ROYAL BRIDE (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (8 page)

She snatched a black dress from the closet and disappeared into the washroom. He decided to leave her be. He’d talk with her at dinner.

When she finally emerged from the bedroom and met him at the door of the suite, ready to go, his jaw would have dropped had he not checked himself. The number she wore didn’t have a low neckline, it didn’t have one at all! The black dress covered her breasts but did not actually create a neckline. The two pieces of fabric ran down over her chest and her belly and joined the skirt of the dress without ever actually meeting each other. The gentle swell of her breasts could be seen peeking out from the dress, and her defined stomach was also on display.

“The car is ready, Your Highness,” Julian stepped into the suite to inform him, but he too stopped and stared at the vision before him. “Um… if you’re ready, I will inform the men downstairs.”

“We are not ready,” Antonio ground out. It was obviously a new dress… Well, she could just take the damn thing back to the store.

“Sure we are.” She beamed and snapped her clutch closed. Walking around him, outside his reach, she walked past Julian, who looked confused and a bit torn as to what to do next.

“Isabella.” Antonio expected her to turn around and come back inside. When she didn’t, he stepped out the door to find her chatting with a young couple at the elevators.

He marched over to her, intending to grab her and drag her back into the suite, but her laugh stopped him. It wasn’t forced or polite, it was genuine. She had her hand on the woman’s shoulder and was laughing at something she had said. When he stepped up to them, she gave him a warm smile and introduced him.

“My husband,” she said. “Antonio, this is Silver and Maria.”

“Very nice to meet you.” Antonio shook the hand that Silver offered and inclined his head to Maria. He noticed that Isabella hadn’t used his title when introducing him.

“Your wife was just telling us about the afternoon she’d had. Sounds like she had quite an adventure.” Silver grinned.

“Oh, it was nothing. Just a little mishap at the taxi station.” She waved a hand in the air. His security team hadn’t told him anything about trouble with a taxi, so he continued to stare at her, hoping she would clarify. “I’m not used to so many people. I accidentally jumped into a taxi that someone else had been waiting for. Which isn’t so bad, really, except the man didn’t see it as humorous as I did. He completely lost his patience with me. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand him because of his thick Italian accent! The poor cab driver had to inform me what he was yelling about.”

Maria laughed softly. “There is no end to the different accents you will find here in America,” she explained. “Your accent is so beautiful… exotic. Where are you from?”

“A small island in the Caribbean,” Isabella answered before Antonio could. The elevator signaled its arrival, and they stepped inside.

Silver wedged himself between Antonio and his wife, separating the women from him, and began a conversation. By the time they had reached the lobby, Isabella had invited the young couple to join them for dinner.

ISABELLA

Her husband wasn’t as difficult to handle as she first imagined. He wanted to believe he controlled her and their marriage, so she could give him that pretense easily enough.

After a long lunch with Elisabeth, she felt much better about her situation. Although Antonio had struck a nerve by pointing out her lack of accomplishments, it had put a fire under her ass to start thinking of her future. Of course, she was going to be queen someday—hopefully not for many, many years, but eventually, she would be taking the seat beside her husband’s throne. In doing so, she would need to be able to help his country grow.

She’d grown up watching Raphael take on charitable causes, and as an adult, he still threw himself into the business of helping others. She would need to start being able to do the same, if only to busy her schedule and keep her away from Antonio.

Isabella tried to convince herself that his comment stung only because it was true and because she was faced with having to grow up. But when she sat down and was more honest with herself, she realized it was actually because he was not proud of her. The fact that he saw nothing of worth in her made her want to do more, to become something he could take pride in. Just the admission of those feelings made her angry with him and with herself. Never had she sought the approval of anyone. If someone wasn’t happy with her, they could move along. She didn’t need them.

Antonio was different. When he looked at her, pleased with her, she felt shivers run through her body, as though he had just touched her or kissed her. She could admit she loved his hands on her, and his kisses… She was a woman after all, and Antonio was a gifted lover. It was the sinking feeling she felt when he was displeased with her that made her worry.

