Saved by the Prince

by Michelle Pennington

  After hanging up, he set his phone slowly back down on his desk and stared at it. But not for long, because he wasn’t dressed and there was a lot to do. Moving over to the intercom panel set into the wall, he pushed the button for his secretary’s office. “Ty, I need you in my quarters. Pronto.”

  “Coming, sir.”

  Alexios didn’t wait around for him. He strode into his closet and grabbed a pair of chinos and a white button-up shirt. He looked at the clock on the wall. The airport was only twenty minutes away in the city. No doubt she’d be here in less than an hour. Calm down, you idiot, he told himself as he fumbled with his buttons, but the admonition did little good. An hour. He’d see her again in less than an hour.

  Ty came in, his eyebrows raised in exaggerated curiosity. “Sir?”

  “Serenity is at the airport. Arrange for a car to pick her and her assistant up.”

  “Um…our airport?”

  Somehow Ty’s stupefaction made him feel better. “Since you’ve apparently forgotten that we live on an island, I cannot possibly mean for you to drive to any other airport.”

  In response, Ty gave him a flat look that bordered very nearly on disrespect. “Yes, Your Highness.”

  Laughing, he said, “Don’t keep the lady waiting.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking, sir—why is she here?”

  “To make a wedding dress for my bride. Did you ever in your life hear such irony before? I swear I haven’t. I’m not sure if it’s the fates trying to punish me or Serenity, but I’m fairly certain it won’t matter which––it’ll be torture for us both. Pray for me.”

  He didn’t wait to discuss it further but headed into the shower.

  Thirty minutes later he felt more prepared to meet her. Which was a blatant lie. He wasn’t ready at all. In fact, he couldn’t remember another time in all of his thirty-one years when he’d felt so nervous.

  Conferring with Ty after he’d sent a car, Alexios set him to work arranging for a set of rooms to be made ready for her in his wing of the palace. There were two bedrooms and a large sitting area that could easily be turned into a workroom for them on the fourth level. The fact that he’d be able to look down on her balcony from his had nothing to do with his choice. Of course not.

  With that settled, he went in search of his mother.

  He found her in the garden, resting in a cushioned chair under an arbor covered in pink climbing roses. She had a thick book on her lap, open as if she’d been reading, but had fallen asleep. He hated to wake her, since he knew how little time she had to relax, but this was definitely something she needed to know about. Squatting down next to her chair, he gently shook her shoulder. “Mother.”

  Her eyes opened immediately. “Alexios.” Her voice sounded drowsy but pleased.

  “We have a guest arriving at the palace any time now.”

  “Oh, yes? Who?”

  “Serenity Wade, from New York. The designer Lydia wanted.”

  She nodded. “Yes, the one you are friends with. I’m so glad she agreed. Now perhaps we can move things forward for your wedding.”

  “Yes.” He hesitated to say any more. After all, what good would it do to worry her?

  “What is it? I hear concern in your voice.”

  “Mother, I don’t want you to be concerned, but the situation will be a bit awkward.” Since he’d rarely dated, he’d never had a conversation like this with her. “Serenity and I had a bit of a…romance when I was in New York.”

  Her good humor came to an abrupt end. “What precisely do you mean by a bit of a romance?”

  “Nothing disgraceful or scandalous, I swear. It never even progressed to the point of calling it a relationship—no commitment or anything—before I collected myself and withdrew as gracefully as I could. But it was a…painful experience for us both.”

  With her brows scrunched together, she looked into his eyes. “Do you think she’s come to pursue you again? If so, I’ll send her to the right about in a trice.”

  “No, no. It’s not like that. If anything, she’ll avoid me. I merely wanted to assure you that I know my duty and I won’t allow myself to succumb to my feelings for her.”

  “You still care for her?”

  His throat tightened, making it difficult to swallow. But though he tried to keep his emotions locked away, his mother had a way of discerning them anyway. So, honesty was no doubt the best tack to take. “Regrettably, yes.”

