The Lost Princes: Darius, Cassius & Monte

by Raye Morgan

  “I’m going to take this opportunity, while she’s asleep, to run over to my motel and get a few things. Okay?”

  “Sure.” He took another swipe at his board. “Do you need my car?”

  “No. It’s only a couple of blocks away. And anyway, I’ve got my rental car there. I guess I might as well drive back in it.”

  Kelly hesitated for a moment, then pulled one of the items she’d found in the room out of a shopping bag she’d brought along. It was the framed photograph of a lovely young woman.

  “Is this Angie?” she asked bluntly, holding up the picture.

  His head snapped back and his eyes narrowed. “Where did you find that?” he demanded gruffly.

  “In Mei’s room, packed away on a shelf.”

  He stared at it, nodding slowly. “Yes. That’s Angie.”

  “I thought so. When I showed it to Mei, she said, ‘Mama.’ And she smiled. So she obviously knew who it was.”

  Joe grunted. He didn’t have to ask what her point was. He knew.

  “She’s lovely,” Kelly said, looking at the photo. “She looks like a wonderful person.”

  He nodded. “She was,” he said softly.

  Kelly looked into his face with real determination. “She deserves to be talked about and treated like a real woman, not an icon on a pedestal. Can’t you see that, Joe?”

  He nodded again, clearly a little surprised by her vehemence. “Of course.”

  She drew in a deep breath, then stepped closer.

  “You know, Joe, I’ve had bad things happen. I’ve had periods of unhappiness when I wondered ‘Why me?’ I’ve spent some time drowning in depression.”

  She looked up to see if he was listening. He seemed to be.

  “But I began to read about a psychologist who has a theory that we very much make our own happiness and our own unhappiness. One thing he suggests doing is to act like you’re happy, even when you’re not. Go through the motions. Pretend. It can seem awkward at first, but the more you do it, the more it begins to come true. Reality follows the form. In a way, you’re teaching yourself happiness. And if you work hard enough at it, it can become a part of you, a part of your being.”

  He was looking skeptical, but he was listening.

  “I’m sure it doesn’t always work, but it worked pretty well for me.”

  He peered into her eyes for a moment, then went back to rubbing the surface of his board. “That sounds like a lot of new age garbage.”

  “Fine. Call it names if it makes you feel better. But it made a real difference in my life.” Kelly started toward the door and said flippantly, over her shoulder, “Just sayin’.”

  Joe kept pretending to work until he heard her go out the front door, then he slumped against the wall and closed his eyes. Why the hell had he let this woman into his life to challenge all his attitudes and assumptions? He’d been thinking about almost nothing else since she’d made her crazy suggestion that morning in the kitchen that he talk about Angie.

  He’d been angry with Kelly at first, but deep down, he knew it was inevitable that he do it at some point. After all, he had Angie’s baby here. Someday she would want to know all about her mother. Was he going to be able to tell her everything?

  Kelly wanted him to get started right away, but she didn’t know about what had happened in that jungle. How did you explain to a little girl about how her mother had died and why? Would Mei learn to blame him?

  He blamed himself, so why not?

  But of course Kelly was right. What was he thinking? It wasn’t all about death. It wasn’t all about pain and unhappy endings. He’d had many full, rich, happy experiences with Angie that had had nothing to do with the painful part. There’d been love and affection and music and flowers and boat rides on the lake and swimming to the waterfall. It was way past time he let himself dwell on that part of the past, not the horror at the end.

  He finished up his work on the surfboard whistling a tune he didn’t recognize at first. He knew it was an old song, but where had it come from? And then the words spilled out in his head. “Pretend you’re happy when you’re blue,” it began. Then something about it not being hard to do. He groaned. Even his own brain was against him. Kelly wasn’t gone long, though she stopped at the market for some baby supplies. But when she got back, something felt wrong. She stopped and listened. Nothing. At least Mei wasn’t awake and crying.

