He never expected to rule...

She never expected to be his bride!

Prince Logan wasn’t destined to wear the crown, and he certainly doesn’t want it! But his brother’s scandalous abdication leaves him no choice. After returning home, he assumes that loyal assistant Cassidy Ryan will remain by his side.

Cassidy’s life has been turned upside down by her boss’s shocking announcement. She doesn’t know the first thing about organizing a royal diary...or how to handle the thrilling desire Prince Logan has suddenly awakened! But when Logan reveals he craves her, too, Cassidy must decide: could she really be his princess?

With two university degrees and a variety of false career starts under her belt, MICHELLE CONDER decided to satisfy her lifelong desire to write and finally found her dream job. She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, with one super-indulgent husband, three self-indulgent but exquisite children, a menagerie of over-indulged pets, and the intention of doing some form of exercise daily. She loves to hear from her readers at michelleconder.com.

Also by Michelle Conder

Living the Charade

Duty at What Cost?

The Most Expensive Lie of All

Prince Nadir’s Secret Heir

Hidden in the Sheikh’s Harem

Defying the Billionaire’s Command

The Italian’s Virgin Acquisition

Bound to Her Desert Captor

The Billionaire’s Virgin Temptation

Their Royal Wedding Bargain

The Chatsfield collection

Russian’s Ruthless Demand

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Crowning His Unlikely Princess

Michelle Conder

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09821-2

CROWNING HIS UNLIKELY PRINCESS

© 2020 Michelle Conder

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Note to Readers

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

 Change of font size and line height

 Change of background and font colours

 Change of font

 Change justification

 Text to speech

To Heather, the international twin,

for so many years of love, friendship and laughter.

And all the times you stopped outside a bar

to see who was inside!

And to Charlotte, my editor,

without you this book would not be half as good.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

CASSIDY CHECKED THE prospectus in her hand against the one on her computer screen and felt her stomach sink to her toes.

She had given him the wrong one.

She was doomed.

She would be fired.

This was it.

After a day that had started out badly and only got worse as it had progressed, it would be the tip of the iceberg.

She hadn’t had a day as bad as this one since her father had moved her and her sister out of the small parish in which they had grown up during the middle of the night all those years ago as if they had been criminals. They hadn’t been, but for a while they had been treated like they were. And she’d contributed to that, hadn’t she?

But beating herself up about past mistakes wasn’t going to help her now.

If she didn’t fix this, her meticulous boss would be heading to an important meeting in Boston the following morning to finalise the capital investment they needed for a major project with the wrong information. That would be eight months of painstaking work down the tubes. After the unexpected bombshell her sister had dropped on her this morning that had set off her day from hell, it was the last straw.

And she had no one to blame but herself. She should not have let Peta’s unexpected news derail her as much as it had, and she could either sit here and feel sorry for herself or she could get on and fix it.

And she still had time, she noted, checking her watch.

She double-checked the updated version of the document, ensuring that the right figures were in the right place this time, and hit the print button.

Of course the printer ran out of paper halfway through but that was to be expected. It should be one of Murphy’s laws that when a day started out badly you should just go back to bed and pull the sheet over your head.

Her forehead throbbed as she recalled how she had barely been awake when one of her eleven-year-old twin nieces had come careening into her bedroom with the news that their mother was getting married. Her mother, and Cassidy’s sister. The one who had moved in with her after she had hit rock bottom again. The one who had sworn off men after she’d become a teenage mother and been dumped by the twins’ father before they had even been born.

Peta had come into her room after that with a sheepish grin on her face and a diamond ring on her finger.

‘I wasn’t sure how to tell you,’ she’d said, half grimacing, half smiling. ‘Dan completely surprised me with his proposal and he wants me and the girls to move in with him right away. Not that we will,’ Peta had rushed to assure her. ‘Not until you find another place to live, or a flatmate, because I know you can’t afford the rent here on your own.’

Shell-shocked, Cassidy had just looked at her. ‘You’re engaged?’

‘I know, right?’ Peta had stared down at her ring with a stunned but delighted expression. ‘I can’t believe it either but... He’s so special, Cass. And he even wants to adopt the twins.’

A lump had formed in Cassidy’s throat at that. The twins were hers! She had been at their birth, she had helped her sister raise them, she had taken Amber to the emergency department when she’d broken her arm and Peta had been stuck on the other side of the city at work. She had been the one to read stories to April to take her mind off her twin in the operating room while they’d waited.

Dan was... Dan was... He was a nice guy, a lovely guy, but marriage?

In hindsight she should have been more prepared for it. Her sister was one of those uniquely beautiful people that made others do a double-take.

Like her boss. Prince Logan of Arrantino.

They moved through life on another level from the more ordinary folk like herself, turning heads and breaking hearts as they went.

