Forbidden Duke (Princes of Avce Book 4)

by Victoria Pinder

  She checked on the pizza and the driver was on their small street. She went toward the door and overheard Antonio tell her friend, "I was hoping you might accompany me. I'll give you a tour, take you to my favorite restaurant to get dinner. Show you my country."

  Without a second thought, Renee twisted the knob and opened her door. Kristin would need her friend at her side.

  "Can I come?" Renee's voice echoed through the apartment. Both of them stared at her in surprise.

  Kristin called over his shoulder. "Renee, I thought you were giving us some privacy?"

  Renee waved her phone in the air, reminding Kristin that they’d ordered pizza. But just in case Kristin didn’t want to divulge their plans, she gestured to the counter. "I was looking for my headphones."

  Her phone beeped, a sixty second warning to go get the pizza, which would also give Kristin more time alone. Renee walked into the foyer area and grabbed her purse. "Your Highness, my friend Kristin gets scared of good things happening in her life. Her parents taught her to always look for security first. It robs her of spontaneity sometimes."

  Kristin placed her hand on her chest. "No I don't."

  Antonio stroked his chin. "Kristin, if it would make you happy, you and your friend, Renee, are welcome to join me in my private jet."

  Yes! Renee opened the front door and backed out of the apartment. "Okay. Can we get ten minutes to pack? I’ll be right back…"

  She closed the door on Antonio’s confused face and met the delivery guy at the curb. The pizza wasn't necessary anymore. She tipped anyhow and held the box in her hand.

  Now what? Greg. She raced downstairs and knocked on Greg's door. He opened it without his shirt on. His slim figure would make whoever he married happy, but she had no time to gawk. She offered him the pizza. "We can't eat this and I thought you might be hungry."

  "Really? Let me pay you for it."

  "No. I have to go. We're leaving for a few days. Can you watch our door and check the mail?"

  "No problem." Greg balanced the box on one palm. "Glad we're friends, Renee."

  Friends. Right.

  She rushed up the stairs and back inside the apartment. Antonio said, "Remember, the royal palace has everything you might possibly need."

  Renee gave the thumbs up sign. "I'll be back in ten. I've never ridden in a private jet to Europe."

  What would she pack? She was about to meet her celebrity crush. She found her bag and slipped in all her sexy underwear. Just in case. If Marco couldn’t be tempted, then she'd see the countryside, take pictures and do something completely unplanned: she wouldn’t think about her parents, or their expectations. This summer, she'd stay in a palace, encourage Kristin to be happy and build up a store of memories to keep her warm on a far off cold night as she lay next to some anonymous man like Greg.

  Princes of Avce

  Forbidden Crown

  Forbidden Prince

  Forbidden Royal

  Forbidden Duke

  Forbidden Earl

  Forbidden Monsieur

  Forbidden Royal Preview

  With a sense of bemusement, Royal Prince Lucio Aussa of Avce read the slip of paper his older brother Antonio handed him in his private office and then rubbed his eyes and read it again just to make sure. "Amy Fields?" How on earth had the IT department matched him with Evie’s little sister? This had to be a joke.

  Everyone in the family knew that when he’d been a teen, his mother had forbidden him from dating Evie Fields after she caught them in his bed. Now, with less than a year on the clock to find himself a wife, he'd agreed to let his brother have the Royal IT department scour the web for his perfect match, but Amy Fields couldn’t be it. Impossible.

  His brother gave him the rest of the file along with her picture. He must have carried it in from his office down the hall. "I spoke to Mother the second I saw her name going to the top of the charts."

  As a teenager, Amy’s older sister Evie had been Lucio’s entire world. She'd come into the library one morning as he’d studied History, demanding that he go out with her. In that brief time, she'd shown him, at fifteen, all about sex.

  He remembered the ache in his chest when his mother forced him to choose between his family and his girlfriend and, of course, he’d sided with his family. Evie's tears when he’d broken up with her had haunted him at the time, though truthfully, he'd forgotten exactly what she looked like. Now her name was more the shield he wielded when his mother interfered with his life.

