Sarah & Vittorio (Royals of Valleria #9)

by Marianne Knightly

  “That first night, I saw you at the event. Mingling, men circling you, wanting you. You could feel their desire across the damn ballroom. On some, you could even see it.”

  She smiled, and his thumb brushed that, too.

  “I waited. And waited. Conducted my business, ensured the event was successful. Then I saw you disappear onto the balcony. Alone. Many saw you, but none followed.”

  “They saw me leave? I remember that. I didn’t think anyone saw.”

  “When the sun dips from the sky, the world notices, bella. You’re a sun. When you leave the room, the world is darker for it.”

  Wow. “That’s maybe the best compliment I’ve ever gotten in my life.”

  He kissed her gently, then pulled back and settled them once more. She watched the frothy bubbles and felt the rumble of his chest behind her as he continued.

  “Your light is what drew me to you in the first place. I had a…difficult and dark conversation that night. Your light was addictive, bella. So, when I saw my chance, I used a side entrance to the balcony, so I wouldn’t be noticed, and I followed you. We talked, we danced. We kissed.”

  “All on the balcony.”

  He nodded against her hair. “From there, we made our way to the dance floor. No doubt, all those pictures of us were taken there. When the guests began to filter out, you left first, and I thought our night was through. I can’t believe I didn’t know who you were. I’d seen your picture before but didn’t make the connection. It was my event, my guest list, and I thought you’d declined attending so I didn’t think of you as the princess.”

  “I did decline. I wasn’t originally planning on attending. I thought we’d still be working on the trade deal, but then we ended up getting it signed that afternoon. I decided to attend at the last minute. I don’t think I even told anyone I was coming.”

  “The staff certainly didn’t tell me you’d arrived, but I’d spent most of the night attending to business. I have an event planner on staff who usually handles the details of these events; she probably knew but neglected to tell me.”

  “Well, if I left the event first, how did we get together?”

  “You were waiting for me. You left the ballroom but not the castle.” He grinned into her neck. “You attacked me.”

  “I did not!”

  “How do you know?”

  She flattened her lips. Damn, but the man had a point. “I’ve never ‘attacked’ anyone before.”

  “Hmmm. You tried to take charge, but I wouldn’t have it. I told you if you wanted me, you’d do as I said.”

  God, his voice was doing things to her body again. She couldn’t have another orgasm.

  Or could she?

  “You agreed.”

  Oh, maybe she could. She squirmed slightly.

  “That first night was heat and sweat and pleasure. Tonight, however, was something more. Something unexpected.”

  It was exactly that, and it left her feeling unsure. What did this mean for their plan over the next month? For their future in general?

  “I’m so confused. How does this fit in with everything? With the plan and the press? I need—”

  “Shhh. Don’t try to manage this right now. Just relax and enjoy. We’ll worry about the rest in the morning.”

  Since that was good advice, she decided to take it. There wasn’t much she could do now anyway.

  He kissed her nape. “Come, let’s take a quick shower and then rest.”

  They finally collapsed into bed ten minutes later. They fell asleep facing each other, their arms and legs twined and bound together.

  Chapter Eight

  The ringing of his phone woke him. He glanced at the screen, scowled, and declined the call.

  His father. Fuck if Rio’d answer his call right now.

  He turned and caught the blinking eyes of his bell’angelo.

  She stretched her arms and legs, then settled again, a little closer to him. “Who was it?”

  The phone rang again.

  Damn it. He declined it again.

  She tensed. “More press? Did any pictures from yesterday get loose?”

  “I don’t know about the pictures, bella. It’s Franco.”

  “Maybe he’s calling about the pictures.”

  “He only ever calls about himself, trust me.”

  When the phone rang a third time, he’d had enough. He moved her gently away, then rose from the bed with sharp, angry movements.

  His lips tightened as he grabbed his phone, his voice short. “What?”

  “Is that any way to greet your father?”

  His teeth ground together; he was no father, in any sense of the word other than sperm donor. He glanced at Sarah, who was peering at him with sympathetic eyes. He considered going into the bathroom for privacy but, after what they’d shared last night, he stayed put. If they were ever going to have more than a month, she’d need to know what his family was like.

  He didn’t want her to know, didn’t want anyone to know, but some things, no matter how hard someone tried, would never stay hidden.

  “What do you want, Franco?”

  His father hissed; he never liked it when Rio called him by his name, which he’d been doing since he was still in the single-digits. “Vittorio.”

  Rio’s body was rigidly still, as if Franco were in the room with him and he needed to be ready to defend himself. “What do you want?”

  Silence, during which Rio was sure Franco was calculating his words. “We need to see you.”

  Fuck, damn, shit.

  They only ever wanted to see him when he had something they could use or manipulate. In the past, that had included anything from money to using a connection he’d had. The first was easy to give, and it meant they left him alone. The latter was something he never gave, which meant they bothered him more.

  His eyes locked with Sarah’s. It was easy to see what they wanted this time. “No.”

  “Let me re-phrase. You are required to come to us as soon as possible.”

