Honeymoon With a Prince (Royal Scandals)

by Burnham, Nicole

  “Well,” Massimo said, his words deliberate as he looked the man square in the eye, “that gives me tremendous insight.”

  He could see why Kelly was attracted to a man like Robards. The man carried himself with dignity, had charm to spare, and was good-looking enough that Massimo had noticed women’s gazes following the tall blond as he’d walked through the ballroom. But Massimo didn’t believe for a second that Kelly would deliberately target the man for his money. It didn’t fit with her independent personality or the sincerity with which she’d conducted herself since they’d met.

  “Thank you. I felt I had to speak up.”

  “You should have stopped when you told me Kelly lacked financial savvy. I might—might—have bought that. But I don’t believe a word of the rest.” Massimo gave Robards a smile he knew would leave the man no doubt he was being dismissed. “Enjoy the rest of your evening. I plan to enjoy mine.”

  He pushed through the door to see the dance floor packed and Kelly sitting at their table alone. As if drawn by Massimo’s presence, she raised her head, met his eyes, and smiled…then her gaze traveled beyond him, to Robards.

  Her smile fell.

  In that moment, doubt forced its ugly fingers into Massimo’s mind.

  * * *

  Two men were missing from the ballroom. One she cared about. One she didn’t.

  It was the one she didn’t care about who worried her.

  She hadn’t been gone more than five minutes when she returned to find Massimo gone. He wasn’t on the dance floor, nor was he talking to his parents or siblings. Perhaps, she thought, he’d taken advantage of her absence to make his own trip to the restroom.

  Then she saw that Ted was gone, too. Knowing Ted, who calculated each move he made with the precision of a general mapping out battlefield tactics, it wasn’t a coincidence.

  Trust Massimo more than you distrust Ted.

  She smiled to herself, resolved, and took a seat at the table. Then, without knowing why, she looked up at the very moment Massimo emerged from a door at the rear of the ballroom. Her heart leapt at the sight of him making a beeline toward her.

  Then movement behind Massimo caught her eye, knocking back her anticipation. She felt her smile falter at the same time Ted shot her a self-satisfied look and mouthed, It’s over, Kelly.

  What little she’d eaten turned to a rock in her stomach as the men approached. Ted peeled off in the direction of his own table while Massimo yanked out the chair beside her.

  “You’ve been talking to Ted,” she said. The words sounded accusatory, even to her own ears, though of course Massimo had every right to speak privately with his guests.

  His response held even more snap than hers. “I have.”

  She reached for her water glass, but it was empty, so she settled for toying with its stem. “I’m sure he had plenty to say.”

  “He did.” Massimo’s voice demanded her attention. She inhaled and tilted her head to face him as he asked, “Tell me why it ended.”

  She should’ve known.

  She wasn’t about to relive the humiliation again for Massimo. Not if he was about to accuse her of what she thought…of what Ted convinced all her friends to believe. “I’m sure he told you. And if you feel you have to ask me, then you don’t have to ask.”

  “Humor me.”

  Fine. “It was simple. I believed everything he told me. Until I didn’t.”

  A pause. “Did he cheat on you?”

  “To his credit, no. I don’t believe he did.” Cheating her, though, that was another story.

  “Then you’re saying he lied.”

  “Yes.” She pushed back from the table. “Massimo, either you trust me or you don’t. I’m not going to stay here and answer your questions. I won’t pit my reputation against Ted’s. I’ll lose every time.”

  “Did he cheat you out of your business?”

  “No, but he lied to me about it.” She frowned at him. “He told you that?”

  “He told me that’s what you believe.”

  Infuriating. She’d spent the last few weeks proving to herself that she was worthwhile. That she was good at her job and a professional. In doing so, she’d hoped she’d proved herself to Massimo. But to have Ted ruin that in the amount of time it took her to blot her mascara….

  “Good night, Massimo.”

