Bad to the Throne

by Gardiner, Jenny

  “I might be happier then.”

  Lorenzo frowned. “My God. I never thought this day would come. His Royal Highness Prince Alexander, Duke of Garibaldi, Prince Charming himself, the very epitome of the untamed bachelor, is whipped.”

  Zander glared at him. “I’m not whipped. That would suggest there is someone doing the whipping.”

  Lorenzo. “Ahhh... It matters not whether she has a direct hand in it. It’s all up here,” he said, pointing to his head. “La testa. The head. Thoughts of this woman have permeated your mind, and now, alas, it is hopeless.”

  “Hopeless, indeed,” he said. “Considering she’s gone and never coming back. My life scared her away.”

  “It is only hopeless if you abandon hope,” Lorenzo said. “But as long as you have been hooked by her, there’s a chance she’ll come back. You never know.”

  Two stunning, statuesque women sauntered by and asked if they could join them. Not wanting to be rude, Zander motioned halfheartedly for them to take a seat.

  “Grazie,” the tall blonde of the two said.

  Zander was shocked at his own ambivalence toward this beautiful woman with blue eyes clear as glass. Normally he’d have started working his charms on her, but he couldn’t muster up the give-a-care. Besides, her blue eyes only served to remind him of Andi’s, which were far more mesmerizing.

  “You come here often?” her friend the redhead asked. They all laughed, knowing it was the worst of clichéd pick-up lines.

  “Can I offer you a drink?” Lorenzo said, filling Zander’s void. He flagged a waiter down and ordered two Aperol spritzes. “Are you ladies from here?”

  “No, said the blonde. “We’re visiting for a few days. And you?”

  Zander refrained from rolling his eyes. If they didn’t know who he was, they must have arrived direct from underneath a very large rock.

  “No, no,” he said. “We are from Rome. Only here visiting my mother.” He gave Lorenzo a wink.

  The two women looked at each other and knit their brows, confused.

  “Oh?” Blondie said.

  Clearly neither of them knew how to ask if Zander was indeed Zander without looking a bit like gold-digging fools.

  “Yes, just stepped out for a drink, but meeting friends for dinner in a minute,” he added.

  The two women thanked them for the drink and got up and left the table.

  Lorenzo sighed. “There is an old Italian saying: it takes but one hair from a woman’s pussy to sink a flotilla. It seems your ship, my friend, has been sunk.” He raised his glass and clinked it to Zander’s. “Here’s to my fallen comrade. It happens to the best of us. Cin cin.”

  ~*~

  Zander feigned exhaustion and made an early night of it. When he returned to his palace apartment, he saw that he’d gotten a text message from Andi’s mother.

  Hey there, Alexander. It’s me, Peggy.

  Zander of course knew that already.

  Wondering if you’ve had any contact lately with my daughter. She seems to have gone incommunicado.

  Zander thought back to the contact he’d had with Andi but was pretty sure that was too much information for Peggy.

  You mean with Andi?

  He knew playing coy wouldn’t work, but he wasn’t quite sure how much to enlighten her with.

  You know, my daughter. Andrea? Pretty girl, long blond hair. You found her phone a while back? For that matter, I believe you hastened her off to a romantic holiday. Which, by the way, I’ve yet to hear about.

  I was just kidding, Peggy. How could I ever forget who Andi is? And how she tasted and how she felt and how perfect it was to be spooned naked against her from behind. And we had an amazing time. I thought we’d grown rather fond of each other. To be truthful, I have a lot of feelings for your daughter.

  I knew you two would get along well! So then surely you have plans to see each again? It’s not like Andi to stay out of touch like this. And I thought you’d be the one who’s most up to date on her comings and goings. The only other thing she’d mentioned was that she was spending some time at her friend Pippa’s in Monaforte. If I’m not mistaken, that’s your country, isn’t it?

  Zander laughed. It wasn’t often someone asked him where he was from. Usually they already knew that information.

