Searching For Her Prince
Page 7
“Uh-oh. It sounds like more than a little interest there.”
“It’s impossible,” Marcus said in frustration. “She lives on an island an ocean away.”
“Are you sure you’re not going to see her again?” Shane asked.
“It’s not a good idea.”
“Good idea or not, it sounds as if maybe you should.” There was a lengthy pause before Shane asked, “Is she in your dreams?”
Marcus knew what his brother meant. “Yes.”
“Is she in your thoughts when you’re awake, too?”
He didn’t answer that one.
“You might have to see her again to get her out of your system.”
Marcus knew his brother might be right. “She’s something else, Shane. She really is. Like no woman I’ve ever met. I can forget about deals and investments and whether she’s with me because of who I am and what I have.”
“Then see her again.”
Marcus heard a loud male voice calling for Shane.
His brother said, “Uh-oh. One of my subcontractors is at the door. Must be an emergency. Do you want to talk later?”
“I’ll phone you next week. We’ll see if we can coordinate our schedules.”
“Sure thing. You can always help me dig a footer.”
Marcus could hear the grin in his twin’s voice.
After Marcus hung up, he thought about what Shane had said about seeing Amira again. Should he take the risk?
For the rest of Saturday, long into the night and all day Sunday, Marcus thought about Amira—how special she was, how much he liked being with her, how much he wanted her. She was alone in Chicago, and he was the only person she really knew. If he went away, he’d feel as if he was deserting her.
He wasn’t just going to Shady Glenn for a vacation, but to spend some time at Reunion House. He liked being with the kids and making repairs on the old house. It gave him a different kind of satisfaction from the usual work he did, the kind of satisfaction Shane had all the time, he imagined—working with his hands, building. Marcus suspected that Amira would like Reunion House and enjoy meeting the kids there. Yet, after the way they’d left things yesterday, he didn’t know if she’d accept his invitation. His father would be at Shady Glenn, so having a chaperone wouldn’t be a problem.
But he needed an enticing way to ask her to join him.
Cocoa ran into his office then, barked at him and stood on her hind legs.
Marcus smiled. He did have an idea, and one he suspected would work very well.
On Monday morning Amira was debating how she would spend the day. She’d dressed in a blue, tailored pantsuit ready to go sight-seeing. Yet the thought of doing it without Brent didn’t seem very satisfying. She knew she had to stop pining for him. She knew she had to forget about him. It was very hard, especially when she had a week on her hands that she didn’t know what to do with.
The knock on her door was unexpected. Crossing to it, she looked out the peephole and saw a yellow wagon with Cocoa sitting in it!
Opening the door, she didn’t know what to expect. There was Brent standing two feet from the wagon, grinning at her.
“What are you doing here?”
He nodded to the wagon and the envelope propped beside Cocoa. “Read it,” he suggested.
Stooping down, she patted the dog on the head and ruffled her ears. Then she picked up the envelope and opened it, her heart racing. The invitation inside read, “Come along with me to see Shady Glenn and Reunion House. Cocoa.”
She looked up at Brent, confused.
Taking the handle of the wagon, he pulled it inside. When he straightened, his hand went to his shoulder and she could tell he was still in pain.
“What are you doing up and out?” she asked, concerned.
With a shrug he smiled. “I have things to do, places to go, people to see.”
“You need a keeper,” she muttered.
“How would you like to be my keeper for a few days?” His green eyes said the invitation was a serious one.
She didn’t know how or what to respond to that.
“I’m going to Shady Glenn to recuperate until next weekend. I know how you worry about chaperones. My father’s going to fly in this evening. So he’ll be there. While you’re there, you can check out Reunion House. The kids love visitors and you can help me present Cocoa to them.”
The whole idea seemed like another wonderful adventure. Did she dare go with him?
His smile fading, he leaned toward her, slowly combed his fingers through her hair and smoothed his thumb over the side of her cheek. “Amira, I know we live in different worlds and all we’ll ever have is this week. But having it could be better than not having it. Don’t you think?”
She knew she was falling in love with Brent, and she also knew love came along maybe once in a lifetime if you were lucky. Her mother had been twice blessed, but not everyone was. Amira knew what she felt for Brent was special, and if she stayed here and didn’t go with him, she’d regret it for the rest of her life.
