Wedded for His Royal Duty (10 page)

“Yes, your uncle is under secret house arrest, until I come home. But I still need time to create a new vision for the country.”

She sat up. “How can I help?”

“By doing what you’re doing. I don’t want word of this to get out. I don’t want to give my dissenters a chance to find a voice before I can come home strong, with a plan. That’s why I’m calling. You and Alex are going to have to go through with the wedding.”

She took a few seconds to let that sink in. Three weeks ago she could have married him in an award-winning performance. Now? He’d protected her. Kissed her. Told her he didn’t want her. And gone behind her back to help her dad, when she should have been the one in on the discussions.

Her dad drew in a breath. “Sweetie, I had no idea things were so bad. We’re a small, quiet country. I thought we could go on the way we were, the way we have been for generations. But there’s dissension that runs deep enough that my own brother wanted to kill me.” He took another breath. “I should have known how bad it had gotten. But I didn’t. And now I have to fix it.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to go home now?”

“I can’t go home until I have a solid plan. If I go home, admitting that we have things to fix, but without a way to fix them, the rebels will see we’re shaky and take advantage.”

She got what he was saying. He just seemed to be taking the long way around. Still, a princess didn’t question her king.

“We’ve always been so small that we haven’t really had a plan. We simply solved problems as they arose. Now, we know we need to think of all of the needs of the people and meet them. Ronaldo has sent financial advisors. Prince Dominic is flying here to help us tomorrow. We have the information. We just have to sort through it and figure out what works for us.”

And now he’d called
Dominic
for help. Not just Alex but Dominic? Her nerve endings fluffed out like porcupine quills. But she said, “Okay.”

“I’m sorry I won’t be at the wedding.”

“It’s not a real wedding.” But that thought depressed her even more. She’d be standing up in front of a mountain of press, her friends, her family, Alex’s family, saying vows that weren’t real. To a guy she was growing to like, but who didn’t like or trust her enough to tell her he’d been helping her dad for God only knew how long.

“What happens if you can’t do this? Three weeks have gone by. How do you know your detractors aren’t already planning to take over?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure they are. That’s why this wedding is so important. You’re distracting everybody. Buying time. And I swear, I won’t need more than another few weeks.”

A few weeks of being married to Alex? She squeezed her eyes shut. If he were a mean, ugly man, none of this would matter. She could do this with her eyes closed. But he was good-looking, kind, smart. A born leader who, quite obviously, her father trusted.

And maybe the real reason he didn’t want her was bigger than she’d suspected. Maybe he saw her as her dad did. A figurehead? Not a real person, not someone who could give or take love. Someone who simply held a place and did what she was told.

She swallowed hard, but said what her dad needed to hear. “I’m fine. I serve at the pleasure of my king.”

“That’s my girl. And when everything’s straightened out, I’ll come to America and visit your cats.”

Pain skittered through her. The very thing she’d done to keep herself busy, to make a mark while she bided time, made her look foolish.

She swallowed again, played her role with a dad who was too busy to see how he was hurting her. “So you’ve said a million times.”

“This time I mean it. We’ll attach the trip to a formal, official visit to the United States.”

She took a slow, necessary breath, as the truth of her life made a ring of sadness around her heart. She was nothing. “Okay.”

“Great. I’ll talk to your mom this afternoon.”

“I think she’s going to skin you alive.”

“No. She’ll understand.”

Eva hung up the phone a few minutes later knowing that her mom
would
understand. Her mom would do her duty. So would Eva.

But her hands shook and her heart hurt. In four weeks, her entire life had changed. She’d believed it was because her dad had gone through a midlife crisis, but it was so much more serious than that. And the Sancho family had stepped in to help them. But she’d been tucked away like a porcelain doll.

A few seconds after she’d hung up the phone, Alex and his father returned to his office.

Alex said, “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “He says he’s going to talk to my mom this afternoon.”

The king reached for his phone. “I’ll tell my secretary to arrange that. You two do whatever it is you had planned for today.”

She nodded again and Alex took her elbow to guide her out of the office.

In the corridor leading away from the administrative offices, Alex glanced at her jeans and tank top and said, “So I see you’re ready to go into the village.”

She forced a smile. “Sure.”

He stopped. “You’re not ready?”

She shook her head as the implications of everything her dad had said rained down on her. What did she expect? Her father had no intention of retiring. She was a well-loved only child...only
daughter.
She busied herself with charities, but essentially lived in America. Even
she
didn’t see herself as a ruler.

