The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain (9 page)

She had been wrong. Finding out she had no option but to let
Claudio
go had hurt, but discovering he wanted out…that he was bored with her had destroyed her. She no longer had any doubts about whether or not she was a survivor of their private war. She knew she had not survived, that her heart was dead inside her.

Only if it was dead, why did it still hurt so much?

When they arrived at the hospital,
Claudio
grabbed her arm to stop her from stepping out of the limousine. “
Therese
…”

She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. “What?”

“My family is under enough stress right now.”

“Yes.” So was she, but he’d made it painfully clear he didn’t care about that.

She’d had the audacity to ask for a divorce and that made her persona non grata where he was concerned.

“I do not want them further distressed by news of our imminent breakup.”

Did he have to put it that way, as if he couldn’t wait to be rid of her? “Of course.”

“I expect you to behave as you always have toward me.”

“I’m sure we will have no trouble maintaining the status quo.” She glared at him. “It’s not as if we have a marriage like your brothers. No one expects us to be affectionate.”

She shook his hand off with an angry jerk and stepped out of the car, her public mask firmly in place. Then, showing that she had indeed been raised by a mother who had drilled her to the point where she had once sat out the whole second half of a girls basketball game in the sixth grade with a broken ankle rather than cry in public and let the coach know the extent of her injury, she waited for Claudio so she could walk with him into the hospital.

It was expected of her. She would do her part to display the outward appearance of solidarity. She directed her gaze straight ahead, her body only a few inches from his, but it might as well have been a mile.

How many times had she walked beside him and wished he would put his arm around her or take her hand…to show her in some way that he felt the connection between them? But he never did. It made her furious with herself, but she wished for that physical support even more right now.

She had no idea what they would find inside that hospital and she was scared, her heart bleeding and battered from all sides.

They walked toward the building through a barrage of noisy reporters and flashing cameras.

One man broke through the security barrier and got right into her face. “What will it mean to you if King
Vincente
dies, Princess
Therese
? Are you looking forward to being queen?”

She put her hand up and averted her face, but her feet faltered and she had to force herself to keep moving. The insensitivity of the question shouldn’t have surprised her. She knew how intrusive the press could be, but she was in no way up to handling that thoughtlessness right now. She did her best to hide it, but she flinched when another reporter got close with a flashing camera.

Suddenly
Claudio
’s big body was there, shielding her from the reporters, his arm strong around her shoulders and his voice barking orders at the security team to do a better job at keeping the paparazzi away.

Despite feeling like she was leaning on the enemy, she turned into the comfort his human shield offered and let him lead her past the clamoring reporters and continuously flashing camera bulbs. She couldn’t help thinking it would be like this, or worse if the press got wind of her inability to get pregnant without IVF. What kind of rotten questions and accusations would they throw at her and
Claudio
then?

It didn’t bear thinking about. Not if she wanted to maintain her sanity in the face of her fear for King
Vincente
’s health.

Once they were inside the hospital and the solid steel door had closed behind them, Claudio let her go as if he could not stand being close to her for another second.

They walked down the hospital hallways in silence. The head of the hospital himself came to meet them and lead them to the waiting area designated for King
Vincente
’s family. He and
Claudio
talked, but when she realized he was saying nothing she hadn’t heard before about her father-in-law’s condition, she tuned the two men out.

Somewhere within these quiet walls, her father-in-law lay in a bed fighting for his life. Stabilized, or not, his condition was what could hardly be termed safe if a bypass surgery was necessary. She’d read of people, perfectly healthy people dying of a second heart attack before the surgery could be performed. She could only give thanks that the first one had not killed the country’s ruler.

Chapter 5

Maggie
came rushing to
Therese
the moment she and
Claudio
walked through the archway that led to the waiting room.

The other woman took one look at her and grabbed
Therese
, hugging her hard. “It’s going to be all right. He needs a bypass as I’m sure you know, but he’s a strong man. He’ll be fine.”

Therese
let her sister-in-law hold her, pathetically grateful for the human contact that was not motivated by a need to put on a facade for the press. “I don’t know what I’ll do if he dies,” she whispered.

She hadn’t meant to say the words and shocked herself silly doing so. She was so used to protecting her feelings, it was second nature, but her emotions were too close to the surface to be completely hidden.

“He won’t die, sweetie. Don’t talk that way.”
Maggie
patted
Therese
’s back like she was comforting a child and she felt tears slide into her eyes.

She could not remember the last time someone had acknowledged she had feelings. Had touched her to comfort her. Certainly not
Claudio
. He acted as if her heart was made of iron ore and twice as hard as it should be.

