Becoming the Prince's Wife (Princes of Europe) (9 page)

She shook her head. “Hardly, but we’re all hoping this venture will be a success.”

“Anything Valentino puts his mind to is certain to produce excellent results.” She heard a nuance of deeper emotion in his response. Still staring at her, he said, “I’ll bring some white wine that is perfect with the fish. Anything you want, just ask.”

“Thank you.”

The two men exchanged a private glance before Matteo disappeared from the terrace. Valentino sat down opposite her. A slight breeze caused the candle to flicker, drawing her attention to his striking features. She averted her eyes to stop making a feast of him.

“Where did you meet Matteo?”

“At the college in Catania.”

“Is he married?”

“Not yet. He was studying geology when his father took ill and died. The family needed Matteo to keep this place running, so he had to leave school.”

“Wasn’t there anyone else to help?”

“His mother and his siblings, but his father always relied on Matteo and didn’t like the idea of him going to college.”

“Matteo’s the eldest?”

“Yes.”

“Like the way your father relied on you rather than your younger brother?”

He stared at her through shuttered eyes. “Yes, when you put it that way.”

“I can see why. After watching you as you talked with the farmers today, I think you should be the one featured on the film, Val. You’re a natural leader.”

Before she could hear his response, Matteo brought them their dinner and poured the wine. “Enjoy your meal.”

“I’m sure it’s going to taste as good as it smells. I think I’m in heaven already,” she told him.

“Put it in writing that you were in heaven after eating the meal, and I’ll frame it to hang on the wall with the testimonials of other celebrities who’ve eaten here. But none of them will be as famous as you.”

Gentle laughter fell from her lips. “Except for the prince, who is in a category by himself.”

“Agreed.”

“What category is that?” Valentino asked after Matteo had left them alone.

“Isn’t it obvious?” She started eating, then drank some wine.

He picked at his food, which wasn’t at all like him. “For one night can’t you forget who I am?” Suddenly his mood had turned darker and she felt his tension.

Over the glass, she said, “No more than you can. We all have a destiny. I saw you in action today and am so impressed with your knowledge and caring, I can’t put it into words. All I know is that you should be the one featured on the video, not me.

“There’s an intelligence in you that would convince anyone of anything. First thing tomorrow, I’m flying back to Arancia while you get this video done on your own. Then your mother will have no more reason to be worried.”

His brows furrowed in displeasure. “Much as she would like you to be gone, you can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re under contract to Vincenzo and me.” As if she could forget. “The economic future of our two countries is resting on our new plan of which you are now an integral part.”

She fought for breath. “But once I’ve finished the other video session in Arancia, then my work will be done. Just so you understand, I’m leaving Gemelli tomorrow after the filming and won’t be seeing you again.”

“Which presents a problem for me since I never want you out of my sight. Not
ever,
”
he added in a husky whisper.

She couldn’t stop her trembling. “Please don’t say things like that to me. A relationship outside a royal engagement or marriage could only be a tawdry, scandalous affair, so why are you talking like this?”

“Because I’m obsessed with you,” he claimed with primitive force. “If it’s not love, then it’s better than love. I’ve never been in love, but whatever this feeling is, it’s not going away. In fact, it’s getting worse, much worse. I’m already a changed man. Believe me, this is an entirely new experience for me.”

Incredulous, she shook her head. “We hardly know each other.”

“How long did it take you to fall in love with your fiancé?”

She let out a small cry. “How did you find out I had a fiancé?”

“Who else but Abby.”

“I wish she hadn’t said anything.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Berto and I were friends on neighboring farms before we fell in love. It’s not the same thing at all.”

“Obviously not. At the swimming pool last week you and I experienced a phenomenon as strong as a pyroclastic eruption. It not only shook the ground beneath us
before
we were up on the volcano, it shook my entire world so much I don’t know myself anymore.”

“Please don’t say that!” She half moaned the words in panic.

“Because you know it’s true?” he retorted. “Even if you weren’t the perfect person to do this video for us, I would have found another means to be with you. I’ve given you all the honesty in me. Now I want all your honesty back. Did you agree to do this video because you wanted to help and felt it was your duty because of your friendship with Abby? Or are you here because you couldn’t stay away from me?”

She buried her face in her hands. “Don’t ask me that.”

“I have to. You and I met. It’s a fact of life. Your answer is of vital importance to me because I don’t want to make a mistake.”

“What mistake? What on earth do you mean?”

“We’ll discuss it on the way back to the palace. Would you care for dessert?”

“I—I couldn’t.” Her voice faltered.

“That makes two of us.”

When Matteo appeared, they both thanked him for the delicious food. He followed them out to the limo where they said their goodbyes.

Once inside, Valentino sat across from her as they left the restaurant and headed back to the city. He leaned forward. “Tell me about your fiancé. How did he die?”

