by Romancing the Crown Series (13-in-1 bundle) (v1. 0) (lit)
Perhaps, he thought wryly, this was his payment for all those years of finding amusement at the expense of others.
"And what, dear brother, is on your mind to make you look so serious?" Julia asked gaily.
"Payback," Lucas muttered.
"Spoken like a man getting his just desserts, I think they call it," Rashid said.
It still took Lucas a bit of adjusting to remember this man was no longer the enemy. Coming home had been shock enough, coming home to find the ancient feud ended and his sister married to Rashid Kamal had almost been more than he could fathom. But his parents had insisted Julia was deliriously happy, and the first time he'd seen her after his return, it had only taken one look at her to know it was the absolute truth. And for that alone, Lucas welcomed the man in the beginning, but he'd come to like and respect Rashid in his own right as he'd gotten to know him better.
And now he saw a devilish glint in his brother-in-law's dark eyes, and knew Rashid had guessed the trouble was female.
"We shall talk later, eh, my brother-in-law? Perhaps I can help."
"Help?" Lucas asked.
Rashid looked at his wife, and the emotion that leapt between them was almost palpable. "I had to propose to Julia many times before she finally saw the wisdom of saying yes."
"Then perhaps," Julia said archly, "my brother should speak to me, to learn why I changed my mind."
"Right now," Lucas said frankly, "I'll take whatever help I can get. She is one stubborn American."
"There are those who would say that is a redundancy," Rashid replied. "Among them your very own sister and the two Dukes Sebastiani."
"Not to mention two of your own siblings, as well," Julia pointed out to her husband.
Lucas chuckled despite his worry. It was true, the Sebastiani and Kamal families were now as intertwined with Americans as they were with each other, and had been with the British before. They had truly become multinational. And he couldn't deny the energy and fresh viewpoints the new family members had brought with them. And they had reached an accord—even the people of Tamir, who had a greater mistrust of the West, had eventually accepted the changes.
"Perhaps I should speak to them all," he said ruefully. "It may take advice from everyone to convince this woman."
"Any woman worth winning is worth fighting for," Rashid said pointedly. And his sister's glow redoubled. Perhaps, Lucas thought, he could do worse than get advice from his new brother-in-law.
"Have patience, big brother," Julia said. "As long as she knows you love her, she will come around." She glanced at her husband before adding, "She does know you love her, doesn't she?"
"Of course," he said impatiently. "She knows I fell in love with her when I was on her ranch. That's not the problem. The problem is Luke."
"Luke?" Julia was startled.
"Yes. She's worried about his future."
"But what is there to worry about?" Rashid asked. "He is your heir, is he not? He will be king."
"Exactly," Lucas said. But before he could explain, Julia put a hand on his arm, and he looked up to see her watching the doorway. He turned his head, and sucked in a breath at the sight that met his eyes.
She was wearing a simple blue dress he'd never seen her wear before. It made her eyes look the color of a Colorado summer sky, and her body look both slender and richly curved. A thin gold chain gleamed at her throat. Her hair was down, not in its usual tail or braid, and the golden shimmer of that sleek mass that fell over her shoul ders made his fingers curl with the need to touch.
Rashid nodded appreciatively.
"Definitely worth fighting for," he said.
Chapter 14
Jessie had never been so wary of simply going to dinner. She'd changed her clothes three times, finding something wrong or unsuitable about every outfit she tried on. She had finally settled on a blue linen dress that she knew fit her well, even though she was afraid the best from Sally Tucker's dress shop in Shady Rock would be too simple for the royal company she'd be keeping tonight. But it was one of her best, and it would just have to do. She wasn't royalty, but a simple American rancher, and she wasn't going to pretend to be anything else.
At least she would blend well with the room, she thought wryly, guessing that Queen Gwendolyn had decided to have this meal in the informal breakfast room for her sake, since she was more comfortable there than any of the other, more ornate rooms dedicated to the intricate process of formal meals.
