. If she’d put wealth before love and integrity, and sold her soul in that devil’s bargain.