It had always been that way. Growing up, the boys at high school had only ever shown an interest in Cassidy to get an introduction to her sister. It was something she had grown so used to that even now she always questioned a man’s hidden agenda before accepting an invitation to dinner. Not that she’d had many of those since the last guy she’d dated, who had only wanted her for her study notes. After the disastrous incident in high school, which she refused to think about, she really should have known better.

Just once she’d like to meet a man who wanted her for her body. Was that too much to ask?

An image of her boss leapt into her head and she immediately banished it. The only reason he would ever want her body was to bury it after he murdered her for making so many errors today.

First by putting through a phone call from a teary ex, hoping for a second chance, instead of the CEO of their law firm, and then for mixing up the restaurant where he was supposed to meet a client for lunch. She’d confused the luncheon date with one he was scheduled to have the following day and he’d been twenty minutes late as a result.

Now this debacle... She stacked the copies of the prospectus carefully on the table. The last thing she needed to do was to drop them as she raced down the stairs to the copy room and set about binding each one into a shiny booklet.

At this time of the evening the office was basically empty, most of her work colleagues at the bank having already gone home, so she was alone with her self-recriminations.

Which she was eternally thankful for.

The thought of having to make polite small talk with a colleague, or returning home before she could paste on her face a genuinely happy smile for her sister, was too much right now. Not that she wasn’t genuinely happy for her sister. She was. She was just afraid of what it meant for her.

Afraid to face a future without seeing her family on a daily basis. Afraid to face a future with no one special in her life ever. She could almost see herself now, an unmarried woman with a shawl around her shoulders to keep out the chill, and a dozen feral cats fighting over bowls of cat food.

Her throat thickened. She and her sister were a team. They had been ever since the twins had been born when Peta had only just turned seventeen, and Cassidy eighteen. With their mother having walked out two years earlier, and their father struggling to keep his head above water, Cassidy had become the rock everyone leaned on. Which had been fine with her. She liked helping out, and she had never been the kind of person who walked away when the going got tough.

Glad that she kept up her fitness routine, she took the stairs two at a time as she returned to her office and dropped the glossy prospectuses on her desk, automatically reaching for her phone to dial the courier service.

Then she hesitated.

It would be her luck that the courier either didn’t show up or had an accident and the prospectuses ended up at the bottom of the Hudson. Not only would that be an environmental hazard, it would mean she could still be sacked for stupidity.

Being hired as Logan’s EA a few months out of college two years ago had been an amazing coup and she’d pinched herself for months afterwards at having landed such a lucrative role.

She knew she had only got it because she had been in the right place at the right time and the HR manager had been desperate. Otherwise she wouldn’t be where she was today. Working in a job that she loved for a man who was called a business genius by anyone who mattered. He was a commanding force who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted. Which had intimidated the heck out of her when she’d first come to work for him, but which she’d been advised not to show.

‘His previous EAs left because they either couldn’t keep up with the demanding workload,’ the fastidious HR manager had informed her as they’d marched down the hallway for her interview with her boss, ‘they were intimidated by the fact that he’s a prince and second in line to the throne of Arrantino, or they fell in love with him. Any of these three will have you out the door in seconds.’

Down to the last few dollars in her bank account Cassidy had assured the immaculately groomed manager that love was so far off her radar it didn’t even register as a blip. On top of that she’d held down two jobs and still come out top of her class during her senior year at high school so she knew nothing else other than hard work.

Cassidy stared at the ten prospectuses she’d just wrapped in brown paper. Her boss’s apartment was only a fifteen-minute brisk walk away and she had delivered things there before. So why not now? She could use the time to contemplate what she would say to her sister when she got home. And she’d also be more relaxed knowing that she’d rectified her mistake and her boss had the right material for his meeting.

Maybe she would even be lucky enough to find his apartment empty so she could swap the incorrect prospectuses with the new ones without him even knowing. Now, that would be a coup she could smile about.

Feeling better than she had all day, she slipped into her suit jacket, grabbed her handbag, and jabbed the lift button to take her to the ground floor.

Being mid-July, Fifth Avenue was teeming with sunburned tourists wearing ill-fitting shorts and weighed down with I Heart New York shopping bags.

Weaving in and around them with accustomed dexterity, Cassidy didn’t notice that the sky had turned leaden until a large raindrop landed like a burst water balloon right in the centre of her precious parcel.

Groaning with acceptance that this just was not her day, she ducked under a striped shop awning with a couple of women dressed for a night out just as the heavens really opened.

Another drop of water dripped onto her forehead and she barely batted an eyelash as she swiped at it with the back of her hand, glancing up to see a hole in the awning. At this rate a lorry would speed past, hit a puddle, and finish the job. It would only be fitting.

