The Perfect Temptation (60 page)

In our loneliness, we became friends. When
Kedar met your

mother, he shared his happiness with me.
And because I was

happy for him, I did what I could to help
them be together.

Your mother became my friend, as well.

"Then she was sent away by her father
and lost to Kedar.

She was lost to me, as well. But only for a
while. She sent me

a message, asking for my help, and I
secretly went to her. I

was there with the midwives when you came
into this world,

my Alex. I was there when they left and
your mother hovered

close to death. You were in my arms when
she told me

that you were the child of Kedar, the child
of their love."

"You've always known," Alex mused
aloud, still stunned

by the revelation. "Always."

Again Preeya nodded. This time, however,
she didn't

smile. "I made your mother many
promises that day when

we thought she would not live. I promised
her that I
would

take you away and care for you
if
she could not. I
promised

her that if she lived,
I
would not endanger Kedar by telling

him of your birth or of your mother's
marriage to the man

who would be called your father. I promised
her-with great

sadness, but in respect for her love of
Kedar- that I would

let her, and you, remain among those lost
to
him."

"And she lived and we were lost."

"Never lost to me, my Alex,"
Preeya said gently, reaching

out to pat her arm. "I have always
known where you were. I

watched from a distance, prepared to take
you away to safety

if your mother could no longer protect you.
I had promised.

But when the man was killed and your mother
took you and

tied, I didn't know what to do. Fearing for
you, for your

mother, I set aside one of the promises I
had made her. I

went to Kedar and I told
him
everything."

What courage that had taken. Courage born
of love. "Was

he angry with you?"

"No. He understood why we had chosen
as we had. And

he was too concerned with finding you and
your mother to

care about the past. He wanted to hold
again the woman he

loved. He wanted to gaze upon the face of their
child. Nothing

else mattered. Kedar is not a man to waste
today or tomorrow

by regretting yesterday."

"As Aiden is wont to do," Alex
admitted.

"He will change. Kedar was not always
so wise. In many

ways your Aiden reminds me of Kedar when he
was of the

same age."

The comparison teased her curiosity.
"Preeya? You knew

from the moment Aiden and I came into this
kitchen together

that first day that we would be lovers and
you encouraged

me to make that choice. Why?"

She chuckled softly and shook her head as
though it were

the silliest question she'd ever been
asked. "Because I want

you to be happy and your Aiden fascinates
and delights you."

She took a sip of tea. "Can you deny
that?"

"No."

Apparently something was lacking in her
answer because

Preeya arched a brow, sighed, and then
asked, "Which is the

greater destiny, my Alex? Being a princess?
Or loving and

being loved?"

"Loving and being loved," she
supplied, the answer

obvious.

"Life brings enough sorrows without
our making them

for ourselves. Love your Aiden and let him
love you. Embrace

the happiness you have today." She
finished her tea,

set aside her cup, and slid off the stool.
Pausing as she passed

on her way back to the stove, she placed a
kiss on Alex's

cheek and whispered.
"If
it
is
destined, it will be."

Alex smiled wanly. At least there was now
an explanation

for why part of her believed in the
invisible hand of fate and

part of her believed that the course of
life was within her

power to shape. Unfortunately, neither
perspective seemed

to offer any better chance of lasting
happiness than the

other. Although, in the short term, she had
to admit that she

and Aiden had planned a promising day for
themselves. And

fashioning a split skirt was a necessary
part of it.

"Aiden is going to teach me to ride
today," she announced,

setting her cup aside and getting up from
the table.

"Good." Preeya glanced over her
shoulder. "You will be

leaving Mohan behind?"

It
was more a statement
than a question. Alex nodded.
"If

there's some great calamity that requires
our presence-"

"It
is called
Haven House for a reason," Preeya asserted.

smiling broadly. "We will manage
calamity without you."

How on earth did Preeya know that's where
they were going?

How? She'd said nothing to her. And she
and'Aiden had

been speaking quietly as they'd made their
plans. Even if

Preeya had had her ear ... No, Preeya
wasn't the sort to

eavesdrop. Not at all.

"And while you are gone, I will tell
Mohan the story of

his sister."

''Thank you."

"Go.
Be
happy today."

Alex smiled and left the kitchen shaking
her head. Who

could fathom how Preeya knew the things she
did? She just

did. And given the huge secret she'd kept
perfectly for

twenty-four years, it was a given that no
one else was ever

going to know where she and Aiden spent
their day. She

grinned. Or days.
If
the gods were feeling benevolent.

Chapter 19

He'd reluctantly returned to the Blue
Elephant yesterday afternoon.

More reluctantly-and later-than he had the
afternoon

before. Today ... From his vantage in the
window

seat, Aiden watched as Alex tried to reason
the short bit of

knotted rope from Tippy's mouth. Tippy
didn't seem to care

one whit what good dogs did, didn't seem the
least impressed

by the argument that she had to let it go
before she

could run after it and fetch it back to the
parlor again. Alex,

ever Alex, wasn't the least frustrated by
the dog's lack of cooperation.

She just kept smiling at her, tugging gently
on her

end of the rope toy, and explaining the
rules of the game in

the most patient voice and rational terms.

No, today he didn't want to go back to the
Blue Elephant

at all. At Haven House, Alex was his alone;
he didn't have to

share her with an adoring younger brother or
a sweetly doting

Preeya. He didn't have to worry about little
ears when

they talked or be mindful of little eyes
when he wanted to

touch her. At Haven House the world was
British to the core,

well ordered and predictable. There were no
screaming peacocks,

no strange combinations of food, no clock
ticking

away precious minutes and hours.

At Haven House, Alex wasn't an Indian
princess or even

the royal tutor; she was his lover, his
friend, his companion,

his absolute delight. No one was going to
walk through the

front door and take her away from him. Not
Sarad, not

Hanuman. Reality couldn't touch them here.

It waited for them at the Blue Elephant.
With every day

that passed, it drew closer, grew darker and
more certain.

Time was running out He could feel it. And
he knew that its

end would come in the little shop in Bloomsbury.

But if he didn't go back there ...
If
he kept Alex tucked

away within the thick walls of Haven House
...
If
Vadeen

accomplished his task neatly and cleanly ...

It wouldn't change the end. Sarad would
still arrive. The

gangplank of his ship would be lowered and
Alex would

walk up it, her chin held high and her
shoulders squared, resolved

to fulfill her duties, to meet her
obligations.

There was nothing he could offer her that
would make

her stay. He wasn't a poor man by any means.
But he wasn't

a prince, either. He didn't own a house,
much less a palace.

Hell, he didn't even have a ship these days.
Life with him

would be a great deal less than royal. And
always would be.

Alex deserved to be a princess. And someday,
down the road

of her life, there would be a prince who
fully understood just

what a rare treasure she was and who would
live his life only

to make her happy.

And since he wasn't that prince ... Since he
was the bodyguard

responsible for keeping her alive for that
someday

wonder, he needed to get her back to the
Blue Elephant before

dark. He picked up the gun from the seat
beside him

and, tucking
it
into the small of his back, rose to his feet.

"Tippy, sit," he commanded as he
advanced toward Alex

and the still recalcitrant dog. Tippy instantly
dropped down

on her hind end. "Release."

Alex staggered back as the resistance on the
other end

came to a sudden end. "Oh, you could
have told me how to

do that," she laughingly chided.

''And ruined your half of the game?" he
countered with

what he hoped looked like a carefree smile.
"It's time to go

home, darling. We're later than usual."

She nodded and put the rope in the basket in
the comer.