Midnight in Monterra

by Caroline Mickelson

Madison winced. Those five words stung like a slap across the face.

  "Mackenzie, try to understand-"

  But her sister didn't let her explain. "Understand what? That's you're pulling a mom? You meet a man and suddenly he's the center of your world? You've got to be kidding me. I never understood how mom could meet someone and suddenly forget she had two daughters that needed her. Now, you've met someone and...never mind. I can't deal, Madison. I'm going to hang up now and try to sort out this mess here. Goodbye."

  Madison set her phone on the table and buried her face in her hands. Mac was angry, and justifiably so. Their restaurant was important to Madison but it meant even more to Mackenzie, who clung to her routine like it was a shelter in a storm. And their childhood had been full of storms because their mother never really knew what love was, despite searching for it everywhere. Mackenzie still believed that love was nothing more than fool's gold.

  Madison wiped the tears from her eyes. She could fix this as soon as she figured out the best way to handle the press.

  Luis would know what to do. The thought filled her with relief. Together they could handle the situation.

  ***

  "Your Highness, we'll be touching down in Santa Rosa in a few moments. Is there anything you need before we land?"

  Luis stared at the flight attendant for a long moment before he realized she was waiting for him to answer. "No, thank you. I have everything I need." He glanced around the empty jet.

  "Very well. Welcome home, Sir."

  He nodded his thanks and then turned his attention to the private jet's small oval window. He couldn't ever remember returning home before without feeling happy to be back in his own country.

  But today he felt numerous emotions, and happiness was not one of them. The plane touched down on the landing strip with only the smallest bump, which would likely make it the smoothest part of his day.

  But he had only himself to blame. He'd made a poor choice and a miscalculation where Madison was concerned. Now it was time to try to handle the situation. He stood and slipped his suit jacket on. He only had time to run his fingers through his hair before the woman he'd come back home to see boarded the plane.

  "Luis, how lovely to see you." Graciela Mendoza Hernandez, a leggy brunette several years younger than he was, made her way to where he stood. A former model, she'd worked at the winery for several years now. Graciela was always perfectly turned out, and today was no exception. She wore an off-white business suit with a peplum that emphasized her tiny waist. She leaned in for a kiss on each cheek. "I trust you had a smooth flight."

  He nodded. "I did. Thank you for meeting me here."

  Graciela smiled. "For you, anything. You know that." She straightened his tie. "Are you ready for this?"

  "No." Luis tugged on his sleeves. "I dislike speaking with the press about such personal matters."

  Graciela reached out and took his hand between hers. "You have two choices. You can either try to ignore them, which only feeds the frenzy, or you can take a few moments and speak with them. You've spent years dodging questions about your love life. Being coy won't work any longer."

  As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. The situation was his to take control of, and the right time was now. He kissed the back of her hand and gestured to the front of the jet. "Shall we?"

  "Por supuesto." Graciela shook out her long hair. "Do I look acceptable for such an important moment?"

  "You're beautiful, and you know it. Now, come with me." He moved past her so that he would exit the plane first as royal protocol demanded. But she was only a step behind him, and as they made their way down the steps to the tarmac, he kept a steadying hand on her back.

  With Graciela's hand tucked into the crook of his arm, together they made their way toward where the press awaited them. Security had erected a barrier for the reporters to stand behind and several members of the palace security stood facing them as a reminder to the assembled group that they needed to keep an appropriate distance.

  Ironic, Luis thought, as he stood with Graciela beside him, that the press never challenged the required physical distance they needed to keep. But the emotional distance? There all bets were off.

  He glanced down at his companion to see how she was handling the press call. He smiled. He shouldn't ever worry. Graciela was an absolute natural in front of the camera. This was a woman to the palace born.

  They stood side by side for several moments as the cameras clicked away. This part was easier to endure than the verbal onslaught that was coming next.

  "Your Royal Highness, can you confirm that you're engaged to be married?"

  "Prince Luis, have you set a wedding date?"