‘Excuse me,’ one of the women ventured. ‘My app’s stopped working. Is Broadway left or right from here? We’re late for a show.’

‘Left,’ Cassidy directed, wishing that getting to Times Square for a musical was the biggest worry on her to-do list right now. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d done anything light-hearted or fun. Who had the time for such frivolities?

Shrugging out of her jacket, she wrapped it around her parcel and hunted around for a cab. Of course the Avenue was gridlocked in the sudden downpour with not a yellow cab in sight.

Resigned to her fate, she stepped out into the deluge, knowing that if she didn’t move soon she wouldn’t make it home before dark. She only hoped that her boss appreciated her dedication when it came to bonus time.

By the time she made it to his landmark building she was a sodden, out-of-breath mess.

The doorman did a double-take when he saw her and rushed to hold the door open as she dashed inside. ‘Evening, Miss Ryan.’

‘Evening, Michael.’ She paused to catch her breath, her heart racing a mile a minute. ‘Is the boss in?’

‘Yes, ma’am. He came in an hour ago.’

‘Great,’ she said glumly. No chance she could hide her mistake, then.

Since he hadn’t responded to her earlier text, she used her personal pass to access his penthouse apartment and waited for his private lift.

A sudden attack of nerves hit her as the lift ascended to the top floor. She’d been here on numerous occasions before to drop things off, but she’d never been here when he’d been at home. The thought of seeing him on his home turf made her feel a little jittery, but perhaps that was just a residual feeling from a day she couldn’t wait to see the back of.

Arriving in his state-of-the-art apartment with three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views over Manhattan and beyond, she stepped carefully from the elevator so she didn’t slip on the marble floor. It was a gorgeous space, the interior designer who had remodelled it having used light wood grain and endless yards of glass to create a home that was boundless and warmly inviting.

Conscious that she was soaking wet, she moved stiffly into the immaculate open-plan living area and called his name. When she didn’t get an answer she glanced outside the windows, momentarily captivated by the sunset over heaven-bound skyscrapers. She exhaled slowly, taking in the magnitude and peace of her surroundings. She could see the congested traffic in the distance, the mad dash of pedestrians trying to get to their next destination, and it almost felt surreal in the stillness of Logan’s apartment.

After a day that had not let up from morning till now it was like being cocooned in cotton wool, safe from the frantic beat of a city that never slept. A welcome reprieve.

And then suddenly that reprieve was shattered when she felt the air shift behind her. Knowing that it could only be her boss, she gripped her jacket-wrapped parcel tighter and turned, letting out a short gasp when she was confronted by the sight of him. Sweat-soaked in a singlet top that did little to disguise his wide shoulders and ripped torso and tiny gym shorts that hugged his strong thighs, he was a spectacular display of blatant male power and vitality. He had earbuds inserted and she could hear the pounding music from where she stood.

For a moment she couldn’t speak, her body frozen by the impact of over six feet of bronzed, honed muscle glistening with athletic prowess. Of course, she’d guessed that he was well built beneath his custom-made business suits but her imagination hadn’t even come close to the real thing.

Logan’s eyes did a slow perusal down her body and she was so out of sorts she felt her insides start to heat up, her heart pumping hard again as if she was still outside, rushing to get out of the rain.

She swallowed heavily, horrified to note that her body was reacting to the sight of him in a way that transcended the professional boss-employee relationship. It had been the same reaction she’d had on first meeting him behind his big desk in a tailored suit and a very bad mood. He hadn’t smiled at her then either, testing her mettle by reading her every reaction to his questions with thickly lashed deep blue eyes that were dangerously intelligent.

It was the same look he was giving her now, only this time she didn’t feel half as successful at hiding her emotions, something she generally considered one of her superpowers after a childhood fraught with upheaval.

A superpower she had employed within the confines of his office that very first day to hide how attractive she’d found him, concentrating instead on how fortunate she had been to even have the chance at such a prestigious job, and how desperately she had needed the money. It had also helped that there was the somewhat minor—but pivotal—point that a man who already had everything the world had to offer would not give a woman such as herself a second glance.

A bead of water rolled from her forehead down her nose and onto her top lip. Her tongue sneaked out to capture it and Logan’s blue eyes darkened, his nostrils flaring as his gaze lingered on her lips. Cassidy felt a surge of sexual awareness so deeply within her body it shook her to the core.

She was like a startled impala facing a hungry lion, with nowhere to run, and she suddenly felt less annoyed at the women who regularly called his office, trying to win a second chance with him, and more sorry for them. If he ever swept her up in those massive arms she wasn’t certain she’d want him to let her go either.

Fortunately the scowl that crossed his face was a timely reminder that the chance of him ever sweeping her up into anything was less than zero.