“No. No. I’m fine.”

He studied her face. “You’re not fine.”

“Does it matter? There are so much bigger things at stake here.”

“True, but you’re not going to convince a block of reporters that you’re a happy bride if your smile falters.”

“I can pull it off.”

He glanced down the empty corridor. “You know what? Maybe you can, but this has been a long, weird bunch of weeks for you. You’re accustomed to low-key. I’ve dragged you around town. Maybe today would be a good day to take a break.”

She hated to say it. Hated to think she was this weak. Except she wasn’t weak. She was worn down by the truth. Her father didn’t trust her. She’d thought he did because he let her live her own life, but if he really trusted her, she’d be preparing to be queen. To be a ruler. But she wasn’t. Her dad had said she’d rule only long enough until her son—a son who wasn’t even yet born—could take over.

“No. I need to go somewhere. I can’t sit around the palace all day. That would just make things worse.”

He smiled. “I think I have an idea.” He glanced at her outfit again and confusing longings rolled through her. This man pampered her, protected her, and kept her out of the loop even more than her father did. Why should she want him to look at her with interest in his eyes?

“You’ll do.”

Thank God that made her laugh. “I’ll do?”

He took her hand. “Yes. I have an idea.”

He rushed her out of the corridor to a slim hall that led to another slim hall.

“What are we doing?”

“Escaping.”

Shades of the real Alex returned, the simple guy she really liked. Not the one who apparently went to secret meetings with her dad. “Escaping?”

“Yes. There are times when I can’t stand the bodyguards, hate the media...don’t even want my dad to know where I am.”

Her eyebrows rose. This truly was the Alex she liked.

“So—” He opened a small, inconspicuous door onto a huge garage. “I go here.”

She glanced around in awe at the sheer number of vehicles. Everything from limos to tiny sports cars and bikes. “To a garage?”

“Nope,” he said, grabbing a motorcycle helmet from a shelf.

Realizing what was happening, she skittered back. “Oh, no...”

He plopped the helmet on her head. “You don’t ride?”

“No.”

“Then this is the perfect day for you to start.” He put a helmet on his head. When he spoke his voice came to her through a speaker by her ear. “You’ll love this.”

She had the horrible feeling of going from the frying pan into the fire, but if anything would make her forget that her dad didn’t need her help—didn’t want her help—fear for her life would probably accomplish it.

He climbed on a small, rather simple bike.

She looked at him. “
This
is the royal motorcycle?”

“This is a bike no one looks at twice. In jeans and a T-shirt, with a helmet on my head, I’m just another guy out for a ride on a bike.”

She climbed on behind him. “Good point.”

He was right. Maybe what she needed was even for
her
to forget she was a princess.

CHAPTER NINE

A
LEX
REVVED
THE
engine and headed for a garage door that automatically opened when they got close. A warm sun beat down on them, but as soon as he turned them onto the road that wove through the trees, the air cooled.

Eva clung to him, obviously a first-time rider. But the farther they got into the woods, the more her grip loosened.

He missed it. As happy as he was that she’d relaxed, he missed having her arms wrapped tightly around him for support. He knew something was wrong. He’d expected her to be thrilled her dad was safe, and had a plan in process. Instead, she seemed confused, disoriented. So he vowed that no matter what it took today, he would distract her.

They drove and drove. Up a mountain, through another patch of trees. The feeling of the wind swirling around him always calmed him, and he could feel her relaxing behind him.

Finally, the house came into view. A nine-bedroom, two-story stone monstrosity with brown shutters and a wide wooden porch that ran across the entire front and curved around the right side, the house had been designed as a retreat, a place for the Sancho family to be a family. Not royalty. Not rulers. Just people.

He heard her small gasp through the system of mics in their helmets.

“It’s gorgeous.”

“It’s old,” he said flatly. “And in general need of repairs.”

He drove the bike down the winding road that took them to the aging country house. He punched the alarm code into the box by the gate. It swung open, and they rode through, then the gate automatically closed behind them.

Standing on the front porch, he used another code for the house alarm.

As he reached for the knob to open the door, she glanced around nervously. “You’re not worried about security?”

“We’re fine here. I’ll bet nobody even realizes we’re gone. I told my guards we’d ring when we were ready to head for town. If I don’t ring, they’ll just think we decided not to go out.”

He opened the door revealing a dusty foyer. Furniture was covered with cloths. Cobwebs danced like streamers from the chandelier to all four corners.

