Her Royal Masquerade (Her Royal Romance) (14 page)

She smiled more for the light-hearted grin on his face than for the erotic thrill of anticipation. She slipped one strap off her shoulder. “And what do you have in mind, Your Highness?”

Dinner was slightly cold when they finally sat down to eat. Mia was wrapped up in a robe that slipped like soft silk along her skin. It was one of the many things now hanging in the closet that she had not purchased. As they ate the food expertly prepared by a gourmet chef, drank the wine chosen by the royal wine steward, Mia began to lose the warm, relaxed feeling she’d had after hot loving with Vittorio.

She was so out of her depth. She was the kind of woman who fixed her own dinner in her little kitchen, drank wine only on special occasions, and wore a robe made of warm flannel. She didn’t need anything more than this meal to reminder her that she didn’t belong here.

Mia couldn’t forget that he’d felt the need to buy her all these clothes because she obviously couldn’t manage an appropriate wardrobe on her own. Fancy food. Fine wine. Expensive clothing. He didn’t know any other way. Did he think all these things were part of the reason she agreed to stay?

“You look beautiful in that robe,” Vittorio told her, as if he could tell what she’d been thinking about. He traced little circles with his finger on the back of her hand. “The ice blue color reminds me of the gown you were wearing when I first saw you.”

“You shouldn’t have bought it,” she snapped, because she knew he didn’t get it. She pulled her hand away because she didn’t want to soften to him. She knew he saw how out of place she was here. “You shouldn’t have bought me any of the things that fill that huge closet in there. I didn’t want them.”

“I thought we’d gone over this,” he said, impatiently.

“It’s too much. I don’t need all those clothes, Vittorio. I could be gone tomorrow. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I wanted to give you some beautiful clothes.” She opened her mouth to tell him again that she didn’t need them, but he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I was thinking that you would look beautiful in them. I was thinking that they might make you smile. Whether you are here a day or a week or longer, I was thinking that I can’t give you much, but I can give you a few pretty things.”

“Now you make me sound ungrateful,” she mumbled.

He laughed. “You do sound ungrateful.”

His laughter took her by surprise, but it was light-hearted, not mean-spirited. “I don’t want you to think that I’m sleeping with you so that you will buy me things. I don’t
want
you buying me things.”

Vittorio leaned across the small table and kissed her soundly. “I won’t buy you any more clothes. Will that make you feel better?”

“I suppose,” she said and took a small sip of wine because she felt a bit foolish now to have complained. It really was a delicious wine.

“Good, because I have something else for you.”

“Oh, Vittorio…”

“It’s not a piece of clothing. I promise.” He reached for the jacket he’d taken off earlier and pulled a long, narrow jewelry box out of the pocket. “Now before you yell at me and tell me that you don’t want it, let me say in my defense that I know you are not here because you want me to buy you expensive clothing and jewelry.” He kissed her again and the heat from his lips made her tingle. “I am fully aware that I forced your hand and you had no choice in the matter. But it is not even that knowledge that motivated me. When I saw it, I thought it would suit you.”

He opened the box and handed it to her. “I simply want you to have it.”

Mia gasped at the long strand of small, perfect diamonds set in a delicate silver chain. It wasn’t ornate or ostentatious. The stones were nothing like the large diamonds in the necklace Birgitte had loaned her for the ball. This necklace was simple, elegant, and she realized that maybe he did understand her after all.

“Oh, Vittorio.” She knew she should tell him it was too much. Too expensive. Knew she should tell him she didn’t want it. But she traced the sparkling stones with a shaky finger and couldn’t lie to him this time. “It’s lovely. Thank you.”

Vittorio took the necklace out of the box and rounded the table to stand behind her. He swept her long hair to the side and dropped a warm kiss to her shoulder. Then he fastened the necklace around her neck. The stones were cool against her skin but quickly warmed.

Mia stood and turned into his arms. She showed him her thanks with a long, hot kiss. Dinner was abandoned and they made love again with Mia wearing only the long strand of diamonds around her neck.

