“I see.”
“It’s like what you’re going through right now, having to transition from being a private to a public person. I’ve been in the palace my entire life. Although Izerote is not known to the rest of the world, on my own island I am under constant scrutiny.”
Gio’s expression slowly remolded from accusatory to something else, like he was truly listening to her.
“I’ll just pack up my things and be out of your way.” She turned from him to return to the cottage he’d been generous enough to let her stay in. She’d gather up as quickly as she could.
Over her shoulder she added, “Even though I have no right to, may I ask you one more favor? Could you not tell anyone about this? I would be eternally grateful if you forgot you ever met me.”
As she swerved away, his big hand grabbed her arm.
“I didn’t say you had to leave.” Gio’s voice kept its deep baritone but he didn’t sound as angry anymore. “Please, Princess Luciana de la Isla de Izerote. Let me make us a cup of tea. I have to admit I’m intrigued. I’ve never hosted a real-life princess before. Let alone a runaway.”
“I’m not made of fairy dust. Despite popular folklore.”
If this had been a fairy tale, Gio Grassi could be her handsome prince. His armor would glisten as he swept her off her feet and hoisted her onto his proud white horse. Where they’d gallop away into the sunset to their kingdoms where marriages were conjured from love, not strategy.
“I’m dreading my entry into public life,” Gio said. “So I do understand your desire for anonymity.”
“That means a lot to me.”
“You look quite different with your long and natural hair.”
Luciana supposed she did. With her hair the same as she’d worn it her entire life she felt younger, like she was still a schoolgirl. How her father saw her.
“I actually love the wig,” she confessed. “It’s fashionable instead of how I usually look, stuck in time, born and bred to wear a tiara. What do you think?”
“Obviously, you should wear your hair however you want to.”
His words stunned her. When was the last time anyone told her she should look however she wanted? Never.
“Shall we have tea?”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be right back.”
As Gio went up to the main house, Luciana sighed with enormous relief. She couldn’t have kept her identity a secret from him for a second longer. At first she thought he was so angry he was going to throw her out on the spot. Thank goodness his reaction changed. What a persuasive man he was. Her eyelids fluttered when he said she should do whatever she wanted with her hair.
Why couldn’t she be marrying a compelling and progressive man like him? Why must she wed someone with a closed mind who had already told her that becoming pregnant was the first and only job he expected her to devote herself to? She did want children, but in all honesty, she dreaded the thought of giving her virginity to a man she would never love. That seemed a service past what was a reasonable expectation of any person.
“All right, Princess,” Gio announced when he brought out two cups of tea and invited her to sit at the glass table in the courtyard where they’d had breakfast early that morning. “I want to hear all about this. How and why did you get yourself off your tiny island and all the way to Tuscany?”
Luciana took a sip from the steaming cup and then began to tell the story of what she’d been planning for months.
How she held no money, having no cause to ever pay for anything herself. That she did have credit cards but if she used them her whereabouts could be located. So she’d decided she would use a few precious stones to finance this expedition she was compelled to take. About how she carefully spread out on her bed all the palace jewels that had been worn by her mother, her grandmother, her great-grandmother and her lineage even before them.
Many were one-of-a-kind pieces crafted by the finest jewelry makers in the world and gifted to the royal family. Most of them were ornate and overdone, not at all pieces she would have chosen for herself. Yet she understood their legacy and importance. They would be passed down to her own children someday, either to a daughter or a daughter-in-law.
Returning those to the palace vaults, Luciana kept only a few plainer pieces whose stones would bring her enough money. They were everyday pieces that would never be missed.
The princess had also been keeping a careful watch on the schedule of supply boats that arrived regularly to bring goods onto the island. After reviewing her chart, she confirmed that one arrived at four o’clock every morning. Formulating her scheme, she’d creep outside the palace walls, avoiding security cameras and passing undetected through the pitch-dark of the wee hours to the shore. Finding a covering from which to spy, she’d timed the boatmen unloading their cargo and wheeling it through the service entrance of the palace. For at least ten minutes during the unloading process, the boat was unattended.
Gio put his elbows on the table between them, engrossed in her tale.
On the chosen night, Princess Luciana donned her darkest clothes, slid out the prepacked suitcase from under her bed and placed the jewels into a purse. She left a note on her desk for her father, climbed over the terrace off her sitting room and scurried her way to the dock in the darkness. Once on the boat, she’d covered herself in tarps and sailcloth. Shuddering with fear as she heard the crew return to the boat, she’d all but held her breath as they pulled away from the shores of Izerote.
When the boat touched land in Barcelona, she’d waited for the crew to disembark and then, having no idea what would greet her once she was on deck, was able to dash away from the dock unnoticed. Although she didn’t get the money she expected for the sale of the first jewel, she’d had enough to board a train, and transferred from one train to another to another through France until she’d reached Florence.
“I’m astonished,” Gio said as he leaned back in his chair.
