"I wanted to kiss you too," he admits. "But it wasn't a game anymore. You really were a Grand Duchess and I was no one." Princesses don't marry nobodies. They certainly don't kiss them. Maybe they're equal in the eyes of Russia but he knows better and so does she. Anya is miles above him. Even without the crown and titles, she's above him.

"The other day, at the café, I saw you standing with Gleb." And he'd wished all over again that he'd kissed her in Paris, let her know before he lost her. Anya has someone else now and he's behind the curve in so many ways and who's to blame but himself?

Some conman he is, Dmitry thinks ruefully. There'd been a moment where he'd stood to win everything he ever wanted and now he's lost it all. The one who got scammed is him.

He loves her but he's known since that night that there's no fighting for her. Not when station and now Gleb stand between them.