  You hit the nail on the head. Monaforte is my country, he wrote. I wish I had more information for you. Andi and I had an amazing time together. I think we hit it off, well, royally. But then she decided to go back to Africa, from what I was told. Maybe that’s why you haven’t heard anything?

  Africa? I had no idea she was planning to return there. Any idea why?

  Because I scared her off?

  Maybe she was getting tired of Europe?

  It’s just not like her to not let me know when she’s about to travel again.

  Perhaps she left in a hurry and couldn’t contact you in time. I’m sure once she settles in and gets a new SIM card for her phone you’ll hear from her.

  It just makes no sense. The two of you had a great time together. You like her, she likes you. And then suddenly she runs back to Africa. Why would she do that?

  Zander sighed. Of course he liked her. Probably more than was good for him. After all, what wasn’t there to like about Andi? Except her propensity to run away, it seemed.

  I’m afraid you’ll need to ask your daughter that question. And in the unlikely event that I do hear from her, I’ll be sure to tell her to you’d like to speak with her. Oh, and if she does contact you, please tell her I’ve been thinking about her. A lot.

  Zander set his phone down and pursed his lips in thought. If he couldn’t get to Andi directly, perhaps some gently placed words from her mother might help.

  Maybe there was more than one way to skin a cat after all.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  ANDI had been able to successfully distract herself from her heartache by volunteering at an orphanage some ninety minutes outside Nairobi. She almost felt homesick, only she missed a man, not a place. But admitting she was man-sick was not gonna happen. It was almost a foreign feeling for her, as she’d become accustomed to living quite unattached in every way. She wasn’t quite sure how to make sense of such a strange sensation.

  Instead she tamped it down, pretending she was fine. And under the circumstances, among those surrounding her here whose lives had been a struggle since birth, this wasn’t a terribly hard challenge. Missing a guy with whom she’d had some serious window-steaming sex was nothing compared to children whose parents weren’t even alive to care for them. Perspective had a way of smacking away her blues.

  She was happy to pitch in anywhere she was needed, and some days she would spend hours just soothing crying children who had arrived at the orphanage, often with only the fraying, filthy clothes on their backs. On other days, she scrubbed and cleaned the facilities until they sparkled, and others she played soccer in the field or helped the children with English lessons or weeded the meager garden or washed sheets. There wasn’t much free time for boohooing. Besides which, the heartbreak was of her own doing. It wasn’t as if Zander had dumped her. She was the one who put an end to their fledgling relationship.

  Before she knew it, another male had inserted himself into her heart, a tiny boy named Josiah whom she guessed to be about nine years old and as sweet a child as she’d ever met. He was tiny, a result of malnourishment that had stunted his growth. But it did nothing to minimize his broad smile with white, evenly spaced teeth that shone bright against his beautiful, dark skin. For a child whom she’d been told had arrived with nothing to his name, he was always generous with his smile, which warmed Andi’s heart.

  She sat one sunny afternoon beneath a sprawling baobab tree, Josiah at her side as she read aloud to him from a Harry Potter book. He’d become readily transfixed with the story, something so far removed from the life he knew that it must have been beyond fantastical to him.

  “Harry Potter is a prince,” he said after she’d finished an exci
ting chapter.

  “Not exactly,” Andi said, briefly thinking back to her very own prince whom she’d left behind. And the idea of the magic her prince could work on her made her heart race.

  “I believe he is a prince of magic.”

  “Huh,” Andi said, scratching her chin in thought. “I suppose you’re right about that.”

  “I think he’s just like my prince,” Josiah said.

  Andi laughed. “Oh really? You have your own prince?”

  Josiah’s eyes widened. “Yes. He visits me and plays football with me.”

  Andi knew football meant soccer. “Ahhh, I see. You have a mysterious prince who plays football with you. Tell me, who’s better at it, him or me?”

  Josiah shrugged. “Miss Andi, I can’t tell a lie. He’s the best footballer I’ve played with.”

  Andi nodded. “It’s true, I’m not exactly the best soccer player in the world. But we have fun, right?”

