“Are we really going to live here?”
Alora swallowed a bubble of uncertainty and managed to nod. “Yes, we’re really going to live here.” She glanced at her children in the rearview mirror. “Now, don’t forget what we practiced. When you greet any grown-ups, you need to bow, right?”
“We remember, Mama,” Giancarlo insisted.
Dante shifted excitedly beside his brother. “Can we play on the beach? And go swimming? And get a puppy?”
“Slow down.” Alora chuckled at Dante’s enthusiasm and his continued plea for a puppy. She slowed the car as she approached the gate at the entrance. “I’m sure you’ll be able to play on the beach, but only if I’m with you. For now, we need to get settled.”
“But we’ve been driving forever.” Dante’s voice came out in a whine. “Can’t we go play first?”
Before she could answer, Giancarlo asked, “Are you sure they’re going to let us in?”
“We’re about to find out.” Alora rolled down the window.
“May I help you?” the guard asked, looking first at Alora and then glancing at the two boys in the backseat.
“Yes, I’m here to see Janessa Rogers.”
“I’m sorry, but Signorina Rogers is not in right now,” the guard informed her. “Was she expecting you?”
“Yes. I’m Alora DeSanto.” She started to fumble for a way to explain that she was moving in, but then the guard smiled warmly.
“Ah, yes, we’ve been expecting you. I will need to see some ID though.”
“Of course.” Alora rummaged through her purse and pulled her passport free. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” He looked down at the passport to verify her identity. Then he motioned to a second guard to open the gate. “Follow the driveway to the front of the house. After your luggage has been unloaded, you can park your car in the garage.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course, Signora. Welcome to Bellamo.”
* * *
The green and brown patchwork of fields stretched out for miles under the wispy white clouds that accented the brilliant blue sky. In the distance, Janessa could see the cluster of neighborhoods that made up the outskirts of Des Moines, Iowa, the closest town to her family’s farm.
Idly, she fiddled with the diamond engagement ring on her left hand, twisting it back and forth as she leaned back beside the man she planned to marry, the man who was about to meet her family for the first time. Besides the obvious concerns of whether her fiancé and family would like each other, Director Palmer’s revelation had pushed Janessa’s already strained nerves into overdrive.
She had expected suspicions to arise about Garrett’s religious preferences as time went on, especially once he became a regular member of the local congregation in Bellamo. What she hadn’t anticipated was for the information to leak so quickly. She understood Garrett’s need for privacy, but the fact that the CIA knew of his baptism only proved that people liked to talk and that eventually someone in the media was going to find out that Garrett had strayed from the Meridian Church.
Not willing to put a damper on their weekend with her family, Janessa had chosen to keep this new information to herself for now. Today she had enough to worry about, although she wasn’t sure if she was more concerned about what Garrett would think of her family or the other way around.
“You aren’t nervous, are you?” Garrett asked with a touch of amusement in his voice. “I’m the one who should be nervous.”
Janessa glanced over at him. “Why should you be nervous? You’re a potential father-in-law’s dream.”
His eyebrows winged up. “Oh really?”
“Oh yeah.” Humor danced in her eyes. “A handsome prince who’s also kind and generous. You’re definitely a keeper.”
Garrett grinned at her. “Glad you think so.”
“I know so.” Janessa leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Warmth spread through her, but the kiss did little to calm the nerves fluttering in her stomach.
Garrett looked over at her, his expression becoming serious. “You really are nervous. Why?”
She shifted restlessly. “I always get nervous when I go home to see my family. They have a tendency to ask questions I’m not prepared to answer.” She glanced at the back of the plane, where her sister and brother-in-law were sitting, their month-old daughter strapped into a car seat between them. Instinctively, Janessa lowered her voice. “I don’t like lying to them.”
“Why would you lie to them?”
Janessa looked at him, a little surprised that he didn’t already understand her reasons. “Because they always want to know how work is going, and I hate not being able to tell them the truth about what I do.”
“Surely they know you can’t talk about your work. That’s the nature of the CIA.”
Understanding dawned on her, the realization that he didn’t know how deep her cover ran. “Garrett, they don’t know I work for the CIA.”
His eyes widened. “Your own family doesn’t know who you work for?”
Janessa shook her head. “Of course not. No one knows who I work for except the people I work with. Even when I was working in Venezuela, only a handful of people knew I was really an intelligence officer.”
“Wait a minute.” Garrett held up a hand and shook his head as though trying to clear his confusion. “You’re telling me your parents don’t know why you’ve been in Meridia all this time?”
“They believe what the tabloids have told them. They think I met you a few years ago and that I went to Meridia to visit you.” She rolled her eyes. “Believe me, I’ve had a ton of e-mails from my family over the past few months asking why I never told them I knew you.”
“Surely you can tell them the truth now.”
Her eyebrows drew together as she considered the implications. Then she shook her head again. “No, I couldn’t do that. Besides the fact that I signed a secrecy agreement with the CIA, I don’t think either of us wants to take the chance of one of my siblings sharing my secrets. Could you imagine what would happen if the newspapers got wind of the fact that I work for the Agency?”
