Royal Secrets

by Abramson, Traci Hunter

  King Eduard turned to a servant standing nearby. “Anna, please inform the kitchen that we would like pizza on the menu for this evening.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Oh, we wouldn’t want to intrude on your family dinner,” Alora said quickly as Anna curtsied and started down the hall.

  “Nonsense.” King Eduard waved away her concerns as Garrett and Janessa walked inside.

  “We’re drawing quite a crowd,” Garrett said, a hint of nerves humming through his voice.

  “Well, if we have people who wish to see the royal family today, perhaps we should take our afternoon tea out on the front balcony. It will do our citizens good to see that we expect life to continue normally.”

  Giancarlo tugged on Alora’s hand and lowered his voice. “Mama, I thought we weren’t supposed to drink tea.”

  Before Alora could answer, Janessa leaned down and said, “Don’t worry. I’m sure there will be some lemonade you can drink instead.”

  “Oh, okay.” Giancarlo seemed to accept her answer.

  Then Alora watched with amazement as her children were ushered up the stairs with the rest of the royal family. Within five minutes, Queen Marta joined them on the wide balcony and a servant wheeled a serving cart out with an assortment of finger sandwiches, scones, and cookies, in addition to tea and lemonade.

  As everyone settled around a large wrought-iron table, Alora glanced out at the stunning view of the village below and was struck again with a sudden appreciation of her situation. Here she was in the company of royalty as they looked out over their storybook kingdom. She saw Giancarlo say something to the queen, and then Stefano laid his hand lightly on her shoulder before sitting beside her.

  An unexpected sense of belonging rushed through her, along with a sense of anticipation. As she glanced down at the reporters gathered at the palace gates, she prayed that the people of Meridia would accept Garrett’s choice.

  Chapter 40

  “Have you seen the news?” Caspar demanded.

  “Yes,” he said, his voice surprisingly calm. “It appears the royal family has jumped the gun, so to speak.”

  “I’m not talking about that. Luigi was arrested.”

  A small sigh escaped him. “They must have found something.”

  “What are we going to do if he talks?” Caspar asked edgily.

  “He’s not going to talk. He wouldn’t dare.”

  “Even if he doesn’t expose us, Prince Garrett’s announcement throws everything off.” Caspar paced across the room and shook his head in frustration. “You said yourself that the timing needs to be perfect.”

  “His secret was going to come out in a couple days anyway,” he said dismissively. He knew his destiny, and he had no doubt that everything would fall into place in the end.

  “How can you be so calm? I have a great deal of money tied up in this venture,” Caspar reminded him. “If I can’t start drilling by year’s end, I will be ruined.”

  “Don’t worry, my friend. You help get me into power, and you’ll be richer than you ever dared imagine.” His mind calculated quickly, and he smiled. “In fact, we may be able to use today’s events to our advantage.”

  “How?”

  “You leave the media problem to me. A few well-placed phone calls will turn it in our favor. For now, I have another job for you before you leave town.”

  * * *

  Stefano searched through Internet articles on his laptop while Garrett and Janessa did the same on the other side of his father’s worktable. His mother had insisted on going for a walk with Alora and the boys after dinner while the rest of them dealt with the business at hand. From behind his desk, Eduard shook his head. “Well, the news has definitely gone global.”

  “I know. There are already thousands of results on the Internet search engines.” Garrett looked up at him. “A lot of them are pretty neutral though.”

  “That’s a good thing,” Janessa offered.

  “You need to look at this one.” Stefano shifted his laptop so everyone could see it before pressing the button to view a news video clip. In it, Archbishop Leone reacted to the news.

  “I understand Prince Garrett has the freedom to change religions, but I am relieved that he will never take the throne. I feel it would be inappropriate for him to rule this country when he doesn’t belong to the church this kingdom was founded on. I would hope that if the day ever did come when he would ascend the throne that he would step aside and let someone else rule who is more connected to our citizens.”

  “I suppose it could have been worse,” Janessa sighed.

  “Yeah,” Stefano muttered. “He could already know that a Mormon will rule someday.”

  His cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. His jaw tensed as he listened to the police chief’s latest report. He was only on the call for a couple minutes before he said good-bye and looked up at his father.

  “That was the police. They received an anonymous tip about an hour ago.”

  Garrett’s eyebrows drew together. “About what?”

  “Apparently someone noticed something odd at the home of my old classmate Jacques Neuville.” Stefano drew a deep breath. “They just finished searching his house, and they found Belinda Parnelli’s body hidden in a freezer.”

  Janessa looked up at him, horrified. “Who’s Belinda Parnelli?”

  Stefano’s stomach clutched at the thought that this young woman was dead because of her involvement with his medical treatment. He took a moment to make sure his voice was steady. “She’s a nurse who was kidnapped several weeks ago.”

  “Do you have any idea why?”

  “She’s the one who ran the tests on me for Merid’s syndrome.”

  Silence hung in the room for several long seconds.

  Janessa was the first to speak. “You think someone is going to publicize your medical problems?”