  He nodded his head vigorously.

  “Tell me more about your prince friend.”

  “He helped to bring me here,” Josiah said. “I was in hospital and was very sick. My prince carried me from the hospital when he came to visit and saw me there.”

  Andi knit her brow, wondering what the hell he meant by that. “You’re telling me some prince fellow came and took you out of the hospital and brought you here?”

  He nodded some more. “Yes. He bought me clothes and books, and we’re best friends.”

  “So have you seen this royal being since then?”

  “Yes. He visits me and takes me into Nairobi. We see films and we go to dinner together. He’s found me a family. We’re just waiting for the paperwork to finish, and I will join them.”

  Andi knew that indeed Josiah was in line to go to a family in a matter of days. It thrilled her he’d have a permanent home, though it saddened her she’d no longer see him as he was such a bright, charming boy.

  “You are a very lucky young man to have a prince care for you in that way,” she said.

  “He helps us all,” Josiah said. “He brings clothes and candy and toys and spends time with all the children.”

  “Is his name Santa Claus?” Andi said, taking a swig of her water. This mysterious prince sounded too good to be true.

  “No, no, no!” he said. “His name is Prince Alexander. But we call him Zander.”

  Andi choked on her water, spitting it on her shirt. “I’m sorry. What did you just tell me?”

  Just then, Elizabeth, one of the directors of the facility came by.

  “Hey there! You okay? I see you had a hard time keeping your drink in your mouth,” she said, laughing and pointing to her wet top.

  “Oh, Josiah and I were just reading about Harry Potter, and he told me he thought he was a prince, like his friend he calls Zander.” Andi raised a curious eyebrow.

  Elizabeth waved a hand. Oh, yes, Zander. He has been a godsend to our orphanage,” she said. “Anytime I need anything, I just pick up the phone and it’s taken care of. Sometimes I don’t think he’s a prince so much as a miracle worker.”

  “You’re talking about Prince Alexander, the one from Monaforte?”

  “Yes,” she said, laughing. “You likely know him better as the one naked in the swimming pool in Vegas. Even in our somewhat remote outpost, we’ve heard of that. I suppose at times Zander can act out a little obtrusively, but I’ve yet to meet a man with a larger heart.”

  Andrea furrowed her brows. “Okay, so just to be clear here. You’re talking about Zander? Not his older brother Adrian?”

  She nodded. “Absolutely. It’s his Prince’s Trust charity that has virtually sustained us.”

  Andi was in shock. It was Zander who was the one doing all the charitable deeds. Zander at the soup kitchens. Zander at the orphanage. Zander who apparently quietly and generously had given his time and his resources to help strangers in many countries.

  “Wow,” was all she could say. “Wow.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  ONE thing was for sure: Andi was a stubborn one. Because even though she had right before her eyes the truth about Zander, it still didn’t enable her to put her head in a place in which she could see how to manage being a part of his life. Somehow the idea of loss of privacy and having the eyes of the world on her were terrifying enough to cancel out all signs pointing to Zander being an all-around good guy, just as her gut had been trying to convey, albeit unsuccessfully. Andi could be dogged once she set her mind to something. Shame she hadn’t set it this time to cutting the poor guy some slack and returning to him on bended knee.

  Instead she dug in, focusing on doing good work and helping the children. She did have to bid farewell to Josiah, who was moving in with his family, though he would continue to attend the school, which was the closest option for him. So in reality she’d have the best of both worlds: he’d have a home, and she’d still get to spend some time with him.

  She was surprised when her phone rang while she was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floors in the living quarters.

  “My goodness, you are a slippery one,” Pippa said to her.

  “Slippery?”

  “Oh, you know what I mean,” she said. “Sneaking out under cover of darkness just to avoid facing the truth.”

  “Truth?” Andi said, feigning innocence.

  “About Zander. And you. And the fact that you two are perfect for each other. But for some reason you refuse to acknowledge it.”