“Don’t you trust them?”
“It’s just safer if they don’t know the truth,” Janessa insisted. She drew a breath as though steadying herself, and he was surprised to see the raw emotion in her eyes. “A few years ago, a friend of mine was working undercover for the CIA. His brother was all bent out of shape about holiday plans, and he finally broke down and explained who he worked for and why he couldn’t come home to the United States. Two weeks later a bomb went off at my friend’s house. He didn’t survive. Most of his family died with him.”
“His brother blew his cover?” Garrett’s eyes widened.
“According to the investigation, it was an inadvertent disclosure. He told his wife in confidence, who then told a friend. It didn’t take long before something ended up on the Internet. That was all it took for the group my friend had infiltrated to discover his true identity.”
“That’s awful.”
Janessa nodded, and she blinked back the tears that misted her eyes. “It really brought home how important it is to protect my cover, even from those I trust the most.”
Chapter 9
Stefano moved gingerly as he walked down the stairs. He knew Patrice would have a fit if she saw him up and around without his sling on, but he was already tired of wearing it, and he still wasn’t convinced it was helping. Not that he’d spent the past twenty-four hours dwelling on his injuries. His thoughts instead had been consumed by the doctor’s news, the news that had been confirmed only an hour ago when the doctor had called to give him the results of the second set of tests. There wasn’t any doubt. He had Merid’s syndrome.
He thought he’d accepted the diagnosis after his first conversation with the doctor, but the phone call had proven to him that he’d still held on to a seed of hope that there had been some mistake. That seed had been smashed beyond repair. Now, after being cooped up for
the past couple days, Stefano found himself in desperate need of some fresh air and a fresh perspective.
He crossed the chateau’s main entryway and moved into the main parlor. Light streamed through large windows into the enormous room and spilled onto the comfortably faded furnishings. Couches, chairs, and loveseats were arranged to create cozy conversation areas, but Stefano ignored them and headed through the room toward a set of French doors leading to the terrace.
For as long as he could remember, the chateau had been the place he was always drawn to when he needed some time to himself. He supposed it was ironic that he was here when he was forced to face an alternate reality for his future from the one he had always planned for himself.
He had never seriously considered what he wanted in his future family life. He had simply expected that he would someday marry and have children of his own. As the heir to the throne, he had been subject to the media’s speculations about whom he might marry since he’d turned twenty, but now at the age of thirty-two, he still hadn’t met a woman who held his interest for more than a few months.
His heart ached at the realization that he would never know what it was to have children of his own, that he would never experience the joy of being a father. Now that the duty to produce an heir could no longer be his, he wondered if marriage would even be in his future. What woman would want to wed a man and live in the spotlight while the world anticipated the children that would never come?
Still moving gingerly, he pulled open the door and stepped outside just in time to see two dark-haired bodies streak past him and head toward the gardens.
He stared after them, confused at first by the presence of children on the grounds. Then he remembered the impending arrival of Janessa’s friend. He thought back to the days when he and Garrett had spent their summers playing hide and seek in the bushes and creating havoc as often as humanly possible. If these two little boys were anything like he was at their age, Stefano imagined they were more interested in the beach that lay beyond the gardens than they were in smelling the flowers.
His eyebrows lifted when he heard a woman’s voice call out in Italian. “Boys, come back here!”
Both boys stopped, and Stefano could have sworn he heard their twin sighs of resignation. “Yes, Mama.”
Moving much more slowly, they turned to head back the way they had come just as a delicately built woman hurried around the corner. Stefano’s first impression was that this could not be the mother of two children.
She pushed her dark hair behind her shoulders, her attention so focused on the boys that she didn’t notice Stefano standing in the doorway.
She gripped each of the boys by the arm as she squatted in front of them so she could look them in the eye. “Didn’t I tell you two not to run off?”
“Sorry, Mama. We just wanted to look around.”
“I know, but for now, we need to go find out where we’re staying, and I’ll need your help while I unload.” She started to usher the boys back to the front of the house. Then she noticed Stefano and froze. “I . . . I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you standing there.”
Stefano stepped forward, oddly amused to see the blush creeping into the woman’s cheeks, her dark eyes cautious. “You must be Alora.”
She nodded, her blush deepening as she dipped into a curtsy. “I’m sorry if my children disturbed you. I went to knock on the front door, and when I turned around, they were gone.”
Stefano looked down at the two boys, who were studying him openly. “Looking to explore the place, are you?”
Both boys looked up with wide eyes and nodded, all their mother’s instructions on protocol forgotten.
The older one stared for a moment and then asked, “Are you a prince?”
Stefano’s lips curved up. “As a matter of fact, I am.” Stefano ignored the twinge of pain in his ribs as he reached out and shook the little boy’s hand. “Prince Stefano Fortier, at your service.”
Both boys giggled.
“And you are?”
“I’m Giancarlo, and this is my little brother, Dante.”