Squeezing her soggy jacket tighter against her chest, she knew that she had to do something to sever this strange connection between them before she embarrassed herself.

But before she had the chance, Logan reached into his pocket and killed the music on his phone before yanking the earbuds out of his ears. ‘What are you doing here, Cassidy? And why are you dripping all over my floor?’

They had started using their first names after about six months of working together when he had complained that he felt like she was always about to deliver bad news when she addressed him as Mr de Silva, but now her name sounded strangely intimate on his tongue.

‘I...’ She crushed the moment of madness she’d just experienced and lifted her chin. ‘I need to give you the prospectuses for your meeting tomorrow morning.’ She unwrapped the jacket in her arms and held out the package but he didn’t move to take it.

‘I already have the prospectuses for tomorrow.’

Cassidy grimaced and with her free hand brushed at the rivulets of water rolling down her neck. ‘Actually, you don’t. You have the wrong ones.’

‘Wrong...’ His eyes scanned her from head to toe again, a scowl darkening his blue eyes. ‘You’re drenched.’

‘Sorry.’ She glanced down to find that her blouse was so wet she might as well have not been wearing one. With a squeak of alarm she crossed her free arm over her breasts, only then realising how terrible she must look in general.

His scowl deepened as he plucked her sodden jacket and the package from her hand and disappeared down the hallway, returning a moment later with a towel.

‘You know where the bathroom is,’ he bit out, keeping his eyes above her neckline. ‘Use it.’

‘Actually, I don’t,’ she said, rubbing her arms from the chill that was either coming from him or the air-conditioning. ‘I’ve only ever dropped things off before and left.’

Clearly annoyed to have his peaceful night invaded, he strode down the hall, impatience evident in every taut line of his hard body. ‘Here.’

He pushed open the door to a bathroom and Cassidy gratefully disappeared inside.

She nearly let out another squeak at seeing blotches of mascara pooled beneath her eyes and straggly bits of her hair sticking to her ears and neck.

The ruined woman in the mirror was not the impeccably presented one she had turned herself into since leaving Ohio and it was yet more confirmation that she should not have got out of bed that morning.

Taking a deep breath, she skimmed the towel beneath her eyes and wiped her face and neck. Then she unpinned her hair and searched in her bag for her hairbrush. Not finding it, she had a vague memory of Amber asking if she could borrow it the night before. Cursing her beloved niece, she finger-combed the mass of tangled waves and tried to re-pin her hair. Unfortunately the rain had made it curl in every direction so she gave up, letting it hang past her shoulders. She shivered in the air-conditioned bathroom and groaned anew when she realised that her bra was visible beneath the downlights.

Terrific.

She pulled her blouse away from her skin and wondered if it would look odd if she walked out holding it like that.

Deciding that she’d have to brazen it out, she tilted her chin and exited the bathroom. She’d get her coat, wish her boss goodnight, and head off to face the next disaster. It couldn’t possibly be any worse than this one.

Peeking into the living room, she caught sight of her boss outlined against the New York skyline, his hands on his hips. The clouds had parted and late sunbeams shone down on the newly washed buildings, gilding them in gold and silver.

But it was the gorgeous view inside the room that held her attention more. Tall, broad-shouldered and lean-hipped, with long, muscular legs and dark blond hair that gently curled against his strong neck, he was the epitome of sleek male power in the prime of life. He might be a cold-hearted workaholic but he was pure perfection to look at.

Against her wishes her heart rate quickened once again and, unwilling to get caught staring at him a second time, she turned away to hunt for her jacket.

Logan turned to find Cassidy scanning the room and looking more like something the cat would drag in than his usual efficient EA. All day she’d been off and now she even looked it. Her usually perfect up-do a cloud of chestnut waves, her wet blouse the texture of tissue paper, and just as revealing, and her face clean of make-up. The only thing familiar about her was her glasses, ones she’d adjusted further up her nose with her little finger when she’d caught him staring at her. A nervous gesture he’d only ever seen now and then.

His office ran like clockwork thanks to her. But the woman standing in front of him looked like she should be about to do a strip tease before ending up in his bed.

Wondering when his libido had regressed to the point that a woman in a wet shirt could turn him on, he strode out of the room and returned with one of his sweatshirts. ‘Unless you’re planning to enter a wet T-shirt competition after you leave here, you’d better put this on.’

Her eyes didn’t quite meet his as she took it from him and slid it over her head, her thanks muffled by the fabric.

The sweatshirt was miles too big, falling midway down her thighs and draping over her hands, but it did the job of turning her from shapely to shapeless as required.