  "Your Royal Highness, who was the woman you spent the evening with in Monaco?"

  Luis held up his hand. He decided to tackle the last question first. "There's been a misunderstanding about my recent visit to Monaco." He cleared his throat. "I was accompanied on the flight from Monterra to Monaco by a young American woman. She was a guest of Prince Nico and his wife who just happened to be visiting Monterra at the same time that I was there. At the suggestion of Prince Dante, we shared a plane to Monaco." He strove to keep his features nonchalant. "There isn't any more to the story than that."

  "Reports say that you two shared an intimate dinner," a reporter in the back shouted.

  "Intimate dinner? No. I believe I ate sometime during the evening but I can't speak for the lady."

  "Sources say that you were seen gambling together in the casino," another reporter asked. "Is that true?"

  Luis nodded. "I showed her around the casino but we didn't gamble together. She was a guest of the Monterran Royal Family, naturally I felt it the least I could do to escort her to the casino."

  Luis felt Graciela give his arm a reassuring squeeze. He smiled his gratitude to her, a gesture that wasn't lost on the press.

  "Señorita Mendoza, how do you feel about all of this?"

  Graciela shrugged in an off-hand manner that suggested she found the whole subject absurd. "We all know that His Royal Highness and Prince Dante have been friends for years and years. It's only natural that Prince Luis would do his friend a favor."

  "So you're not jealous?"

  To this, Graciela laughed as if the mere suggestion was absurd. "Of course not. I'm very confident in my relationship with the prince."

  Such a bold statement was akin to tossing one meaty bone to four starving dogs. A rush of questions all mingled together to make an unintelligible jumble of noise.

  Luis held up his hand. "Just one more question, please, before Señorita Mendoza and I head to the palace."

  "Is it true that you two are hiding the news of your engagement?"

  Luis and Graciela exchanged a glance. "Let me just assure you that when we're ready to make an announcement, you will be invited to hear it." He waved. "Thank you."

  Flanked by his security detail, he guided Graciela toward the waiting limousine. He slid in beside her.

  "How did you think that went?" Graciela asked.

  "The press hears what it wants to hear and sees what it wants to see." He leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. "But we gave them their pictures and we'll have to hope that gets the message across to everyone."

  Especially Madison.

  Chapter Twelve

  Madison waited well into the early afternoon for Luis' call, a call that didn't come. She needed to talk to him about what was going on back in Amarillo. She knew he'd be as surprised as she was that the press had found out about their relationship. She frowned as she stirred her coffee. How had word gotten out? She'd only known Luis a matter of a few days. Likely she'd never know, and the past was out of her control. But what was in her control was the present, which brought her right back to thoughts of her sister and the situation Mackenzie was dealing with at home.

  Mackenzie had said some harsh words and the end of their last conversation had been downright unpleasant, but they'd always b
een loyal to each other. She drained her coffee into the sink and washed her mug.

  What she needed to do now was find Luis and ask him how best to handle things. Growing up royal had doubtless taught him many tricks for dealing with the media. She grabbed her keys and sunglasses, slipped on her shoes and flung open the front door. She stopped short when she saw who stood on the doorstep.

  "Serafina, good morning. I'm surprised to see you."

  The little girl grinned. "I lost a tooth." She lifted her lip and pointed. "I thought you might want to see."

  "You thought right." Madison knelt down. "Let me have a good look." There was something so innocent and unaffected about the youngest Fiorelli that touched Madison's heart. She took a long moment to examine the gaping space from several different angles. "Did it hurt when it fell out?"

  "It didn't fall out. I pulled it." Serafina shrugged. "I had to."

  Madison stood. "Good girl. How about if you come back to visit me in a few hours and I'll make you some very soft chocolate chip cookies?"

  "Are you going somewhere now?"

  She nodded. "I am. I want to talk to Prince Luis. I'm going to walk up to the palace. Do you want to come with me?"

  Serafina's brow furrowed. "You can't. See the prince, I mean. He left."