  “Oh, my dear boy. I am sorry.”

  There was silence between them for a moment as her small hands reached for his. Somehow, the gentle comfort she offered made his chest burn with self-pity. But he couldn’t allow himself to sink back into that abyss. “Thank you. But as I said, I only wanted to warn you because she, pardonably, resents my decision to break ties with her and return to my responsibilities here. No doubt there will be a few awkward moments.”

  But his mother was pursuing her own line of thoughts. “You don’t think she’s coming because she’s pregnant and wants to put forward her claims, do you?”

  Alexios jerked in surprise. “Pregnant? No! You have imagined a great deal more to our brief encounter than occurred, I assure you.” They had never gone further than a few kisses. Okay, quite a lot of kisses. But even that been enough to wreck him.

  Before his mother could question him further, as he could see she was about to do, one of the staff came out to the garden and announced that the car with their guests had just arrived.

  “She’s here?” the queen asked. “I don’t know if I can meet her. I am so confused and suspicious; my thoughts are all tangled.”

  “Wonderful. I am making a mess of things, aren’t I? I shouldn’t have told you.”

  “No. I’m glad you did. In fact, you really should have told me months ago. But that doesn’t mean I want to meet her.”

  “Mother, you’re imagining the worst things about her because you can’t think badly of me. But listen…do you not trust my taste? Do you really think I would develop feelings for a woman who did not have a good heart and good character?”

  That had the effect he’d hoped. She studied him hard for a moment and then nodded resolutely and took his arm. “Very well, Alexios. Take me to meet her.”

  Part of him relaxed at her acceptance of the situation, but only for a moment. They walked toward the small gate in the garden wall that led out onto the courtyard. As one of the guards posted there opened it for them and they stepped through, his eyes immediately found Serenity. It took only that one look for an instant physical reaction to spread over him—for every muscle, nerve, and synapse to respond just because she was close. And as breathtaking as always.

  She wore slim-fitting jeans, a yellow T-shirt, and a brightly colored scarf tied around her waist. Her hair was up in a loose knot on top of her head and big, dark sunglasses hid her eyes. But he knew the instant she saw him because a jolt of electricity shot down his spine.

  He needed to handle this introduction carefully, not only because Serenity disliked him and his mother was now inclined to dislike her, but because Serenity was an American and wouldn’t know the nuances of meeting royalty. He rarely cared for protocol, but his mother cared very much.

  Alexios led his mother forward and said, “Mother, this is Miss Serenity Wade of New York.” Hopefully, Serenity would understand that queens were not introduced, since it was assumed everyone knew who they were. If only he’d had more notice that Serenity was coming, he could have prepared her for all of this.

  But Serenity must have prepared herself. She neither tried to shake the queen’s hand or give her a European kiss. She merely removed her sunglasses and gave a small but proper curtsy before murmuring, “Good afternoon, Your Majesty.”

  “So, you are the designer that Lydia has been so determined to have. Alexios is so in love with her that he will do anything to make her happy. I’m grateful you have agreed to help so the wedding can move forward. He is getting absolutely impatient for the happy day.”

  Al
exios clenched his jaw as he suffered through his mother’s heavy-handed attempt to warn Serenity off. If only she would realize how little that was needed.

  “It is my pleasure,” Serenity responded. “I know how much this means to His Royal Highness.”

  Yes, this was definitely going to be a disaster.

  Chapter Four

  What had she been thinking?

  Serenity mentally slapped herself as Queen Mona of Cristonia chatted pleasantly to her. Alex must have told her something about their past because it was brilliantly clear that Serenity was being warned off. Not only was it embarrassing and offensive, but she had to stand there and smile politely through it all. Daniel Travers began to look less dangerous by the second.

  Her only comfort was Alex’s obvious discomfort.