She swallowed hard. “I’d rather not get into it.”

“We’re going to have to.” He wasn’t about to let this go until he had answers.

“Th-there was an accident.”

“Were you with him when it happened?”

Tears scalded her eyelids. “Yes.”

“Is it still so painful you can’t talk about it?”

“Yes.”

“Because you made it happen.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“In what way?”

Just remembering that awful day caused her lungs to freeze. “I was helping him with his farm chores and told him I would drive the almond harvester while he sat up by the yellow contraption. You know, the kind that opens into a big upside-down umbrella to catch all the almonds at once?”

“I do. More almonds can be harvested with fewer helpers.”

She nodded. “He said for me to stay back at the house, but I insisted on driving because I wanted to help him. I’d driven our family’s tractor and knew what to do. We’d get the work done a lot faster. Berto finally agreed. As we were crossing over a narrow bridge, I got too close to the wall and the tractor tipped. Though I jumped out in time, he was thrown into the stream below.

“The umbrella was so heavy, it trapped his face in six inches of water. He couldn’t breathe—I couldn’t get to him or move it and had to run for help. By the time his family came, it was too late. He’d...drowned.”

In the next second Valentino joined her on the seat and pulled her into his arms.

“I’m so sorry, Carolena.”

“It was my fault, Val. I killed him.” She couldn’t stop sobbing.

He rocked her for a long time. “Of course you didn’t. It was an accident.”

“But I shouldn’t have insisted on driving him.”

“Couldn’t he have told you no?”

She finally lifted her head. Only then did he realize she’d soaked his polo shirt. “I made it too difficult for him. My grandmother told me I could be an impossible child at times.”

Valentino chuckled and hugged her against his side. “It was a tragic accident, but never forget he wanted you with him because he loved you. Do you truly believe he would have expected you to go on suffering over it for years and years?”

“No,” she whispered, “not when you put it that way.”

“It’s the only way to put it.” His arms tightened around her. “Abby told me he was the great love of your life.”

No. Abby was wrong. Berto had been her
first
love. Until his death she’d thought he’d be her only love. But the
great
love of her life, the one man forbidden to her, was holding her right now. She needed to keep that truth from him.

“As I told you before, I’ll always love Berto. Forgive me for having broken down like that.”

CHAPTER FIVE

V
ALENTINO
KISSED
HER
hair. “I’m glad you did. Now there are no more secrets between us.” Before Carolena could stop him, he rained kisses all the way to her mouth, dying for his first taste of her. She turned her head away, but he chased her around until he found the voluptuous mouth he’d been aching for.

At first she resisted, but he increased the pressure until her lips opened, as if she couldn’t help herself. He felt the ground shake beneath him as she began to respond with a growing passion he’d known was there once she allowed herself to let go.

Because they were outside the entrance and would need to go in shortly, he couldn’t do more than feast on her luscious mouth. His lips roved over each feature, her eyelids, the satin skin of her throat, then came back to that mouth, giving him a kind of pleasure he’d never known before.

They kept finding new ways to satisfy their burning longing for each other until he didn’t know if it was his moan or hers resounding in the limo.
“Carolena—”
he cried in a husky voice. “I want you so badly I’m in pain.”

“So am I.” She pulled as far away from him as she could. “But this can’t go on. It should never have happened. Have you told Vincenzo about me?”

“No.”

“I’m thankful for that. After being on the yacht with you, I suppose this was inevitable. Maybe it’s just as well we’ve gotten this out of our system now.”

He buried his face in her neck. “I have news for you,
bellissima.
You don’t get this kind of fire out of your system. It burns hotter and hotter without cessation. Now that I know how you feel about me, we need to have a serious talk about whether I get married or not.”

Her body started to tremble.
“What did you say?”

“You heard me. I made a vow to myself and my mother there’d be no more women, and I meant it. So what just happened between us means an earthshaking development has taken place we have to dea—”

“Your Highness?” a voice spoke over the mic, interrupting him. “We’ve arrived.”

Carolena let out a gasp. “I can’t get out yet. I can’t let the staff see me like this—”

He smiled. “There’s no way to hide the fact that you’ve been thoroughly kissed. How can I help?”

“Hand me my bag so I can at least put on some lipstick.”

“You have a becoming rash, all my fault.”

She groaned. “I can feel it. I’ll have to put on some powder.”

“Your bag and your hat,
signorina.
Anything else?”

“Don’t come near me again.”

“I’m accompanying you to your apartment. Are you ready?”

“No.” She sounded frantic. “You get out first. I’ll follow in a minute.”

“Take your time. We’re not in a hurry.” He pressed another hot kiss to her swollen lips before exiting the limo a man reborn. This had to be the way the captive slave felt emerging from his prison as Michelangelo chipped away the marble to free him.