  Madison reached out to hold onto the door frame. "What do you mean?"

  "He left Monterra this morning. I saw him go." Serafina gave a pointed nod toward the interior of the Royal Lodge. "Can I come in now and help you make cookies?"

  Madison stepped aside. "Of course. Head on into the kitchen." She waited a moment to make sure her suddenly shaky legs were solid underneath her before she followed. Just stop, she told her thundering heart, this is obviously a misunderstanding. Kids made mistakes. She blew out a long breath.

  "Should I get the eggs?"

  Madison nodded. "Please, and the chocolate chips too. They're in the refrigerator's middle drawer. I'll get the butter and flour."

  Once they were back at the island work area, Madison handed Serafina an apron. "It's a bit big but it should do the job." Together they measured out the ingredients and mixed them together. Serafina insisted on rolling the dough into balls herself. As soon as they were in the oven and the kitchen was clean, Madison sank back against the counter, sorry that the distraction was over.

  "Want to play cards?"

  Madison looked up. "Later, yes. But first I need to make a call."

  "I wasn't wrong. I saw Prince Luis get into the car and drive away." Serafina lifted her eyebrows tellingly. "With a suitcase."

  "Oh." Madison couldn't think of what else to say, let alone what to think.

  "If you don't believe me, I can prove it."

  Madison's curiosity overrode her pride. "Prove it how?"

  "The prince was on television. If you make us some hot cocoa, I can pull it up on your tablet."

  "You drive a hard bargain."

  Serafina shrugged. "When you're the youngest, you have to find a way to get by."

  Madison smiled as she measured out cocoa powder. Nico's little sister had to be the most precious child she'd ever met. She was also bright. And observant. She glanced over and saw the girl scrolling through something on her tablet.

  Why was Luis on television? She ran through last night's events in her mind but he hadn't said anything about leaving Monterra. She was sure of it.

  "Got it." Serafina sounded triumphant. She lifted up the tablet. "See, he's here with a very pretty lady."

  Suddenly Madison wasn't so sure she wanted to look at whatever Serafina had found. Wouldn't she be better off calling him? She glanced at the clock on the stove. But why hadn't he called? "This is ridiculous."

  "What is?"

  "Oh, uh, the cookies are ready." Madison had forgotten she wasn't alone. "Isn't it ridiculous how fast they cook?" She grabbed the pot holders and slid the tray out of the oven and onto a cooling tray. "They look good."

  Serafina came to see for herself. She stood on her tiptoes and peered at the tray. "They smell yummy." She handed the tablet to Madison. "See, here's what I found."

  Reluctantly, Madison took the tablet and saw Luis standing with his arm around a stunning brunette who smiled up at him adoringly. Just like she herself had done last night. She looked at Serafina. "How do you know this was from today?"

  The little princess pointed to the article's tagline, which featured today's date. "Can I play a game on your cell phone?"

  Madison nodded absently. "Sure, go ahead. It's on the counter by my purse."

  Madison plopped onto a bar stool. Her finger hovered over the image with the triangle on it. Why was she doubting Luis? She should go up to the palace or phone Luis' suite. But what if Mackenzie was right and she was acting like their mother by creating something in her mind that wasn't real? A tornado of emotions tore through her, leaving shame and embarrassment in its wake.

  She set the tablet on the island and grabbed her mug. She crossed the room to join Serafina at the table. There was no way she was going to think the worst. Mackenzie's panic was understandable. The media onslaught had caught her off guard, as did news that Madison was romantically involved with someone. Her sister hadn't met Luis, but once she did everything would be fine.

  As for Luis, perhaps there had been a family emergency and that's why he'd left for Santa Rosa without a word. Or maybe he was planning a surprise, or maybe he'd gone for the day on business and would be back by this evening.

  "Everything's fine," she said aloud. "And I'm not my mother."

  Serafina's head snapped up. "Of course, you're not," she said before turning her attention back to the game she was playing on the cell phone.