  He stood and reached for her. “Kelly, wait. I don’t believe everything Robards told me. I’m not that gullible. But I need to know—”

  “I’ll see you in the morning to say my goodbyes,” she said, stepping back from his touch. “My flight home is rather long and I’d like a good night’s sleep. Thank you for this evening. The gown and the necklace are lovely. I’ll make sure they’re returned.”

  “You don’t have to go.”

  “I most certainly do.”

  She left the ballroom before he could touch her again.

  Massimo thought her biggest fear was staying at the ball and facing Ted. Oh, how wrong he was. She’d proven to herself that she could face Ted. She’d done it by leaving him when all her friends urged her to work it out. She’d done it by hiring a lawyer when he’d taken her money, despite the fact the man had every resource at his disposal and might fight her forever over what amounted to a measly sum…to him.

  On the contrary, her biggest fear was falling for Massimo and discovering her Cinderella night with him would end just as it had in the fairy tale…with her leaving the party alone, a vast hole in her heart.

  Now she was forced to face that fear head on.

  It was her own damned fault for allowing herself to believe in a princess fantasy when she knew better.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Massimo took a wickedly long, deep drink from his wineglass.

  He wanted to believe Kelly. He wanted to believe that Robards, for all his charm, was nothing more than a snake.

  On the other hand, if Kelly had nothing to hide, why walk out on him? The excuse about her flight was just that, an excuse. If she was so intent on getting a good night’s sleep, she’d have mentioned it earlier. As it was, she’d flirted right back with him when he’d mentioned wanting to see the closet later tonight, after they left the ball.

  She’d left him wanting. When he’d slipped his arm around her tonight and led her onto the dance floor, he’d allowed his mind to wander to what might happen later, when they returned to his apartment. When he peeled off her gown. Watched it slip to the floor. Savored the expression on her face as he made love to her in his bed, as they were meant to, by the light of the moon. All night.

  But then she’d seen him with Robards and her heart had closed to him. He’d recognized it as surely as a door slamming in his face.

  He was about to find a waiter to refresh his wine when a feminine body slipped into the seat Kelly just vacated.

  “Once again, Robert did an excellent job,” his sister said. “You look positively debonair. I assume that tuxedo was one of Robert’s selections?”

  “It was.” Sophia’s dark hair draped loosely around her shoulders and she wore a form-fitting, deep red strapless gown that suited her complexion and showed off more cleavage than he cared to see on his own sister. She’d likely spent the evening beating off men with a stick. He looked around to see if her choice of seat was a means to dodge suitors, but no one appeared to be looking their direction.

  “So how are you, Sophia?”

  “Fine. Bored. Hungry.”

  He wasn’t in the mood. “You shouldn’t be bored, you should be dancing. And we just ate.”

  “You ate. I only had the soup and salad.”

  “That’s your fault.”

  “My, are we cranky tonight.” She glanced over her shoulder to where couples packed the dance floor, then scrutinized Massimo. “So where did your closet designer go? You’re not making her work late, are you?”

  “No. In fact, the closet is done.”

  Sophia’s eyes lit with interest. “Really? How’d it turn out?”
<
br />   “I assume well. I haven’t seen it yet.”

  “Why in the world are you still here?” She gave him a playful smack on the arm “I’d much rather be ogling a new closet than hanging out at yet another dinner-and-dance.”

  “Shhh. You’re going to insult Alberto.”

  She waved off his concern. “Alberto loves me. Besides, there’s no one to dance with but a bunch of stodgy old men and my brothers, and I’d rather not. No offense.”

  “Offense taken.”

  “I meant because you have someone to dance with already, silly. She’s beautiful, by the way. Usually a gown as gorgeous as that one makes the woman inside it disappear. But she can carry it off.”

  Yes, he thought, she can. The men in the room had been staring at Kelly, not at her gown or even her necklace. They were captivated by the woman.

  “She left, didn’t she?”

