Alex knew better. She’d ridden and been thrown by Eros, and she’d ridden him since then and learned the triggers that set him off. She’d learned too the small ways he could be comforted. Someone was sure to be hurt, for although the horse had a big, loving heart, terror would blind him. He wouldn’t stop for a few people standing in his way.
“Get out of his way!” she shouted. “He’ll run right over you. He’s too scared to stop!”
Two of the men glanced in her direction, confusion mirrored in their expressions. Eros wheeled, then reared high, his front hooves slicing the air as he let out a frantic whinny that sounded like a distress call. His hooves hit the dirt. He dug in, then began his charge for freedom.
“Look out!” she screamed.
The line of men broke, and Eros shot between them. He turned toward the road, his muzzle frothing, eyes rolled back in alarm.
Phillip glared at her across the yard. “Why the hell did you do that?”
“He would have trampled them!”
She sensed he understood. But the problem of a loose, dangerous animal remained. Phillip looked at her. “We have to stop him before he reaches the highway or town.”
He was right. She had thought only of the immediate situation, which had been bad enough.
“We’ll take the Jeep!” Phillip shouted to one of his men. “See if we can head him off before town.” He shot her a warning glare. “Stay here, Alex.”
Feeling helpless, she stood by as he jumped into the vehicle, took the wheel, then sped off in a cloud of dust. Sorry, Phillip, she thought, I can’t do that. She couldn’t just sit still while Eros was in danger or put others in jeopardy. What good was a Jeep going to do anyway? It couldn’t go where a runaway horse could go.
She ran back into the stable, straight to the mare whose stall was next to Eros’s. As stablemates, they were chums. Lucy’s presence might calm the other horse, might help her coax him into remembering that he needn’t fear the woman who had ridden him for the past several days.
Quickly, Alex saddled Lucy and mounted her. She grabbed a spare halter from a nail in the wall as they passed by. She galloped out of the yard and turned toward the steep path that led through the woods, down from the villa directly toward town. With any luck, Eros would have slowed some after leaving the shouting, hand-waving mob behind. And her route was shorter, as she would cut across the road the horse had taken before he hit the highway or town.
Alex leaned back in the saddle and let the mare negotiate the precipitous dirt trail. Lucy was accustomed to the trail and plunged down it with sure footing. As soon as they were on flat ground, Alex kicked her into a gallop.
In the distance, she could hear the whine of an engine. The Jeep! Phillip had taken the same road as Eros. A mistake, she feared, because the noise of the vehicle would drive the horse away all the faster.
At the junction of the trail with the main road, Alex brought the mare to a stop and stood in the stirrups, waiting, gulping down air, straining to hear the telltale sound of hoofbeats above the pounding of her own heart. Was she too late?
Then, suddenly, a horse’s hooves clattered furiously along the pavement of the road just above her. Eros. He was coming this way. The mare danced nervously, sensing the other horse’s panic, but Alex steadied her and whispered in her ear. “It’s okay, Lucy. Just your old pal come to visit.”
At the far end of the curve in the road, the immense black equine at last appeared, as wild-eyed and fierce-looking as any Saracen mount. He was moving fast, ebony mane and tail flying out behind him. Alex checked for traffic coming the other way. Luckily there was none.
She slowly walked Lucy into the center of the road so that Eros would be sure to see them. Forcing herself to sit erect in the saddle and appear calm, Alex waited.
Eros didn’t break stride, but he tossed his head as if curious about the horse and rider before him. He could have darted around them if he wished; nothing blocked his way. Although he must have been tired by then, if he sensed any aggressiveness from Alex, she knew he’d surely take off again.
But she was doing nothing to alarm him. And she was betting that the exhausted horse’s social instincts and need for the familiar would outweigh his desire to run.
Halfway to her, Eros shifted to a skitterish canter, then slowed to a lazy amble. He danced to one side, spun once, looked her and Lucy over, then circled around them. His huge chest heaving from exertion, he timidly approached them and, at last, nuzzled Lucy’s neck with frothy lips.