Just two more people present shouldn't have made that much difference, Jessie thought as she hovered in the doorway, hesitating. But they did. Because these two, Lucas's sister Princess Julia, and Prince Rashid Kamal, were a very dramatic pair. Knowing their history, and how they had resolved the ancient feud between their two families, she'd been curious to see them. But now that she actually had, she felt a bit overwhelmed.
What was it about these people? What gave them this presence, this air of.. .well, of regalness? Did it come from being raised to think they were different, special? Or was it somehow born in them? Her brow creased at that thought, because it skirted too close to what Lucas had been saying, that Luke was born to this life.
And then the woman she knew had to be Julia, tall, with thick dark hair, a porcelain complexion and blue eyes like her mother's, swept forward.
"You must be Jessica," she said, reaching out and taking Jessie's hand. "It's so good to meet you at last. Welcome to Montebello."
Julia wore a simply cut silk dress, rich-looking but not flashy, in a pale peach that set off her dark hair. Nothing that made Jessie feel her own attire was either inappropriate or shabby.
"Thank you," she answered automatically. "But call me Jessie, please. Or Jess."
"I will, thank you. This is my husband, Rashid."
The dark man smiled graciously, then bent over her hand and kissed it in a way that should have seemed pretentious but didn't; she'd be willing to bet his ancestors had probably invented the extravagant gesture.
"It is my pleasure indeed, Jessie, to meet at last the woman who has managed to bring such consternation into Lucas Sebastiani's life."
Jessie blushed at the outrageous words, but before she could become too embarrassed, Julia was chatting away to her as if they were old friends.
"I hope you're having a wonderful time. Has Lucas shown you everything? No, wait, you've not been here long enough to see all the wonders of Montebello. You can't even have begun."
"Is everyone here a walking travel brochure?"
Jessie nearly gasped as the words slipped out of her mouth. She knew she never would have said it if she hadn't been feeling so pressured. She held her breath, afraid to look at anyone.
And then, suddenly, she heard a chuckle. It broke loose, and she realized Rashid Kamal had lost a tremendous battle to stifle his laughter.
"I am sorry, but she is so very right," he managed to choke out.
Julia frowned. Or rather, she tried to, but Jessie saw the corners of her mouth twitching. And then she, too, was laughing out loud, a lovely, silvery sound.
"I'm afraid it's true," she said. "We do all sound like that. To us, there is no better place in the world than Montebello."
"You have my sympathies, my dear," Rashid said to Jessie, "if you have been subjected to the constant chorus of the glories of this island." He gave his wife a quick sideways glance before he added with a grin, "You will have to come to Tamir, where you will truly find the best place in the world."
Julia laughed again. "Even I must admit it is not the wretched place I was always told it was."
Only then did Jessie risk a look at Lucas. He wasn't laughing. Julia seemed to notice his lack of amusement at the same moment, and proceeded to take some sisterly license with him.
"And what has you so glum, brother mine? Are you feeling guilty because you've been barraging poor Jessie with your sales pitch?"
To Jessie's amazement a hint of color tinged Lucas's cheeks. "I haven't been barraging her."
"Oh?" Jul
ia looked at Jessie, her eyes twinkling, telling her she had an ally.
"Oh?" echoed Rashid, and when she glanced at the tall, exotic-looking man she saw a grin that invited her to join in the fun.
She turned to Lucas and said, "Oh?"
Both Julia and Rashid burst into open laughter again, and this time, after a moment, Lucas chuckled along with them, albeit ruefully.
"All right, all right," he said. "Maybe I've been doing a small sales pitch."
"I don't want to see your big sales pitch, then," Jessie said, relieved that he wasn't angry, and more relieved that she hadn't completely humiliated herself with her unthinking outburst.
"Good evening."
The strong male voice came from behind them, and Jessie turned quickly, just in time to see the king and queen enter. She let out a sigh of relief to see they were also dressed simply, although nothing could rob them of their glamorous impact. Even the simple clothes they wore looked elegant, with Gwendolyn's blond, English rose beauty and Marcus's silver-haired, dark-eyed, aristocratic good looks.
