Becoming the Prince's Wife (Princes of Europe) (12 page)

“Well, if I were in your shoes, I believe I’d give myself the week to honor my commitment to him. In that amount of time you’ll either lose interest in each other or not. No one can predict the future, but while you’re still under contract, do your part. Maybe it will help if you treat him like the brother you and I always wished we’d had.”

A brother...

CHAPTER SEVEN

“V
AL
? S
INCE
WE
’
RE
already on the eastern side of the island, why don’t we stop for dinner at Matteo’s restaurant before we fly back to the yacht.” She wanted people around them and thought the suggestion pleased him.

“I’ll call ahead and see what can be arranged.”

Matteo looked happy to see them, but the place was busy and they could only chat for a moment with him. After another delicious dinner, she hurried out to the limo with Valentino, anxious to leave. They headed for the heliport on the eastern end of the island. Within a few minutes they were flying back to the yacht.

In three days they’d covered a lot of territory. He’d stuck to business while they’d dispensed the videos and flyers. When they were in the limo, he sat across from her and there was no touching beyond his helping her in and out of the car.

Each night she’d pleaded fatigue to keep her distance from him. To her surprise, he’d told her he, too, was tired and didn’t try to detain her before she went to her cabin. Instead, he’d thanked her for a wonderful job and wished her a good night’s sleep. She was a fool to wish that he wasn’t quite so happy to see her go to bed.

The queen’s spies would find no fault in him. His behavior abated Carolena’s fears that the time they were forced to spend together on this project would make her too uncomfortable. In truth, she discovered she was having fun doing business with him. He knew so much about the economics that ran his country, she marveled. With others or alone, they had fascinating conversations that covered everything including the political climate.

Valentino remained silent until they’d climbed out of the helicopter. “We need to talk. Let’s do it in the lounge before you go to bed.”

She walked across the deck with him. When they entered it, she sat down on one of the leather chairs surrounding a small table.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Nothing for me, thank you.”

He stood near her, eyeing her with a sober expression. “What were you and Matteo talking about while I took that phone call from Vito?”

Carolena had known he’d ask that question. “He...wanted to know if you’d broken your engagement. I told him yes.”

“What else did he say?”

She couldn’t handle this inquisition any longer. “Nothing for you to worry about. He’s not only a good friend to you, he’s incredibly discreet.” She looked away to avoid his piercing gaze. “He reminds me of Abby in the sense that I’d trust her with my life.”

Valentino studied her until she felt like squirming. “Do you feel the same about me? Would you trust me with your life?”

The question threw her. She got up from the chair. “I’m surprised you would ask that when you consider I went up on the volcano with you. I’ll say good-night now.” It was time to go to bed.

“I’d still like a more in-depth answer.” The retort came back with enviable calm. “Tell me what you meant earlier when you said you wouldn’t grab at happiness even if I weren’t a prince?”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?”

“I’m afraid you do.” His voice grated.

She eyed him soberly. “I don’t want to be in love again and then lose that person. I’ve been through it once and can’t bear the thought of it. Call me a coward, but it’s the way I’m made.

“Whatever you do with the rest of your life, I don’t want to be a part of it. As I told you on the yacht the night I thought I would be sleeping with you, I’ll never forget how you made me feel, but that’s a happy memory I can live with and pull out on a rainy day.

“To have an affair now is something else again. I couldn’t do it with you or any man because it would mean giving up part of myself. And when the affair was over, I wouldn’t be able to stand the pain of loss because I know myself too well.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you for your answer. It’s all making sense now. Just so you know, I’ll be flying to the palace early in the morning.”

She was afraid to ask him why, in case he felt she was prying.

“You can sleep in, though I don’t know another female who needed her beauty sleep less than you. The steward will serve you breakfast whenever you want it.”

“Thank you.”

“After I return at ten, we’ll do our tour of the south end of the island.”

His comment relieved her of the worry that he wouldn’t be gone long. Already she missed him, which was perfectly ridiculous.