  Amy's sweet face was clear in his memory. Pretty Evie had dark hair, right? While Amy’s was lighter, almost wheat-colored. Her big brown eyes, cautious behind brown-framed glasses and the shy smile when he spoke to her came back with clarity. He shook his head. "I thought I'd die losing Evie when we moved to Avce." Drama and angst as only a teen boy can feel.

  His brother patted him on the back. "You were fifteen and she was your first. You've dated thousands since then."

  Thousands sounded like too big of a number, but he wasn't counting. Beautiful women fascinated him, though he had little in common with any of them.

  He studied the light blondish-brown hair and clear brown-eyed beauty in the picture. Nice curves beneath the cashmere sweater and designer jeans. He recognized the Ferris wheel in Hyde Park in the background of the photo, which meant Amy must still live in London. No. He put the photo down. "Evie's little sister cannot be the perfect bride."

  Antonio pointed to the folder Lucio held. "Read the report. Her parents and ours are already in agreement, if that matters to you."

  His hair bristled on his arms. "Not especially. Our mother once pushed Sophia toward you for marriage, and look how that turned out." Sophia Venko was now in jail waiting for her trial after trying to overthrow the Aussa family.

  "Sophia’s parents want us to send her back to England as they are still deposed royals." Antonio’s lips curled.

  "That's not going to happen." Lucio paced around his desk. So why had his mother, who had told him in no uncertain terms that Evie was not good enough, agreed to set Lucio up with her sister?

  Was it the time clock? But he had a year… Maybe his memory was flawed. The buzz in his ear told him there was more and now he was curious. "Antonio..."

  Antonio crossed his arms and leaned closer to explain. "Amy's parents want a chemical plant in Avce and feel that if they are family then Mom and Dad will give them the go ahead. Mom wants you to stay and be part of our family, which means you need a wife. From every account Amy outshines her sister." Antonio sat on the desk corner. "She majored in political science, works as an analyst, lives on her own in a nice part of London—and best of all, she’s not dating anyone."

  Amy sounded great on a resume. There was no denying her beauty, but she was still Amy Fields. Tomboy, studious, glasses too big for her face. Her sweet smile stayed in perfect focus from years ago. "What happened to Evie?"

  "Forget about her." Antonio dropped his arms and stood up, posture straight. "Evie is engaged to be married to a Scottish lord and family friend."

  "Engaged?" At fifteen, she'd seemed like she had the secrets to life—wild, fun-loving and carefree. It was almost funny that she’d been tied down after all. While Evie had been daring, Amy had spent time in the library, surrounded by book stacks.

  "Many of us never wanted to get married," Antonio shrugged, "and then we did. People change."

  In college, and the years since, he'd had a penchant for finding beautiful, unsuitable, girls he'd never bring home as payback for his mother interfering so long ago. Now, according to Avce custom, he needed a wife or else he’d be banished. The idea of Amy appealed. Hopefully she wasn't whiny and still liked to read for enjoyment.

  Antonio pointed to the manila envelope again. "I suggest you read this, meet with our parents, and hers. They are visiting and would love the contract for the cement plant signed, as well as a pre-nup. Then go meet Amy. She's not your usual type but that's probably a good thing."

  He looked at the glossy
photo. She’d ditched her glasses, and smiled with confidence. "I remember she was all skin and bones."

  "She's grown up." Antonio patted the arm of Lucio’s black leather office chair. "The IT department found me Kristin and I'm forever grateful. What if all those years ago you should have met Amy instead of Evie? This could be the Universe’s way of correcting that mistake."

  Her sister had been his first and that might present a problem. "You're becoming philosophical now that you're happily married." Lucio scoffed and steeled his spine. "Would you have married any of my ex-girlfriends if the computer told you she was the one for you?"

  "I was desperate, so I don't know what I'd have done." Antonio's face went red, but he took a breath and continued, "I had a month left before I was thrown out of the family and I finally listened to the IT department. You have a year and you know about the law—I didn’t. Why don't you at least meet her face-to-face and then decide if she is or isn't the one? You still have some time."