He didn’t know what had happened today but it had all started when he had arrived at his office to find that Cassidy wasn’t there. Always on time, and with his morning coffee ready for when he walked in, she had been noticeably absent. Not only had he been required to make his own coffee but he’d had to field two visits from junior staff asking for information he didn’t have. Then his COO’s assistant had stopped by to make an appointment for him to meet with her boss and had tried to linger.

When Cassidy had finally arrived, blaming the subway, she’d been harried. At first he hadn’t noticed because she’d appeared as well groomed as always in a black suit and white blouse, her auburn hair pinned back into a French twist. She’d worn it like that on her first day and had never deviated from the style. It had annoyed him at first because it was always the same, but then he’d come to appreciate her consistency. Not to mention her efficiency.

But she hadn’t been efficient today. Following up one unexpected mistake with another and another until he’d almost asked her what was wrong.

He hadn’t because the last thing he wanted to do was to encourage personal interactions in the office. He did not want to give her any ideas that might change the nature of their working relationship. Something that had happened with more than one EA in the past.

In his experience people were rarely as they seemed on the outside and yet he was sure that his EA was exactly as she seemed: an intelligent, quiet, sensible woman who had incredibly sultry lips. And vivid, velvet-green eyes. He’d noticed both right away, and nearly hadn’t hired her because of his reaction to them, but his HR manager had convinced him that she was perfect.

And she had been.

Perfect.

Until now.

She glanced at him and adjusted her glasses again. ‘I know you’re busy so if you tell me where my jacket is, I’ll get out of your hair.’

‘Not before you explain why I left the office with the wrong information, you won’t.’

She sighed heavily, her chest rising and falling with the effort. ‘I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.’

Logan raised a brow at her evasive response, another clue that his EA had left the building and had been replaced by a woman he didn’t know.

‘Relying on hope is a waste of time and since we don’t always get what we want I’ll ask again.’

She glanced at her hands before raising her little chin as she looked at him. ‘I gave you the draft of the prospectus that was the one before the final copy.’ She opened her hands in front of her in a conciliatory gesture. ‘I’m not sure how it happened. I did text you to let you know I would be stopping by but clearly you didn’t get it.’

‘Clearly.’ He tried not to be annoyed at her incompetence but he was. ‘But I could have collected them from the office in the morning.’

‘You have an early flight to Boston and I didn’t want to put you out.’ She gripped her fingers together. ‘It’s been a horrible day and I’m really sorry for mucking up.’ Her hands lifted in a helpless gesture. ‘I’m not myself right now.’

She could join the club. If his unwanted physical reaction to her was any indication, he wasn’t himself either. Which was why he needed to retrieve her jacket and send her on her way. About to do exactly that, he frowned when his phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket, his frown deepened when he saw his brother’s name flash up on the screen.

Given that it was the middle of the night in Arrantino, it couldn’t be good news and he pressed the answer button.

‘What?’

His blunt greeting was met with a touch of humour. ‘Have I caught you at a bad time, brother? You’re not with a woman, are you?’

‘Yes.’ Before he could think better of it his eyes raked over Cassidy again. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and the innocent gesture sent a raw bolt of primal lust roaring through his blood. Closing it down with ironclad self-control, he turned away from her and corrected his answer. ‘No.’

‘Good. Have you got a minute? I have...something to tell you.’

Hearing the hesitation in his brother’s voice sent an icy shiver of dread down his spine, driving all thoughts of his EA’s legs from his mind. ‘What is it? Have you been to the doctor? Has—?’

Logan stopped, unable to voice the fear that his brother’s teenage leukaemia had returned. Leo had fought the illness bravely but Logan doubted he would ever fully recover from seeing his brother so weakened by the disease. Neither would he forget how powerless he had felt in the face of something he couldn’t control.

‘No. It’s nothing like that,’ his brother assured him. ‘Well, not entirely. It’s just that...’ The pause on the end of the phone took ten years off Logan’s life. ‘I’ve decided to abdicate. Which makes you the next King of Arrantino.’

CHAPTER TWO

LOGAN’S EYES NARROWED on the darkening sky that stretched for miles outside his window, not sure he’d heard his brother correctly. ‘Abdicate?’ He ploughed his hand through his sweaty blond hair. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘An...issue has arisen.’ His brother sounded pained. ‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this, to be splashed across the news, but... You know how this works. We live in a goldfish bowl. I wanted it to come out differently but that opportunity has passed.’

‘You’re not making a bit of sense,’ Logan growled. ‘Cut to the chase and tell me what’s going on.’

‘The long and short of it is that Anastasia and I have formally broken up and I’m stepping down.’

