“It might be true,” Noelle conceded, “but that’s because Prince Christian believed in my talent before I did.” And he’d see it as a great way to end their relationship.
But did that really make sense? Surely Christian had ended things with dozens of women without finding them a dream job that sent them five hundred miles away.
Giselle must have perceived Noelle’s confusion as vulnerability because she stepped closer. “You’d be nothing if he hadn’t used his influence to get Matteo to hire you.”
“Maybe I wouldn’t be a wedding gown designer to the wealthy and famous,” Noelle agreed, no longer the naïve twenty-five-year-old girl Giselle had been able to take advantage of. “But I would still be the mother of an amazing little boy. And I’d be all the better for never having met you.”
So much for playing nice with the media. Noelle turned on her heel and slipped from the ballroom, her heart racing after the ugly encounter. Her thoughts were a chaotic jumble as she slid into a cab for the two-mile trek back to the Four Seasons. She didn’t doubt Giselle spoke the truth about Christian arranging for her to get the job with Matteo. What she couldn’t sort out was how she felt about it.
Fifteen minutes later she let herself into her hotel suite, surprised to find Christian watching TV in her living room. There was no sign of Marc.
“You’re back early,” he said, using the remote to turn off the TV. He got to his feet as she crossed the room.
“I wanted to tuck Marc in, but it looks like I’m too late.”
“He fell asleep on the couch around nine. The last two days have been pretty busy.”
“You didn’t have to stay. What happened to the nanny?”
“I sent her home. I have a couple things on my mind to talk to you about.”
“I have something on my mind, as well.”
Christian regarded her curiously as he gestured toward the sofa. When they were both seated, he said, “Do you want to begin?”
“I found out something tonight that I’d like you to confirm.”
“Go ahead.”
“Did you get me the job at Matteo Pizarro Designs?”
He looked startled, but whether by her question or the lack of accusation in her tone, Noelle couldn’t guess.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were talented, and I knew you wanted it.”
She shook her head. “And so you could break things off and not feel guilty?”
“I broke things off so you’d take the job.”
Such altruism was not in keeping with his character, and Noelle wasn’t sure she believed him. “You broke things off because you wanted to be with Talia.”
He took Noelle’s hand and lifted it to his right cheek. She touched the puckered skin of his scars. “How much do you remember about the night of my accident?”
Her first impulse was to pull away, but he held her fast. Christian wore his scars from that night on his skin. She wore hers inside. “We went to a party and I drank too much and got out of control because I thought you and Talia took off together.”
“You didn’t drink too much.” Christian’s expression hardened. “You were drugged.”
“What?” The night had been unusually fuzzy, and she didn’t remember more than one drink. But drugged? Why would he have kept something like this from her? “By whom?”
“Someone I thought was my friend.” The anger in his voice was very real.
“Why?”
“You know how wild the crowd I ran with was. We treated the world like it was our playground, and we could do whatever we wanted without consequences. In contrast, you were sensible and worked hard at your career. The more involved I became with you, the less I saw them. They didn’t like it very much, especially when I tried to bring you into our circle. They decided to go after you.”
“By drugging me?” Noelle shivered as she realized just how vulnerable she’d been that night. She’d woken the next morning in her own bed with no idea how she’d gotten there. There’d been a video of her on the internet. She’d been dancing like a drunken fool. Because she couldn’t remember any of it, she wasn’t sure if she’d acted out because Christian had left with Talia or if he’d taken off because of how she’d been acting. “I thought you broke up with me because of how I behaved that night.”
“I did. When I realized how much danger being with me had put you in.” He shook his head. “They wanted you out of my life. It worked.”
“But you left the party.” She remembered being told that he was gone. Well, that wasn’t quite true. Memories of the evening’s events grew very indistinct after the first hour or so. The next morning the internet had lit up about the horrific car accident. There’d been no mention of a passenger, but she assumed the royal family simply covered that up.
“Because I thought you did. Talia used your phone to text me, saying that if I couldn’t treat you any better then maybe one of your friends would. I chased after you and thought that you were leaving with Andre. At the time I didn’t realize it was Talia. I followed them.”
She couldn’t grasp how his mind had been working that night. “You thought I left with Andre?” The skeptical laughter bubbling in her chest died beneath Christian’s somber gaze. “How could you believe I would do that?”
“You’d been unhappy for a while. I thought perhaps you’d had enough.”
“But to leave in the middle of a party after sending you a text? And with one of your friends?” It stung that he’d understood her so little. “You knew how I felt about you.”
“Yes. But I let you think I wasn’t exclusive even when I knew you weren’t seeing anyone else.”
His phrasing caught her attention. “You let me think? What does that mean? That you weren’t seeing Talia and all the others you’d been photographed with?” Christian had never made excuses for his freewheeling lifestyle or said the sorts of things a girlfriend wanted to hear. Social media had buzzed with his exploits, and while that had hurt, Noelle had recognized that if she wanted him in her life, she had to share him.
“Not after the first few months. I didn’t want to be with anyone but you.” He rubbed his temples. “I hated that.”