  Lucio dropped the folder to the desktop. "Fair enough. But first, I should clear the air with Evie—I’ll go in person to talk with her again." What would she be like fifteen years later?

  "Good luck." Antonio walked toward the door.

  Lucio opened the file to the first page, his gaze drawn to Amy’s smile. "Right now I've only agreed to meet her, nothing more, Antonio."

  "I understand." His older brother lifted one hand in a wave. "See you."

  Lucio sunk into his chair and flipped through the files to the back where there were more pictures. As he stared at Amy’s face, he looked for familiar nuances. He remembered in flashes that she’d been so quiet as she’d watched him. How she’d avert her attention when Evie joined him. Could he marry a timid mouse? The thought left him cold.

  If he didn't marry, he'd lose his family. The law was the law. And the truth was, his brothers were happy on a toss of a dime. Lucio didn’t expect love, though whoever he married, he'd demand loyalty from as well as give.

  Logically, cheating or keeping someone else in the background was too much work and he'd never harm the family name.

  He went back to the beginning and read the brief description for the fifth time. At least on file, Amy Fields was the perfect candidate. He picked up the phone to ready the private jet. If he married Amy, then her sister couldn't be an issue.

  Princes of Avce

  Forbidden Crown

  Forbidden Prince

  Forbidden Royal

  Forbidden Duke

  Forbidden Earl

  Forbidden Monsieur

  Forbidden Earl Preview

  Absolutely not.

  Cassidy Bright wrote the letter of refusal and put it in the mail pile to be delivered. There was no way she’d ever tell Remington Burke the name of his true love, according to her computer program. His report was as wrong as hers—it had to be.

  Cassidy removed her blue frames to admire the garden view from her office in the Royal Palace of Avce, then closed her laptop. Today was payday—a day that always brought mixed feelings. She’d go home to Astori Manor where her parents and sister expected her to pay the bills, her mother, as usual, claiming it was only temporary. The fact that she’d managed the palace computers for five years now meant nothing to them.

  Since moving to Avce after the return of power, other nobles had prospered, but her family didn’t know the words “save” or “work.”

  Her boss appreciated her, at least, and Cassidy had received a gift card for a local restaurant as thanks for her hard work.

  She slipped her gift card in her pocketbook, determined to keep this treat for herself when she saw missed calls and two messages.

  Cassidy read them and her heart nearly stopped. Gigi Burke wasn’t expected to live through the week? Though not related, Gigi was the closest thing she’d ever had to a grandmother. She slipped her laptop in its bag and took off running in the fastest direction to the parking lot. No one in the servants’ quarters asked her questions as she dashed toward her old brown Renault.

  The engine purred to life for once and she drove quickly through the servants’ entrance. She reminded herself that it was time to be Lady Cassidy again. Sort of. At the Burke household, no one cared that she worked on computers, unlike her own home, where it was considered less than noble.

  She shook her hair free of the messy bun and let it fall in her face.

  Just in case somebody else was around, Cassidy would be the walking disaster they all thought. Remy had poked fun of her for years now and she expected he’d continue—despite what the computer program predicted.

  It had been her program that had found the royal princes’ true loves. She worried that this latest development indicated a glitch in the system because the last person she’d ever kiss was Remington—not that he’d indicated an interest, but her messy hair was just one more shield against the impossible.

  Right now, his grandmother’s health mattered most. Cassidy drove onto his massive estate, parking at the front door. She didn’t work for him and never would.

  The Renault sputtered to a stop and she kicked her door open, as that was the only way it unlocked, and hopped out, ignoring the decadence of Remy’s finely manicured lawn and gleaming windows.

  Her own family estate was outdated in comparison, but upkeep was not as big a priority for her as food for them all.

  Cassidy entered the house. From the foyer, she could see the blue room where Remington brought visitors to wait with tea and she heard him talking to a woman dressed in black. First goal was to see Gigi; second goal was to avoid Remy. Would Gigi be in the sunroom, with her view of the roses she loved?

