âSantina hasnât been my home for a long time. How will your people feel about this?â
âAbout what?â
âYou marrying a woman who has a child. Clearly, Iâm not your standard-issue virgin princess.â
âI doubt my people are under the illusion I have any desire for a virgin princess. Iâm certainly not a virgin, neither do I pretend to be one.â
For some reason, Rodriguezâs immediate dismissal of the idea gave Carlotta a strange rush of pleasure. She shouldnât care whether he approved of her or not, and yet, for some reason, it satisfied her to know that he hadnât really expected, or cared, if his bride were pure as the driven the snow.
âWhat you desire, and whatâs expected, are two very different things.â
âI assume youâre an expert?â
âI can claim a bit of experience in the area, yes,â she said.
THE
SANTINA CROWN
Royalty has never been so scandalous!
STOP PRESSâCrown Prince in shock marriage
The tabloid headlines ⦠When HRH Crown Prince Alessandro of Santina proposes to paparazzi favourite Allegra Jackson it promises to be the social event of the decade âoutrageous headlines guaranteed!
The salacious gossip ⦠Mills & Boon invites you to rub shoulders with royalty, sheikhs and glamorous socialites. Step into the decadent playground of the worldâs rich and famous â¦
THE SANTINA CROWN
THE PRICE OF ROYAL DUTY â Penny Jordan
THE SHEIKHâS HEIR â Sharon Kendrick THE SCANDALOUS PRINCESS â Kate Hewitt THE MAN BEHIND THE SCARS â Caitlin Crews DEFYING THE PRINCE â Sarah Morgan PRINCESS FROM THE SHADOWS â Maisey Yates THE GIRL NOBODY WANTED â Lynn Raye Harris PLAYING THE ROYAL GAME â Carol Marinelli
MAISEY YATES was an avid Mills & Boon>® Modern>⢠romance reader before she began to write them. She still canât quite believe sheâs lucky enough to get to create her very own sexy alpha heroes and feisty heroines. Seeing her name on one of those lovely covers is a dream come true.
Maisey lives with her handsome, wonderful, nappy-changing husband and three small children across the street from her extremely supportive parents and the home she grew up in, in the wilds of Southern Oregon, USA. She enjoys the contrast of living in a place where you might wake up to find a bear on your back porch and then heading into the home office to write stories that take place in exotic urban locales.
For my kids, Aidric, Kian and Alani. You provided
a lot of inspiration for this book. Thanks for always keeping me on my toes, and for teaching me about love every single day.
âWHAT do you mean sheâs gone?â Prince Rodriguez Anguiano looked down at Eduardo Santina, King of Santina, and his future father-in-law, and swore he saw sweat beading on the older manâs brow.
The king was known for being formidable, tough and unbending. Watching him sweat was unexpected. And more than a little bit interesting.
King Eduardo cleared his throat. âJust that. Sophia is gone. She left with a maharaja.â
Rodriguez felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. âA maharaja? Is marrying a prince not enough for some women? They feel the need to pursue a more⦠exotic title?â
King Eduardoâs face darkened, color creeping into his cheeks. âShe has done so without my permission.â
âIâm assuming, since my intended fiancée has run away with a maharaja, the wedding is off?â The king only looked at him and Rodriguez felt a vague sense of relief wash through him. He had been prepared to do the marriage thing, but truly, he hadnât been looking forward to it. In his estimation it was a ball and chain situation, and he didnât know anyone who would willingly shackle themselves in that manner. Yet people did seem to get married. It was the heir factor, one he couldnât ignore forever, but for a while longer, maybe.
Sophia had been pretty enough, a beautiful brunette with a real classic beauty. But even that would get old after a while. Now he could go back to Santa Christobel and celebrate with a blonde. Maybe a redhead. Maybe both. Not that he usually went in for that sort of thing but heâd had six long, unheard-of months of celibacy so that he could present his future bride with medical proof of his good health. And now that there would be no wedding, it had just been six months of physical torture.
âFather?â
Rodriguez turned, his ears always tuned in to sultry, feminine tones. But in this instance, the tone did not match the looks. One of Eduardoâs other daughters was standing in the entryway, sleek brown hair hanging just beneath her chin. All no-nonsense and practical, as was the rest of her attire.
Wide-leg beige slacks, a white button-up top and metallic ballet slipper-style shoes. She looked like sheâd stepped out of the pages of a business-casual catalog. She was tall, slim, only a couple of inches shorter than he was, and her face was pleasant enough, but with none of the flash and paint he was accustomed to seeing on a woman.