“I don’t know what I’ll tell the queen.”
He continued to stroke her cheek as if he garnered as much pleasure from it as she did. “I’m sure you’ll think of something. You could tell her you’re seeing some of the state while you’re here. That’s true.”
Yes, it was. And the queen had told her she should see the sights. “I’ll have to give her the number at…Shady Glenn, is it?”
“That’s no problem. Do you really think she’ll be calling?”
“Only if there’s something new to report. I can check in with her secretary and then she won’t worry about me.”
“So you’ll go?”
She realized the decision had been made as soon as he’d asked. “Yes, I’ll go.”
They were gazing at each other, and neither of them seemed to be able to look away until Cocoa barked a few times.
Brent chuckled. “I’ll translate for her. She says to pack light and to bring jeans and sweaters.”
“I don’t have any jeans along. When do you want to leave?”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“Can I have a couple of hours to go shopping first?”
“Sure. I can even recommend a few stores.”
Amira’s phone rang then. Cocoa trotted over to the instrument and barked at it as if she didn’t welcome the intrusion, either.
“I have to get that,” Amira apologized. “It might be the queen…or my mother.”
Brent nodded, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he really didn’t understand her being on-call and what this mission to find Marcus Cordello meant to Penwyck.
After she picked up the receiver, a strong masculine voice asked, “Miss Corbin? This is Cole Everson.”
Cole Everson, the head of the Royal Intelligence Institute, had coordinated the efforts to find Marcus Cordello and his brother. “Hello, Mr. Everson. The queen told me you might be phoning. Have you found a picture yet?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Amira noticed Brent take Cocoa into her sitting area and stand by the window.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t. This man protects his privacy with a vengeance and so does everyone else around him. I can’t even get hold of a home address. Mail that doesn’t go to his business is sent to a P.O. box. I’ve decided to initiate surveillance on the P.O. box so we can follow whoever picks up the mail to wherever Marcus Cordello lives. I understand he’s going to be out of the city this week.”
“That’s what his secretary told me, and I don’t think it was a ploy. She seemed sincere.”
There were a few moments of silence. “I discussed this with the queen, Miss Corbin, and if you’d like to return to Penwyck, I can find someone else to try to meet with the man.”
“Is that what the queen wants?”
“I think the queen wants what’s best for you. If you’d rather not be in Chicago alone for a week, or feel this is getting too frustrating for you—”
“I wan
t to do this for Queen Marissa and King Morgan,” she told Cole. Glancing at Brent, she saw he was watching her intently. “I’m going to take the next few days as a…holiday and see some of the countryside. I’ll inform the queen’s private secretary where I can be reached.”
“When will she have that information?” he asked.
“Later today.”
“All right. If I need to contact you, I’ll get it from her. I’m hoping to have a photograph by the end of the week. Cordello attended a private school and graduated when he was sixteen. I’m trying to obtain a yearbook from the school. If we can just get that, I’ll have an artist age his features properly so you can at least know what he looks like now.”
“Mr. Everson, is Marcus Cordello a recluse?”
“No. He just guards his privacy and the details of his life carefully. That’s not unusual in men of his wealth and stature. Tabloids can get hold of photos and use them to their own benefit. But we’ll track something down. That’s my job. By the time you return to the city, I should have a home address for him, too. In the meantime, you have a good holiday. Will you be needing an escort or a guide? I’m sure the queen will provide one.”
“No. I don’t need an escort. I’ll be staying at a…guest house someone recommended. I’ll be quite safe.”
“You’re sure about this, Miss Corbin? A young woman alone in a strange country—”
“I’m sure, Mr. Everson.”
“All right, then. As soon as I have more information, I’ll be in touch.”
After she hung up the phone, Amira crossed to the sitting area where Cocoa was sniffing the rug and the furniture and anything else that looked interesting.
“What was that all about?” Brent asked, looking concerned.
“Just an update from the head of the Royal Intelligence. He’s trying to find a home address for Mr. Cordello. They’re going to stake out his post office box.”
Brent glanced out the window as if he was looking for the man himself. “I see. Did I hear you mention something about a photograph?”
“Mr. Everson is having trouble locating one. He’s hoping to have something by the end of the week. When I told him I was going to take a holiday, he wondered if I wanted an escort or a guide.”
