‘I see.’
‘What do you see?’
‘A man who recognised a vulnerable, grieving young woman and turned that to his advantage.’
‘The same could be said of you and me,’ she pointed out. Then quickly added, lest he misunderstand her comparison, ‘You were grieving. Did I take advantage of you?’
‘We both know the opposite is true.’
‘Oh, really? How did you take advantage of me?’
His thumb stroked the flesh on the back of her hand. ‘Perhaps you were intimidated by me? I am the King. Maybe you felt you had to say yes to me?’
She gasped. ‘Don’t. Don’t say that. Don’t turn—what that night was—into that.’
He scanned her face. ‘What was that night?’
Heat flushed through her. She felt dangerously close to a precipice she didn’t even want to approach, let alone tip over. ‘It wasnotthat. I didn’t care that you’re a king. I never did. You asked me to call you Octavio and I did. You were…a man. And I was a woman. And what we shared that night had nothing to do with your position or power or pressure. It was about us wanting each other, wanting to comfort each other. It was a moment of shared madness, sure, but it wasn’t a case of anyone being taken advantage of. You can’t really think that?’
‘No,’ he admitted after a beat, and he smiled in a way that made her feel as though she were floating. ‘But I’m relieved to hear you don’t either.’
She squeezed his hand as a prelude to pulling away, but he held tight and she gave up quickly. It was a weakness, but she liked the way it felt to be intertwined like this.
‘It’s incredible to think that our babies were conceived that night, and we had no idea.’
‘I used protection,’ he said, rubbing his spare hand over his jaw.
‘I know.’
‘You’re not on the pill?’
She shook her head. ‘Christopher and I had discussed trying for a baby as soon as we were married.’ Her voice cracked a little. She’d never get over how duplicitous he’d been, and how completely she’d fallen for his lies.
Octavio’s eyes narrowed. ‘When were you to marry?’
‘About a month after I found out about his wife.’
He swore. ‘That seems like a very lucky escape.’
‘Yes.’
She looked away quickly. ‘We were going to elope. Just the two of us. We were going to go to the South Island, choose somewhere remote and pristine and say our vows, just the two of us. I thought that was so romantic, but now I get it. He justwanted to make sure no one from his real world saw us. I have no idea how he was going to pull it off—I guess a fake minister to conduct the ceremony or something?’ She shook her head, anger firing through her now where hurt and grief had once been. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t see through it.’
‘Being trusting is not a character flaw.’
‘Yes, it is. I was trusting to a fault, and that’s not a mistake I’ll ever make again.’
‘You can trust me,’ he said, quietly, with intensity, squeezing her hand as if to reinforce that.
‘No, I can’t.’ She pulled her hand away properly now, reinforcing the fact she was on her own. ‘I know you’re nothing like him, but I can’t trust you; I can’t trustanyone.’ She sighed again. ‘The thing is, I guess when it boils down to it, I don’t trust myself. I went out with Christopher for years and was so in love with him I just didn’t question anything.’
Octavio’s features tightened visibly. ‘His levels of deception were incredible.’
‘But I didn’t realise. I didn’t suspect. I don’t trust my instincts any more. I don’t trust my perceptions of people.’
‘Okay,’ he conceded, rather than pushing a point she was stuck on. ‘But let me say this—I will never lie to you. If I say something, it’s the truth. That’s who I am.’
She nodded, because she knew it was the only way to end the conversation. And she knew that he was probably being sincere. Phoebe also knew that regardless of his assurance, she would continue to protect herself by doubting, by believing him—and everyone—to be capable of the worst. If she’d done that with Christopher, she’d never have been hurt.