The pair greeted Julia and Rashid first, and if there was any reserve on their part toward their former enemy and now son-in-law, it certainly didn't show. Jessie supposed the fact that the ancient feud had been discovered to have been founded on a false assumption had gone a long way toward resolving the situation.
"You've met Jessie, I see," Gwendolyn said. "We've been delighted to have her here."
"I can see why," Julia said, and Jessie felt somehow flattered. "I'm hoping she'll let me sneak upstairs and take a peek at my nephew after dinner," Julia added.
"Of course," Jessie said, glad to be able to repay Lucas's sister for her support after her faux pas.
As nerve-racking dinners went, this one wasn't as bad as she'd feared. Gwendolyn was clearly a practiced hostess, and had also taught her daughter well. They both made sure Jessie was included in the lively talk, and whenever anything was discussed that she wouldn't be familiar with, they made certain someone explained.
Jessie had just begun to finally relax when the conversation turned on her, and again she felt as if it were her own fault, although she hadn't meant to open the subject that soon yawned before her.
"You're so like your mother," she told Julia. "Not so much in looks, since she's blond and you're dark, but in your grace, and movements. Even your smile."
"Since my mother is still considered the most beautiful woman in all of Montebello, I'll take that as a compliment," Julia said.
"Ah, but you forget the way in which she is most like her mother," Rashid said.
"What's that?" Jessie asked.
"She made her husband propose five times before accepting him."
Jessie blinked. "You, too?"
Julia laughed, as she did so readily. "Yes, I did."
"So you see, Jessie," King Marcus said with a devilish grin that gave her a glimpse of the dashing young prince he'd been when he'd been in pursuit of a spirited and smart young Englishwoman, "you shall fit right in. You've already shown you have the backbone required to be a Sebastiani, to keep this one—" he gestured at his son "— dancing on a string."
Jessie blushed furiously. "I'm not—He isn't—That is not my intent," she finally got out.
"Oh?" Lucas said, in an exact echo of her tone earlier, when she'd joined Julia and Rashid in their teasing.
Jessie knew from that tone he was teasing, but for her this was no matter for lightness. "No! My concerns are for my son," she said adamantly, finding that when Luke was the subject, she was no longer intimidated by anyone. "And I have every right to them," she added with a determination she felt down to her very bones.
"Well spoken, dear," Queen Gwendolyn said approvingly, surprising her.
"Don't mind the Sebastiani men," Julia said lightly. "They tend toward blind stubbornness, you know."
"But our women forgive us," the king said, looking at his eldest daughter. "And for that," he added softly, "we are most fortunate."
Something passed between father and daughter, and Jessie had the oddest sense it was both an old pain and a new peace. She glanced at Lucas for an instant, but if he'd caught the exchange and understood it, it didn't show in his rather mutinous expression.
"And don't you dare say you're not stubborn, Lucas," Julia said, "because your expression alone will make a liar out of you."
"Indeed," the queen agreed mildly, but with a smile that made it clear she looked upon the foibles of her men with a certain fondness.
Lucas grimaced, but in the face of the united front of mother and sister, he wisely said nothing.
The rest of the meal and the talk passed comfortably enough, but when Julia suggested Jessie take her upstairs for a look at baby Luke, she acceded gratefully. And when she was out of the room, she felt a knot of tension inside her ease slightly. Something must have shown in her face, because Julia put a gentle hand on her arm as they started up the stairs.
"I know it's hard, Jessie. It's hard for me sometimes, and I was born to it." She smiled. "And my parents are quite something, aren't they? They were just my parents tonight, but when they're in regal mode, they even intimidate me."
Just that quickly the rest of that tension let go, and Jessie let out a long breath of relief. "They intimidate me all the time."