  Stefano nodded. “Mine and Uncle Elam’s. With everyone buzzing about Garrett being Mormon, the announcement that Uncle Elam and I cannot have children could destroy the monarchy.”

  “We’re not going to let that happen,” Eduard insisted. “We already have Luigi in custody. Now it looks like we’ve found his accomplice. We may have silenced everything before they could use the information as they wanted.”

  “I still don’t understand what their motivations were and why they didn’t publicize the news as soon as they received it,” Janessa said skeptically.

  “I have to think their motivation was profit, but I don’t know why they were sitting on the information,” Stefano said. “Jacques could have stood to gain a lot if we had approved that offshore oil well. If our family was forced from power, it’s possible the ruling council might have overturned that decision.”

  “And we already know Luigi was keeping Elam’s secret so he would keep getting paid,” King Eduard added. “My guess is that Luigi found out about Garrett’s baptism somehow, probably through one of those listening devices. Somehow he decided to team up with Jacques, and together they planned to exploit our family and get rich at the same time. Hiring Ambrose in a way that the payments could be traced back to Elam was just one more way to undermine our family’s integrity.”

  Garrett shook his head. “It’s hard to believe that people would try to unravel centuries of tradition for money.”

  “Hopefully everything is contained now,” Eduard said. “If all goes well, the media frenzy about Garrett’s new religion will die down within a few days, and when we walk into the council chambers on Thursday, we will be able to get back to business as usual.”

  “Father, there is one thing I think we may need to change for the upcoming council session,” Stefano said.

  “What’s that?”

  “In the past, you’ve always had me remain behind at the palace in the event of any kind of tragedy.”

  “Yes.” Eduard nodded. “Many countries follow similar protocols to make sure that in the event of a natural disaster or a terror
ist attack someone will survive to rule.”

  “And it is a good policy,” Stefano agreed. “But in light of my medical situation, I feel Garrett should be the one to remain behind.”

  Eduard opened his mouth as if to object and quickly closed it again.

  Stefano continued. “Most of our citizens are not aware of these security procedures, and keeping Garrett out of the spotlight this week might help us stay focused on the needs of our country instead of what the newspapers are printing.”

  Slowly Eduard nodded. “Garrett, your brother’s right. Stefano will someday rule, but you are the future of the monarchy.”

  * * *

  Alora knew she was taking advantage of having an in-house babysitter, but tonight she needed to have a little time to herself outside of the confines of her room. Besides, she couldn’t deny that she had been disappointed when she had opened her door tonight to find Brenna standing on the other side instead of Stefano. Since Giancarlo and Dante had already fallen asleep, Alora had decided to take Brenna up on her offer to sit with the boys for a few hours.

  Alora started down the hall, not sure if she should explore the palace a bit more or if she should try to find Stefano. She had been a bit disappointed that he had been unable to join her and the boys on their walk after dinner. Alora was astute enough to appreciate that the royal family had deliberately avoided speaking about the possible political ramifications of Garrett’s baptism while her children were present. She also could admit that she had been surprised when the queen had chosen to join them for their Sunday evening walk.

  Stefano had remained with the rest of the family to help deal with their current political affairs while Queen Marta had been the perfect hostess, showing them around the grounds and giving the boys the chance to get some fresh air. They had kept to the far side of the palace, away from the palace gates and the prying eyes of the press and public.

  When they had reached the yard near the gazebo, Alora’s thoughts had instantly turned to Stefano. So much had happened over the past few days. She had so enjoyed having him sit beside her in church today, but she knew it was an isolated event. Even if this blossoming romance did continue, he wasn’t likely to attend church with her again.

  Alora thought of the paparazzi still camped outside the palace gates, and she realized that even if Stefano was willing to go to church with her, such an event would likely feed this current media frenzy.

  Tension hung thick within the walls of the palace, but she was touched to see the royal family’s constant dedication to their country and their love of their citizens. Those same qualities were among those she had admired about her husband.

  Even though Carlo had spent most of his career undercover, his love for freedom and his overwhelming desire to protect Americans from any perceivable threat had dominated his actions throughout their marriage. Ultimately his choice to dedicate himself to his country had taken him from her. Stefano would never work undercover, nor would he ever try to infiltrate a terrorist group, but Alora recognized that a certain amount of danger accompanied his public role in Meridia. Otherwise he wouldn’t have so many guards assigned to him.

  She looked down at the cell phone in her hand and considered. She knew she could call Stefano to find out where he was, but the prospect of interrupting him while he was meeting with his father made her uneasy. She reached the hallway leading to the royal offices and hesitated. Just as she convinced herself that she would be intruding if she went looking for Stefano, she saw him in the hall.

  Her heartbeat quickened, and she moved toward him. “Are you all done for the night?”

  He nodded, and Alora noticed the line of tension on his brow. “There’s nothing more we can do for now.”

  “I gather the initial reaction isn’t good,” she said cautiously.

  “We’re seeing mixed reviews. It actually isn’t as bad as we expected.”

  “Then what’s wrong?” Alora asked. “You look upset.”

