A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals #1)(60)

“I believe you mean there’s no one at all,” she corrected.

He inhaled sharply.

“I’ve always believed that once something is done, there is no going back,” he said. “That people should pay for mistakes. That’s mostly because I was also taught that it wasn’t possible for me to make them.”

She glanced up at him, wanting to smack the sheepish grin off of his face.

“I’m selfish. Entitled. You witnessed that firsthand the day you met me,” he said. “But I’m a prince, Ledi. Before this week, I’d never had to think of anything beyond myself and my people. I saw getting what I wanted, when I wanted, as a fair bargain for a life of servitude.”

“Servitude? I have Google you know. I finally looked you up and it seems like a pretty sweet life to me. Servants. A palace. Beloved by your people. Forgive me if I don’t shed a tear for you.”

Thabiso frowned. “You may sneer at my riches, but that’s the life you would have had if your parents hadn’t fled. You would likely already be my wife, living in that palace, being waited on by those servants, and beloved by your people. Our people.”

Ledi took a deep breath, one that bordered much too close to a gasp. When she was a child, in those strange homes, she’d told herself the silliest stories as she lay awake at night. Stories with castles and royalty, and where foster homes only showed up in nightmares. She’d long ago buried all of those foolish dreams, but now they were being dragged back to the surface.

“Why are you doing this? If what you say is true, my parents are the only thing that tied me to Thesolo. They’re dead. Any ridiculous pact they made when I was a child has nothing to do with me.”

The words were cold, but she needed cold to fight the hot tears rising in her. He knew everything about her, and she knew nothing. This was about more than his betrayal now; living in the dark had allowed her to go through life in her self-contained way. Now he was offering to bring her into the light, and that would change everything. Fear gripped her tight with this one simple truth: if she knew who her parents were, she would know what she’d lost, what she’d been denied.

She wasn’t sure she could take that.

Jamal—Thabiso—nodded. “I shouldn’t ask anything of you, but a good prince is also a businessman. I have an offer that is mutually beneficial.”

Ledi wanted to turn and walk off, but she couldn’t even if she tried. If those emails were true . . .

“Spit it out,” she said.

“My country is in the midst of a medical crisis,” he said. “My people are falling ill with a sickness that seemingly has no source and our best doctors have been unable to resolve it. This has caused several problems, including people turning to witchcraft and superstition for explanations.”

He sighed and scrubbed his hand through his beard.

“There is a small but important sect of religious leaders who believe that this sickness has befallen my people because the goddess is unhappy with me.”

Ledi tilted her head, as if that would help her to understand better. “For being a lying jerk?” she asked.

His gaze flicked to hers, then away. “For remaining unmarried.”

“Are you fucking—”

“Hear me out, Naledi.” He held out his hand to stay her, but his fingers curled away from her skin and into his own palm at the last second. Ledi wished she didn’t feel a pang of regret at the near miss with his fingertips. “This is my proposal. Come to Thesolo. I will give you unfettered access to my team of epidemiologists and doctors as they track this situation. Novel, is what the scientists are calling it. Novelties are quite important in your field, if I’m not mistaken.”

Dammit, he was right. Working at the NYC Health Department would give her something to write about, but it would be a bottom of the barrel thesis unless something remarkable happened. She was fairly certain no other grad students in her contingent, and perhaps the whole of the US, would have access to a small-scale outbreak in a homogenous African kingdom. She hated that people were suffering, but if she went, she’d get to help stop that and to make a name for herself all in one shot. And . . .

“You can also learn about your history. Your people. The country you never knew.”

“I told you that I don’t care about that,” Ledi said, even though her heart squeezed at his words.

“You can meet your family,” he said quietly, as if he were ashamed to pull that card.

“I . . . I have family?” She felt a brief, unexpected burst of joy, followed by a chaser of rage. “I have family and you waited to tell me?”

The words came out louder than she had controlled for. Thabiso flinched and Ledi pressed her lips together, mentally slicing away at the anger and hope and betrayal that were coagulating around her. She couldn’t be overwhelmed. She refused.

“I asked you directly and you said you didn’t want to know,” he said. “Was I supposed to force the information on you against your will?”

“Yes!” A fierce whisper, then she remembered how adamant she’d been at Fort Tryon Park. “No. Well, just tell me now.”

“You have an uncle and a cousin. Your grandparents, your mother’s parents, are among those who have fallen ill. We’re trying to save them.”

Ledi stared at him; she was shit at telling if he was lying, but she couldn’t believe he’d sink so low as to lie about that.