“Hey there, boy,” Alex said in the same calm tone she’d greeted him in the stables every day.
She could hear the metallic whine of the Jeep growing louder, and she prayed it wouldn’t come around the bend until she’d gotten the horses off the road.
“Good, Eros. Nice boy. Want to go for a walk now? How about some nice oats back home, huh?” Slowly, ever so slowly, she dropped the halter she’d brought with her over his ears. They ticked once, but he was too happy to see Lucy to pull away.
Alex’s fingers worked quickly as she continued speaking in a low, soothing voice. A moment later, she’d secured the chin strap and held the reins. Still riding Lucy, she walked the two horses to the side of the road and waited.
The Jeep whipped around the bend and rushed past them as Alex casually lifted a hand to wave. Brakes screeched. The vehicle stopped in the middle of the road, then slowly began to back up.
The look of astonishment on Phillip’s face was deliciously gratifying. “Well, I’ll be—” He let out a long breath. “The three of you are one beautiful sight.” He squinted at Alex’s skirt. “Looks like you split something.”
“I didn’t exactly have time to change.” She glanced down at the beige gabardine, hiked up nearly to her waist to accommodate her legs straddling the saddle. One side seam had opened up, exposing the length of her bare leg to the hip. Dirt kicked up by Lucy’s hooves spattered her skin. “Guess I’ll need another shower.”
Phillip looked at the man in the seat beside him, who just shook his head in amazement. But when Phillip turned back to her, his expression grew serious. “You’re an amazing woman, Alex. You could have been hurt. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say you’d risked your life for that horse.”
“But I’m fine,” she said.
“What about Eros?”
“He seems to be all right now. I think he just found himself out of the stall and would have eventually wandered back in for his feed if everyone hadn’t become hysterical. They scared him, and once he was running he stopped thinking.”
“Sometimes that happens,” he said. His eyes locked with hers and conveyed a clear message. “We run from our ghosts, even though it’s often the worst thing to do.”
She knew what he meant. She’d been running a long time from life. Phillip had been running, too—from women who used him, from women who lied. As soon as the hearing was over, she vowed she would tell him everything. She wouldn’t be one of those women.
Phillip followed Barnaby into the other lawyer’s office. Alex walked silently beside him. He felt her presence as an unexpected comfort. Her support and belief in him made a difficult situation bearable.
Yet he sensed how traumatic the meeting might be for Alex. It didn’t matter that his association with Angelica Terro had been fleeting and without emotional attachment. He would have felt just as uneasy standing in a room with Alex’s former fiancé.
He turned his attention to the delicate problem at hand.
The windowless gray conference room they were led to felt so hot it was difficult to breathe. Even though Phillip knew he was in the right, the muscles in his shoulders and neck tightened to steel bands. A trickle of sweat rolled down his back between his shoulder blades, and the fresh dress shirt he’d hastily pulled on after returning Eros to his stall stuck to his spine.
He told himself he wanted to do the right thing. But what that might be depended upon Angelica. Was she trying to con him? Or did she honestly believe he was the
father of her child? If so, she was asking of him no more than she had a right.
He looked across the cramped, airless room at the olive-complected woman already seated to one side of the single desk. She glanced quickly up at him, then down again at the sleeping baby in her arms. The child appeared to be no more than nine months old, but could have been as young as seven months or as old as a year, which would have meant she was already pregnant at the time of his assignation with her.
He tried to catch Angelica’s eyes to better read her, but she persisted in avoiding his gaze.
“Have a seat, please,” the lawyer said with forced politeness. He introduced himself as Raphael Giovini and proceeded to read his client’s statement, which indicated that Phillip alone could have been the baby’s father.
Phillip listened without comment until the man had finished. Barnaby slanted a look at him then started to speak. But Phillip put out a hand, silencing him. “May I speak to Angelica in private?”
“No,” Giovini said sharply. “She is too afraid that you will harm her or the child.”