  At last, he managed to break into his mother’s lengthy description of Lydia’s beauty and virtues to say, “Mother, I believe you were going to have lunch with Father this afternoon, were you not?”

  How was his voice still so soothing to her? And was his faint Greek accent more pronounced than she remembered? There was more of a roll to his r’s and a thicker sound to his h’s. It was way too attractive.

  The Queen paused, turning to him. After a brief second of poorly hidden silent communication between them, she nodded. “Yes, I was. Is it time for lunch already? Well, Alexios, why don’t you come along with me? Miss Wade, my staff will see that you are comfortably settled. Alexios and I will see you again at dinner.”

  At dinner, huh? Serenity gave Alex a look, letting him know he had darn well better come and see her before then.

  As he held the right side of the massive oak doors open for his mother to pass through, he gave her one long, steady look that was exactly the response she wanted to see. He’d be back. And soon.

  Serenity put her sunglasses on top of her head and turned to help Jade, who had been hiding behind the open trunk of the car as she helped unload all their baggage. They couldn’t talk here, but the way Jade pulled on her lip piercing with her teeth to keep from laughing made Serenity want to stomp her feet. However, this was the last place for childish temper tantrums, so she swallowed back her annoyance for the moment. She’d deal with Jade’s amusement later.

  “May I take you to your rooms, miss?” A very proper elderly gentleman in a uniform had emerged from the dim doorway. His posture was precise and his tone arctic, but his eyes looked kind enough. “My name is Basil.”

  “Yes, please. Thank you.”

  Serenity was impressed with the palace interior. From the views she’d gotten of the old building on the drive, she wouldn’t have expected such modern furnishings. Their driver had told them that the original portion of the palace had been built four hundred years ago and had served as a fortress. It sat on top of a steep cliff facing out to sea, its facade ravaged by the elements over time. But two wings had been built on either side of the original structure, the western side as recently as the 1950s when the current royal family had come into power.

  Inside, the walls were paneled and painted in light, neutral colors. There were priceless rugs scattered over gleaming marble floors and big windows that brightened the narrow hallways. The artwork on the walls they passed was an eclectic mixture of every age from the Renaissance to current artists, and fresh flower arrangements gave a lush and fragrant touch to an otherwise empty passage.

  Soon, they turned a corner down a wider hallway and then onto a broad staircase. Four floors up, Serenity’s legs and lungs were beginning to burn when Basil opened a door with an elaborate flourish and stepped back for them to pass through.

  Serenity managed to produce a smile, despite the knot of tangled emotions warring in her gut. She looked around at the bright, spacious room with furnishings that would make a five-star hotel look shabby, and shook her head slowly in amazement. Even though there were men shifting furniture and bringing in folding tables, the room remained elegant—if a bit chaotic.

  “Uh, wow.” Jade stepped past her, spinning around as she took in the room. “This is amazing.”

  “We were instructed to make it ready for your work,” Basil said, “But we weren’t sure what you needed.

  Serenity saw that several long folding tables had been set up at one end of the room. “The tables are perfect. A few bright lamps and a full-length mirror would be the only other things we’ll need that we didn’t bring with us.”

  Basil nodded impassively. “Certainly.”

  Further chaos was introduced by the arrival of five men bringing in her eight enormous suitcases. Then Alex came in behind them.

  His lips twisted in a smirk as he tried to weave his way through the luggage while the men with the suitcases tried to move around the displaced furniture.

  “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at how many bags you bring on a trip,” Alexios said in a dry tone. “Considering your profession.”

  A surge of temper rose in Serenity. She felt like a geyser about to erupt. “For your information, most of these are for our work—tools and supplies and fabric.”

  “So you did come here to make a dress then?” His voice held a teasing note, but even though she recognized it, she didn’t feel the least desire to laugh.

  Serenity stared him down for several long seconds, but she was too on edge to react appropriately and she knew it. So, she turned around and headed for the balcony. She pushed open the doors and took a deep breath as she burst out into the warm summer air. Striding to the far end of the shady balcony, she braced herself on the railing and stared out at the dizzying view from the top of the palace, down the steep hillside, all the way to the seashore.

