“Would you have expected me to marry a woman who did not understand or fit the role of princess and future queen?”
“Your brothers weren’t so worried about suitability when they chose their wives,” she reminded him.
“As I said last night, I am not my brothers.”
“No, you are the crown prince, which means duty must come first, last and always with you.”
“You knew this when we married. It is not something I expect to be raised as an issue of contention now.”
“You don’t expect anything to be raised as an issue of contention.”
“How perceptive of you to realize that.” He pulled on his black dinner jacket. “As scintillating as this conversation is, I must go or I will be late.”
“Just like that? I fly all the way from Isole dei Re and you walk out on an important conversation because your damn schedule demands it?” How was she going to tell this cold-faced stranger anything, much less the intimate details of her latest doctor’s visit?
“Do not swear at me,” he said, contriving to sound shocked.
She said a truly foul word. “You mean like that?”
“I do not know what your problem is, but I suggest you get over it. I will be back quite late. If you still feel the need to discuss whatever it is you think is so important, we can talk then.”
“And if I don’t feel like waiting?”
“You have no choice.”
“When have I ever?”
“You made a choice to marry me. No one forced you to speak your vows. If they are chafing now, please remember, you have no one but yourself to blame for your circumstances and I will not tolerate you dismissing your promises or your duty as my wife as easily as you did your duties as a princess this morning.”
“They’re pretty much the same thing, aren’t they?” she asked in a voice filled with angry pain.
“No.” His gaze seared her. “You have personal obligations to me that have nothing to do with your responsibility to the crown.”
He meant sex, she was sure…but he was wrong. That aspect of their marriage was as wrapped up in her role as princess as everything else. Because it was supposed to result in an heir to the throne and it wasn’t going to.
“Maybe I’m feeling unsure about all of my obligations right now.”
Fury filled Claudio’s gaze, but his voice was controlled and even when he spoke. “I suggest you get sure of them by the time I return to the suite tonight.”
“And if I don’t?” she dared to taunt.
“Then it will be a very unpleasant night for us both, but I warn you…my weapons are and will always be superior to yours.”
“You are so damm arrogant, Claudio.” She sighed, her anger draining away. “Anyway, don’t be so sure my weapons can’t best yours because I have an awful feeling they can.”
Her condition and infertility because of it was pretty much nuclear bomb strength when it came to the power necessary to destroy their marriage.
He paled.
“I do not have time for this.”
He left.
CHAPTER THREE
THERESE heard the outer door to the suite close with a sense of unreality and then sank onto the edge of the bed, her legs feeling like jelly.
He’d never spelled out for her how little she really meant to him before, but his parting shot pretty much summed up their relationship. He didn’t have time for her unless she was playing her role of princess wife to perfection or concubine in his bed.
They’d been married three years and not once had she put her feelings ahead of her duty. The one time she did, he let her know in no uncertain terms that he would not tolerate such behavior from her.
Tears burned a slow path down her cheeks.
She didn’t have a marriage. She had a business partnership where she was the junior partner all the way. And the primary partner had no interest in or desire to renegotiate terms. She would fulfill her duties, or else. Only the or else in this instance was both permanent and painful. And the thing that hurt the most was that she didn’t think it was going to bother him at all.
He would just move on to another businesslike marriage after shattering her heart and not even knowing he’d done it.
“Your Highness, would you like me to order you some dinner?” one of the security men asked from the open doorway.
She averted her face so he could not see the tears, then took a breath to steady her voice. “No, thank you.”
“If you are not hungry now, I can order later delivery.”
Oh, gosh…she could not handle this. She just wanted to be alone. She forced her convulsing throat to speak. “I do not want any dinner, thank you. And, Roberto, could you…” She had to swallow back a sob.