“After work we’ll take the cruiser to a nearby deserted island where we’ll swim and watch the wildlife. It’s a place where we ought to be able to see some nesting turtles. If it were fall we’d see the flamingos that migrate there on their way to and from Africa. You should see it before you fly back to Arancia.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I. You’ll love it.
A domani.
”

* * *

Valentino knocked on Vito’s bedroom door early the next morning. His brother was quick to open it wearing a robe. He needed a shave and looked as if he hadn’t had any sleep. “What was so urgent I needed to fly here this early?”

Dark shadows below Vito’s eyes testified that his younger brother was in pain. “Thanks for getting here so fast. Come on in.”

He’d never seen Vito this torn up, not even after Michelina’s death. “I take it this isn’t about Mother. What’s wrong?” He moved inside and followed him into the living room.

Vito spun around, his face full of too many lines for a thirty-year-old. “I have a confession to make. After you hear me out, I’ll understand if you tell me to get the hell out of your life.”

Valentino’s brows furrowed. “I’d never do that.”

“Oh, yes, you would. You will.” He laughed angrily. “But I can’t keep this to myself any longer.” His dark brown eyes filled with tears. “Do you want to know the real reason I went into the military five years ago?”

“I thought it was because you wanted to, and because our father said you were free to do what you wanted.”

He shook his dark head. Vito resembled their mother. “What I wanted was Alexandra.”

A gasp came out of Valentino. Those words shook him to the foundations.

“I fell in love with her. I don’t know how it happened. It just did.”

Valentino knew exactly how it happened. He knew it line and verse.

“All the years you were betrothed, you were hardly ever around, and when you were, it was only for a day. Whereas I spent a lot of time with her. One night things got out of control and I told her how I felt about her. We went riding and she told me she was in love with me, too. We ended up spending the weekend together knowing we could never be together again.”

“Vito—”

“You were betrothed to her, and the parents had another woman picked out for me, so I left to join the military with the intention of making it my career for as long as possible. I was a coward and couldn’t face you, but I should have.”

Pure unadulterated joy seized Valentino. He didn’t need to hear another word. It suddenly made sense when he remembered his brother occasionally telling him things about Alexandra that surprised Valentino. It explained the huge relief he saw in Alexandra’s eyes when he’d called off the marriage. But what he’d thought was relief was joy.

In the next breath he gave his brother the biggest bear hug of his life, lifting him off the ground. “You’re more in love with her than ever, right?”

Vito staggered backward with a look of disbelief in his eyes. “Yes, but how come you’re acting like this? You have every right to despise me.”

He shook his head. “Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, I’ve been the despicable one for not ending it with Alexandra years ago. I knew something earthshaking had happened to make you go away. I was afraid I’d offended you in some way. Now that you’ve told me, I’m so incredibly happy for you and Alexandra, you could have no idea.

“Don’t waste another moment, Vito. All this time you two have been in pain... Give up your commission and marry her. Grab at your happiness! Mother loves her, and her parents want to join our two families together. When they find out you’re going to be king instead of me, they’ll be overjoyed.”

“I don’t want to be king.”

“Yes, you do. You told me years ago. The point is,
I
don’t. I never wanted it.”

“But—”

“But nothing,” Valentino silenced him. “Mother is perfectly healthy. Maybe she’s going to have to rule for a lot longer than she’d planned.”

His brother rubbed the back of his neck in confusion. “What’s going on with you? Do I even know you?”

He grinned. “We’re brothers, and I’ve got my own confession to make, but you’ll have to hear it later. In the meantime, don’t worry about me. And don’t tell Mother I’ve been to the palace this morning. I’ll be back in a few days.” He headed for the door and turned to him. “When I see you again, I’d better hear that you and Alexandra have made your wedding plans or there
will
be hell to pay.”

Valentino flew out the door and raced across the grounds to the helicopter. The knowledge that Vito and Alexandra had been lovers had transformed him, removing every trace of pain and guilt.

“Carolena?”

She peered around the deck chair where she’d been reading a magazine in her sunglasses. “Hi!”

This morning she’d put her vibrant hair back in a chignon and was wearing pleated beige pants with a peach-colored top her figure did wonders for. Between her sensational looks and brilliant mind, she was his total fantasy come to life.

