‘She didn’t tell you anything else about him?’
‘Nothing that would help me find him.’ She sighed, pushing the paella around her plate. ‘She said he loved music, that he played guitar as if taught by angels, that he sang beautifully and could swim like a fish. She told me he was kind and patient but that they both knew their fling would be brief. He left without giving her his number or email address or anything. She didn’t even have a photograph.’
Octavio’s frown deepened. ‘That’s it?’
She nodded. ‘I’ve given all this to the investigator I hired.’
‘And has the investigator turned up any information?’
‘Not yet. I’m hopeful every day though.’ She pleated her napkin. ‘I know it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack but I’d love to know who he is.’
‘You have a lot of resources at your command, Phoebe. My security forces can help, you know.’
Her eyes widened. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’
‘When we get back, I’ll arrange a meeting. You can go through everything with them. Maybe the palace will be able to find him.’
‘Maybe.’ Butterflies ignited in her stomach.
‘And then he’ll learn not only that he has a daughter, but also that she is Queen of his country.’
‘That’s a little overwhelming,’ she said with a grimace. ‘I’m not sure how he’ll feel about that.’
‘He’ll be thrilled to know you, Phoebe. He’ll think he’s won the lottery.’
‘Because I’m Queen?’
He reached out and put his hand on hers. ‘Because you’re you.’
Phoebe’s heart turned over in her chest. She pulled her hand away quickly, rubbing it against her leg beneath the table.
Christopher had been charming, too. Christopher had said things that had made her feel so special and wonderful, as though he was the luckiest man on earth, and it had all been a lie.
‘Don’t say things like that.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s not…it’s not what we are.’
‘So I’m not allowed to compliment you?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t need it. I don’t want it. We barely know one another.’
He frowned at her characterisation but she refused to be swayed.
‘If it hadn’t been for the baby, we would never have seen one another again.’
‘That was your choice, not mine.’
‘There was no choice about it. You were offering something I could never have accepted.’
His frown deepened. ‘More time with me?’
‘As your mistress.’ Her nostrils flared. ‘Do you have any idea what that felt like?’
‘I saidlover, notmistress.’
‘It’s the same thing. You made it clear I wasn’t suitable for anything but secret sex. What kind of woman, with a modicum of self-respect, would accept that?’