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Stefano told him and then shook hands with Dante in turn. He straightened and noticed the chateau manager standing in the open doorway behind him. “Martino, our guests have arrived.”
The dark-haired older man stepped outside onto the terrace, carrying with him an air of formality. “Welcome, signora. If you would like to come with me, I will show you your quarters.”
“Thank you.” Alora motioned to the boys. Then she bowed slightly to Stefano. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Your Highness.”
“The pleasure was all mine,” Stefano said, his heart lifting fractionally as he watched both boys bound up the steps toward the door.
Alora stepped back awkwardly and then, with a glance over her shoulder, followed her children inside.
* * *
Garrett climbed out of the limousine that had picked them up from the airport, gravel crunching under his shoes and the sweet aromas of hay and apple pie scenting the air. As Janessa stepped beside him, he turned to look at the fields spreading out from the large white farmhouse in front of them.
A new pickup truck and an old tractor were parked next to the faded red barn across the yard. A large silo cast its shadow over what appeared to be some kind of shed beside it. Several horses grazed in a nearby field behind split-rail fences; rows of corn dominated the fields to the west.
Janessa slipped her hand into his, giving encouragement as well, he was sure, as receiving it. He still couldn’t believe what she had told him on the plane. For the past three years, she had been lying to the people closest to her about her profession.
He supposed he should have expected it. After all, he’d seen enough spy movies over the years to know that protecting one’s cover was paramount for an undercover operative. He just never considered that Janessa would follow that example.
Now he was beginning to understand the source of Janessa’s nervousness. Over the past few months, her photograph had been splashed all over newspapers and magazines around the world as her name had been linked to his. For media purposes, they’d announced they had been dating for two years. In reality, they had only known each other a few months.
Garrett stepped aside as Mary and Kevin exited the limo behind them, Kevin holding the car seat baby Lindsay was still strapped into. Mary hurried up the front steps onto the wide front porch and reached for the door just as it swung open and a broad shouldered man stepped out. His short, dark hair was peppered with gray, and his eyes were the same deep green as Janessa’s. A smile lit his face as he scooped Mary into his arms, and Janessa rushed forward to be hugged in turn.
A moment later, an energetic blonde woman joined them on the wide front porch. They exchanged greetings, and the proud grandparents took the time to ooh and ah over their baby granddaughter. Then Janessa turned and motioned for Garrett to join them.
“Mom and Dad, this is Garrett Fortier. Garrett, these are my parents, Scott and Donna.” Garrett stepped forward, amused when Donna offered something between a bow and a curtsy. Fighting a smile, Garrett shook hands with Janessa’s mother. Then he turned to offer his hand to Scott and immediately sensed the man’s reservation.
“I’m pleased to meet you both,” Garrett said formally as Scott reluctantly shook his hand, his eyes shifting to the limousine in the driveway before focusing more fully on Garrett.
“Please come inside,” Donna said, waving everyone toward the open door.
“Are your other children home?” Garrett asked as he walked into a tidy living room.
“It’s the middle of the day. There’s work to be done,” Scott said gruffly.
Donna sent a stern look in the direction of her husband and then added, “Our son Pierce is serving a mission right now in the Philippines, so he won’t be here this weekend, but everyone else is working the fields today. They should all be home by supper.”
“I need to check on
the cattle in the west pasture.” Scott motioned toward the door. “Maybe Prince Garrett would like to ride out with me.”
The way he said the word prince, with the hint of a sneer in his voice, suggested that while many men would be thrilled with the prospect of their daughter marrying into royalty, Scott Rogers apparently wasn’t one of them.
“I would like that, thank you,” Garrett said, determined to rise to whatever challenge Janessa’s father had in mind. He turned to Janessa. “If you’ll direct me to somewhere where I can change.”
“Maybe I’ll come with you,” Janessa said, eying her father suspiciously.
Garrett reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You should stay and visit with your mother. I’m sure your father and I will get along just fine.”
* * *
The two men rode their horses in silence as they left the barnyard and skirted a field of wheat nearly ready for harvest. Garrett wasn’t sure what he had done to warrant the cold welcome from Janessa’s father, but he had a feeling he was about to find out.
When they came to the top of a bluff, Scott reined in his horse and waited for Garrett to stop beside him. “We keep a small herd of cattle to help hedge against a bad growing season.”
“It always pays to be prepared,” Garrett commented then hesitated a moment before plunging in to what had been running through his mind during their ride up the bluff. “I know this is late in coming, but I want you to know I am very much in love with your daughter. I hope you can give our marriage your blessing.”
Scott shifted in his saddle to face Garrett more fully. “You know, around these parts, men ask for the young woman’s hand before her family reads about his intentions in the newspaper.”
“I’m sorry that events unfolded as they did, but I’m here, and I’m asking now.” Garrett kept his eyes on Scott’s as he pressed on. “Can you support Janessa and me and give me her hand in marriage? I know having your blessing would mean a lot to both of us.”
Scott stared at him for a moment and gave a subtle shake of his head. “I don’t know that I can support a marriage I know is a mistake.”
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