Replaying the getaway in her mind, Luciana was just as shocked as Gio that she had pulled it off. Not just the actual escape, which was something out of a spy story. But that she’d had the will and the courage to do it. To take something for herself that every cell in her body was starving for. That she would have spent a lifetime regretting it if she hadn’t.
Maybe a little piece of this was also a tribute to her mother, who Luciana knew was never happy under the confines of her tiara. Her mother’s eyes had died long before the car accident took her life.
“One question,” Gio mused. “Why did you come to Florence for specifically three weeks? Do you turn into a pumpkin after that?”
“Worse. I’m getting married.”
* * *
“You’re set to marry a man you don’t love?”
“I must wed King Agustin of Menocita, an island near ours. It’s my duty to my subjects. Izerote is a land of unspoiled green hills and clear blue waters. But our population has been shrinking over the last couple of generations. With globalization, the people of Izerote want more in their lives than what our island has to offer. Families send their children off to the great universities of Europe and the United States where technology is up-to-date and there are job opportunities.”
Gio raked a hand through his curls as he listened attentively. They nursed the cups of tea he had prepared. He’d met a couple of royals in his life at social functions but never with any intimacy other than a handshake. He did remember that he got a standoffish vibe from them, as if they were separate from the rest of the world. Princess Luciana, Luci, was not like that at all, and from her he sensed a benevolence he almost never felt with anyone. If he hadn’t known, he might indeed believe that she spent her days as a teacher among the needs and simple concerns of toddlers.
“How is it that marrying King Agustin will be good for your subjects?”
“Menocita was heading toward the sa
me fate as Izerote until about thirty years ago when Agustin’s father decided the island would become a tourist destination in order to create jobs and attract visitors. And it worked well. They built lavish beach resorts and all the ensuing industries, which have brought prosperity to the island. Although now their waters are polluted and they have to ship garbage out by the boatloads.”
“King Agustin and your father want to do the same in Izerote.”
“Yes.” Luciana took a demure sip from her cup of tea. Those sensual bow-shaped lips had held him captive as she told him her story. He loved her upright posture as she sat on the chair opposite him while they talked. The moon glow, plus a couple of garden lights, cast perfect shadows of light and dark across her stunning face. She’d worn a simple dark green dress to dinner tonight, very modest with its high neckline and below-the-knee length. Last night for the dinner with his investors, it was a stiff-fabric light blue dress, quite formal. He wondered if princesses were ever allowed to dress in casual clothes.
Really, though, it was the sight of her in that sheer nightgown on the Juliet balcony this morning that he couldn’t get off his mind. It made him want to run barefoot through a forest with her, crown or not.
“Agustin’s wife died when they were quite young. He must remarry and bear children.”
“You’re being traded for a couple of hotels on the beach?”
Luciana laughed out loud, the dulcet tones carrying into the foggy air of the late night. “Yes.” She continued to giggle so sincerely, it made Gio smile. “I love the way you phrased that.”
“It’s true.”
“And what’s sadder,” Luciana added with a snicker, “is that I dislike Agustin, what little I know of him. He’s stern and humorless.”
Princess Luciana was not like any of the women he’d known before. First of all, with Grasstech’s position as the world leader in its field, Giovanni Grassi and Dante Grassi were two eligible bachelors of accomplishment and wealth. With that, they attracted women who tried to glam onto them for a taste of the luxury life. That’s exactly what Her Royal Highness Princess Luciana was running away from.
Many a woman like Francesca had crossed Gio’s path. Dante’s, too. The women who gravitated toward the Grassi brothers were nothing like their mother, the down-to-earth woman who was grateful for all of the blessings she and their family had. Noemi Grassi didn’t have a phony bone in her body, and raised her sons to be the same.
Yet Gio and Dante were magnets for women who pretended they were one thing but were really another. Francesca being the state-of-the-art, and most costly, example. After her deception, Gio made a firm decision never to trust a woman ever again. It was ironic that now he was sitting across from a woman most definitely out to deceive, yet her reasoning was understandable. And he appreciated that she had come clean to him. In a strange way, now he thought of himself as her confidant. Partner in crime.
“I do have to marry him. The wedding is set. Invitations were sent long ago. The dinner menu has been selected. An ugly dress has been created. In fact, it was that horrible dress that pushed me into this trip. Once I saw myself all bound up in that lace like it was ropes of bondage, I decided it was now or never to claim something for myself.”
“What if you didn’t go back after the three weeks?”
“I have to. I owe it to my father. I’ll be surprised if I even get the three weeks. I don’t doubt that he has already contacted palace security and blueprints are being drawn up as to how to find me.”
Gio winced when he thought of how that must be for her. Essentially a prisoner of her crown. Not permitted to be the schoolteacher she said she wanted to be. Not able to choose who, and if, she wanted for her husband. Bound by obligation to put the throne first, and herself second.
“How would anyone find you after that careful escape you executed?”
“You have no idea the lengths my father would go to.” Luciana licked her top lip. “But in my letter to him I promised that I would stay safe and return, and remain in service to our people all the days of my life.”