Her parents had never even comforted her as a child. She was supposed to hide her every fear and never admit to pain. Hence the basketball game that had led to a week in traction as payment for the folly of not expressing her pain in any way.

She pulled away from
Maggie
, knowing that if she didn’t, the other woman’s compassion would be her undoing. “Can we see him?”

“Tomasso is with him now. He’s sleeping, but you can look in on him.” She bit her lip. “He looks pale, but he’s doing fine. Really.”

Therese
nodded and then turned to go to King
Vincente
’s room, not waiting to see if
Claudio
followed. He did, the presence of his tall frame beside her obvious to her senses even though he was not in her line of sight and was walking as silently as a Black Ops agent. There was a connection between them that she doubted divorce and the separation of an ocean and a continent could even sever…on her side anyway.

She pushed the door open to the room, quietly stepping inside.

A dim light was on behind the bed and the king lay, unmoving, his normally bronzed features the color of flour paste except for the dark, bruising circles under his eyes.

“He looks so weak.”
Claudio
’s voice from right beside her was hoarse with emotion.

“Yes, but he will be fine,” Tomasso said from nearby.

And
Therese
found herself praying, Please, Lord, let him be fine.

Tomasso moved to stand beside his brother and whisper, “You must have gotten an immediate takeoff slot at the airport to get here so quickly.”

Claudio
shrugged. “It was necessary.”

“They have scheduled the surgery for tomorrow morning.”

“
Marcello
and Danette should be here by then.”

“Yes. Flavia as well.”

“She is coming?”

“Danette called her with the news as soon as she heard and Flavia wanted to fly out with them.”

“Will Danette be all right on the long flight?”
Claudio
asked with genuine concern.

Envy that made
Therese
feel small and mean twinged through her.

Tomasso smiled, though it wasn’t up to his usual wattage. “According to
Marcello
, she insists that she is pregnant, not ill.
Maggie
says the same.”

“
Maggie
is certainly ill with her pregnancy. I am surprised you let her fly over.”

Tomasso sighed, his expression a mix of emotions that hurt
Therese
to see because it was so obvious his wife’s distress truly mattered to him. “There was no stopping her, but I wish to take her back to the palace for some rest soon.”

“Yes.”
Claudio
moved a step closer to his father’s bed and reached out to touch the older man’s arm. “It is a good thing Danette’s morning sickness is not so acute.”

They were so patently not the words he was thinking that
Therese
felt a sudden constriction in her throat.

“He is going to be fine. Believe it,
Claudio
,” Tomasso said, showing he was not fooled by his brother’s comment, either.

Claudio
said nothing, his attention focused entirely on his father’s still form in the bed.

Tomasso patted his brother on the shoulder and left the room.

Therese
moved to stand beside
Claudio
and laid her hand against King
Vincente
’s cheek. It was warm to the touch and that gave her comfort. No matter how pale he looked, his heart was pumping life’s blood through his body. They stood that way for few minutes, both of them touching the man in the bed, but not touching each other.

Then
Therese
dropped her hand from King
Vincente
’s face and moved to the other side of the room to pray, her pleas that went Heavenward filled with an uncertain faith. Tomasso returned and whispered something to
Claudio
.
Claudio
nodded and said something back and the other man left again.

He caught her gaze. “Tomasso and
Maggie
are going back to the palace. He wants her to rest and she will not go without him.”

“I’m glad he’s willing to go then.”

“I told him you would go as well.”

“I would rather stay here.”

“That is my place.”

“It is mine, too.”

“Not after tonight.”

She felt like he’d slapped her. “I love King
Vincente
. You know that. I want to stay here with you.”

“You need your rest,”
Claudio
replied, about as movable as a rock wall.

“I won’t sleep. I couldn’t.”

“Do not be a fool, child. Go home and come back in the morning.” The raspy voice came from the bed and
Therese
’s knees almost buckled when she heard it.

She crossed the floor in a rush and took the hand that did not have an IV in it in her own. “King
Vincente
…”

“How many times…” He paused, taking a couple of shallow breaths. “Told you to call me Papa.”

“I—”

“Surely that is not too much to ask,”
Claudio
said in a controlled voice she knew masked an anger he did not want his father to guess at.

She’d never felt comfortable calling the older man Papa, but now even more than before…it would feel wrong. Soon she would be gone from their family completely.

Yet, how could she deny him such a simple request? The answer was: she couldn’t. “I’m sorry, Papa, but I want to stay with you.”

“You need your rest.”

“I need to stay with you.”

“Do not argue with him, he is sick.”

“I know that, but I also know you’re only bringing it up to get your own way,” she accused her stubborn husband.

King
Vincente
laughed weakly, his blue eyes dulled by fatigue. “That is my daughter-in-law. She is a perfect match for my son.”