“Done.”
The palace needed to see that Anna was the future queen and her word carried weight.
This was also why he let her negotiate with him beside her today. Anna glanced at him while he opened the door and then he placed his arm on her back to guide her inside.
Once they were back, Anna handed the paper to Francesca, who read all the notes as Anna said, “Francesca, thank you for waiting.”
Francesca met his gaze and asked, “So what did accounting say?”
Anna coughed and projected her voice. “Your numbers are fifty percent too high. However, my husband wants this to end today. So I am being generous and offering seventy-five percent of your asking prices for all of these.”
Again Francesca glanced at him and said, “I deserve what I want, Leo.”
“His Highness,” Anna corrected her. “My husband is not on a first name basis with you, anymore.”
He pressed his hand on his wife’s as he said, “Francesca, my princess here usually gets what she wants.”
Francesca slumped in her seat. “Yes. I realize that about her.”
Anna’s eyebrow raised and she asked, “So seventy-five percent?”
“Eighty-five percent,” Francesca countered.
Anne’s gaze narrowed, and she firmly said, “I’ll go no higher than eighty.”
Francesca nodded fast. “Agreed.”
And just like that, Anna was happy. Her skin had a slight pinkish tone and he knew that color of hers intimately now.
Anna stood and motioned toward the buffet set up behind Francesca. He followed his wife as she said, “Good. Wait and I’ll have the lawyers write this up in contract form. Please help yourself to lunch while the paper pushers take care of the details.”
He stepped toward the door, but Francesca called out, “Anna.”
“Her Highness,” he corrected again. Anna adhered to tradition even more than him and he’d ensure no one disrespected her, for the rest of his life.
Anna placed her hand on his chest, which was covered in his wool jacket and full princely gear designed for him, and smiled at him. “It’s okay, Leo.”
His name from her lips sent a thrill through him—how had he gotten so lucky?
He’d married a wonderful woman. A true lady despite her humble birth.
Francesca rose and spoke to Anna. “How did you… pull yourself up so high, when the rest of us never get those breaks?”
Anna folded the paper and handed it to him to hold as she said, “I… I just try to do my jobs and be a good person. I hope your pregnancy is easy and you get everything you want, Francesca.”
Francesca snorted as she said, “I wanted your life.”
Anna lifted her chin. “Well, besides that. I’m not moving over.”
He wouldn’t let her. A life without Anna wasn’t a life. He hugged his wife’s waist. “Anna is my princess, for the rest of her life.”
Then he walked beside her and opened the door for them.
The second they stepped out, she took his hand and they returned to his office, the nearest place they could be alone.
Pierre kept his gaze respectfully lowered when he passed them by.
Back when he’d worked with Anna as his secretary, he’d never closed the door. Now he locked the door so that nobody would intrude.
She stayed next to him and they kissed the second they were alone.
Finally he had everything he wanted. Right here, in his arms.
Chapter 19
A few weeks later…
Anna Camila scanned the clear blue ocean surrounding their yacht. The morning sun glistened on the white, turning it to pearl.
The ship gently bobbed in the water as they were anchored for the night in the middle of nowhere.
Later today, they would continue to sail on their adventure. Memories of her parents as they sailed on their small skiff laughing together rushed through her mind right now.
They’d like this honeymoon on a yacht.
The stillness of the air as she took a few breaths to cleanse her palate helped steady her thoughts.
Anna returned, barefoot, to the bedroom and slipped back beneath the covers next to her husband.
Leo moved as if her cold legs disturbed him, but then he rested and she settled back into the white sheets to stare at him.
Her husband was absolutely the most handsome man she’d ever met.
She took a deep breath and hoped he would like what she had to say. He batted his eyes so she knew he was awake, and before he even had a chance to say good morning, she hugged her pillow to her chest and asked, “Leo, what are some names you’d want if you had a son or daughter?”
His nose lifted as he sat up beside her, tugging at her pillow. “I don’t want to talk about Francesca. It’s not like I get a choice there.”
She let the pillow go “I wasn’t talking about Francesca.”
And then the pillow fell beside the bed as he asked, “What?”
Guess that wasn’t clear. Her heart beat a little faster as she stared at his muscular chest because his brown eyes always mesmerized her. “Leo, you and I have been intimate since the island…”
He grinned and squeezed her hand. “Antonio if it’s a boy and Maria’s good if it’s a girl.”
