Jennifer Hayward - Carrying The King's Pride

He knew. She swallowed hard and forced herself to stay calm. “I was going to tell you. This week.”

“This week?” Nikandros yelled the words, his iron control snapping. “Do you have any idea what this means?”

Her insides flip-flopped. “Of course I do. Which is why I haven’t said anything yet. Because I knew you would appear just like you have now and start making decisions. And I need to understand how I feel about this first. What I want to do.”

His gaze narrowed on her. “What you want to do ?”

Heat rushed to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean that. Of course I’m having this baby. It’s the logistics I’m not sure of.”

“ Logistics we should have discussed days ago.”

She stared at Nikandros. Did he think this was any more convenient for her, with her lifestyle? Any less than a disaster for her than it was for him?

Her chin dipped. “We can talk about this over the phone.”

He caught her jaw in his fingers, the rage burning in his eyes making her heart pound.

“We aren’t talking about it on the phone. Akathinian law says this child we have conceived will succeed me to the throne. It’s a huge problem, Sofía. One we will solve now .”

Jennifer Hayward invites you into a world of …

Young royals in reckless pursuit of passion!

When a centuries-old battle between the kingdoms of Akathinia and Carnelia is reignited the nation’s young royals find themselves on the brink of war. But their kingdoms aren’t the only thing at stake …

Soon these young monarchs are facing an unexpected royal baby, the appearance of a lost princess and an alliance with the enemy.

Can love conquer all?

Find out in:

King Nikandros and Sofía Ramirez’s story

Carrying the King’s Pride March 2016

Look for:

Princess Alexandra and Aristos Nicolades’s story

and

King Kostas and Princess Stella’s story

Coming soon from Mills & Boon Modern Romance!

Carrying the

King’s Pride

Jennifer Hayward

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CARRYING THE KING’S PRIDE

© 2016 Jennifer Hayward

Published in Great Britain 2016

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Source ISBN: 9780263915952

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2016 ISBN: 9781474043533

Version: 2016-05-09

JENNIFER HAYWARDhas been a fan of romance since filching her sister’s novels to escape her teenage angst. Her career in journalism and PR—including years of working alongside powerful, charismatic CEOs and travelling the world—has provided her with perfect fodder for the fast-paced, sexy stories she likes to write—always with a touch of humour. A native of Canada’s east coast, Jennifer lives in Toronto with her Viking husband and young Viking-in-training.

For my mother, who is quite simply the best person I know. Your spirit and love of philosophy inspired this book. Your belief in me has always been such a big part of how I get to ‘The End’.

And for Stella, for your help and for being one of those people you meet once and know it can’t be for the last time.

Contents

Cover

Introduction His gaze turned incendiary. “You lost your chance to set the rules of the game when you elected to keep your pregnancy from me, Sofía.” He knew. She swallowed hard and forced herself to stay calm. “I was going to tell you. This week.” “This week?” Nikandros yelled the words, his iron control snapping. “Do you have any idea what this means?” Her insides flip-flopped. “Of course I do. Which is why I haven’t said anything yet. Because I knew you would appear just like you have now and start making decisions. And I need to understand how I feel about this first. What I want to do.” His gaze narrowed on her. “What you want to do ?” Heat rushed to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean that. Of course I’m having this baby. It’s the logistics I’m not sure of.” “ Logistics we should have discussed days ago.” She stared at Nikandros. Did he think this was any more convenient for her, with her lifestyle? Any less than a disaster for her than it was for him? Her chin dipped. “We can talk about this over the phone.” He caught her jaw in his fingers, the rage burning in his eyes making her heart pound. “We aren’t talking about it on the phone. Akathinian law says this child we have conceived will succeed me to the throne. It’s a huge problem, Sofía. One we will solve now .”

Kingdoms & Crowns Jennifer Hayward invites you into a world of …

Title Page Carrying the King’s Pride Jennifer Hayward www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright CARRYING THE KING’S PRIDE © 2016 Jennifer Hayward Published in Great Britain 2016 by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device.