Yours Royally: A Cinderella Love Story (Billionaires and Brides Book 3)

by Krista Lakes

  Chapter 15

  Sabrina

  Sabrina stood on the dock, the sea air whipping her hair around as she watched as Marco speak with the boat captain. Marco had scheduled a boat tour around the island, which included a stop at one of the largest active volcanoes in the world. She was super excited about it and planned on taking lots of pictures so that she could send them to her parents.

  “Marco, how long until we leave?” she asked. “I need to make a phone call.”

  Marco looked up and then exchanged some words with the captain, an older gentleman who wore a tan fishing vest. After conversing for a minute, Marco said, “Take as much time as you need. We're just getting the boat ready, but there's no rush.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Sabrina said as she stepped off of the dock and back onto the beach. She dug into the front pocket of her shorts and pulled out her cell. There was only a couple of days until Marco would be leaving for Orsino Island. Sabrina still hadn't made up her mind as to whether or not she'd be joining him. She needed the council of someone she trusted, someone who would give it to her straight, someone whose advice she cherished more than anything. So she called Aunt Faye.

  The phone rang two times before Faye picked up. She sounded very excited to receive the call.

  “Bean!” she cried out, her accent coming through strongly. “What in the world has taken you so long to call me?”

  “Sorry, Aunt Faye,” Sabrina said. “This job has been taking up most of my free time.”

  “No need for apologies,” Faye said. “It's so good to hear your voice. How are things going? Are you enjoying your travels?”

  “Very much so. We went to New York first and that was amazing. But you'll never guess where I am now.” Sabrina walked down the shore, her bare feet sinking into the hot sand with each step.

  “You know I'm horrible at guessing games,” Faye said. “Where are you, love?”

  “Hawaii,” Sabrina said, proudly. “I'm walking on the beach as we speak.”

  “That's incredible,” Faye said, her excitement mirroring Sabrina's. “Have you told your parents where you are? They'd never believe you.”

  “They didn't believe me until I sent them pictures,” she said, stopping her trek through the sand to take a seat under a palm tree.

  “Make sure to send me pictures as well,” Faye demanded. “If your parents got some, I want some too.”

  “How are they doing?” Sabrina asked. “Did Dad find work yet?”

  “No, not yet,” she said, with a sigh. “But he's hanging in there. I know he'll find something soon, as long as he doesn't get discouraged. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of work to go around at the moment, especially for factory workers. Your dad is creative, though. He'll make something happen.”

  Sabrina closed her eyes, squeezing them firmly to keep a tear from leaking out. “I really miss everyone back home. But I'm glad to hear that things are going okay overall. You're right, Dad will figure something out.”

  “Bean, what's on your mind?” Faye asked. “I can tell by your voice that there's something you want to tell me.”

  How does she do that every time? Sabrina thought. Is she psychic or something?

  “You know me too well, Aunty,” she said. “I called hoping for some advice on a situation.”

  “A situation?” she asked. “That doesn't sound good.”

  “It's actually a very positive situation,” Sabrina said. “But I'm still a bit unclear as to what I should do.”

  “I'll help you if I'm able to,” Faye said. “Tell me everything.”

  Sabrina spilled everything to Faye. She told her about Marco and how she'd fallen for him quickly, even though he was technically her boss. She explained the mutual attraction between then and how she could see herself really loving him. Sabrina even told her about the paparazzi chase and the kiss that they had shared in the haunted apartment building.

  “He sounds like a really great man, Sabrina,” Faye said. “It's a shame that he's going home early. But you know, sometimes things aren't meant to be. God shows us that through situations that we can't control.”

  “I haven't finished telling you everything, though, Faye,” Sabrina said. “Marco invited me to move home with him once the vacation is over.”

  “You mean, permanently?” Faye asked, clearly shocked. “Bean, I don't know.”

  “Faye, I love this man, or at least I know that I could love him with a little more time,” she said. “I'm falling more in love with him every day.”