  She heard someone step outside and shut the glass door, which cut off all noise from the room inside. In the quiet afternoon, each of his steps ratcheted her tension higher as he came closer. How, after all this time, did she still recognize the weight and tempo of his stride?

  He didn’t speak right away. Instead, he turned to also lean against the railing, studying the view as if it was as new to him as it was to her.

  Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore. "What exactly did you tell your mother about us?”

  “Way too much—or not enough, it would seem. You can blame me for your reception. She is overly protective of me.”

  “Didn't you assure her that the last thing I want to do is steal you from your fiancée?”

  He turned to look at her, his lips twitching downward in an almost frown. “I did.” Silence hung between them for a long moment. “It’s good to see you again, Serenity. Despite everything.”

  There was pain in his voice, and it cut deeply.

  The vulnerability she saw in him exposed her own. She could feel her emotions bursting out, swelling and tightening in her throat. But the anger and hurt didn’t change the fact that it was good to see him too.

  She let her eyes linger on his face too long, taking in the lines at the corners of his dark brown eyes and his firm lips. She remembered the warmth of his cheek against hers as they danced in a pool of moonlight in her studio and the sensation of all her unsettled pieces finally aligning into something that made sense. And even though he’d broken her heart and chosen a different life than the one they could have had together, she sensed that if he wanted to, he could still put her back together again.

  She shook her head, taking control of her errant thoughts. “Coming here was the worst idea Jade has ever had,” she said, forcing a bright irony to her words that she was far from feeling. “If she wasn’t so good at her job, I’d probably fire her for it.”

  Alex shifted, leaning one arm on the railing instead of two. “Oh? So it was Jade’s idea for you to come?”

  “Ask her if you don’t believe it.”

  “I don’t. Jade doesn’t even like me.”

  “She said I need to come here to get over you and finally have closure. Is that blunt enough to satisfy your suspicions?”

  His jaw flexed. As he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, his nostr
ils flared slightly. It was a victorious moment to have visibly disturbed him. “It has the ring of truth anyway. I admit that I’m hoping for a similar outcome.”

  It wasn’t the answer she was expecting, that was certain. The husky tone it was delivered in gave it an edge, an honesty, that made it dangerous. But though it sent a secret, rebellious sort of thrill shooting through her to know he hadn’t moved on completely either, she knew that nothing would come between him and his duty.

  “Well then,” Serenity said. “Perhaps I should have come a long time ago."

  "Maybe. Regardless, the fates are intent on making me suffer.”

  “Really? From the way your mother described your gorgeous bride to be, you won't suffer too much. I wonder how long it will take you to forget all about me.”

  “Longer than I’ll live, I promise you that.”

  She looked up at him and felt something inside bloom that shouldn’t. No, there would be no sunshine to keep it growing, and then it would wither away into even more bitterness and resentment. “You can’t do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “Say things like that. I came here to face the reality of you marrying someone else. You can’t talk like you regret it as much as I do.” Unable to look at him while feeling like this, she turned away, folding her arms over her chest.

  “But what if I do?”

  Serenity glared over her shoulder. “You don’t. You wouldn’t have walked away if you did.” Spinning around and waving her hands, she raised her voice. “So, here is how this is going to work. We are not going to talk like this. You are not going to pour salt on the wound you caused. And you are obviously not going to let anyone here know that there was ever anything between us—especially not Lydia. If I’m going to work with her, she has to trust me, be open with me. That would be impossible if she so much as suspects that we aren’t…”

  “Over each other?”

  “Precisely. Got it?”

  He nodded his head. “Certainly. I couldn’t agree more. I only felt that getting things out in the open might help us get through this more easily. I suppose it would be incredibly selfish of me to hope that we might be friends somehow.”