Reckless Love

Prologue

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PARIS, FRANCE  

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO

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It all started with five little words.

“May I have this dance?” Pierre Samuel du Pont smiled handsomely and stretched out his hand to Princess Joséphine of Belgium.

Joséphine had been attending royal parties like these her entire life, but she never met anyone like Pierre before. Pierre was a handsome French-American young man who came from money and dabbled in politics. He was twenty six years old when he met nineteen year old Joséphine. Not only that he was smart and charismatic, Pierre was absolutely charming and a great dancer. Joséphine appreciated that very much.

As they danced the night away, Joséphine learned a great deal about Pierre. Pierre was one of four children of Enid Rhodes and William R. du Pont, who was the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg under President John F. Kennedy. Pierre’s mother also came from old money because his great grandfather was the founder of JK Industries, one of the largest clothing manufacturers in the United States.

But enough about money, because money wasn’t what drew Joséphine into falling for Pierre. She fell for his sarcastic sense of humor and his killer dance moves. He was dangerously delicious and she thought he was impossible to resist. She was also only nineteen years old, she was naïve and hopeful. Though she was told from a very young age that as an heir to Belgium royalty, she would have to marry within her ranks and not for love, she thought that she could be an exception to that rule.

Joséphine was always a rebel at heart. Perhaps the thing that intrigued her the most about Pierre was the fact that he was off-limits to her. Sure, Pierre came from money and his father was a diplomat, but he was nowhere near the royalty status that Joséphine’s family cared about. They wanted to marry Joséphine off to the Prince of Sweden or to the Duke of York.

But Joséphine was determined to make her own mark in the world. It all started with one dance, but it didn't end there. After the dance, Joséphine took Pierre on a tour around the estate. They left the grand ballroom and took a walk outside on the courtyard. Joséphine knew the estate very well, she grew up there, so she knew exactly where to go to avoid people and the guards.

They walked and talked until they reached an open meadow. It was dark and quiet out there. They were the only two people around. It was just the two of them under the bright moonlight.

Pierre stopped his tracks when he saw how beautiful Joséphine’s eyes glimmered under the moonlight. She looked up at him quizzically as he put a hand on her cheek to cup her face. Slowly and without warning, Pierre leaned in and claimed her lips with his. His kiss was sweet and warm, and it was sending shivers all over Joséphine’s body.

They kissed for what felt like an eternity. He was relishing in her taste, roaming the corners of her mouth with his skillful tongue. And she was lost in the ecstasy that was his touch. As the night wore on, their kiss and desire for each other only grew deeper and harder.

And so, a dance led to a walk. A walk led to a kiss. And a kiss led to something more.

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“I’m pregnant,” Joséphine said to Pierre.

It was a little over a month after their encounter at the party. After that night, Pierre went back to Luxembourg with his family and the two of them hadn't spoken since. Joséphine wasn’t too happy to know that their special night together didn’t mean as much for Pierre, but she was too prideful to say anything. She would’ve kept her mouth shut and forgot all about him too, except she couldn’t do it when she found out she was pregnant.

As soon as she found out she was pregnant, she tracked Pierre down and went to see him at his family home in Luxembourg City. He was shocked to see her appear out of nowhere. And at first he thought she was coming back for seconds.

Joséphine was quick to dismiss that idea. She looked at him square in the eyes and repeated herself when Pierre didn’t know how to respond.

“I’m pregnant, Pierre. I’m almost five weeks along,”

“Is it mine?” he asked after a while of silence.

“Yes,” she replied firmly.

“Are you sure?”

“You think I’d just sleep with random guys unprotected?”

“You did it with me,”

His words fell cold and flat in her ears. This wasn’t the exact reaction she was hoping for. Joséphine threw her gaze out the window so that Pierre couldn’t see her glassy eyes.

“Do a DNA test if you don’t believe me,” she said coolly.

“I will,”

“What happens if it’s yours?” she asked.

“Are you not going to consider abortion?”

“It’s a sin, Pierre,” she hissed. “My family would murder me before that could ever happen,”

Joséphine grew up very strict Catholic. There was no way she could do that. Getting pregnant out of wedlock was enough of a disgrace, she couldn’t put her family through more than that.

“Fine,” Pierre sighed in exasperation. “If the baby’s mine, we’ll get married. But if it’s not, let’s never see each other ever again,”

“What a sweet proposal,” she scoffed. “Who knew you’d turn out to be such a romantic?”

“I’m not playing games here, Joséphine,” he hissed.

“Me too,” she replied. “I’ll see you at the wedding,”

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Princes Joséphine of Belgium married Pierre Samuel du Pont in less than a month after her visit to Luxembourg. Both families agreed to the arrangement. The wedding was a beautiful and elegant event, but there was nothing happy about it.

Pierre was not ready for marriage, he was only twenty six and on the top of his game. He was also definitely not ready to be a father. On the night of their wedding, Pierre left his new bride in their room to find satisfaction somewhere else. For Pierre, this wedding was only a chore — a duty that he had to fulfill, but take no enjoyment in fulfilling.

Although they looked like a picture perfect couple to the outside world, their marriage life was ugly and full of deceit. Pierre resented Joséphine. He believed that she had trapped him and his freedom on purpose. Joséphine was not too happy with her husband either. She thought she chose someone that loves her, but like everyone else in the world, he was only using her for one thing and one thing only.

“This is what you get for being too reckless,” Joséphine’s mom chastised her.

Joséphine had just given birth to her baby, alone. Pierre was out on a business trip to Japan and they couldn’t reach him.

The baby was sleeping peacefully in the crib as Joséphine moved to the window of her bedroom. She opened the window and pulled out a cigarette. Her mother shook her head in disbelief and went to stand next to her her daughter. Joséphine offered her a smoke and her mother took it. The two ladies were now smoking by the window. Their hands busily waved the smoke away so that it wouldn’t go into the room.

“I thought I was in love,” Joséphine smiled sadly. “Who knew that falling in love could be such a reckless thing?”

“Sweetheart, how many times have I told you? Love has no business being in this family. The sooner you accept that, the easier life would be,” her mom replied as she huffed a clout of white smoke out of her mouth.

“What am I supposed to do now, mum?” Joséphine’s voice cracked. “My life is over,”

“Your life is not over. You’re still the princess of Belgium and you will raise your daughter accordingly, even if she doesn’t get to receive the royal title,” he mom said sternly, pausing for a moment to gesture to the sleeping baby, she continued, “Look at her, Jo. She’s beautiful. She looks just like you,”

But I hope she doesn’t end up just like me, Joséphine said to herself.

“Have you given her a name yet?” her mom asked.

“Maia,” Joséphine replied as she stared at the baby. “Her name’s Maia Rose,”

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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -