Sarah & Vittorio (Royals of Valleria #9)

by Marianne Knightly

  Finn was extremely good-looking. Tall and lean, a square face and strong chin, dreamy dimples, and brilliant green eyes. It was no wonder Arianna had fallen for him.

  Sarah, however, preferred Rio’s dark looks. His black hair and olive skin. His sexy grin and brown eyes. His—

  “Something wrong with your coffee?” Finn took a seat at the table and poured himself a cup.

  “Hmm?” She realized she was still stirring it and stopped. She set the spoon down on her plate. “No, it’s great, thanks.”

  “We don’t grow coffee in Brazenbourg, so we import Vallerian roast varieties. Or are you missing the coffee in Italy?”

  A tricky question that she’d gotten often. She squared her shoulders and plastered an even expression on her face. “Italy’s variety of coffees—espresso, for one—are indeed excellent. However, one will always prefer the coffees of home, will they not?”

  Finn chuckled. “A perfectly political answer.”

  “That one was easy.”

  “They’ll get harder.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  Finn took her hand and squeezed it. “Thank you for coming. I know it’s a risk for you to do this.”

  She squeezed back and let go. “Nothing’s a risk when it comes to family.”

  “Well, look at this. I turn my back for a minute and you’re already charming my husband.” Arianna walked in with a sleepy, snuggly Eloisa in her arms.

  Sarah smiled at her sister and the mini-version of Finn in girl form in her arms. “I think that’s the other way around, big sister.”

  Arianna just smiled, then leaned down to Finn for a kiss. When she did, Eloisa immediately reached out for her papa.

  Finn deftly arranged her against his chest, her tiny arms going partway around his neck.

  Sarah leaned over and brushed a finger over her arm. “Morning, pretty girl.”

  Eloisa snuggled closer to her papa.

  Arianna gave Sarah a small smile. “It takes her a while with people she doesn’t know well. She’ll be playing with you by the end of the day. Just wait.”

  “Of course she will. I am her favorite auntie.”

  Arianna snorted and reached for a tray of pastries. “She has six other aunties, in case you lost count. Not to mention the extended family. It’s safe to say she likes Liliana better than even her own parents.”

  Finn rubbed a hand over Eloisa’s back. “Bite your tongue, baby.”

  Arianna giggled.

  Sarah smiled; Lorenzo’s daughter, Liliana, charmed them all, especially Eloisa.

  God, it was so good to see her sister and Finn so happy. It hadn’t been easy for them so far, and it wasn’t going to get easier if the threats were true.

  Arianna poured herself some juice. “We’re so glad you’re here. Not just because of…you know, but we are happy to see you.”

  Finn nodded. “It’s always good to have more family here. I wish we could fill the place, honestly.”

  Sarah waved one hand in the air. “Don’t worry about a thing. My personality is soooo big, it’ll fill up the whole palace on its own.”

  “Yeah. That’s what’s big about you. Your personality.”

  Sarah pressed a hand to her chest and dropped her mouth in fake indignation. “Oh. I cannot believe you just said that. Implying that my, ahem, ego is large enough to fill a palace. Really.”

  Finn laughed, the motion rocking Eloisa who snuggled again. “Well, it’ll be good to have you and your ‘personality’ here. We’ve made all the arrangements.”

  “Marcello probably talked your ear off about them, I’m sure.”

  Arianna and Finn glanced at each other, then back to her.

  “What?”

  They still said nothing.

  “What?”

  Arianna nodded.

  Finn sighed. “Vittorio came to see us.”

  Sarah’s body fell back in her chair. She was gobsmacked. “Rio? He was here?” Her eyes darted around as if she expected him to come through the door.

  “Not long after it was decided you’d come here.”

  “Why?”

  Finn rubbed a hand down Eloisa’s back again. “He said he made a vow to you to protect you, and he was going to make sure to see that through.”

  Oh. My. God.

  She could hardly sit still. “He came here? Oh my God, he came here. About me.”

  “He knew Marcello would be contacting me, but asked me to keep him in the loop. To let him know if you ever needed anything.”

  Finn leaned over and took her hand again. “Sarah, that man’s in love with you.”

  Hope bloomed on her inhale, then died on her exhale. “Not enough though.”

  “I don’t know what you consider ‘enough’, Sarah, but that man has it.”

  “I asked him to come here with me. He said no. I asked him to consider a long-distance relationship and he said no to that, too.”

  Finn used his hand to cover the side of Eloisa’s head, and lightly pressed the other side of her head into his shoulder. He usually did that when he was about to curse. “He doesn’t think he’s worth shit.”

  “What?”

  “Being a man whose brother tried to kill him—meaning I had family who hated me, as in hated me—I recognize the symptoms. I didn’t think I was all that great until Arianna came along. My guess is he has similar reasons for why he feels the way he does. Men get fucked up by their families just as much as women do.”

  “Do you have so little faith in me?”

  “No, I have so little faith in myself.”

  Oh, God. Her and Rio’s conversation under the willow tree played on a loop. Maybe that’s why Rio wouldn’t even agree to something long-distance. He’d never had anything steady or stable in his life, not really. He wanted that, but maybe he didn’t think he could have that in a long-distance relationship. Maybe she should have tried harder to convince him.

  Finn adjusted Eloisa on his shoulder. “He’s fronting some of the expenses for your private security. I know the agents are with you, but for this job you can’t have them around all the time. Private security would be more common here for some situations. He insisted on paying for it himself. And, Sarah, he did that after speaking to your father and Marcello about it.”

  Her voice was nearly a screech. “What?”

  Eloisa’s face scrunched up and she started sniffling.

  Finn rubbed her back more quickly and shot Sarah a look. “Calm down.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m…he was here. Rio was here. And he loves me. And my father and dumb brother knew it and they didn’t tell me, and—”

  “He didn’t want you to know, about any of it, which is why no one told you.”

  “But you’re telling me.”

  “Because we think you deserve to know. We don’t want to break Vittorio’s trust, but we think it’s the right thing to do. He’s in Brazenbourg.”

  Sarah was sure she just sucked all the air out of the room with her gasp.

  “He wanted to make sure you arrived okay, got settled in. I let him know that you did, so he’s leaving this morning. His train should be leaving in an hour.”

  She shot up from the table, her chair tipping over, her eyes wild. “I have to see him. I have to go, I have to—”

  “Finn will take you.” Arianna reached over and took Eloisa, who clung to her papa in protest. “I know, honey, but Papa needs to leave. Come to Mama.”

  Eloisa was still frowning but went to Arianna.

  Finn gave her one of his dimpled grins. “Ready?”

  She’d spent months miserable without him, months where she’d thought back through every moment they’d had together. It was why she tried to reconnect with him in Italy before she’d left, to talk things through. She realized she’d tried to control everything too much—the press, their situation, their fake relationship, then their real relationship.

  He’d left her in Valleria, but she hadn’t fought hard enough for him. She hadn’t proved that
she loved him and wanted him. She didn’t really sacrifice anything for him; looking back, he’d always been the one sacrificing for her or because of her. His time, his business, and even his legacy had all been affected negatively when she came into his life and forced him into a fake romance. He’d given so much, yet she hadn’t given nearly as much in return. Despite that, he was still protecting her, taking care of her.

  She had to apologize to him. Then, if she had the opportunity, she’d prove to him that they deserved a second chance.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rio liked the anonymity of a train station. People coming and going, no one knowing who he was or why he was there.

  Or how pathetically in love he was.

  He checked his watch. Still another forty minutes until his train boarded. Then an hour on the train to the small town in Switzerland he was visiting for a few days on business. Then a long flight back to Italy following that.

  He sighed.

  Needing to tune everything out, he scrunched down in his chair, leaned his head against the top of his seat, and shut his eyes.

  His other senses heightened when one was turned off. The sounds of the terminal were clearer, and the scents around him were sharper, too. He caught a whiff of citrus and shook his head.

  Even now he was imagining Sarah’s scent around him.

  He was supremely pathetic.

  The backs of someone’s fingers brushed his cheek and he jerked up to sitting, his eyes flitting open.

  “Hi, Rio.”

  Christ.

  Jesus fucking Christ, she was here.

  Damn, she looked good. Just as bright, just as brilliant.

  Damn. Someone must have told her about his involvement.

  “Hi, bella.”

  She smiled as the nickname slipped from his lips. He couldn’t help it. He always thought of her like that.

  “You’re here. Rio, I—” She cleared her throat. “I missed you.”

  Fuck, if that didn’t feel good. “I missed you, too. Why are you here?”

  She blinked. “Well, Finn told me you came to see him, and that you were here now.” Her eyes slipped over his shoulder and he turned.

  Finn was standing nearby with some security and gave them a little wave. He wouldn’t stay unnoticed for long; the people of Brazenbourg loved their ruling prince.

  Suddenly, the entirety of the situation dawned on him. “You came to me.”

  “Yes.”

  “Just to tell me you missed me?”

  “No. To apologize.”

  His brow furrowed in confusion. “Apologize? Whatever for?”

  She sat down next to him. “I’ve realized something over the last few months without you. I, well, I tried to control everything about our situation, from the moment we woke up together to even the second you said good-bye.”