  “But do you really know him?” Faye asked. “You've only been working with him for a couple of weeks.”

  “You're right,” she told her aunty. This was the moment of truth. She checked with Marco, and she could now tell family about his identity. “But I'm learning more about him every day. In fact, there's something I want to tell you about him, but you have to promise to keep it a secret.”

  “Who would I even tell a secret to, bean?” Faye replied with a laugh. “I promise I won't tell a soul.”

  “Marco is a prince of an island.”

  She'd expected Faye to yelp out in excitement or to at least hear a gasp on the other end of the phone line. But there was nothing but silence. Sabrina waited a few seconds, wondering if she had lost the cell phone connection with her aunt.

  “Hello? Aunt Faye, are you there?”

  Faye cleared her throat. “Yes, honey, I'm here. Sorry, I just wasn't sure if I had heard you correctly. You said Marco is a prince? He's royalty?”

  “Yes, he's the Prince of Orsino Island,” she repeated.

  “This is not what I was expecting to hear,” Faye said, after a few seconds of pause. “I'm happy for you, Sabrina, and I can hear the excitement in your voice. I want you to be careful, though.”

  “What do you mean?” Sabrina asked, standing up from the ground to brush the sand off. “Why do I have to be careful? Marco is a good guy, he wouldn't do anything to hurt me.”

  “That's not what I mean,” Faye said, her inflection sounding more motherly than before. “I just know that members of the aristocracy don't tend to mix very well with ordinary people.”

  “I understand what you're saying and to be honest, I felt the same way at first,” Sabrina said, as she began walking back toward the boat where Marco was. “But I expressed those concerns to Marco and he assured me that it wouldn't matter. He said he didn't care where I was from or how much money I had, he just wanted to be with me.”

  Faye sighed and Sabrina could tell that this news was weighing heavily on her.

  “Love, I just don't want you to get hurt emotionally,” Faye said. “Marco sounds lovely. I'm sure he's got good looks, money and charm. On top of that, he's also a prince. On the surface, it would be crazy for me to try to talk you out of it. Who wouldn't want to be with him? But even so, you've only known him for a couple of weeks and you don't really know him.”

  “But I do, Aunt Faye,” Sabrina said quietly. “I do know him.”

  “He's a noble,” Faye said the word like it tasted bitter. “He comes from an entirely different world. He may say that he doesn't care where you come from, but I don't know that he fully understands how different those two world are.”

  Sabrina listened to her words and allowed them to soak in. She trusted Faye with everything and didn't take her opinion on the matter for granted. However, her Aunt wasn't giving her the kind of encouragement that she had been seeking.

  “I thought you would be supportive of this,” Sabrina said, kicking the sand.

  “I'm supportive of you,” Faye said. “Because of that, I don't know if I can fully get behind this decision to move across the world for him. The decision seems a bit rash. Call me old-fashioned, but I think it would be better to wait for a while.”

  “Aunty, I wish you could see how he treats me,” she said. “He makes me feel beautiful and special. I've never been this happy in my entire life. I don't want to be with him because he's a prince and he's rich. I want to be with him because h
e makes me excited about my life and nobody has ever done that before.”

  Faye was quiet for a minute and Sabrina thought she heard her sniffle. “I suppose I can't argue with that logic. And, I have to admit, that it makes me proud to hear you stand up for something like this. You must really believe strongly in your relationship with Marco.”

  “I believe in it so much,” Sabrina said. “If I didn't, then I wouldn't risk moving across the planet for him.”

  “Hearing you speak with such passion reminds me of when I was younger,” Faye said. “I guess sometimes, I forget what it feels like to be young and in love. It's a special time and even though I'm hesitant about you moving away, I want you to know that I have your back. Always.”

  “You're the best, Aunty,” Sabrina said. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Faye said. “Call me again whenever you get the chance. I hope that I get to see you sooner than later.”

  “We'll see each other soon, Faye,” Sabrina promised. “I'll be in touch and let you know the details about where I am and when I'll be back in town.”