  “No.”

  “This is not a request.”

  “No.”

  Franco’s voice went hard, and Rio heard the vibrations of anger in it. “You will come. And you will bring your princess.”

  “Fuck no.” He’d meant to just think it, but it came out anyway.

  “That, too, was not a request.”

  “The princess is her own person, with her own responsibilities. I’m not going to command her to see you—ever, I might add.”

  “You always were difficult.”

  “And you always are an asshole.”

  Franco gasped. “Such insubordination.”

  Rio paced the room. “I’m your son, not your employee. I won’t be ordered about.”

  Silence again, more calculating. Rio halted near the window and braced.

  Derision coated Franco’s every word. “Well, then, son, if you cannot bring the princess to us, we’ll just need to visit her and her parents in Valleria. Won’t that be a fine thing? Did you know we received a call from the king’s chief of staff?”

  What the fuck? Sarah never mentioned her father would reach out to them.

  Would she have…No. No, she would have told him. He trusted her. She must not have known.

  Bile churned in Rio’s gut. His parents and brothers could cause serious issues for Sarah and her family. Him as well, but she shouldn’t have to suffer because of his family, such as it was.

  Rio heard the sneer in Franco’s voice; he didn’t need to see it. “The parents of two lovebirds meeting for the first time. What lovely press that will make!”

  Fuck. It didn’t look like his father believed they were a couple. If he said that in the press, both Rio and Sarah would have hell to pay. Even if Franco didn’t know the stakes involved for Sarah, he’d know that anything negative said about Rio in the press would also reflect poorly on her and hurt her in some way.

  “And don’t you have another fundraiser tonight? I’m sure the press will
love to see your parents welcoming the happy couple.”

  Deep breath, Rio. Head in the game. Parrying with his father, after all, was just a game.

  He caught Sarah’s gaze again before he spoke. She was sitting up in bed, watching him. “So what if King Gabriel’s chief of staff reached out to you?”

  Sarah’s eyes went wide, and she started to scramble across the bed.

  “Valleria has one of the best intelligence agencies in the world. Do you really think they don’t know what you are? What you’ve done? I doubt the king and queen will even bother to greet you if you demand an audience. Don’t you know that sort of thing simply isn’t done?”

  Sarah, gloriously naked—though, so was he, come to that—was typing furiously on her phone. Her hair—the golden hair of his bell’angelo—was in a wild mess around her head, having dried wet last night. He loved it, wanted to run his hands through it, and capture her lips while he did.

  Damn, he was getting hard again.

  Focus, Rio! “You can’t manipulate the Vallerian monarchy.”

  “I can and I will! Your mother and I will have this, Vittorio, or we will make your life a living hell.”

  You’ve done that since I was born. “Try again. That threat wasn’t worth much.”

  “We’ll ruin the princess, in any way we can.”

  That was tricky. His parents—and brothers, too, come to that—could make anyone’s life hell if they put their minds to it. Whether they’d bother, however, he couldn’t be sure. Yet, he knew that underestimating them never paid off.

  “Not to mention, your mother and I will ensure that your charity suddenly has a sharp decline in donations.”

  Shit. That was a threat they could make happen. Some in their social circle did donate to his foundation, and it was at fairly substantial amounts. They often did it to curry favor with his parents, but they did it nonetheless. While they could try to secure funds through other means, those funds would not arrive until later. That meant, in the short-term, a dramatic shift in charitable income could ruin them. Even funneling his own money into the charity may not work.

  He glanced at his bell’angelo, remembering her promise to help him secure donors. He thought of the masquerade ball that night, of his parents, of her parents, of his foundation. He thought of the few things he’d been forced to leave behind in his family’s house and saw this as an opportunity to finally get them back.

  He came to a decision.

  Rio spent a few moments calculating his own words. “The princess has other obligations.”

  “Vittorio—”

  “However, I will come and visit, for two hours only.”

  “Two hours! How can we possibly discuss everything—”

  “I don’t want to hear it. If you’d used your words more wisely, this conversation may have ended differently.” It wouldn’t have, but it didn’t bother him to make Franco believe that it would.

  Franco spluttered. “You—I—Never! Never has there been such a worthless son, I am sure.”

  Rio didn’t hesitate in his response. “And I know there has never been such a useless father as you. And you can add Giulia and those other sons of yours to that list as well.”

  He spoke over Franco’s words and checked the time on the phone. “Expect me to arrive after lunch.”

  He hung up without saying goodbye, Franco still spluttering angrily.

  “Goddamn it!”

  “Rio?”

  He spun around at the sound of her voice.

  She stepped closer. “What’d they say?”

  “My family have ordered me to see them. They actually ordered your attendance as well, but I managed to get you out of that.”

  She rubbed her lips together. “I see. You’re going, though, from what I heard?”

  “They’ve threatened me, so I must go. I won’t be staying long.”

  “Should I go with you?”

  “No!”

  She stepped back, her body tensing a little. Was she disappointed?