‘Divorcing your wife is not a reason to abdicate,’ Logan said. Especially when divorcing that scheming little predator was the best thing Leo could ever do for himself and his country. The woman had played both of them like a finely tuned instrument five years ago, latching onto the brother who would make her Queen in the end. She had caused a rift between the two of them when Logan had tried to warn Leo against marriage. But her beauty had blinded Leo, and Logan suspected that his brother had also been heavily influenced by his duty as King. Their mother had been in Leo’s ear about the need to produce an heir for months before Anastasia had turned up on the scene and the notion had taken root. Unlike Logan, Leo had always tried to do the right thing, rarely questioning his royal duties. Until now, it seemed.

‘No, it’s not,’ Leo agreed. ‘But having an affair that has made headline news around the world is.’

‘Damn.’ Logan swore under his breath. He had never had any hard evidence of Anastasia’s affairs, but perhaps she had gone too far this time and finally shown his brother her true colours. ‘What has Anastasia done now?’ he asked, not even trying to mask the disgust in his voice.

‘It’s not Anastasia. It’s me. And strictly speaking I haven’t had an affair because I haven’t consummated the relationship yet, but I was photographed kissing another woman and the press are playing it that way, so what does it matter? Mother has hit the roof. The world’s press are trying to draw comparisons between myself and Father and are desperate to know who my new love interest is... It’s bedlam over here.’

Still processing the fact that his brother was seeing another woman, Logan braced a hand against the window, his muscles rigid. He had no doubt that his mother had hit the roof.

They had all lived in the shadow of their late father’s damaging affairs and she had been hurt the most. Both he and his brother had hated his father for it so the fact that Leo had let this happen was shocking enough. The fact that he wanted to abdicate unthinkable.

‘Just keep a cool head,’ he advised, already working out how he was going to handle the crisis. ‘And don’t do anything rash. Like abdicate!’

‘Too late,’ Leo stated without any humour in his voice. ‘And actually it’s not a rash decision. I made it a month ago. I’ve just been sitting with it to make sure it’s the right one to make.’

‘A month ago? Why the hell didn’t you call me earlier?’

‘Because if it wasn’t right I didn’t want to bother you. And I knew you’d try to talk me out of it.’

‘Damn right I’d have tried to talk you out of it. I wasn’t born to be King, you were. And I don’t want the job!’

‘I had a feeling you’d say that but if you really don’t want to do it then we can pass the throne to Ped—’

‘Do not even go there,’ Logan warned, his throat burning with fury. ‘Pedro wouldn’t know the first thing about running a country and we both know it.’ Their cousin was a surfing maniac who preferred the beach to the boardroom and little else. Except maybe women.

‘Yes. But I can no longer fulfil the role. The woman I’m in love with is a single mother who hates the spotlight and—’

‘In love?’ Logan pushed away from the window, suddenly conscious that Cassidy was still standing in the middle of his living room, nibbling on her lower lip. Dragging his gaze away from those even white teeth, he refocused. ‘Are you serious?’

Leo laughed self-consciously. ‘I know you think love is little more than sentimental tripe, but it’s not. This woman is wonderful. Amazing. I had no idea I could feel this way and all I want to do is protect her and her daughter.’

All Logan wanted to do was stop his brother from doing something stupid. Like abdicate. Because there was no way he wanted to be King. He’d never overly enjoyed the pomp and ceremony and the constant attention that went with royal life, and he really hated the comparisons that were made between him and their late father. As the son who looked most like the old man he’d always borne the brunt of that kind of attention and he’d hated being likened to a man he didn’t respect. A man who had chosen to put everything in life—his job, his passions, and his baser instincts—ahead of the welfare of his family and country.

Their father had been a master at manipulation and both he and Leo had gone from loving him to fearing him to turning away from him and, finally, to loathing him. Especially when his affairs had become public knowledge, hurting their mother and embarrassing them all.

And now Leo had fallen into the same trap. Being caught with a woman who wasn’t his wife. No matter how innocent it had been, it was still a big deal.

‘Just...’ He heaved out a sigh. ‘Just don’t do anything yet. Don’t make any solid decisions while you’re emotional. And definitely do not put out any statements.’ His mind was already turning, working through ideas of how they could stem the fallout from the scandal his brother had inadvertently created. ‘I’ll be in Arrantino by nightfall. Morning your time.’

‘If I’m not here to greet you, I’ll make sure Margaux is completely up to speed on what’s happening.’

‘I don’t want to speak to your private secretary,’ Logan growled. ‘I want to speak to you.’

‘I’ll try.’ Logan could already hear that his brother was distracted.

Ringing off, Logan took a moment to stare into space. King? There was no way he wanted to become King. It was a poisoned chalice he’d always been glad he’d never had to take on.

Cassidy cleared her throat, her gaze taking in her boss’s flexed shoulder muscles as he steadied his breathing.

She’d never seen him so disturbed before, and she felt an unexpected shaft of compassion for him. She had felt like she’d had her life turned on its head this morning, and now it seemed like his was about to do the same thing.