  His chest stopped, then started beating frantically. “Bella—”

  “Please hear me out. That final conversation, I asked you to move here with me, but I never considered, not really, everything you’d be giving up. I mean, I’m royalty! I should understand what it means to be a royal and be faithful to your country and legacy. I mean, my God, Alex would never renege on his duty to Valleria, and you’re also next in line for your title. Yet, I assumed you would put your duty on hold for me or maybe even give it up entirely. Just because your ‘country’, as it were, is smaller, that doesn’t make it any less important. You’ve worked so hard to keep your family from ruining your legacy. I didn’t think you’d ever leave that for me.”

  Holy fuck.

  The shields that he’d built again were cracking. He wouldn’t let them break, not until he knew why she was saying all of this.

  “Bella, please.”

  “No, I’m not done. I’m…I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Trying to control things.”

  She looked so miserable yet adorable at the same time with her pouty lips and earnest expression. God, he still loved her. Months away from her hadn’t dimmed his love for her. He’d known it wouldn’t. Time away had only made him yearn for her more.

  “Thank you for your apology. I’ll accept it, if you’ll accept mine.”

  “Why do you need to apologize?”

  He swallowed. “Bella. I…I didn’t leave that day to ensure my legacy. I left to ensure yours.”

  She frowned.

  “I was unfair to you, and I apologize for it. I asked you if you’d ever consider a life in Italy with me down the road at some point. It wasn’t fair to ask you to choose, but I so desperately wanted you to choose me that I rushed the matter. I forced a choice that didn't need to be a choice at all, much less a forced one. What I really wanted to know, was that you wanted me. Needed me. The only person who ever needed my help—Nanny—died because I couldn’t give her what I needed. I had to know you wanted me.”

  “Rio.”

  “All my life, bella, I’ve only ever wanted a home. For me, it was never a place, it was always a person. Nanny, in the beginning, now you. I love Italy. Though my title holds no power, it is important. I could never stay away forever, because it is my legacy, and my duty to uphold it. I will take that title over one day.”

  He took her hand and lifted it to his lips for a kiss. “I’d like to take that title over with you by my side.”

  Her breath hitched with a sob. “Rio.”

  “If that means I live in Brazenbourg with you now, it doesn’t matter. If my father dies tomorrow, and I need to manage the title from here for some time, I’ll find a way to do it. I want forever with you. Home is not a place to me, it’s a person.”

  Time to take the risk he should have taken months ago. “It’s you, bella. You’re my home.”

  She was crying now, drawing the attention of people nearby. She didn’t seem to care. “I love you. Of course I want to build my life with you. Of course, I’ll live in Italy with you, and carry on your title, and redecorate that monstrosity that’s called your family home and—”

  God, his bella. He pulled her into his arms, where she finally belonged. “And propose? You promised me you would.”

  “And I will. And it will be the most amazing proposal in the history of royal proposals.”

  “Good.”

  Her voice turned hesitant. “Rio, what about the foundation? I tried to go by your offices and apologize before I left Italy, but they were closed.”

  She was worried about him, about his work. “I was going to give you time and space before I re-entered your life. In the meantime, I was taking steps that would allow me to make sure you were safe. That would mean traveling to Brazenbourg, but I wasn’t planning on intruding on your life here. Part of that plan is also to make the foundation more mobile. I’ve closed our main offices and moved our entire operation digital. We’ll manage everything online, and our accountant will process any donation checks received at our post box. This will allow me to be here with you, for as long as you need it. I’ll still need to be in Italy a fair amount, but it means I would be able to be here, even in the shadows, if you needed me.”

  “You weren’t going to tell me? Not ever?”

  He rubbed his thumb over her lips. God, he’d missed her lips. He’d missed her voice. He’d missed every damn thing about her. “Not unless I absolutely had to. I hadn’t decided when I’d try again, but I hadn’t planned it to be soon. Thank Christ you came for me.”

  “I can understand why you did that, but you don’t ever have to be afraid with me or hide things from me, even if you think I won’t be open to what you’re saying. Do you hear me?”

  His walls weren’t just cracking, there were crashing into the ground. “Yes, bella. You know the same is true with you.”

  She nodded. “It won’t be easy here, Rio.”

  He cupped her face and brushed a thumb over her lower lip. “It will be easier than being apart.”

  She smiled wide and threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, it will. Oh, Rio. I love you.” She peppered his face with kisses. “I love you. I lov
e you. I love you.”

  He stood up and spun her around, laughing. “I love you, too, bell’angelo.”

  * * *

  THE END

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  Want more royals? The next Royals of Valleria book will be available soon. In the meantime, head to the beach in the spin-off Seaside Valleria series, focusing on the folks at the local pub, where royals have been known to drop by a time or two (or more).

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  A Note from the Author

  Dear Reader,

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  Thank you so much for reading Sarah & Vittorio’s story! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, you may want to consider:

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