  “Sophia, go be bored somewhere else.”

  His sister sighed. Her voice low and surprisingly serious, she said, “Oh, for the love of God, Massimo. Go see where she went.”

  “Sophia—”

  “I saw how you looked at her. You’re asking for trouble wanting to date an employee, but…well, let’s just say I hope a man looks at me like that someday.” After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “By the way, I forgot to tell you that I visited Giulia and Guillermo yesterday. They’re wonderful, as always. Of course, you already knew that, since you and Kelly went there for dinner right before you hired her. Funny, Giulia mentioned that she sent you home with a container of ravioli—”

  Massimo groaned. His sister, for all her wisdom, was a pest. But she was a pest who loved him. “All right.”

  “And tomorrow, I want to see that closet. Maybe I’ll hire her to redo mine.”

  * * *

  Kelly nearly pulled the zipper out of its track as she closed her suitcase. Everything was ready. Her clothes for the flight home were laid out on the chair beside her bed. All she’d need to do in the morning after her shower was toss her makeup bag and nightgown into the outside pocket of her suitcase and she’d be ready to go.

  She was more than ready to go.

  She picked up the phone to order a taxi for the ride to the airport, only to be surprised by a knock at her door. For a second, she wondered if Massimo followed her. But it was a feminine voice on the other side that called out, “Ms. Chase? It’s Adriana from housekeeping. I have a delivery for you. Are you in?”

  “I’m here. Come on in, Adriana.” She approached the door just as Adriana popped in carrying a dark blue paper bag with bright gold script that indicated it was from Conti & Fancetti.

  “Good evening, Ms. Chase. I wasn’t expecting you back from the ball.”

  “Did everyone know I was going?”

  “Not everyone.” Her ample cheeks and kind mouth lifted into a smile. “I hope I’m not interrupting, but this was just delivered for Prince Massimo. Selena Conti sent it over. Apparently he requested a box for a piece he owns? In any case, since you’re organizing his closet this week, I thought you’d know what to do with it.”

  Kelly suspected the housekeeper also wanted to know if Massimo was somewhere inside her suite. She accepted the bag and said, “Thank you. I’ll ensure it’s put in the proper place.”

  Once Adriana left, Kelly reached into the bag. The box was large, and when she opened it, she saw it’d been designed to hold a necklace. A handwritten note on stationery emblazoned with the Conti & Fancetti logo accompanied the box. Though Kelly couldn’t read the Italian, she could figure out a few key words. Protezione. Zaffiro. Protection. Sapphire. It was signed by Selena Conti.

  Kelly set the empty paper bag near the phone before walking to the coffee table, where she’d left the necklace after returning to her suite. Carefully, she set it inside the box and used the enclosed polishing cloth on the jewels before closing the top. After looping her camera over her neck, she caught the sparkling silver heels by their straps and gathered up the gown from where she’d carefully laid it over the sofa. With her free hand, she picked up the jewelry box and her design notebook before exiting her suite and made her way down the hall.

  She could face this. All she needed was her camera and her self-worth. She’d leave the borrowed items for Massimo, photograph the closet, then use the photos to update her design portfolio and relaunch her business. Where, she wasn’t sure. But she’d find a good market. Maybe L.A. Or Denver. She’d always heard Denver was a great town and there were plenty of quick flights if she wanted to visit family in Dallas.

  The long gallery was softly lit, the tall mirrors on either side giving it a romantic glow. She could just pick out the strains of the orchestra echoing from the ballroom. Walking through the gallery alone at night was surreal. It was a world away from the first time she’d entered it, trailing Massimo with her suitcase, wondering how in the world she’d ended up inside the country’s famous palace when she’d been invited back to his apartment for breakfast.

  Some apartment.

  Some man.

  She looked down at the gown in her arms. For all her disappointment tonight, she had to admit he’d given her a great deal. Never had a client been so generous. Never had she been given carte blanche to design a space, let alone with the astronomical budget Massimo provided. The photos she snapped tonight would pay off in her portfolio for years to come. On top of that, while she’d foolishly indulged in a ballroom fantasy tonight—complete with a gorgeous gown, stunning jewels, and the most handsome man she could envision at her side—she’d also been approached by more than one potential big-name client.

  She really couldn’t complain. From the moment she’d invited Massimo into her villa, she suspected their time together would come to an end sooner rather than later. Then, when she’d found out his identity—that he wasn’t just rich and powerful, like Ted, but a prince—she knew it would.

  Yet you fell in love.

  She knew it, clear to her bones. She loved him.

  Her arm tightened around the gown.

  She loved his bravery. His wit. The way he ate pancakes with gusto. The enthusiasm with which he’d clapped for the soldiers and kids who’d marched before the grandstand on Independence Day. Hell, she loved the dimple that oh-so-rarely appeared in his cheek and even the way he’d fumbled with his cufflink. She loved how he treated those around him, no matter their station.

  She loved the way he’d made love to her. For the rest of her life, she’d hold the memory of that night deep within her heart.

  She exhaled before using her toe to tap on Massimo’s door, since her arms were full. As expected, no sound came from within.

  With any luck, she’d be in and out before any of the other partygoers called it a night. Tomorrow she’d say her goodbyes, thank Massimo for the opportunity he’d given her—and it was truly an opportunity, no matter how she felt about the man personally—then she’d get the hell out.

  * * *

  “Kelly?”

  The lights were on but dimmed when Massimo entered his apartment. Likely Adriana or Maria left them set that way. As usual, this curtains were closed, though he’d told Maria more than once in the last few weeks that he enjoyed looking out onto the garden at night and was perfectly capable of closing them on his own if he wanted them closed.

  He reached for the pull cords to adjust the heavy fabric and let in the moonlight. He really would need to hire a decorator soon. But in the days since his mother sat at the desk and wrote out her list, he’d become less and less interested in having another stranger enter his space. He only wanted Kelly. She brought out the best in everyone—April, Robert, Adriana, Maria—even him.

  Perhaps subconsciously he’d wished Kelly could be the one to redecorate the apartment.

  He strode from the living room toward his bedroom, hoping she’d come here to wait for him even as he realized she hadn’t. He tried once more. “Kelly? You here?”

  Nothing. Meaning she’d likely retired for the night. Well, she’d
damned well better be ready to wake up. She shouldn’t have walked away from him. Not until he’d had a chance to tell her why he had to ask the questions he did. Why he had to know if Robards was lying, or if they’d simply viewed the end of their relationship in different ways.

  Had she really been confused about money? Had she mistakenly thought her business was in better financial straits and blamed Robards for the loss? Had she made an error with the bank account meant to pay for the villa?

  She wouldn’t be the first person to be perplexed by the subtleties of business finances. On the other hand…Robards’ words didn’t pass Massimo’s sniff test, and not only the part about Kelly plotting to meet the CEO. The more Massimo thought about it, the more he couldn’t imagine Kelly signing papers and not understanding them. She’d analyzed every aspect of his closet, cataloguing his belongings, organizing the labor, placing dozens of orders for materials, and even coordinating with Robert. He’d seen her lists. They were even more detailed than his mother’s. And she’d arranged it all on short notice.

  He also couldn’t imagine Kelly dumping a fiancé over a mistake she made.

  And as similar as his first meeting with Kelly was to Ted’s first meeting with her—by chance, over a lost item—he couldn’t in a million years envision her being so conniving as to target a wealthy man. If she’d really known Massimo’s identity when they’d met on the beach, she’d have to be the actress of the century.

  He didn’t buy it, even if Robards was as well known for his philanthropic pursuits as for his business acumen.

  But he wanted to hear Kelly’s side of the story. He wanted no more secrets between them. Nothing between them. And frankly, she should want that, too.