  He let out a sigh. “I just found out that one of my old classmates may have been involved with the bombing. And it appears that he was responsible for the death of a young woman.”

  “I’m so sorry. Were you close to either of them?”

  Stefano shook his head. “I’d only met the woman a few times, and Jacques was always more of a rival than a friend. Still, I never thought him capable of something like this.”

  “Jacques?” Alora repeated, an uneasiness coming over her.

  “Jacques Neuville,” Stefano elaborated.

  Her eyebrows drew together. “I met him a few days ago.”

  He took a step back. “Where?”

  “In your office at the chateau. I was working there after you came to the palace. Martino brought him in and said Jacques had asked to see me.”

  “What did he want?”

  “I don’t know.” Alora shrugged. “He asked to see me privately. When I refused to send Martino away, he decided to leave.”

  “That’s odd.”

  “I thought so. I don’t even know how he knew who I was.”

  “He could have seen some newspaper articles from when we attended the exhibit together, but I don’t know why he would have asked to speak with you.”

  “I know it’s been a long day for you, but do you think you might want to go for a walk? Brenna is watching the children for a little while.”

  Stefano slipped his hand into hers. “I can’t think of a more perfect way to end the day.”

  A slow smile crossed her face. “I’m glad you think so.”

  Chapter 41

  “Looks like you’re in the spotlight again.” Marta dropped the newspaper on Stefano’s desk.

  “Me?” Stefano looked down at the image in the center of the page. A photographer had snapped a picture of him returning from church the day before. In it, he and Alora were linked with the boys, all four of them holding hands and looking very much like a unit. The caption asked the question, Has Prince Stefano found an instant family? A small smile lighted his face as he looked up at his mother. “Well, this is definitely not what I expected on today’s front page.”

  “Your father was quite pleased about it.” She took a seat across from her son. “Alora and her children seem to have caught the interest of the media and, in so doing, have succeeded in taking some of the attention away from your brother.”

  Stefano considered the implications of this, both the fact that his relationship with Alora was giving the press something to balance the stories on Garrett and his concern that she would now be dogged by the paparazzi. “I think it would be wise to assign guards to Alora for the foreseeable future. She’s not accustomed to dealing with the press.”

  “That would be a good idea.”

  “I’m surprised the press didn’t key in on her religion.”

  “There were a couple comments in various articles about how she had attended church with you and your brother, but it appears that no one has managed to confirm that she is the same religion as Garrett and Janessa.”

  “That’s probably a good thing right now.”

  Marta shifted closer so she too could see the newspaper now spread out on Stefano’s desk. “You know, this really is a nice picture.”

  “Mmm hmm,” Stefano murmured in agreement, his attention still on the article.

  “Alora’s children seem to be very fond of you.”

  Stefano looked up at his mother now. He recognized the look on her face, the same one she always had when she was digging for information. “Mother, are you prying?”

  “Absolutely,” Marta said with humor in her voice. “Tell me everything.”

  Stefano shook his head. “I don’t know that there’s much to tell.”

  “You can do better than that,” Marta insisted with a delighted laugh. “It’s obvious that you’re taken with this girl, and I’d have to be blind not to see the way she looks at you.”

  A ripple of excitement pulsed through him. “How does she look at me?”

  Sh
e gave him a knowing smile. “Like a woman in love.”

  His eyebrows lifted. “I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, Mother.”

  “I’m not so sure,” she said and then moved to stand. “I will tell you that I like her. I think she is a very bright young woman, a wonderful mother, and she carries herself with a great deal of class.”

  Stefano smiled fully. “I’m glad you approve.”

  “And when the day comes that you decide she is the one you want, I would be honored if you gave her the engagement ring your father gave to me.”

  Stefano’s jaw dropped at her assumption. Then he managed to grasp at the one fact he wanted most to forget. “Mother, even if I do someday marry, your ring should pass down through Garrett and Janessa’s children since I can never have any of my own.”

  “Nonsense. Alora’s boys will be as much your children as you are mine. Take your mother’s word on that.” Then with a definitive nod, she turned and sailed out of the room.

  * * *

  King Eduard took his seat at the head of the conference table in the library. He watched his two sons pull out chairs for Janessa and Alora and considered for the first time that his family might finally be complete. If his wife was right, Stefano had found his bride-to-be even if he didn’t recognize the fact yet.

  He had thought that Stefano’s obvious fascination with Alora was a passing fancy, one that had been born from his weeks in close proximity to her at the chateau. After seeing them together several times the past few days, and especially after seeing Stefano with Alora’s children, he was starting to trust Marta’s instincts.

  When Stefano had asked for this family meeting to start at nine so he and Alora could put her children to bed first, any lingering doubts had vanished. Whether Stefano realized it or not, he was already thinking of Alora as part of the family and, in his subtle way, expected the rest of them to include her as well.

  As soon as everyone had taken their seats, he asked, “Where do we stand?”

  “We have confirmed that Caspar Gazsi has left the country,” Janessa began. “Apparently he drove to Monaco last night. From there, he’s believed to have flown to Libya.”