"They shouldn't, really. They like you, I could tell. Especially the way you stand up for your son. And speaking of that cutie
"He's in my room, with Eliya," she said.
Julia didn't seem to find it odd that the baby was in a guest suite rather than in the well-equipped nursery the palace had. And if the knowledge that she and Lucas were not sharing his luxurious apartments surprised her or even registered, that didn't show, either. Julia simply turned left at the top of the stairs, toward the guest wing.
"I'm sure it's better that you keep him close to you, especially just now. It must be very hard to let him out of your sight."
"Very," Jessie said, thankful she understood.
"I know how hard it is to leave my boy for even this evening," Julia said. "I can't imagine how I'd feel if he'd been taken from me for so long."
Jessie's throat tightened at the woman's graciousness, kindness and understanding. She didn't know how to thank her, couldn't think of any words, didn't know how you thanked a princess anyway. And then, almost unbidden, the right words came to her. Putting herself in Julia's place, in the place of any young mother, they came to her.
"Your son must be beautiful. I would love to see him sometime."
Julia's smile lit up her face, and Jessie knew she'd said the right thing.
"Oh, yes, you must see him. He's the most beautiful child. I will bring him the next time we come. Or better yet, you must come to Tamir, as Rashid suggested." Her smile became mischievous. "It is not as nice as Montebello, of course, but it has its good points. And if you've never been to a place like it, it's quite fascinatingly exotic."
"I'd like that," Jessie said, and found somewhat to her amazement, that she meant it.
"We'll arrange it, then. Soon," Julia added as they stepped into Jessie's room.
Eliya rose as they entered, smiled at Jessie, but bowed respectfully to Julia. "Your Highness," she said.
Jessie wondered if whoever did marry Lucas would get the same treatment. The thought of him marrying some other, faceless woman in the future caused her a pang, which she banished by thinking decisively that if she was good enough to get bowed to after a marriage, she should have been good enough before.
"Good evening, Eliya," Julia answered the nurse. "How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you. It is very nice to have a little one to look after again."
Julia smiled. "I still wish I'd been able to convince you to come to Tamir and take care of Omar, but now I am glad you refused, so you were here for Luke."
Refused? Jessie wondered. Was it possible for a mere commoner to refuse a request from the royal family? Apparently so, since here Eliya was.
The woman smiled and a
t the princess's nod, made a discreet exit. Julia walked to the crib, and immediately exclaimed, "Oh, he's as adorable as I remembered."
Immediately pleased, Jessie smiled as the other woman cooed over her son. And gave a quick nod of permission when Julia asked if she could hold him.
"My, he's grown so, and it's only been a few weeks since I've seen him."
"Has he?" Jessie said, feeling rather silly. "He still seems so tiny to me."
"I'll bet he didn't when he was born," Julia said jokingly.
"No, he didn't," Jessie agreed quietly. She would never forget the agony of those hours, when she'd fought to bring her son into the world with no one but her mentally unstable kidnapper to help her.
"Oh, no," Julia exclaimed. "Oh, Jessie, I am so sorry, that was unforgivably thoughtless of me, after what you went through when Luke was born."
"It's all right."
"No, it's not. I just didn't think."
Jessie managed a smile. "Neither did I, before I accused you all of being travel agents in disguise."
For a moment Julia just looked at her. And then, the warmest smile Jessie had ever seen curved the woman's lips. "You know, I was determined to like you for Lucas's sake, and for Luke's. But now I see I don't need to worry at all, I simply like you. And I hope we'll be friends."
Never had she been so sweetly complimented by an offer of friendship. Nor had she ever wanted so much to accept. She didn't know how to tell this charming, generous woman that she wouldn't be staying.
"May I ask you something?" she said instead.
"Of course."
"Something personal."
"Oh, even better," Julia said with a grin. She put Luke carefully back in the crib, plopped down on the bed and patted a spot beside her. "Girl talk. With Christina off in America and Anna off who knows where with Tyler, I've missed it. Come, what do you want to know?"