  She started toward the bedroom, but something stopped her. There was a rustling. There, she heard it again. The sound was coming from a room she assumed was a den, and something about it seemed downright furtive.

  Setting down the bags she’d brought, Kelly walked toward the room as quietly as she could and gave the unlatched door a little push. It opened without a creak, and she saw a tall, curvaceous, platinum-blonde woman with a superstar tan going through a large wooden file cabinet. She had her cell phone to her ear at the same time and was talking softly.

  “I’m telling you, there’s not even a picture book about Ambria around here. Nothing. I can’t find one little hint that he even knows what the country is.”

  Suddenly the woman realized someone was in the doorway, and she whirled to face Kelly, staring into her astonished eyes.

  “Uh, talk to you later,” she said into the phone. “I’ve gotta go.” She snapped it shut.

  “What are you doing?” Kelly demanded.

  “Well, hello.” The woman said with a smile. She was quite attractive in a tight-bodiced, bleached-blonde, fire-engine-red lipstick sort of way. But somehow, Kelly missed the appeal.

  “Why are you going through Joe’s things?” she demanded. She was pretty sure she already knew who this was, but it would be nice to have confirmation.

  “Oh!” The woman looked stunned that she might be suspected of doing anything wrong. Her eyes widened in faux innocence. “I’m not. Not really. I just wanted to see how Joe had his files set up, because I’m going to be giving him a bid on renovating this den, doing a little decorating, and I wanted to see—” she waved a hand majestically “—I wanted to see how he works.”

  Kelly didn’t buy it for a minute. Frowning, she balanced on the balls of her feet, feeling fierce and protective. “You were going through his files.”

  The woman was beginning to lose some of that overweening self-confidence she exuded. She actually looked a little worried.

  “No. Oh no. I was checking things over so that…”

  “Hey, Kelly. You made it back.”

  It was probably a good thing that Joe appeared at this point. Kelly was not in a forgiving mood. He came into the room carrying a large screwdriver and looking from one woman to the other.

  “I was just putting up a growth chart for Mei in the bathroom,” he explained, then frowned. “What’s the problem?”

  Kelly pointed accusingly in the woman’s direction. “She was going through your files.”

  Joe appeared bemused. “Was she? But Kelly, I basically told her to.” He gave her an indulgent smile, as though she were a little kid who just didn’t get it. “This is Sonja. The woman who did such a great job on Mei’s room. She’s just looking around, trying to get the lay of the land in case I hire her to redecorate my living areas.”

  Oh no, she wasn’t. Joe hadn’t seen what Kelly had seen, heard what she’d heard. She had caught Sonja going through the files, and now she wanted to know exactly what she’d been looking for.

  “This was a lot more than merely surveying the work space,” she began.

  He didn’t want to hear it. “Listen, I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding. She’s okay. I knew she was going to be snooping around, getting ideas.”

  Sonja sensed victory and she smiled like the Cheshire cat. Kelly bit her lip in frustration. She couldn’t understand why Joe didn’t see that.

  “Sonja, this is Kelly,” he was saying, as though introducing two women he was sure would be fast friends. “She’s helping me out with Mei, since the nanny didn’t show up.”

  “I’m s
o glad you got someone.” The tall, beautiful woman tossed her hair back and turned her dazzling smile on Joe. “I’d volunteer myself, but you know how it is. I’m good at kiddy decorating but I don’t know a thing about actually taking care of the little darlings.” She glanced Kelly’s way. “I leave that to nannies like your friend here.”

  “I’m not a nanny,” Kelly stated.

  “Well, you’re doing nanny work, aren’t you?” she noted, never taking her eyes off Joe.

  “What’s wrong with child care?” Kelly asked, at a loss as to why the woman would be saying that with just a hint of disdain. “Every mother on earth does it.”

  Sonja had obviously grown bored with the conversation. She rolled her eyes in Joe’s direction, then sighed. “Well, I’m going to have to get going. Places to go, promises to keep. You know how it is.” Her slick smile was all for Joe. “But don’t forget, we need to get together and go over my ideas. And talk about my tour plans—plans I’m hoping to rope you into.” She gave him a flirtatious smile. “In the meantime, don’t forget you owe me a dinner.” She tapped her index finger on his chest. “You promised.”