“If you’re ready, we’ll get business out of the way, then come back and take off for the island.” He’d told one of the crew to pack the cruiser with everything they’d need if they wanted to spend the night there.

Throughout the rest of the day they’d gotten things down to a routine and touched base with the many heads of fruit consortiums in the district. The plan to market the island’s blood oranges under the AG logo had already reached the ears of many of them with rave results.

Valentino had demands for more of the videos made in Gemelli than he’d anticipated. He gave orders to step up production of the flyers, too. Two more days and he and Carolena would have covered the whole country. By this time next year he’d know if their efforts had helped increase their exports around the world and produced financial gains.

As he’d told Carolena, there were no guarantees in life. This plan of his and Vincenzo’s to help their countries’ economies was only one of many. It was far too early to predict the outcome, but since she’d come into his life, he had this feeling something remarkable was going to happen.

* * *

With their marketing work done, Valentino drove the cruiser under a late-afternoon sun along a string of tiny deserted islands with rocky coastlines.

Carolena had been waiting for this all day. “What’s that wonderful smell in the breeze?”

“Rosemary and thyme. It grows wild here among the sand dunes and beaches. Vito and I spent a lot of our teenage years exploring this area. In the fall this place is covered with pink flamingos, herons and storks. We used to camp out here to watch them and take movies.”

“I envy you having a brother to go on adventures with. No one’s childhood is idyllic, but I think yours must have come close.”

“We tried to forget that we were princes put into a special kind of gilded cage. However, I would have liked your freedom.”

“But it wouldn’t have exposed you to the world you’re going to rule one day. Someone has to do it.”

He lifted one eyebrow. “That’s one way of looking at it. Ten years ago we worked on our father to get legislation passed in parliament to declare this a natural preserve so the tourists wouldn’t ruin it. Since that time, our Gemellian bird-watching society has seen continual growth of the different species, and I’ve had this place virtually to myself.”

She laughed. “Seriously, that has to be very gratifying to you.” His dedication to the country’s welfare continued to astound Carolena. “This is paradise, Val. The sand is so white!”

He nodded. “It feels like the most refined granulated sugar under your feet. We’ll pull in to that lagoon, one of my favorite spots.”

The water was as blue as the sky. They were alone. It was as if they were the only people left on earth. After he cut the engine, she darted below to put on her flowered one-piece swimsuit. It was backless, but the front fastened up around the neck like a choker, providing the modesty she needed to be around Val.

When she came back up on deck, she discovered he’d already changed into black trunks. The hard-muscled physique of his bronzed body took her breath. His gaze scrutinized her so thoroughly, he ignited a new fire that traveled through hers.

“Not that the suit you’re wearing isn’t delectable, but what happened to that gorgeous purple concoction you were wearing when we first met? I’ve been living to see you in it again.”

A gentle laugh broke from her. “You mean that piece of nothing?” she teased. “I’ve never owned anything indecent before. When I saw it in the shop before I flew down here with Abby, I decided to be daring and buy it. I was a fool to think I’d be alone.”

“The sight of you almost in it put an exclamation point on the end of my grueling workday.”

She blushed. “
Almost
being the operative word. You’re a terrible man to remind me.”

“You’re a terrible woman to deprive me of seeing you in it again.”

Carolena had been trying to treat him like a brother, but that was a joke with the heat building between them. She needed to cool off and there was only one way to do it. She walked to the end of the cruiser and without hesitation jumped into the water.

“Oh—” she cried when she emerged. “This feels like a bathtub! Heaven!”

“Isn’t it?”

She squealed again because he’d come right up next to her. They swam around the boat, diving and bobbing like porpoises for at least half an hour. “I’ve never had so much fun in my life!”

He smiled at her with a pirate’s grin that sent a thrill through her. “I’ll race you to shore, but I’ll give you a head start.”

“You’re on!” She struck out for the beach, putting everything into it. But when she would have been able to stand, he grabbed hold of her ankles and she landed in the sand. Laughter burst out of her. “That wasn’t fair!”