He turned toward her, his expression steely. ‘How much of that did you get?’

Feeling awful that she’d overheard any of it, she shrugged diffidently. ‘Your brother intends to abdicate and you don’t want to be King.’ You also think love is a waste of time, and you don’t seem to be a fan of your brother’s soon-to-be ex-wife.

‘That’s pretty much it. Throw in a divorce, a woman on the side, and a hungry pack of journalists and you’ve potentially got a national crisis.’

‘Wow. And I thought my morning had been bad. What are you going to do?’

‘Talk him out of it.’

Cassidy sighed. ‘You always seem to know what your next move is. One of the things I admire most about you is your ability to make a decision on the spot. I wish that was one of my superpowers.’

‘Superpower?’

‘Things I excel at.’

‘Your superpower is running my office. Which I’m going to need you to get on top of right away because we need to fly to Arrantino. Tonight. Hopefully we’re only looking at a twenty-four-hour turnaround but you’ll need to rearrange the rest of my week in case it’s not.’

‘Okay, right.’ She frowned. ‘I’ll send an email to postpone tomorrow’s meeting in Boston. Then first thing tomorrow I’ll see what can be delegated and what has to be rearranged. Do you want me to call Ben to reschedule the flight?’

‘I already sent him a text requesting that we fly out as soon as he can log a new flight plan.’

‘Okay, then I’ll...’ Cassidy paused. That was the second time she’d heard him refer to both of them. ‘We?’

‘Yes.’ Logan checked an incoming text on his phone. ‘l need you to come with me.’

Cassidy blinked as her brain slowly processed his words. ‘But I can’t go with you.’

Logan’s head snapped up. He looked at her as if she’d never said no to him before, perhaps because she hadn’t. ‘Why not?’

She thought about the conversation she still needed to have with her sister, and her obligation to take care of the twins two evenings a week while her sister studied at night school. ‘I have obligations. Commitments.’ She smoothed her hand over her sodden hair. And if this trip did by chance go longer than twenty-four hours her sister wouldn’t be happy. Not with her final exams about to start.

‘Yes, you do have commitments. To me. And right now I need you.’

‘You need me to run your office, which I can do better from New York.’

‘I decide where you’re best fit to serve me, Cassidy, not you.’

Up until now Cassidy would have said that she didn’t have a temper, but she was so exhausted from all the issues she’d had to contend with today that she could feel it rising. And not once in the time she had worked for him had he ever spoken to her in such an imperious tone. It made her think of a spoiled, rich prince getting everything he wanted. Which no doubt he had done.

Having grown up in the opposite of the lap of luxury, she couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to have every one of your needs met whenever you desired it. Unfortunately her boss didn’t share that experience. Which was no doubt why he showed so little emotion whenever one of his ex-girlfriends rang up begging for a second chance. Which he never gave. Once you were off Logan de Silva’s list of intimate contacts, you were off. From what she had seen, he was a man who cared very little about anything other than winning his next billion-dollar deal, and she sometimes envied him that because she cared too much about everything.

‘Well, I’m sorry but I can’t just drop everything to be at your beck and call. When I first started working for you I explained that I would need advance notice if you ever needed me to travel with you.’ Which so far he hadn’t. ‘And leaving to go halfway around the world in five minutes hardly counts as even short notice.’

‘And might I remind you,’ he said with lethal softness, ‘that when you signed on as my EA I explained that I pay above and beyond the average wage because I specifically require you to be at my beck and call, and you were more than happy with that at the time.’

The dark look in his eyes made her feel hot and bothered. She was still uncomfortably aware that he was standing in front of her half-naked, her eyes constantly drawn to the pelt of dark hair that curled over the top of his singlet. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from imagining how he would look naked.

She was also uncomfortably aware that what he said was true. But all she could think about was how she was going to tell Peta that she wouldn’t be around this week when her sister had to take her final exams. It must be another one of Murphy’s laws that when something horrible happened, it happened at the worst possible time.

Silence stretched between them with such savage intensity it completely took the wind out of her sails. She’d never been good with confrontation, which was why she was so good in her role as peacemaker in her family. It was her other superpower, along with her ability to compartmentalise situations and move on.

Knowing by his expression that he wouldn’t take no for an answer, she grimaced. ‘You’re right, I did agree with your requirements when I took the job, but...’ She faced him as one might face an angry lion in a small enclosure without a whip or a chair. ‘I’ll have to make a call first. Peta needs me more than ever this week.’

Logan came toward her, all power and languid grace, and for a moment she didn’t think he was going to stop. Her eyes widened as she was assailed with the unexpected vision of him wrapping one of those large hands around the back of her neck and drawing her up on her toes to kiss her. Heat travelled swiftly up through her body, making her tingle in all the wrong places.