They bickered and fought for power that, obviously, he would have with or without her consent, but she found a comfort in the bickering. When he was truly displeased with her, she felt the most down. It was fun to tease him. The dress she’d worn to dinner the night before had been solely to punish him for being such an ass. Meeting Silver and his wife at the elevator had been a great stroke of luck. Antonio hadn’t dared embarrass them in front of the couple, which did surprise her a little. He didn’t seem to be the type to back down simply because of an audience. But perhaps it had more to do with Maria’s short dress showing just as much cleavage that made him hold his tongue.

Now, sitting in the suite alone, she perused the information Elisabeth had been able to procure for her. A bit of information the women didn’t give Antonio during their dinner was that Elisabeth’s older brother was a member of the royal military. Claudio had returned to the small island their mother grew up on shortly after graduating high school, living with their grandparents for a short time until he joined the military.

Claudio had been able to get information regarding the kidnapped woman and sent the information to his sister, with strict instructions to allow no one to know how she had obtained it. Working his way up the ranks over the past several years, he had earned a position in high security, but all of that could easily be taken away if he were caught giving away intelligence.

Isabella would never ask him to sacrifice all he had worked to achieve because of a favor he did for her. The intelligence he received on her behalf could not have been very easy to obtain, since he needed to tap into resources that extended outside of his country. If her brother were to find out she’d asked Claudio for his help getting information, he would punish Claudio for his part in the scheme, but he would have to inform Antonio as well. Their union had been made to help strengthen the peace between their two countries. Asking Claudio could have very well put that in jeopardy.

Opening the folder Elisabeth had given her, she came upon a photograph of the woman. Large, beautiful brown eyes smiled up at her from the photo. The softness of her smile reached her eyes. Happy. The woman looked happy. Not like the last time Isabella had seen her, screaming and clawing for her freedom.

Shaking her head, she put the photo to the side and moved on to the latest report. The woman’s name was Karen Vega, daughter of a high-ranking councilmen sitting on the royal advisory board. Isabella read over each paper, trying to make sense of the military jargon and political mumblings. After nearly an hour of poring over the documents, she understood that the woman had not been found, although the government was actively looking for her. There was more talk of keeping her kidnapping out of the media than there was about saving her life. Could his government care so little for the life of one of its people? So far, there was no mention of a ransom, only speculation as to which terrorist group held the woman.

Isabella was so engrossed in her reading that she didn’t hear Antonio enter the suite or walk toward her. “Where did you get this?” he barked into her ear, startling her. She jumped up, bumping his chin. He gripped the spot where she’d hit him and picked up the folder. “Where did you get this information?” He shook the papers at her.

Her heart sank into her stomach. She couldn’t tell him. She would never betray Elisabeth or her brother. “Antonio.” She tried for a smile but felt it wavering the longer he glared at her with his angry eyes. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon.” She smoothed down her skirt.

“Obviously.” He looked down at the file in his hand. “I’ll ask once more. Where did you get this?”

She worried on her lower lip for a moment then shook her head. “I have resources, just like you,” she decided to say. It wasn’t a lie. She did have resources. Hell, she had a fortune at her disposal if she chose to use it.

“I told you to leave this to my men.”

“You haven’t done anything to try to find her. You won’t tell me anything about her. You must have known who she was. And I think you know who her kidnapper is as well!” She hadn’t meant to let her voice rise, but the way he stared at her—as though she were the one at fault—made her angry.

“I told you to leave this to me and my men,” he said again, his teeth showing as his lips tightened around his mouth. With narrowed lids, he pulled the chair away from the table so she couldn’t sit down again. She took a tentative step back, noting the amount of anger in his expression.

“Antonio… I was worried, and you won’t tell me anything.” She tried to placate him with a soft voice and wide eyes.