Handsome, and smart. She laughed and settled into his waiting arms as she asked, “Why those names?”
He yawned and scratched the short hair at the back of his head. “Well, family tradition requires me to name my oldest Antonio… because my full name is Prince Leopoldo Cosimo Francesco Gastone Giuliano Piero Charles Marcus Lorenzo Antonio Aussa.”
“That’s a mouthful,” she joked, but understood instantly they really didn’t get a choice in a male name. The Aussa family had rules.
Leo explained, “Antonio was a noble king about two hundred years ago and the Aussas recycle the good king names, and let the bad names die. We only get to cycle a new name in when we retire a bad one.”
And if she had a son, Antonio was a good name. “Your family is actually still following that rule?”
“Traditions are important.”
She happened to agree, for the most part. Her heart thumped as she wondered about the second suggestion. “Okay, so why Maria?”
Leo eyed her with a smug look. “Maria, because your grandmother’s cookies are really yummy.”
Cookies. Her life had revolved around those cookies for years. Since getting her own staff, her grandmother made her delicious cookies, and Anna didn’t have to worry that she’d accidentally left the oven on.
She poked his rock-hard abs with a laugh. “So you’d name our daughter so you get more cookies sent over from the dower house?”
“Umm… yes,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He dropped the sheets, showing off his nakedness in all his glory. “And I hope she hands over her cookie recipe to my chefs.”
“That won’t happen.” Anna’s hands grazed his chest as he came over her to kiss her and pull her hips lower on the bed.
Leo was hers. She was his. And now they’d have a family. The rest of the world didn’t matter at all.
Not today.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed King Leopold and Queen Anna’s love story. My editor and I went back on what kind of technology nobles might have in the 1990s and I provided the tech history of computer and motorola cell phones that super rich people had, even if you and I didn’t quite get in our hands. So much fun writing this one. The next book is Forbidden Bastard and that’s coming soon.
If you loved Forbidden Crown, you’ll love the billionaire family drama of the House of Morgan, where romance is the only cure that might heal the past. The first book, Secret Crush, is FREE and available where you can see how the House of Morgan all started.
And if you’re looking for a series with some danger and mystery where all the Bentleys must marry women they’ve never met to clear their names in this exciting family drama. The prequel Irresistibly Lost is available for FREE as
well!
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Also by Victoria Pinder
Returning for Valentine’s (FREE if you go to my website)
The House of Morgan
Secret Crush
Secret Baby
Secret Bet
Secret Wish
Secret Dad
Secret Heir
Secret Tryst
Secret Date
Secret Romeo
Secret Match
Secret Bridesmaid
Secret Admirer
The House of Morgan Boxed Set 1-3
The House of Morgan Boxed Set 4-6
Princes of Avce
Forbidden Crown
Forbidden Prince
Forbidden Royal
Forbidden Duke
Forbidden Earl
Forbidden Monsieur
Forbidden Marquis
Forbidden Count
Forbidden Noble
The Hawke Fortune
Tempting Gabe
Tempting James
Tempting Conner
Tempting Harry
Tempting Navid
Brothers in Revenge Prequel
Irresistibly Lost (FREE if you sign up for my newsletter)
Irresistibly Found
Brothers in Revenge
Irresistibly Charming
Irresistibly Tough
Irresistibly Played
Irresistibly Rugged
Irresistibly Strong
Irresistibly Dashing
A Frosted Game of Hearts
Hidden Gabriel
Hidden Raphael
Hidden Michael
The Marshall Family Saga
Favorite Crush
Favorite Mistake
Favorite Sin
Favorite Scandal
The Collins Brothers
Chaperoning Paris
Borrowing the Doctor
Electing Love
Keeping the Spy
Keeping the Captain
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Call of the Dragon
Dawn of the Dragon
Escape of the Dragon (Coming Soon)
The Queen Gene
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Earthseekers Mission
Makeup May Change Your Life
The Zoastra Affair
Ancient Greek Heroes
Mything You
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About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author, Victoria Pinder grew up in Irish Catholic Boston then moved to Miami. Eventually, found that writing is her passion. She always wrote stories to entertain herself. Her parents are practical minded people demanding a job, but when she sat down to see what she enjoyed doing, writing became obvious.
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Forbidden King (Princes of Avce Book 9) Page 15