He batted them away so Eva wouldn’t have to walk through them. “Just FYI, the press knows this is the house we would be living in if we got married.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s already crowded in the palace. It’s a gift to be given a real home.”

She stepped around a chair that had been placed haphazardly in the foyer, as if someone had been moving it to storage and forgotten it.

“How long has it been since anyone’s been here?”

He didn’t even have to think about it. “Since my mom’s death.”

She faced him. Her eyes filled with apology, the first real emotion he’d seen from her since her call with her dad. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Some things are just facts.”

Her eyes softened. “Facts to me. Sorrow for you.”

He sniffed a laugh. “At one time. But I’m accustomed to it, remember? I’m the guy with the walls.” He led her out of the foyer to the huge room beside it. The dusty fireplace was the only thing not covered by cloths.

“You have a fireplace!”

“We only used it to hang stockings at Christmas.”

She walked over, ran her hand along the rich wood of the mantel, sending dust flying. “So you had Christmases here?”

“Actually we came here a lot. My mother believed that living where he worked kept my dad from relaxing. So most weekends she’d bring him here.”

But Christmas memories were the strongest and they floated to him. Trays of cookies and tea. Mountains of presents wrapped in shiny foil. His mother laughing.

They walked through a sitting room and formal dining room, an office, and a craft room that had been his mother’s, down a long corridor to a ballroom.

“You have a ballroom in a country house?”

“My father always hosted a grand party.”

She walked inside. Her voice echoed around her when she said, “Wow.”

But he suddenly pictured the room clean, decorated for the holidays as it had been when his mom was alive. He could see Eva in her red gown, greeting guests at the door because parties here had been formal, but comfortable...wonderful.

He shook his head to clear the haze. “Let me show you the kitchen.”

Rather than a huge restaurant kitchen designed for a staff, the room was small, intimate. His mother had created it that way. After the big party, she would dismiss the servants—let them have their holiday. Then she would make Christmas or Easter breakfast and dinner. He and Dom would stay in their PJs and lean against the center island as she cooked.

“Oh, I could see myself making pizza on that island.”

“You make pizza?”

She laughed. “I love to cook.”

“My mom did too.”

“Let me guess. That was part of your holiday tradition. That she cooked.”

He walked around the room slowly, memories tripping over themselves in his head. He might have only been eight when his mom died, but he remembered enough to fill a lifetime.

“When we were here we were normal.”

“You’re not now?”

He caught her gaze. “My father’s a king. My brother will be a king. And I’m the extra guy who hangs around in case my brother dies.” He shook his head. “We’re kind of creepy.”

“It’s only creepy if you focus on it.”

“Which is why I lived the kind of life I did before this mess with your dad started. I didn’t want to think about it, let alone focus on it.”

“You still fit. If you’ve felt left out before this, it was by your own choosing.”

“Says the woman who went to America to be herself and have a good time before she becomes a queen.”

She stiffened. “Is that how you see me?”

He shrugged. “It appears, Princess, to be how you want to be seen. You’re the woman who doesn’t want to be queen, remember? You just want to rule long enough for your oldest son to be groomed for the top spot.”

She stiffened again. And he had absolutely no idea why. She’d told him that herself.

But rather than admit it or tell him to shut up, she looked around the kitchen. “I know how I’d remodel this room.”

He laughed at her quick change of subject. “Really?”

“White cabinets. Probably a marble countertop. Updated appliances. And a long oak table over there.” She pointed at a space by French doors that looked out over a garden. “With four chairs and a bench for kids, so they could nudge each other and misbehave.”

He laughed. “You can tell you haven’t been around kids much. Misbehaving children aren’t fun.”

“For adults. But I’ll bet it’s fun to be one.”

He remembered himself and Dom wrestling like two bear cubs and couldn’t lie. “It is.”

And suddenly he saw the room the way she saw it. White cabinets. Marble countertops. Chairs filled with kids. Laughter mixing with the scent of burning toast.

“You want a family, don’t you?”

She glanced around again at the cobweb-filled room, smiling, obviously not seeing the dust. “Being an only child is miserable.” She motioned around the kitchen. “For decades I thought this was what I wanted. A real house. A place for memories and kids. Lot of kids. Breakfast, lunch, dinner.” She sighed. “Birthday parties and horseback riding lessons. Managing schedules and dance classes.”

“You wanted to be a mom.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, as if furious. “I’m a queen.”