In a minute she emerged and hurried inside the palace. Valentino trailed in her wake. He followed her into her apartment and shut the door. But he rested against it and folded his arms.

“Now we can talk about us in total privacy.”

She whirled around to face him. “There
is
no us, Val. If you were a mere man engaged to a woman you didn’t love, you could always break your engagement in order to be with a person you truly care about. In fact, it would be the moral thing to do for both your sakes.”

“I hear a but,” he interjected. “You were about to say that since I’m a prince, I can’t break an engagement because it would be immoral. Is that what you’re saying?”

A gasp escaped her lips. “A royal engagement following a royal betrothal between two families who’ve been involved for years is hardly the same thing.”

“Royal or not, an engagement is an engagement. It’s a time to make certain that the impending marriage will bring fulfillment. My sister hoped with all her heart the marriage to Vincenzo would bring about that magic because she loved him, but he wasn’t in love with her and it never happened.”

“I know. We’ve been over this before,” Carolena said in a quiet voice. “But you made a vow to yourself and your family after your uncle Stefano’s death. I agreed to come to Gemelli in order to help you and Vincenzo. I—I rationalized to myself that our intense attraction couldn’t go anywhere. Not with your wedding dawning.

“But now for you to be willing to break your engagement to be with me is absolutely terrifying. You’ve helped me to get over my guilt for Berto’s death, but I refuse to be responsible for your breakup with Princess Alexandra. You made a promise—”

“That’s true. I promised to fulfill my royal duty. But that doesn’t mean I have to marry Alexandra. After what you and I shared a few minutes ago, I need more time. Day after tomorrow parliament convenes. You and I have forty-eight hours before my wedding is officially announced to the media.
Or not.
”

If he was saying what she thought he was saying...

“You’re scaring me, Val!”

“That’s good. On the yacht you had the power to keep me from your bed, which you ultimately did. Your decision stopped us from taking the next step. But tonight everything changed.

“Whatever your answer is now, it will have eternal consequences for both of us because you know we’re on fire for each other in every sense of the word. Otherwise you would never have met with me and Vincenzo to discuss our project in the first place. Admit it.”

She couldn’t take any more. “You’re putting an enormous burden on me—”

“Now you know how
I
feel.”

“I can’t give you an answer. You’re going to be king in seven weeks!”

“That’s the whole point of this conversation. There’ll be no coronation without a marriage. I’ll need your answer by tomorrow night after the taping here is finished. Once parliament opens its session the next morning and the date for my wedding is announced, it will be too late for us.”

Carolena was in agony. “That’s not fair!”

His features hardened. “Since when was love ever fair? I thought you found that out when your fiancé died. I learned it when my sister died before she could hold her own baby.”

Tears ran down her cheeks once more. “I can’t think right now.”

“By tomorrow evening you’re going to have to! Until then we’ll set this aside and concentrate on our mission to put Gemelli and Arancia on the world map agriculturally.”

“How can we possibly do that? You’ve done a lot more than proposition me. I can hardly take it in.”

“That’s why I’m giving you all night to think about it. I want a relationship with you, Carolena. I’m willing to break my long-standing engagement to Princess Alexandra in order to be with you. In the end she’ll thank me for it. Gemelli doesn’t need a king yet.”

“You can’t mean it!”

“Had I not told you of my engagement, we would have spent that night on the yacht together. But the fact that I
did
tell you proved how important you were to me. I realized I wanted much more from you than one night of passion beneath the stars. Sleeping together to slake our desire could never be the same thing as having a full relationship.”

His logic made so much sense she was in utter turmoil.

“However, there is one thing I need to know up front. If your love for Berto is too all consuming and he’s the one standing in the way of letting me into your life, just tell me the truth right now. If the answer is yes, then I swear that once this video is made, I’ll see you off on the jet tomorrow night and our paths will never cross again.”

She knew Valentino meant what he said with every fiber of his being. He’d been so honest with her, it hurt. If she told him anything less she’d be a hypocrite.

“I would never have wanted to sleep with you if I hadn’t already put Berto away in my heart.”

“That’s what I thought,” he murmured in satisfaction.

“But when you speak of a relationship, we’re talking long-distance. With you up on the volcano while I’m in court in a different country... How long could it last before you’re forced to give me up and find a royal bride in order to be king? Your mother would despise me. Abby would never approve, nor would Vincenzo. The pressure would build until I couldn’t stand the shame of it.”

His eyes became slits. “Do you love me? That’s all I want to know.”

Carolena loved him, all right. But when he ended it—and he’d be the one to do it—she’d want to die. “Love isn’t everything, Val.”

“That’s not what I wanted to hear, Carolena.”