  He stepped to her, cupping her chin with his free hand and lifting her eyes to his. “It doesn’t have anything to do with you. I am proud to know you. For any other instance, I would gladly display you on my arm.”

  “I think I should go. It sounds like they were threatening my family, too.”

  He ignored the fact they were both naked and brought her closer, into the heat of his body. “They were, bella. That’s why I also decided to go. I need to protect your family as well as you. I understand why you want to go, but—”

  “They weren’t lying.”

  “Who?”

  “Franco. About my father’s chief of staff.” She waved her phone a little. “My brother just confirmed it.”

  “Surely, they know how awful my parents are. Why would your father reach out to him?”

  “Based on what you’ve told me or alluded to, I get the impression your family is pretty awful. Are they as awful as I think they might be?”

  “Worse.” His voice turned hard as memories rushed through his mind. “Much worse.”

  “Oh. Well, then that may be why. A sort of ‘keeping your enemies close’ kind of thing.”

  Rio wondered if there was more to it than that. “Do they believe I’m like my parents?”

  “I…I want to say ‘no’ but I can’t be sure until I speak to them. I’ll certainly do what I can to disabuse them of that notion, though.”

  She put a hand to his chest. “I’d like to go with you. You shouldn’t go alone.”

  He immediately started shaking his head. “You don’t understand how vile they truly are. You shouldn’t be exposed to that.”

  “Hear me out.”

  He held her hand to his chest, loved the way her elegant princess hands felt against his skin.

  “I know they might present certain, um, challenges, but we can face them together. I don’t just want to go because they threatened my family, though that’s part of it. I want to go for you. If there is something…more between us, we should face this together.”

  “I need to keep you safe, bella.”

  “But if I come with you, my security comes with me. They would help keep me safe, too.”

  His instincts were telling him to protect her, to keep her far away from his family and the vile creatures they were.

  Then he remembered their first morning after when, even wrapped in a bedsheet, she’d eviscerated him verbally. He believed she could handle his family as she’d handled him.

  Looking at her now, on another morning after, she was nude. Unashamed and strong. His sun in the darkness. His family’s house was full of dark places, full of disgust and perversion. She could push all that away, couldn’t she? She’d be his light, his air in that suffocating atmosphere.

  It was selfish to want her there. Yet, like the phone call he’d let her overhear, maybe they needed to go through this visit together. Perhaps it would be better to know now if she couldn’t handle his family, better for them to break ties now rather than later, when his heart would be too full of her.

  He cupped her face and brushed her lips with his thumb. If he were honest with himself, it may be too late for his heart already.

  He pushed that aside for now. “All right, bella.”

  She smiled against his thumb. God, he loved the way her lips moved.

  “Stop it.”

  She was still smiling. “Stop what?”

  “Stop feeling so damn…giddy about getting your way.”

  She turned her lips inward, trying—and failing—to hide her smile.

  “Bella, if we do this, you must follow my lead once we get there. I can’t…I won’t have them play their mind games with you, though they’ll try. Do you promise to listen to me? Follow me and my instructions?”

  She nodded.

  “I need your words, bella. Promises are very important to me. Don’t make it if you can’t keep it.”

  She waited a beat. “I promise.”

  A small weight lifted from
his gut, while another settled in his heart. He felt as though they’d made vows to each other, though, in a way, he supposed they had. It was important to him, at any rate.

  “We won’t be coming back here, bella. We’ve got the masquerade tonight.”

  “Oh, of course. I’ll let Nonna know. I’d nearly forgotten. I still have to find a ball gown.”

  “I’ve got one for you already.”

  “You do?”

  “It’s positively sinful.”

  She grinned. “Can’t wait. Do we have time for breakfast?”

  His stomach churned as he thought of his family; he always lost his appetite around them. “Just a little something, bella.”

  “I’ll let Nonna know. She messaged earlier to ask when we might come down to eat.”

  It was barely seven in the morning. “Does she always rise so early?”

  She nodded. “I’m usually the same. Even this morning, if your phone hadn’t woken us up, I wouldn’t have stayed in bed much longer. I can’t seem to help it.”

  That must have been why she’d woken so early after their first night together. “I need to arrange for a boat. Who should I speak to?”

  “Leave that to me. When would you like to leave? How long will it take to travel there and back?”

  He tilted his head to the side, his eyes going to the ceiling while he considered. The boat trip to Italy could take up to an hour if the sea was choppy. Another two hours or so to travel to his family’s country house by car. “I should want to leave around nine, if that’s possible.”

  “We’ll use our yacht.”

  “Sarah—”

  She stepped closer. Her nipples, pert in the slight chill of the air, brushed against him. Fuck.

  “You know I don’t mind. My family, Nonna included, won’t mind, either. You can ask Nonna at breakfast if you don’t believe me.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, partly because it probably needed it but mostly because it allowed him to take a step back. Was there any point in arguing with her?

  No, realized. He chuckled, couldn’t help it. “As you wish, bell’angelo.”

  She blinked at the endearment but didn’t say anything. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but there he went saying things yet again that he probably should’ve kept to himself.