Birgitte still hadn’t called by the next morning. After Vittorio left her alone again, Mia placed a call to her parents and another one to her aunt and uncle. No one knew where Birgitte was. Her picture hadn’t turned up in any of the celebrity rags or news shows. Mia wondered why she was hiding out. Did it have something to do with Vittorio?

Mia knew she had to find a way to make herself useful around here, besides warming the prince’s bed. There was an experienced staff to take care of everything that needed to be done around the palace. She’d enjoyed spending time with the children yesterday, but she didn’t want to disrupt their routine when she was only here temporarily.

She was drawn again to the view of the neglected Queen’s Garden. If she needed permission to tend the sad spot, she could think of only one person who might give it to her. She should have paid her respects before now anyway.

Tony was waiting on the other side of the door. “Is the King well enough to have a visitor?” she asked.

Soon she was led to a large suite of rooms on the other side of the palace. She found King Alberto sitting in a wheelchair by a sunny window. He smiled at her and motioned her to a chair facing him.

She curtsied. “Good morning, Your Majesty.” She sat in the comfortable chair, suddenly nervous. She was used to talking with the king of Stagatland, but he was her uncle. Even though King Alberto looked frail, intelligence and power were clear in his eyes, and she suddenly felt intimidated as she never had with Vittorio.

“Mia, is it?”

She thought she was done blushing, but her cheeks grew warm. “Yes, Your Majesty. I’m not sure how much Vittorio told you…”

“He said that Princess Birgitte was unable to accept our invitation and sent you in her place.”

The king phrased the situation much more generously that his son had. “That about sums it up,” she replied. “I am sorry to have deceived you.”

The king’s smile looked extra wide in his thin face. “No matter. You represented Stagatland very well. You understand we would have welcomed Mia Holmberg just as warmly as Princess Birgitte?”

She wasn’t sure she believed that. “That’s nice of you to say, sir. But it wasn’t that simple. My name wasn’t on the invitation.”

He tilted his head and shook it slightly, as if humoring her. “A simple request to issue a new invitation would have remedied the situation.”

Mia laughed lightly. “Of course, you are right. I’ll remember to suggest that to my cousin.” She dropped the smile. Vittorio would never have approached her on the dance floor if he hadn’t thought she was Birgitte. Would that have been a good thing? She shrugged. She’d never know. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to stand in for Birgitte any longer. She’s going to have to deal with her own issues from now on.”

The king nodded, studied her intently for a moment. “I can see why you have caught my son’s eye.”

“I didn’t intend to,” she said quickly. This entire conversation was so awkward, but she had to forge on. “I know I won’t be here long, Your Majesty, but I am feeling useless and I’m accustomed to keeping busy. I would like to help in some way in order to pay back your hospitality.”

“The hospitality is given freely. We would not expect you to pay back anything.”

“I appreciate that, sir. But there is the danger that I may go crazy as well.” Mia looked out the window and saw the view from this room was similar to Vittorio’s. She thought it was not a coincidence that the King’s chambers looked down on the Queen’s Garden. “I imagine the

Queen’s Garden was impressive in its time.”

The king glanced out the window, then looked back to Mia. “The queen’s thumb was very green. She would spend hours out there making the garden flourish. It made her happy.”

“I would like to ask your permission to work in the garden while I am here. To honor the memory of all the queens who have ruled here and tended that bit of land.”

He frowned, the expression so similar to the prince’s. “Vittorio told you that only the Queen of Mezzano can work that garden?”

“He did, sir, but I think it is so sad to see the garden of the queen so neglected. Would you not rather see it blooming and beautiful and alive, a fitting tribute to the queen? I would not make any changes, Your Majesty. I would merely tend to the flowers and arrangements that are already there.”

“You are a gardener as well as a teacher?” He didn’t sound skeptical, merely curious.

“They both bring me joy, Your Majesty.” She cleared her throat. “You know I will not be here long. I may not have time to do much but if the garden is to honor the queens who have ruled this country, as well as a place for them to leave their mark, then I’m certain your very talented royal gardeners can carry on the task.”

“You put forth a good argument, Miss Holmberg. But do you think I should change what has been hundreds of years of tradition because you are bored?”