  “Okay, love. Have a fun time in Hawaii and go take a dip in the ocean for me.”

  “I will. Bye, Aunt Faye.

  “Bye bye, Bean.”

  They hung up and Sabrina drew in a breath of air as she put the phone back in her front pocket. Marco was already on the boat, walking around and examining the rigging. Sabrina chuckled. Of course he'd be a sailor on top of everything else. He did live on an island.

  Sabrina made her way back down the shore, with mixed emotion. She was surprised by Faye's reaction to the situation. Normally, Faye supported absolutely everything Sabrina did, but that's not what happened during their conversation.

  Faye seemed so adamant about dating a person of royalty could never work, she thought. It makes me wonder if something happened to her once, maybe something to do with aristocrats. She is from Britain after all, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. And there are certainly a lot of things that I don't know about Faye's former life.

  “Come on, gorgeous, let's start our tour,” Marco said, as Sabrina neared the dock. He walked toward her and took her hand, leading her onto the small sail boat. “Is everything okay? You look a bit shook up.”

  Sabrina smiled genuinely. Hearing his voice put many of her doubts to rest. “Actually, yes. Everything is fantastic.”

  “Good, I'm happy to hear,” he said. Then he turned to the captain of the boat. “Sir, all parties are accounted for. We're ready to go when you are.”

  I can't believe that Marco scheduled a private boat tour around the island. He's such a sweetheart, Sabrina thought, as she watched the captain open up the sail on the catamaran. It was a small ship, built to hold only a handful of people, but Sabrina rather liked it that way better. It felt more intimate.

  There were only three on board, though; the captain, Marco and Sabrina. Within minutes, they had left the dock and were sailing quickly away from shore. The wind was strong and Sabrina was glad she had something to tie her hair back.

  She could hear the captain and Marco speaking. Marco sounded slightly annoyed. She watched as he looked at the sky and then shrugged. He didn't seem too concerned, so she wasn't worried.

  “This is really nice,” Sabrina said, as she sat with her feet hanging over the edge of one of the hulls. Beneath her, blue water flew past as they raced across the ocean. She looked up to see Marco frowning slightly at the sky.

  “I'm glad you like it,” he said, reaching over to touch the top of her knee. “I'm excited to see the volcano. While you were on the phone, the captain told me that the island grows larger every single year because of the molten lava hardening in the ocean.”

  “Believe it or not, I actually knew that,” she said. “I've spent a lot of time looking at travel brochures for Hawaii and researching it on the Internet.”

  “It makes me happy that I've able to take you here then,” Marco said.

  She smiled at him and then turned back to the water. Deep water was dark and mysterious beyond them. The boat rocked and she gripped at the rail.

  “Everything okay?” Marco asked, turning to face her. “You seem lost in thought.”

  Sabrina nodded. “Yeah, I'm great. Just enjoying the moment, that's all.”

  They sailed in silence for a while, feet hanging off the side. She thought of laying down in the netting between the hulls and taking a nap, but instead just sat where she was.

  Sabrina closed her eyes, soaking up the sun while taking a little cat nap. It was so calm and peaceful. But the peace didn't last long. The next thing Sabrina knew, the light breeze that she had been enjoying had turned into powerful gusts of wind. It flapped against the sails and the sound caused her eyes to shoot open. She lifted her gaze toward the front of the boat. Dark clouds had begun to roll in over the horizon. It was clear that a storm was moving toward them and it was moving quickly.

  “We weren't supposed to hit that,” he murmured, rising to a standing position.

  Sabrina turned to Marco. “Those clouds look pretty ominous. Are you sure we should be doing this?”

  Marco looked to the front of the boat and a concerned look crossed his face again. It made Sabrina worry even more, because if he looked worried then there was most definitely something wrong.

  “Captain, did you notice this storm up ahead?” Marco called out, his words drowned out by the increasing wind. “I thought you said we were sailing away from it.”