Phillip shot Alex a distressed look. He’d never hurt another human being in his life. It was ridiculous to think he would now, under these circumstances. The warm glow in Alex’s eyes let him know she believed in him.
“All right,” Phillip said, “we’ll do it your way. But let’s keep this as simple as possible. Yes, I was intimate with this woman, and it might have been about the time she conceived this child.”
Giovini smiled. “I’m glad you are being reasonable, sir.”
“I want to take a DNA test and bring that evidence before a court for a formal hearing.”
The lawyer looked taken aback and glanced at Angelica. Her eyes widened, and she moved her head from side to side so subtly the signal was almost unnoticeable.
Giovini coughed delicately into one hand. “We had supposed, Prince Phillip, that you would prefer to handle this quietly, out of the public eye. Your recent divorce caused you much painful scandal. We wouldn’t want to put you or your mother in that position again.”
“I’m sure not,” Phillip stated, keeping his growing annoyance with the man in check. “But more than my privacy is at stake here. This is a matter of honor, sir. I want to take the test.”
“Phillip,” Barnaby cautioned, resting a hand on his arm, “remember what I said. And the paparazzi, as you know, can be ruthless.”
Phillip brushed him off. “If the DNA doesn’t match, then I’m not the father. If we go to court, I want everyone to see those results.”
“Everyone?” A glint surfaced in Giovini’s shrewd eyes. “I’m sure your mother would much prefer—”
“My mother,” Phillip snapped, “has nothing to do with this situation! I don’t care one way or the other what she thinks about it.” It wasn’t the absolute truth; she could make his life a living hell if she felt inconvenienced or embarrassed by his social life. But he didn’t have to tell the lawyer that.
He turned to Angelica. “It’s up to you. Do you wish to pursue this further?”
She looked far less at ease than when he’d first entered the room.
Phillip continued. “Perhaps your lawyer hasn’t properly explained to you the penalty for falsely accusing a man of fathering your child. You could end up in jail, you realize. Extortion is a serious offense.”
Angelica shot to her feet, her baby clutched to her chest. She was shouting at Giovini in an excited muddle of Italian and the island patois. Alex could make out almost none of what she was saying, but it was clear that the woman didn’t like the new odds.
The lawyer spoke quickly and firmly in Italian, trying to calm her down, but she only shook her head angrily at him. She switched to English, as if she wanted everyone in the room to understand her. “I’m leaving, Raphael. It’s no good.”
“Sit down!” he shouted at her. “He’s bluffing. He doesn’t want—”
“Don’t speak for me!” Phillip growled furiously. “I think it would be best if both of you gentlemen left the room and let me speak with this young woman.”
Alex stood by, holding her breath. She sensed that Phillip was taking a terrible risk but she understood, too, that his good name was precious to him. He would do whatever he must to protect his honor.
Barnaby gestured with an open hand toward the door, and Giovini shot Phillip a venomous glare but left the office, followed by Barnaby. The door shut behind the two lawyers. The room was deathly silent for a moment.
Alex stood up from her chair. “I should go, too,” she whispered.
“No, stay.” Phillip’s voice remained tight yet controlled, as if he was aware he must not frighten Angelica any further or she would bolt. “I’ll need a witness in the room in case Ms. Terro should claim I assaulted or threatened her.”
Alex met the other woman’s eyes, and saw that he was right. A shadow of cleverness darkened her gaze. Alex sat down again to listen.
Phillip turned to Angelica. “Who talked you into this?”
The woman settled herself in her chair and sullenly fingered the blanket around her sleeping baby. She admitted nothing, but her eyes grew moist and worried.
“I know that you wouldn’t have agreed to this scam unless you were desperate. Am I right?” Phillip asked, his voice gentler still.
She said nothing, but tears started to fall down her cheeks.
“Was it that sly fox of a lawyer?” Phillip asked. “I assure you, he’s misled you if he’s promised you’ll walk out of here with a carload of money and no fight from me.”