He wouldn’t be deterred. “Remove your dress.” He tossed the file back on the table. She stared at him with an opened mouth. “I said to remove your dress, wife.” His eyes darkened before her gaze.

“I—what?” She put her hand to her throat. Had she pushed him too far? Would he actually spank her as he threatened to do on several occasions?

“I said to remove your dress. I want you naked.” He unbuckled his belt and pulled it through its loops, tossing it to the floor.

“Antonio—”

“Now, Isabella. If you disobey me at this moment, I will rip it from your body.”

Unsure of how logical he could be in such an angered state, she unzipped the dress slowly and slid it from her body. She hadn’t bothered with a bra as the dress didn’t warrant one. He pointed to her panties, and she pulled those off as well. Once she was nude, he gripped her upper arm and pulled her into the bedroom.

He gave her a gentle nudge toward the bed and went to the closet. “The woman is the daughter of one of my father’s favorite council members. The terrorist group that took her is bartering for a change of the borders. They want open borders between our country and several of the smaller islands that openly traffic drugs and slaves. Of course, my father won’t do it, and the woman is in grave danger if my men don’t find her soon. There are a few leads.”

Isabella pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to cover her body from him. She looked toward his groin and saw no erection, which only added to her worry. “I just wanted to know—”

“And I just wanted you to obey. But since you obviously can’t do that, or be trusted while you are alone, I will have to take other precautions.” He went to the closet and plucked out every dress and article of clothing she had hanging there, tossing them all over one arm. “Do not move,” he barked at her when she looked ready to spring from the bed.

“I didn’t do anything—”

“You obviously have some connection with my military or you hired your own security to dig around. Either way, you have insulted me, my military, and my country by trying to take things into your own hands.”

She watched him stomp to the bedroom door. She opened her mouth to protest, to beg forgiveness, but he moved too quickly. The door slammed shut, and a few moments later, she heard the front door of the suite do the same. Running from the bed to the bedroom door, she half expected it to be locked. Nearly falling down from opening it with too much strength, she hurried to the front door. But upon realizing that she was completely naked, she couldn’t do anything more.

Leaving the room wasn’t an option. He’d taken every bit of her clothing other than a few pairs of undergarments. She was stuck.

He’d grounded her, again!

ANTONIO

Standing outside the door of his suites, Antonio took a deep breath, trying to calm himself at least a fraction. Never had he reacted so impulsively.

“Your Highness?” The guard outside the door looked at him.

Antonio looked down at the pile of dresses and other articles of clothing in his hands and sighed. He’d behaved nearly as badly as she did when she was angered. Her temper was beginning to wear off on him and not the other way around.

“Antonio?” Silver appeared in the hallway, looking at the pile of clothes with some humor laced in his smile. “Been shopping?”

“Not exactly,” he grumbled, shoving all of the articles of clothing into the guard’s hands. “I want these put somewhere else. Not in the suite. No one is to go in or out of those rooms.”

“Where would you like them put?” The guard looked a bit panicked.

“I don’t care, just not in there.” He jerked a thumb toward the closed door. “Put them in your rooms,” he said off-handedly.

“You look like you could use a drink. I was headed down to the bar. Care to join me?” Silver winked at the guard with the bundle of clothes in his arms and gave him a reassuring smile.

Antonio eyed him for a moment and nodded stiffly. A drink sounded like just the thing after the day he’d had, topped off by the short encounter with the one of the most infuriating women he’d ever met. “Not one delicate foot steps out of that room. If even a fingernail slips out from under the door, I want to be notified immediately.”

“Of course.” The young guard nodded quickly, though Antonio doubted he would be up the task of keeping Isabella inside if she wanted to get out. He would need to speak to Julian about placing more experienced guards at the doors.

Antonio joined Silver at the doors of the elevator and flexed his fingers at his sides. A strong part of him wanted to rush back into the bedroom and redden Isabella’s bottom until he was sure she wouldn’t sit for several days, but the other part of him reminded him of his vow.