Breathless, she waited for what would no doubt be the kiss of her life to happen, but of course it didn’t. He stopped an inch from touching her. ‘As I said, so do I.’ The look he gave her could have cut glass. All signs of the vulnerability she had glimpsed when he’d been speaking to his brother had completely disappeared. ‘And my needs take precedence over Peter’s. I’ll have Gordon drop you home so you can shower and change and then I’ll collect you in an hour. Be ready.’

His gaze flicked slowly down over her body and back up and Cassidy became very conscious that she must look like the Wicked Witch of the West with her hair drying in clumps and wearing one of his sweatshirts that was miles too big for her.

Then he was gone, leaving her to stew in silence.

She wondered if he was ever like this with his dates. But if he was they wouldn’t be crying on the end of the phone when he broke up with them, they’d be rejoicing.

Like this he was domineering and exacting. There was only one way and that was his. Usually she didn’t mind it. Usually she went with it.

Usually when she didn’t feel like her life was falling apart at the seams. It made her want to tell him just where he could take his demanding attitude and what he could do with it when he got there. Which would shock the heck out of him because, while he encouraged her to give him her opinion on matters of business, he would never encourage her to outwardly defy him.

And she was sure if that ever happened he’d be the juggernaut he always was, speeding over whatever roadblocks were in his way like a souped-up supercar. Cassidy, by comparison, was more like a moped, dodging life’s pitfalls as best she could with only one cylinder.

Logan stepped into the shower and doused his head under a stream of hot water. He didn’t know what had shocked him more, the fact that Cassidy had said no to him or that she had a lover called Peter.

A shaft of something akin to jealousy speared through him and he knew why that was. She was the best EA he’d ever had. There was no way he wanted her falling in love, getting married, going off to have babies and leaving him.

Was she already in love with the guy? Is that why she was so keen to leave on time two nights a week and baulked at working weekends?

He thought about the way her bright green eyes had widened as he’d invaded her personal space. For a moment he’d been overcome with the urge to keep going and power her back against the wall until he had her flattened against him, and the intensity of that urge had been the only thing that had stopped him.

Had she felt the inconvenient chemistry between them?

Had she wanted him to claim her?

Logan swore softly and stuck his head back under the stream of water, turning it to an icy blast.

He had not found himself at the mercy of his baser instincts since he’d learned that giving in to passion and losing control was what had nearly brought his father unstuck. It was certainly what had eventually broken them as a family. Even calling themselves a family was a stretch. They’d been an institution that had performed for the public like trained seals, both parents putting duty ahead of everything else.

And he wouldn’t ruin things with the best EA he’d ever had by confusing desire with a heightened state of adrenaline. Which was all that had been.

First the shock of finding her in his apartment like a half-drowned kitten and then being confronted with all that gloriously wild hair he’d itched to bury his fingers in. Who knew she’d been hiding that from the world?

Did she hide it from Peter as well, or just him?

Why do you care?

Irritated to find his mind once again charging down a path he had no intention of allowing it to go, he put the brakes on all thoughts of Cassidy’s unruly appearance. It had happened, but it was over.

The sooner he saw her again in her usual sedate office attire the sooner he could forget he’d ever seen her any other way.

Professional. Sensible. Unflappable.

So no more imagining himself peeling open her lacy bra. No more wondering if her hair would be silky soft beneath his fingertips. And definitely no more arousing himself by wondering how her body would fit against his as he pressed himself into her.

Like now.

Cursing again, he pulled on jeans and a pullover and questioned his instinctive decision to take her with him to Arrantino. Perhaps she would be better staying back here in his office, taking care of business while he was gone.

But as soon as the thought formed he discounted it. The fact was he needed Cassidy with him because he had no idea what he was about to face, or how long he’d be gone. He was hoping it would only be a twenty-four-hour turnaround. Fly in, drum some sense into his brother, say hello to his mother, and fly out. Simple. Easy.

But if for some reason simple turned to complicated it would be far more efficient to have Cassidy with him than sending urgent messages to a different time zone and wondering how long it would be before she processed them.

But for that to happen she had to be completely on her game. She had to be back to her usual measured self.

And for that matter, so did he.

In her own words it had been a horrible day, capped off with a horrible night. His current adrenaline rush had nothing to do with Cassidy and everything to do with his brother’s announcement that he wanted to abdicate. He wouldn’t, Logan would see to that, but it had thrown him. Put him in in a heightened state of awareness. Like a warrior of old about to go into battle. All his senses were switched on and that was the only reason he had felt any form of arousal for Cassidy.

Feeling as if he had everything in hand again, he organised a change of clothes for himself and texted his driver to see if he’d returned to pick him up. The sooner he got to Arrantino and back, the better.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.