Gio would be in service to his family for the rest of his life, too. Although not unwillingly. However, he would have preferred to stay in the vocation that he loved. To create new products, to get lost in the mathematics, in the scientific discovery of hypothesis and proof. Now he would stand as the voice and face of the Grasstech empire. Analyze operations. Maintain a dedicated and productive staff. Make decisions about expansions and new territories. He would do it, with authority and justice, even if he had a tad of reluctance. Whatever his family needed, he would deliver.
While Luciana had an arranged union that she was loathe to undertake but must, Gio would trudge his road alone. In his parents, he witnessed the kind of love and partnership that dreams were made of. His parents were romantic, with genuine well-wishes and support for each other every day of their lives. Most important, they were friends who trusted each other completely. Gio never expected to see any of that in his lifetime.
Yet for reasons he didn’t quite grasp, it bothered Gio that Luciana belonged to another. No one should be forced to live out their days with someone they didn’t love. It was wrong.
Gio’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He read Samuele’s text out loud. “Not a decent hotel room to be had, with several large business conventions in town.”
Luciana’s face fell.
“Why don’t you stay here while you are in Florence? You see I have room.” What else could he do but take her in? If this was to be her one big hurrah before a life devoted to what others wanted for her, the least he could do was watch over her and try to keep her safe. Yes, because she was a princess. Yes, because she was a sheltered young woman who might not know how to avoid the menaces that anyone faced when traveling alone. And yes, because there was something special about her that had touched his heart.
Of course it didn’t make sense, his urge to take her into his arms and kiss away any past and future. To bear her burdens. To take away everything other than this courtyard and the moon and the moment.
“And I can show you around a bit.” Getting off the computer and out among the human race would be good for him. And would make him a better leader, too. He needed to take the long view of his well-being now that he was the company’s CEO.
Gio didn’t know what was prompting him to get so involved in this young woman’s trip to Florence. Maybe it was only that he spent so much time alone, it was a breath of fresh air to talk and walk with Luciana. And he sensed that she needed him. Which felt strangely good. But after learning the hard way from Francesca that he couldn’t trust anyone, it was essential not to get close. There was something so virtuous and sweet-natured about Luciana, it would be easy to forget that vow. Fortunately, she’d be in his life for only a short time.
* * *
“Hello, Viggo.” Gio’s driver met Luciana in front of the villa. After he’d secured her into the car and pulled away she asked, “Where are we going?”
“Signor Gio asked me to leave it as a surprise.”
When Luciana had woken up this morning and stepped out onto the Juliet balcony of her room, Gio was nowhere to be seen. Which she had to admit was more than a little disappointing. The day before, she’d relished such a lovely breakfast with her handsome host. She was hoping for a repeat.
From the balcony, she had looked down on the courtyard and eyed a tray set with a coffee thermos and what looked like a plate of food under a cloth napkin. After a shower, she dressed and made her way downstairs.
Upon closer inspection of the tray, Luciana found that it also held a single pink rose in a vase. Which made her heart skip a beat. She’d been given hundreds of elaborate flower arrangements and bouquets, whether at ceremonial processionals or formal introductions or sent to the palace. Yet she couldn’t think of a flower she’d seen in her life that was as charming as that one rose on her breakfast tray.
Because she knew it had come from Gio, and the mere fact that he had thought to include it brought a swell to her chest.
It wasn’t merely out of respect for her title that he’d had the thought. Was it simply the gesture of a man who was innately hospitable? Or a man who appreciated the beauty of nature and thought to adorn the tray with a stem picked from the villa’s garden? Or was it something else entirely? A time-honored gentlemanly practice of a man giving a flower to a woman as an act of romance?
Surprising herself with that thought, Luciana swallowed hard as she touched the velvety petals of the rose. Gio wasn’t wooing her. And romance was never in the picture for Princess Luciana de la Isla de Izerote. Her parents and grandparents, and all the royal couples throughout Izerote’s history, were beholden to the monarchy. Each and every one of the marriages had been carefully considered during meetings around a table between the male elders.
Some of the women in her lineage got lucky. Stories were passed down about her great-grandmother meeting her great-grandfather. At first, they clashed. He was a traditional man who concerned himself with laws and war. Whereas her great-grandmother was a nurturer, wanting to improve the lives of the poorest citizens of the island and a great lover of animals. It seemed they’d have nothing in common, and her great-grandmother grew quite sad.
Within a few years, three children were born. Luciana’s great-grandfather fell in love with his children and their carefree pursuits of play and pleasure. Through those children, he and her great-grandmother fell in love with each other, some six years after they walked down the aisle at their wedding to each other as complete strangers.
It was important for Luciana to hope for the best. Maybe she’d find a camaraderie with Agustin. Or she’d uncover a good side of him. They might even become friends. She doubted she’d fall in love like her great-grandmother had in her arranged marriage. But romantic love wasn’t necessary. The merger between the two islands was what mattered.
The Italian's Runaway Princess Page 5