He frowned, confused. “But not forever. You said you only want to rule in the space between your dad and your future son.”

Her gaze met his. “You knew my dad intended to coax an internet company to Grennady.”

Another change of subject. Still, he kept up. “I gave him the idea.”

Her face whitened. “In secret meetings with him?”

“Not meetings. Conference calls. One every day for the past few days.”

When her mouth fell open in what looked to be disbelief, he defensively said, “I am in charge of your protection.”

She whirled away from him. “I’m the next ruler of my country! I should have been in on those calls!”

And suddenly it all made sense to Alex. Not only was she out of the loop, but also their positions had reversed. When they met, he was a happy-go-lucky prince with no ambition and she was a princess devoted to duty. Now, he had jobs and her dad had hidden her away.

“Hey, look, I’m sorry.” He raised his hands in apology. “If it’s any consolation, I liked you enough to want to protect you.”

She sniffed a laugh. “Yeah. Sure. That makes it all better.”

“And my dad’s not the only one thrilled that I’ve gotten off my duff and found a place in our kingdom. Dom is also thrilled. I am thrilled. And we owe it all to you. You motivated me to do things I would have never believed possible.”

He watched the truth of that settle in on her, and pushed when another man might have let her wallow in her deserved misery. “You redeemed me. You probably had the biggest role of all of us.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty great.”

He laughed. “Don’t try to kid a kidder. It’s no fun being the one in the background. I’ve lived that life. But though you’re in the background, you still played a part. Everything you’ve done has served a purpose. Plus, your dad brought you into the big picture situation during that telephone conversation this afternoon. And he still needs time, which you are buying by going through with a wedding to me.”

She sort of laughed, so he walked over, put a finger under her chin and lifted her face until their eyes met.

“So what? You don’t want to marry me now?”

* * *

Eva’s heart skipped a beat. He seemed to realize how different he was, how strong. Not that he hadn’t been attractive before. But this smart, committed version of the sexy guy she’d been seeing was nearly irresistible.

“I’ll do whatever my king needs me to do.”

“I also think it’s time you and your dad had a chat about your job.”

She laughed. “Two weeks as a working member of your palace staff and suddenly you think everybody needs a job?”

“I don’t think everybody needs a job. I think your years in America were the whim of a young princess finding her feet. I think this crisis showed you who you want to be.”

Oh, lord. He was right. And she didn’t have a clue what to do about it. “It has.”

“So now you have to make sure the talk you have with your dad sinks in. Make sure he understands you’re not a pampered daughter holding a place until a new man comes along to take over. You’re a smart woman, more than capable of ruling.”

And when he talked like that, she wanted to melt at his feet.

He grinned at her. “Need help talking to your dad?”

She laughed again, but this time she also swatted him. “Stop.”

“What? I can be very helpful.”

She knew he meant it jokingly but the truth was this Alex, this smart Alex, could be very helpful. She could see him heading up her palace’s royal guard. See him being a trusted husband, advisor.

And she found herself at the place where the charade became scary. These weeks had grown him enough, changed him enough that he would be the perfect husband for her.

Now she had nothing to battle with. Nothing to help her resist the feelings she was getting for him. Three weeks ago he might have been the absolute worst choice for a queen to take as a mate. Right now? He was perfect.

Not to mention gorgeous. Sexy. Fun. He’d known she’d needed time away and he’d given it to her.

How was she supposed to resist this guy?

“Come on,” he said. “What would you cook if you were mum here?”

She shook her head, hoping to shake off her ridiculously sober mood. They’d use this time to make a plan about talking to her dad, about her place in her kingdom, which she would implement when they returned to Grennady. But he didn’t want to be her husband and she had to respect that. She needed to show him she was fine.

She walked to the big center island, pictured it white with a big marble countertop. “I’d make pancakes.”

“I love pancakes.”

“How about apple?”

“I could be persuaded to try one.”

She laughed, but her heart shattered. She could see them in this kitchen. Before she became queen there’d be plenty of time to be a real family, to teach their kids the things she and Alex hadn’t learned because their parents didn’t know to teach them. She could see the dark-eyed, dark-haired little boy who would take the throne after her. She could see the dark-haired, blue-eyed little girl who’d be Daddy’s favorite. She could see Alex as a daddy, know he’d love the role.

But he couldn’t see it. Because he didn’t want it.

It was one thing to grow enough that he could take his place in his country’s royal family. Quite another to take down those walls around his heart.