  Joe was grinning back, basking in all this obvious admiration. It made Kelly’s blood boil to see how easily he seemed to fall for it.

  “Sure,” he said happily. “We’ll have to see what we can do to keep that promise.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  To Kelly’s shock, the woman leaned close and gave Joe a kiss on the cheek, then turned and winked insolently in Kelly’s direction. Her attitude very plainly said, Don’t think you’ve got this one on the line yet, sister. I’ve got skills you can only dream of.

  She started out, and Joe gave Kelly a happy shrug, then turned back to his carpentry job in the bathroom. Kelly hesitated a moment, then decided to go after Sonja. That woman had some explaining to do.

  Chapter Seven

  “WAIT A MINUTE,” Kelly said from the curb as Sonja reached for her car door.

  The woman turned back with a frown, and Kelly hesitated again. She wanted to accuse her, wanted to question her, but didn’t want to do anything that would make Sonja think she was right to suspect Joe had a connection to Ambria. Kelly had to be very careful here.

  “No matter what Joe thinks, you and I both know you were searching for information in his files.”

  She shrugged, putting on her huge dark sunglasses. “Like he said, you misunderstood.”

  “No. I heard you on the phone, talking about some sort of evidence of a connection you were looking for. If you want to know something about Joe, why can’t you just ask him to his face?”

  “My dear, once again, you’ve misunderstood.”

  “Have I?”

  “Yes. Don’t you worry your little head about all this. Just take good care of that baby.” And she slipped into the car and drove off.

  Kelly drew a deep breath. This wasn’t good. She was sure of what she’d heard when she’d entered into that room. If Sonja wasn’t after Joe because she thought he was Ambrian, she was after him for something else. At any rate, he had to be prepared for whatever was going to be coming down the pike.

  Kelly went back into the house and slipped into Mei’s room to check on her. The precious child was sound asleep, and Kelly watched her for a moment, wondering what her life would be like. Surely she would warm to Joe soon. He would hire a good nanny and their life together would develop over time. Something inside Kelly yearned to know the outcome, but she knew she probably never would. That was all in the future, however. She was more concerned with keeping them both—Joe and Mei—safe right now. And that was really beginning to worry her.

  She had to convince Joe that his friend Sonja was not on the up and up. Slipping back out of Mei’s room, Kelly searched for Joe and finally found him just finishing up.

  Not giving him time to distract her with jokes, she quickly told him about what she’d heard Sonja say on the phone, and when she’d confronted her a few minutes later. He listened, nodding and looking interested, but he didn’t act like a man ready to jump in the car and head for higher ground.

  “She was sent here for a reason. I’m sure of it, Joe. She suspects something. She was hunting for evidence of an Ambrian connection.”

  He was picking up his tools and looking rather proud of the new wooden measuring chart he’d affixed to the wall. Instead of being concerned about what she was saying, he stood back and admired it.

  “Well, since I don’t have any evidence of an Ambrian connection,” he said casually, making a tiny adjustment to the way the chart was hanging, “she’s out of luck, isn’t she?”

  “But don’t you see? Just the fact that there are suspicions shows the danger you’re in.”

  He raised one dark eyebrow as he gazed at her cynically. “As a matter of fact, Kelly, the only evidence of an Ambrian connection around here is you.”

  She opened her mouth but no words came out. What could she say to that? In a way, he was right.

  “I hope you were discreet,” he added with a hint of laughter in his blue eyes.

  “Yes, Joe. I was very discreet.” She shook her head as she thought of the last person who had warned her of that. “So discreet, Jim would have been proud of me.”

  He frowned. “Who’s Jim?”

  She sighed. “My boss. The one who told me not to come looking for you.”

  His flash of a grin was electric. “I’m glad you’re such a disobedient worker.”

