Royally Ever After (Royals of Valleria #7) (21 page)

“Today, after the breakfast is over.”

“I need to stay. My father, my sister, among other reasons.”

“How are they?”

“My father’s doing better, but I’m not ready to leave him permanently yet. My sister and new niece are doing well, too, but I need to visit them. Do you still have my number?”

She nodded.

“Is your number still the same?”

She shook her head. “You still have my old number?”

“How could I get rid of it, after all we’ve been through?”

She melted against him. “Lorenzo.”

“Message me your number. When I call you, you pick up, or you return my call later if you can’t answer. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“No disappearing, no running away. I’ll fucking find you if you try to pull hat shit again.”

“I promise. I’ll wait for you.” She leaned closer. “I’ve been waiting for you for almost five years, Lorenzo. I can wait a few more weeks or months.”

God, Lily.

The song ended and he led her off the dance floor. He kissed her hand again before letting her go and walking away. He needed to know her secrets, needed to know why she disappeared all those years ago, but he’d just have to wait.

He had a feeling her words would change his life forever. Before that happened, he had to make sure his father and family were okay, and he had royal obligations to see to.

A prince’s life, like a soldier’s, was rarely his own.

* * *

A
lex carried
Rebecca into the private palace suite he’d arranged for them. In a corner of the palace, far away from the Royal Wing and the bevy of visiting relatives, he’d arranged a honeymoon suite of sorts at the suggestion of his grandmother, Victoria.

Since they couldn’t have a honeymoon quite yet, they’d at least have a wedding night they’d never forget.

“Alex, it’s beautiful.” He let go of his wife and she started exploring the guest apartment he’d arranged for them.

Dozens of faux candles lit the bedroom, ensuring candlelight without the threat of their clothes catching fire. In the middle of the room was a large, plush bed covered in roses, and a bucket filled with ice cold champagne sat nearby. The small kitchen was stocked with essentials, ensuring sustenance for the night ahead. Though they had the farewell brunch to attend in the morning, he was considering telling everyone to fuck off so he could fuck his wife some more.

His wife
; God, he loved saying that.

“Do you need to call someone to help you with your wedding dress?”

She gave him a shy smile over her shoulder. “If you can undo the buttons in the back, I can manage the rest.”

“Excellent.”

“Don’t peek at what’s underneath.”

“Never, my beautiful, blushing bride.”

After he slowly undid the row of thirty-six buttons – oh, he’d counted – he pulled her body back against his. “When you come back to me, darling, make sure you’re carrying this.”

He pulled out the sleep mask he’d been forced to wear last night as a blindfold. “Time for payback, Mrs. Santoro.”

She gasped as she fingered the black silk “Alex,” she breathed.

“Now you’ll know the torture I went through.”

She shifted back against him. “Alex.”

“Take off your clothes and meet me in the bedroom, wife.”

Her body shivered against him, and he knew it wasn’t because she was cold.

“Your wish is my command, husband.”

G
abriel walked
into the royal train’s master bedroom and shut the door behind him, locking it for good measure. The sounds of his children – minus the newlyweds – laughing and teasing each other could still be heard beyond the closed door and brought a sense of contentment to his heart.

The wedding breakfast was over, and all had departed. His doctor had given him leave to visit Arianna, as long as he traveled by train not air, and so he and his remaining children, as well as Zinnia, were making the trip. Alex and Rebecca would get the palace mostly to themselves for a few days and join them later.

His children had cautiously embraced Zinnia, and she’d cautiously accepted them in return. It would take time, he knew, for trust to cement itself.

When his wife stepped out from the bathroom, clad only in her simple silk nightgown, contentment was soon replaced by a quickening pace in his heart, but not a dangerous one.

Even after forty years, she could still make his blood race.

Gabriel walked slowly over to her and brushed a hand over her bare shoulder. “How are you, my dear?”

Genevieve gave a wistful smile. “I’m feeling old, my love.”

Gabriel chuckled. “I can relate. Another one of our children is married, Vie,” Gabriel said, using her nickname. He only used it when they were alone. Not even the children knew. Vie was French for life.

She was his whole life.

Genevieve slipped under the covers. “Alex isn’t gone. He’ll still be our baby.”

Gabriel began to undress as a shout rang out from the main cabin. When raucous laughter followed, he quirked a smile. “I told them to keep their voices down since we’d be resting.”

“As if they’d listen. Though, now that you’ve come to get some sleep, they might. It was a lovely wedding. And it will be even lovelier to hold our new granddaughter in our arms.”

Now clad only in a t-shirt and boxers, Gabriel slid under the covers and his wife automatically curled up next to him. “Yes, it will. It seems only yesterday they were babies themselves, Vie. How did it go by so fast?”

She pressed a soft kiss to his neck. “I know. We could have another grandbaby next year, if Alex and Rebecca have one, or one of the others. I still can’t wrap my head around it.”

“Me, too. Blessed as we are for the one grandchild, I am hoping for more.”

“Hopefully, the kids will have better luck than us.”

Gabriel chuckled. “We had nine children, my dear. Surely, that makes us very lucky.”

“We weren’t so lucky in the beginning of our marriage,” Genevieve said softly.

Gabriel ran a comforting hand along her back. The ache of losing a child wasn’t one he thought he’d ever get over. “It was a terrible time, Vie, but we got through it.” He tilted her face up to his. “I don’t know how I would have lived without you. You’re my life. My Vie.”

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, my love.”

* * *

D
ear Reader
,

T
hank
you so much for reading Alex & Rebecca’s wedding story! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, you may want to consider:

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M
arianne Knightly is
the pen name for the author of over ten novels and novellas of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She is most well known for her Royals of Valleria series, a contemporary royal romance series with a hint of suspense set in her fictional country of Valleria. Marianne lives in the Washington, D.C., metro area and loves to hear from readers all over the world!

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