  Andi sighed. “Zander is a really sweet man,” she said. “And we’ve had a lot of fun together—”

  “I think most people call that sex,” Pippa said, laughing.

  Andi blushed despite being thousands of miles away from her friend. “Okay, yeah, that was pretty perfect. But Pips, it’s not my world. You know that. I’m just this shy, unassuming Yankee girl. I’m not set up for that whole royalty thing. And I’m sure his mother would hate me for any number of yet-to-be-named reasons.”

  “No doubt she’d particularly loathe that you help out poor children in third world countries and feed and clothe starving homeless people.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Um, actually, no. I haven’t a clue. Forgive me if I don’t know you well enough to say this to you, but I think you are being incredibly pigheaded. And stupid. And I haven’t the slightest idea why. Zander is a great guy. He’s got a heart of gold. And he thinks the world of you. He’s all over you, Andrea, and he misses you terribly. Why are you being so skittish that you ran away to a whole other continent just to avoid him?”

  Andi was silent, and in that quiet moment the friction of the scrub brush bristles on the concrete floor were amplified, reminding her that she was, for all intents and purposes, a washerwoman in an orphanage. The contradiction from her recent foray with Zander was striking. She was a reverse Cinderella. Finally she spoke.

  “I’m not avoiding Zander,” she said. “I was just getting on with my life.”

  Pippa burst out laughing. Andi wondered if it was such a great idea for her to use her limited phone minutes with someone who was giving her a heap of shit.

  “Let me know when you’re ready to be honest with yourself, my dear,” her friend said. “Look, Andi, I totally respect you on so many levels. You’ve done wonderful work helping out in so many places. I know you’ve got a big heart that is in the right place, wanting to care for those less fortunate. But maybe it’s time for you to put that heart toward helping out a guy who is pining for you.”

  “Please,” she said. “Pining schmining. Zander could have any woman in the world he wanted.”

  “But that woman is you, and clearly that isn’t the case.”

  “My point is he’s probably already had about three flings since I left Monaforte. No doubt I’m no longer on his radar.”

  It was Pippa’s turn to be quiet for a minute. “Look, Andi, I’m afraid it’s not really my place to say this, but I’m gonna say it anyhow. And you are sworn on your life to never, ever, ever,
ever tell Zander I confided in you about this.”

  “Sounds downright cryptic.”

  “It’s not cryptic, it’s personal. For Z. And it feels intrusive for me to tell you this. But it’s something you need to know. I’m telling you this because I’m both your friend and Zander’s. And I think it’s a crime that you’re being motivated by fear to the point that you won’t let things happen organically between the two of you.”

  “Trust me, things happened very organically between the two of us. I can assure you of that.”

  “Zander came over here looking for you,” Pippa said. “He was devastated when he got your note. I’ve never seen him in such a state. Andrea, the man had tears in his eyes. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him cry.”

  Andrea placed her scrub brush on the ground and sat back against the hard wall, pressing her hands to her face.

  “Impossible,” she said to Pippa, but with no conviction behind her words. “I’m not the girl men fawn over or cry for. I’m just not.”

  “Well, this time, like it or not, it looks like you are.”

  “I have to ask you something,” Andi said.

  “Fire away.”

  “The Prince’s Trust,” she said. “That’s really Zander, not Adrian?”

  “Of course it’s Zander’s charity,” Pippa said. “It’s been his passion for years. Everybody knows that.”

  Andi shook her head, although it wasn’t as if Pippa could see it. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I just assumed you knew that. Everyone knows that. It’s Z’s thing. He might be a wild child, but he’s also got the most generous heart of any man I know. The very same heart you left in tatters, I might add.”

  “Touché. I deserved that.”

  “Just calling it like I see it,” Pippa said. “Look, Andi. It’s not too late. You could still get back here for the wedding. Stay at my place if you want to remain under the radar a bit. It’s going to be a huge party. Much of it will be protected from the paparazzi that seem to have scared you off. Besides, there will be so many VIP types here, no one will pay any attention to you.”