“I thought you gave me until tomorrow evening for my answer.”

“I made you a promise and I’ll keep it. Now it’s getting late. I’ll say good-night here and see you at eight in the morning in this very spot.
Buona notte,
Carolena.”

* * *

Valentino was headed for his suite in the palace when his brother came out of the shadows at the top of the stairs wearing jeans and a sport shirt instead of his uniform. “Vito? What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were coming!”

They gave each other a hug. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Together they entered his apartment. “I take it you’ve been with mother.”

“
Sí.
She phoned me last week and asked me to come ASAP.” Valentino had a strong hunch why she’d sent for her second son. “I arranged for my furlough early and got here this afternoon.”

“It’s good to see you.” They sat down in the chairs placed around the coffee table. “How long will you be here?”

“Long enough for me to find out why our mother is so worried about you. Why don’t you tell me about the woman you took up on the volcano last week before you spent part of the night dancing with her on the yacht. And all this happening
after
you’d set the date for your marriage to Alexandra.”

Valentino couldn’t stay seated and got out of the chair. “Do you want a beer?”

“Sure.”

He went in the kitchen and pulled two bottles out of the fridge. After they’d both taken a few swallows, Vito said, “I’m waiting.”

“I’m aware of that. My problem is finding a way to tell you something that’s going to shock the daylights out of you.”

With a teasing smile, Vito sat back in the chair and put his feet up on the coffee table. “You mean that at the midnight hour, you suddenly came upon the woman of your dreams.”

Valentino couldn’t laugh about this. “It was evening, actually. I’d just come from the helicopter. Carolena was in the swimming pool ready to take a dive.”

“Aphrodite in the flesh.”

“Better. Much better.” The vision of her in that bathing suit never left him. He finished off the rest of his beer and put the empty bottle on the table.

“Abby’s best friend, I understand. Did I hear mother right? She’s helping you and Vincenzo with a marketing video?”

He took a deep breath. “Correct.” Valentino explained the project to his brother.

“I’m impressed with your idea, but you still haven’t answered my question.” Vito sat forward. “What is this woman to you? If word gets back to Alexandra about your dining and dancing with her on the yacht, you could hurt her a great deal.”

Valentino stared hard at his brother, surprised at the extent of the caring he heard in his voice. “For the first time in my life I’m in love, Vito.”

“You?”

He nodded solemnly. “I mean irrevocably in love.”

The news robbed his brother of speech.

“I can’t marry Alexandra. There’ll be no wedding or coronation in August, no announcement to Parliament.”

Color left Vito’s face before he put his bottle down and got to his feet. He was visibly shaken by the news.

“Until I met Carolena, I deluded myself into thinking Alexandra and I could make our marriage work by having children. Now I realize our wedding will only doom us both to a life of sheer unhappiness. I don’t love her and she doesn’t love me the way Michelina loved Vincenzo.

“Despite what our parents wanted and planned for,
I
don’t want that kind of marriage for either of us. Tomorrow evening I’m planning to fly to Cyprus and break our engagement. The news will set her free. Hopefully she’ll find a man she can really love, even if it causes a convulsion within our families.”

Somehow he expected to see and hear outrage from his brother, but Vito did neither. He simply eyed him with an enigmatic expression. “You won’t have to fly there. Mother has invited her here for dinner tomorrow evening.”

His brows lifted. “That doesn’t surprise me. Under the circumstances, I’m glad she’ll be here. After I see Carolena off on her flight back to Arancia, I’ll be able to concentrate on Alexandra.”

“What are you planning to do with Carolena? You can’t marry her, and Mother doesn’t want to rule any longer.”

Valentino cocked his head. “I’m not the only son. You’re second in line. All you’d have to do is resign your commission in the military and get married to Princess Regina. Mother would step down so you could rule. As long as one of us is willing, she’ll be happy.”

“Be serious,” he snapped. “I’m not in love with Regina.”

His quick-fire response led Valentino to believe his brother was in love with someone else. “Who is she, Vito?”

“What do you mean?”

“The woman you
do
love.” His brother averted his eyes, telling Valentino he’d been right about him.

“Falling in love has totally changed you, Val.”

“It has awakened me to what’s really important. Carolena makes me feel truly alive for the first time in my life!”

Vito shook his head in disbelief. “When am I going to meet her?”

“The next time I can arrange it.”

“When will you tell Mother you’re breaking your engagement?”

“After I’ve talked to Alexandra and we’ve spoken to her parents. Will you meet the princes at the plane for me? Carolena and I will be finishing up the filming about that time. You’d be doing me a huge favor.”

His brother blinked like someone in a state of shock. “If that’s what you want.” When he reached the door to leave, he glanced around. “Val? Once you’ve broken with Alexandra, you can’t go back.”