  She looked up in surprise and her gaze met his and held. That electricity was still there and it sparked between them for just a second, making her nerves tingle and her heart beat a little faster.

  She turned away. She didn’t want to feel this sort of spicy provocation. This wasn’t why she was here.

  But she needed to make some things clear to him, and she wasn’t sure how she was going to do it. She had to explain more firmly to Joe what this was all about—that he might just have that elusive Ambrian connection, and if he did, he had to face the consequences of that fact. Because those consequences could be lethal.

  Turning back, she steeled herself and looked at him sternly. “Joe, you need to listen to me, and you need to take what I say seriously. No kidding around.”

  The humor drained from his eyes and he waited, poised. She blinked at him in wonder. He was actually receptive to what she had to say. She felt a rush of affection for him and that only made it all so much harder.

  Kelly sucked in a deep breath. “I think you have to get out of here. I think you have to go.”

  His face hardened. “What are you talking about?”

  “They’ve found you,” she said earnestly, trying to convince him. “These people—Sonja and whoever she was talking to on the phone—must be either representatives of the Granvilli clan or someone in sympathy with them. Joe, you can’t stay here. You can’t risk it.”

  He was frowning. “Risk what? Kelly, I’m not your prince. I’m not their prince, either.”

  “But you see…” She stopped, tortured and not sure how she was going to convince him. “It doesn’t even matter if you are or you aren’t. If the Granvillis think you’re one of the princes, it’s the same as if you are. And they’ll probably try to kill you.”

  There. The words were out. She gazed at him, hardly believing she’d actually said it. He stared back, his eyes cold as ice. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he took his time giving her an answer, so she knew he had to be considering what she’d said.

  “Listen, Kelly,” he replied at last, “I’ve got a few skills in the hopper. I think I can take care of any threat of that kind.” He smiled, but there was no humor in it. “I’m not exactly a sitting duck.”

  She shook her head. She had no doubt he could hold his own in a fair fight. She knew he was a trained warrior. But that didn’t mean he could guard against everything. Why did he refuse to understand?

  “You can’t fight off the secret service of a whole country on your own,” she tol
d him ardently.

  He looked pained. “Now you’re being melodramatic. Slow down. Take it easy. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You can’t just think of yourself now, you know,” she added, trying to drive her fears home to him. “You have Mei to consider.”

  “Of course.” A slight frown wrinkled the skin between his brows. “I’m very aware of that.”

  “Are you?” She felt tears prickling her eyelids. Why wasn’t she better at expressing just how serious this was?

  Joe took her by the shoulders and looked down into her face. “You want me to run off and hide somewhere because a woman I hired to decorate my baby’s room looks at me and thinks of Ambria.” He shook his head as though he just couldn’t buy it. “How do you know she isn’t one of the good guys? Why are you so sure she didn’t emigrate as a refugee, just like your parents and you? How do you know she doesn’t want to recruit me into fighting the Granvillis just like you do?”

  He had her there. Kelly had no idea, no evidence at all. But she had a very strong feeling. Still, held here in his grip, she could only look up at his beautiful face and wonder why he wouldn’t let her save him.

  “I’m not getting into anyone else’s wars,” he told her, searching her eyes as though he thought he might find something to reassure him there. “I’ve had enough of that. Enough for a lifetime.”

  “Joe, I…I understand…I…” She was babbling. What else could she do? He was so close Kelly could feel the heat from his body. Her head was full of his clean, masculine scent and her heart was beating like a drum. She couldn’t think straight, couldn’t manage a coherent sentence. All she could do was stare at the beautiful smooth and tanned skin revealed by the opening in his shirt. Her head felt light and she was afraid she was going to pass out.

  Suddenly, as though he’d realized he was holding her shoulders and wasn’t sure why, he pulled his hands away and she swayed before him, blinking rapidly and trying to catch her breath.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded, embarrassed beyond belief. “Yes,” she managed to say. “I’m okay. Really.”