  The old man turned around from his post and shrugged. “Just a little storm. Shouldn't be a big deal. They happen sometimes and usually pass before the water gets too rough.”

  As the Captain explained himself, Sabrina spun around to see how far they had gotten from shore. Her heart sank when she noticed that the land which they had left behind was now barely visible.

  “Can we at least get a little closer to shore?” Sabrina shouted to the captain. “That way if something does happen, we won't have far to go to get back to land?”

  The captain placed his hand on top of his head to keep the wind from blowing off his hat. “We can't do that. The coral reef makes the water too shallow that close to the beach. We have to stay out this far if we want to travel to the other side of the island.”

  The wind picked up again, so powerful that the main sail became as taut as could be, and Sabrina felt the boat shift against its pull. A burst of adrenaline pumped into her veins and her heart rate increased. She suddenly wondered if this tour to see the volcano was worth the risk. But the captain seemed steadfast and Sabrina put her faith in his experience. Marco, on the other hand, didn't seem to have such blind faith.

  “Are you sure this is safe?” Marco asked. “We were supposed to avoid this.”

  “It's just a little storm,” the captain repeated, gripping the wheel a little tighter. “My computer is telling me that it's safe to sail, so we're sailing.”

  “The computer? But what about experience?” Marco said.

  “I've got both,” the captain said abruptly, clearly not wanting to hear it from Marco any longer.

  A swelling wave rocked the vessel, and Marco stumbled to keep his balance. The clouds, which just a few seconds before had been in the distance, were now nearly straight above them.

  It all happened so quickly. Sabrina didn't know what to do. The boat rocked aggressively as large waves pounded its side. Each hit came harder than the last and she gripped the railing so hard that her knuckles turned white.

  This is not what I had in store for today, she thought, attempting to swallow down her fear. This certainly didn't feel like a little storm.

  That was when the biggest of the waves hit the side of the boat. Everything that wasn't tied down was forced to the starboard side, including the captain. While Sabrina and Marco were able to grab the rail, the force was too great for the old man. He lost grip of the steering wheel and Sabrina watched as he flew straight off of the boat and into the water.

  “Marco! The captain!
” Sabrina shouted, as the wave passed and the boat settled again. “He fell off!”

  Marco stood up and glanced overboard. The captain was in the ocean, and was flailing against the waves. He was obviously panicked and barely able to keep his head above the water. It would only be a matter of time before he got hit by another wave.

  “We have to save him.” Marco leaned in toward Sabrina, enunciating the words over the wind. “I can't do it on my own, though. I'll need your help, Sabrina.”

  “What? I don't know what to do, Marco. I'm not that good of a swimmer,” she said, her voice sounding panicked. “What can we do? Let's call for help. I'm sure the coast guard or someone can get out here.”

  “There's no time for that.” Marco walked over to a bench near the front of the vessel and lifted up the seat of it. He then pulled out some life vests, one of which he tossed to Sabrina. She held the orange device, her hands trembling as she put it on as quickly as possible. When she looked back up, Marco already had his on and he was now holding a circular white lifesaver with a rope attached.

  “Now what?” she asked, already guessing the answer and hating it.

  “I'm going in to get him,” Marco said.

  The boat rocked again and Sabrina nearly lost her balance, but managed once again to not fall over.

  “I need you to crank this handle to reel us back in once I have him,” Marco shouted over the wind. “It'll pull in the rope that's attached to this life preserver. Can you do that, Sabrina?”

  “I don't know if I can,” she said, shaking her head. “I'm not strong enough.”

  Marco approached her and placed a hand onto her shoulder. “You are strong enough, Sabrina. Trust me. Just give it everything you have and don't stop no matter what.”

  Sabrina doubted she'd have the strength to pull off such a maneuver, but she quickly realized she didn't have a choice. If they didn't save the captain, he'd likely drown. And with no captain to steer the boat, then all three of them had a fair chance of sharing a similar fate.