  He wouldn’t care that she was here for Gigi, he’d even understand, though her nerves grated. Cassidy had seen the marriage proposal on her father’s desk from Remington, asking to marry her sister.

  The five years of tuition payments Cassidy had paid for her sister’s education would now benefit the already rich Burke residence, if Chelsea accepted. She probably would. Cassidy fixed her glasses and waited outside the blue room to listen to Remington’s conversation with the lady in black.

  “Blackwell and I are getting married,” she said.

  Cassidy deduced that the woman was Donna Smith. Her computer program had been flawless for everyone else so far. Why not her? Maybe because she was too close, emotionally. She heard heavy, masculine footsteps on the polished Maplewood floors leading down the hall and quietly opened the side door.

  The brunette wore a flattering Chanel skirt and when she saw Cassidy, she immediately introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Donna Smith.”

  Cassidy immediately offered to shake her hand, but waited by the pocket door. “Is Remington gone?”

  The young woman nodded. “I think so. He went to see his grandmother. Who are you?”

  Remy was with the one person she didn’t want to see—why couldn’t he have gone riding? She couldn’t lie to him and so it was better to avoid him until this marriage business was sorted out. She let out a small huff, and held out her hand to Donna, who shook it. “Cassidy Bright, technically Lady Cassidy.” The title sounded stupid, and she rolled her eyes. Then she pushed her mop of hair backwards. “I’m trying to get in to see Lady Sky without running into Remington.”

  The American, who had only been in Avce a few days, stared at her like she made little sense. “Why? He seems pleasant enough.”

  To everyone else, he probably was. To her, he was the jerk who tugged her hair or laughed when she fell off a surfboard. Remington was nice to everyone, except her. She made a pfft sound and ignored the comment. “Let’s just say that Remington and I don’t get along, though his grandmother more than makes up for his bad manners.” Cassidy had an open invitation to visit Gigi but she’d been so busy the past week she hadn’t realized that Gigi was so ill. How are things with you and His Grace, the Duke of Oakley?”

  Donna stepped away and her face went white. “Blackwell and I are engaged.”

  Good. It seemed her work hel
d together. It was tragic fate that the computer program listed her true love as the one person it could never be. She gave Donna a thumbs up. “I told my sister not to bother going to the estate yesterday as Oberlin had met someone else. She hoped I was wrong.”

  Donna snapped her fingers and smiled like she’d put a puzzle together. “Chelsea is your sister.”

  Her perfect ladylike sister who would be the perfect Lady—of any estate. She swallowed and ignored the buzz in her brain when she thought about her sister and Remy. “My little sister, yes. She’s taken her place in society and intends to marry well.” Another image of her sister standing at the altar in a white dress holding Remy’s arm made her hand shake. She hid it behind her back. “Guess this means she’ll accept Remington’s offer and they’ll both be insufferable—together.”

  Footsteps from the hall interrupted her thoughts. She couldn’t imagine being near Remy, not now. She backed into the side door. “Oh, here comes Remington. Can you distract him while I slip past him in the hall so I can go say goodbye to Gigi? I owe her more than a few hugs.”

  Donna pressed her hand on her heart and shrugged. “Okay. I’ll try, but Blackwell is probably still with his grandmother.”

  It was clear Donna cared about Blackwell—though her fiancé didn’t matter to Cassidy. As long as they were happy, that meant true love existed. And, that she was a pretty darn good cupid.

  She waited, impatient to see Gigi, her favorite member of the Burke family. She never knew Remy’s parents who had died during the revolution which was why he’d been raised by his grandmother. “He can be there. I’m just avoiding Remy.” She waved and closed the door.

  “Interesting,” Donna said.

  Remington’s heavy footsteps brought him back to the blue room. Cassidy listened for the coast to be clear then quietly opened the door to slip down the hall behind them.

  Donna asked Remy, “Mr. Burke, I was wondering if Miss Chelsea Bright will be in attendance today.”