Read Online Stepping into the Prince's World by Marion Lennox - Free Book Online Page A

warning.’
    She grinned. ‘If you like. Rocky knows to treat me with respect.’ Her smile faded. ‘But respect for me is a bit thin on the ground. Bob Maker was a bully and a drunk, but he did get one thing right. Trying to move away from my roots was a mistake. I’ll never try it again.’
    â€˜So you won’t fight? You’ll calmly go back where you came from?’
    She smiled again at that, but ruefully. ‘I wouldn’t fit,’ she said. ‘Legal Assistance is my first love. It’s a fantastic organisation. They helped me when Mum died and I was trying to prove I could live independently, but I’m not sure I can go back there. That’s what this is all about. Rocky and I are taking six months to think about it. So what about you?’
    â€˜What do you mean?’
    â€˜Meaning you don’t have a mum and dad. I assume your grandparents raised you? Was joining the army a big step?’
    He thought about it for a moment. For a long moment. She’d told him so much about herself. It was only fair to explain his background.
    But a part of him... couldn’t . She was sitting opposite him with total trust. She was relaxed, eating her chips, smiling, and she’d just explained how social class had destroyed her career.
    Over the years Raoul had watched the almost grotesque change in people’s attitudes when his royal title was revealed. Sometimes people fawned. Sometimes people backed away.
    With her background, with her recent hurt and with her desire to stay in the background, he suspected Claire would back away fast, and he didn’t want that. An urgent voice in his head was starting to say, This is important. Give it time. Get to know her on equal terms.
    Had his joining the army been a big step?
    â€˜I guess it was,’ he said at last. ‘I’m an officer. I had to fight to get where I was, and to be accepted.’
    And wasn’t that the truth? Of course he’d been seen as different. It had taken him years to break down barriers, and every now and then the barriers would rise back up.
    Like now. If a normal soldier went AWOL questions would be asked, but unless there was a suggestion of foul play the army usually adopted a policy of wait and see. After weeks of tough field exercise some men got drunk, found women, got themselves into places that took them a while to get out of. No one would put out an international alert on their disappearance.
    Whereas for him...
    He had no doubts about the scale of the hue and cry that would be happening. Heir to the throne of Marétal disappears. He closed his eyes, thinking of the distress. The fuss. He’d been so stupid.
    â€˜You’re still tired,’ Claire told him, and he thought about explaining and decided again that he didn’t want to. Not yet.
    He was tired. ‘I guess...’
    â€˜Let’s both sleep,’ she told him. ‘Leave the dishes. They’ll wait until morning. I’m beat.’
    â€˜The drugs will still be making you dozy.’
    â€˜And being tossed around in a bathtub for two days and almost drowned will be making you dozy,’ she told him. She rose and took a glass of water. ‘Pick a bedroom. Any bedroom but mine. Marigold leaves toiletries for her guests—there’ll be razors and toothbrushes...everything you need. Raoul, thank you for the meal. Thank you for everything. I’m going to bed.’
    She headed for the door. He watched her go. Then... ‘Claire?’
    She paused and looked back at him. ‘Yes?’
    â€˜Thank you,’ he said softly. ‘Thank you for saving my life and thank you...for just being you. And if I ever meet the appalling Felicity it’ll be more than karate that comes into play. It would be my privilege to fight for you.’
    She smiled, but absently. ‘Thank you, but don’t get your hopes up,’ she told him. ‘It’s money and power that keeps the