“My boyfriend,” Angelica whimpered. “He thought…he said, if you are so rich and we are so poor, why would you miss a few thousand dollars?”
“But once the lawyer got involved, he upped the ante, is that right?”
She nodded. “He promised us much wealth.” Her gaze shot to Alex, then back to Phillip. “I don’t want to go to jail. What would become of my baby? He won’t take care of it.”
“You won’t go to jail,” Phillip assured her. “Just drop the suit.”
Alex stood and went over to the woman, feeling suddenly sorry for her. She rested a hand on her shoulder. “Your boyfriend, is he the father?”
Angelica nodded. “I don’t know what I’ll do. I cannot work and take care of the baby properly. My family, they all live in the north, in Milano. They won’t have me there. And my man, he has no job.”
Alex looked to Phillip. His eyes closed for a moment, as if he was thinking very hard.
“If you would sign a document,” he said at last, “freeing me of all responsibility for the child, I will help you.”
“Help how?” Angelica asked, sniffling as she rocked the sleeping child.
Alex listened as Phillip outlined an immediate cash gift to buy the baby clothes and food. He also promised to pay the rent for a small apartment until Angelica could find work in her home that wouldn’t take her from the baby.
Looking relieved, Angelica reached across the desk and grabbed paper and a pen. She wrote a few sentences and signed the statement. Phillip wrote out a check and handed it to her, pledging another check as soon as she located a decent apartment on the island. She left, looking far happier than before, and Phillip turned to Alex.
“I’m going to ask Barnaby about setting up a small trust for the baby. I feel I should do something. Even though that clearly isn’t my child, it could have been.”
Alex put her arms around him and kissed him. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything for you,” he said, sounding surprised.
“Oh yes, you did,” she murmured. “You’ve proven the kind of man you are.” She gazed up at him adoringly. Was it love or just admiration for a remarkable, generous man? Maybe a little of both.
It was late afternoon by the time they returned to the villa. The stables had been restored to their customary peace, and Alex sensed that Phillip’s mind was now at ease. As she walked into the blissfully cool interior of the stucco mansion, she wished she felt
as much confidence in their relationship.
“You look tired,” Phillip said as she paused in the foyer and looked around, aware that her days in this beautiful place might be numbered.
“I am, I guess,” she admitted. “First chasing down Eros, then…”
She didn’t need to explain; he seemed to understand. “Thank you for being there with me,” he said. “It must have been difficult for you.”
“It was, in a way,” she admitted. “But I was glad it all worked out so well. You were more than fair with her.”
Phillip kissed her on the tip of her nose. “There’s time to rest up before dinner. Why don’t you take a nap? I have to call Barnaby and finish some paperwork, then I’ll join you on the veranda.”
She nodded, although she was sure sleep would be impossible. There was too much on her mind.
In her room, Alex practiced the words she’d use to finally tell Phillip who she really was. The risk was great. She prayed he’d offer her the same generosity and understanding he’d given Angelica Terro.
Ten
That evening Cook prepared a meal that leaned suspiciously toward the romantic, and Phillip wondered if the woman was trying to aid and abet his own feelings. He wanted to be close to Alex that night, closer than ever before. He knew something important was on her mind, and he aimed to make sharing that with him easy for her. He wanted her to continue trusting him as she had earlier.
She had stood by him twice that day. Saving him from possible disaster when Eros broke free, then supporting him through the distressing meeting at a crooked lawyer’s office. The first situation could have ended very badly, with loss of life and property. And without her in Giovini’s office, he might not have been able to settle the matter with Angelica in a manner that not only helped the troubled young woman but also preserved his reputation.
He smiled at Alex when she crossed the veranda and took the crystal stem of champagne from him. But he could tell she was nervous again. Her green eyes swept across his gardens, brilliant with tropical blossoms, avoiding him. As he stood silently waiting for her to speak, the tension between them grew.
The Royal & The Runaway Bride (Dynasties: The Connellys Book 7) Page 13