“No, sir.” Mia lifted her chin in a confident way that would have made her cousin proud. “I ask you to consider because there are times when change makes sense. When tradition no longer serves its purpose.”

King Alberto studied her with the same dark gaze his son had inherited. “You are an intelligent and thoughtful woman, my dear.” He surprised Mia by taking her hand and dropping a kiss onto the back of her knuckles. “I agree with you. I can think of no one better to tend the Queen’s Garden. I will speak with the head gardener and have him put his staff at your disposal.” “Thank you, Your Majesty. You won’t regret it when you see it blooming again.”

He squeezed her hand and looked at her with sad eyes. “Yes. I hope I will not regret it.”

Vittorio waited in the shadows until Mia left his father’s chambers. He was surprised that his father had agreed to let Mia work in the Queen’s Garden, but he wasn’t surprised that she’d put forth a well thought out argument.

He took again the chair he’d vacated when Mia had arrived. They finished the discussion they had started before the interruption, then his father surprised him by raising a shaky hand to place on Vittorio’s head.

“Be careful, my son.” His hand dropped to his lap.

“Careful?”

“I was a young man once too. I see the way you look at her. Hear the way you speak of her.” Vittorio followed his father’s gaze out the window to see Mia had dressed in her old clothes again and was already on her knees on the dry ground. Her light hair shone beneath the sun.

He shrugged, doing his best to make the gesture lazy and uncaring. “She is merely a pleasant diversion until I can propose a marriage agreement to Princess Birgitte.”

His father shook his head slowly. “I’ve been able to tell when you were lying since you were a young boy.”

“And what good would it do to admit I have any feelings for her?” he demanded.

“None,” his father agreed. “The decree for royal marriages is quite clear. It is not the same as the unwritten tradition of the Queen’s Garden. The Mezzano royal family must marry a member of royalty. It is written.”

“I know.” Still, Vittorio couldn’t bear the thought of sending Mia back to Stagatland and bringing Birgitte here as if they were interchangeable.

“We are a hot-blooded people, yes? It makes us passionate, Vittorio. But it can also make us reckless. There is a danger you might lead with your heart instead of your head. The ruler of a nation does not have that luxury.” The king looked out the window at Mia and Vittorio couldn’t resist doing the same. Her hands were buried in the earth, a smile on her face. “You are already distracted, my son. A king cannot afford to be distracted.”

Vittorio nodded. If he’d learned anything over the last few days, it was that he could no longer think like a man. He had to think like the future king of Mezzano. If his life had ever been his own, he had to accept that it no longer was.

Unless…

Vittorio froze as a possibility wormed its way into his mind. Unless he stepped down.

Walked away from his title. Turned his back on his family.

Even as a quick sense of freedom burst in his chest, like a deep breath of crisp, clean air, Vittorio pushed it away. It was certainly too early to consider such a drastic step. He’d never really consider such a drastic step.

Would he?

He had too much to do at the moment to think about ridiculous escape plans. He leaned over and kissed his father’s cheek. “Rest.”

Vittorio joined Mia in the garden before his next meeting. Her smile was bright when she looked up at him. How could he have ever thought to leave her locked up in his rooms? A woman like Mia needed fresh air to breathe, needed to feel useful. He liked her even more because of it.

She stood and looked apprehensively at him as he approached. She propped her hands on her hips. He noticed she’d found gardening gloves. “The king gave me permission to work in the garden while I’m here.”

“Yes. I heard that. You look happy here.”

She pulled the gloves off and dropped them to the ground. “It’s a beautiful day. Who could not be happy with the sun shining and the scent of freshly turned dirt in the air?”

He gathered her into his arms and held her close. She murmured something about her clothes being dirty, but he didn’t care. He buried his face in her soft hair. The smell of the earth didn’t make him happy, but Mia’s sweet scent did.

Mia leaned back and studied him. “Don’t you have a meeting or something?”

“I’m taking a break.”

“That’s a great idea. You should take more breaks.” She looked over his shoulder at something. “You should give Rico some breaks too, you know. He’s always working.”