  Madison smiled as she sipped her cocoa. Having only her twin sister as a sibling had meant she'd had no little sister. If Serafina was any indication of the experience, Madison had missed out.

  A knock at the front door caused her heart to leap. It was Luis. It had to be. She'd been right not to doubt him. "I'll be right back," she told her young guest, who, engrossed in her game, only nodded in response.

  She opened the door to find Kat and Lemon on the doorstep. But her smile quickly faded when she saw their grim expressions.

  Something was wrong.

  ***

  "What the hell is going on?"

  Luis bristled but didn't turn around. He didn't like being spoken to in that tone of voice, not even when he knew it was worry that drove his brother to sound so harsh. He continued fixing his drink. The only sound in the room for the next minute was the sound of brandy splashing into the crystal snifter. He took his time savoring a sip. If he'd ever had a worse day in his life, he didn't remember it.

  "Luis, we need to talk."

  Because Alejandro's voice was somewhat more civil this time, Luis turned around. His brother sat at his large mahogany desk. His bottle green leather chair framed him as if it were a throne. A hand drawn map of Santa Rosa hung on the wall behind him.

  The sight of his brother behind his desk was nothing new. Alejandro devoted untold hours a day to work, he always had. It was the displeasure in his older brother's expression that he wasn't used to.

  He sunk into a wing chair in front of the desk. "So talk."

  Alejandro's gaze was steadfast. "What was that ridiculous posturing with Graciela at the airport all about?"

  He stared down into his drink, unsure how to answer the question in a way his brother would understand.

  "I'm running out of patience," his brother prompted him. "I can't help you if I don't know what you're doing."

  Luis looked up. "I was trying to buy some time. Time and space. For Madison."

  Alejandro shook his head. "You can't buy time. And you can't buy space. What I think you mean is that you were trying to buy privacy and, hermanito, you know you can't buy that either. Not when you're a member of our family."

  Luis knew his brother was right. "I know. I made peace with that long ago but when I saw the pictures of Madison splashed across the news las
t night, I lost it." He searched his brother's eyes for a sign that Alejandro understood just how desperately he wanted to protect Madison. "I can't have her surrounded by photographers everywhere she goes like she's some morally corrupt reality TV star. She needs protecting. I had to do something."

  "And the something was to come back to Santa Rosa and parade Graciela around in front of the press as a red herring?"

  Luis looked away. It didn't sound half so logical when his brother put it that way.

  "Please tell me that Graciela knew what you were doing? She's loved you for years. It would be downright ugly if you used her for your own agenda."

  "Correction, Alejandro, she's been my friend for years. She's loved you for years. And no, to answer your insulting question, I didn't thrust Graciela in front of the cameras without asking her for help first."

  Alejandro nodded approvingly. "Good. Because she's an invaluable member of the vineyard staff and I don't want you driving her away."

  Graciela was more than a member of the vineyard team, she practically ran the winery. And if anyone was ever going to drive her away, it would be his brother and his steadfast refusal to see the amazing woman in front of him.

  But his brother's blindness was not his problem to deal with now. He had his own love life to sort out. "What I did, I did for Madison."

  "What did she have to say about this little plan of yours?"

  Luis didn't respond.

  Alejandro's expression was incredulous. "Dios mío, you did tell her what you were doing, didn't you?"

  "I should have." He saw that now. All too clearly. "She'll understand. I'll talk to her. Explain."

  "Explain what? That you know best and you decided to take unilateral action without consulting her in order to protect her?" He paused and thought for a moment. "You both come from very different worlds, but just because you can command a press conference and present a twisted version of the truth, doesn't make it the right thing to do."

  "She'll understand once she knows why I did it."

  In answer, Alejandro leaned his head back against his chair and studied Luis. "I never would have believed that you could be so naive when it came to women." He leaned forward, intensity radiating from him. "What makes you so certain that this young American woman will be waiting for you when you rush back to Monterra?"