At that Brent turned from the window and gazed at her. “What did you tell him?”
“That I don’t need one.”
“And that you’re staying at a guest house.”
“Yes. I’ll be a guest at your house, right? I don’t want to mislead the queen, but…she just wouldn’t understand. Neither would my mother.”
Approaching her slowly, Brent held her gaze with his. “Are you sure you want to come with me? I don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret.”
“This is my decision to make, Brent, no one else’s. I’m sure.”
Marcus felt guilty as hell. He’d known what that conversation with Everson was all about, and as soon as Amira had hung up, he’d considered telling her the truth. But if he did, that would be the end of whatever was starting between them. He wanted this week with her. He wanted it more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. If he told her who he was now, she’d call the queen…she’d call Everson. Lord knew who else she’d call. His life, as well as his brother’s and his parents’, might never be the same. Any sparks between him and Amira would smother in the ashes of the search for twins and royal obligations. He didn’t understand royal obligations, and he didn’t want to be any part of them.
So instead of telling her his true identity, he offered, “Fritz will drive you to wherever you want to shop and then bring you back here to pack. I’ll try to clear my desk so I can leave the city with a free mind.”
As free as it could be, knowing that when they returned, they’d both have to deal with Marcus Cordello.
“This is beautiful country,” Amira said as Fritz drove her and Brent to Shady Glenn. “The leaves are gorgeous!”
“Oaks and maples, sycamores and elms. Fall is always a spectacle here. I never tire of this drive.”
He might never tire of the drive but the drive was tiring him out, she noticed. He was pale again, and lines of fatigue etched his brow. No matter how hardy he said he was, he needed time to recover from the knife wound and the mugging.
Amira thought about Princess Anastasia, her best friend at the palace, and how well she’d recovered from the unexpected trauma in her life. Anastasia, who was five years older, had taken Amira under her wing when Amira and her mother moved there. Everyone had been worried about Anastasia the last few weeks. She’d been in a plane crash and had gone missing. Thank goodness Jake Sanderstone had found her. Although amnesia had complicated their relationship, she and her knight in shining armor had found the kind of love that would last a lifetime…the kind of love Amira dreamed of.
The kind of love she was beginning to feel for Brent?
Concerned for him, she hoped his father might convince him to take it easy for a few days.
About an hour away from Shady Glenn, they stopped at a pleasant restaurant for dinner. Amira noticed how Brent always turned the conversation away from himself, and she wished he’d let down his guard a little. She wished he’d let her get to really know him.
They arrived at Shady Glenn as darkness fell over the rolling hills. Fritz parked beside the old three-story stone house, which was surrounded by blue spruce. Floodlights illuminated the outside of the house, and Amira could see its high double-wide windows and the broad front porch with dark brown railing and balustrades. A detached garage sat at the end of the gravel drive.
“It’s elegant,” she said simply.
Brent attached Cocoa’s leash so the dog wouldn’t run off into strange territory. “I’ve never thought about it that way. It was always just home. Even after we moved to the city, I thought of it as home.”
“Maybe that’s because you were your happiest here.”
That brought his gaze to hers. “I guess. We were a family here, and my brother and Dad and I still are.”
“And your mother?”
He stared at the front door of the house as if he was seeing his mother there. “My mother is never satisfied with what she has. She’s on her fifth marriage.”
Glancing back at Amira, he asked, “You said your mother remarried?”
“Yes. But I like Harrison. I didn’t know how much I missed having a father until he married my mother. When they return from their honeymoon, I’m hoping the three of us can spend more time together.”
Fritz had taken their luggage from the trunk while they were talking and now went ahead of them to the porch steps. Brent climbed out of the car with Cocoa and came around to the passenger side, opening Amira’s door. They walked up the brick path to the house.
A few moments later they were standing inside. Amira didn’t think she’d ever seen a house that looked more inviting. The furniture was large and overstuffed in colors as bright as the rainbow. Braided rugs were surrounded by beautiful, polished hardwood floors. There was a full-size quilt hanging on one wall, and Amira went over to it, studying the workmanship.
“This is beautiful,” she murmured.
“My grandmother, my father’s mother, made it along with some of the stitcheries you’ll see on the walls upstairs.” There were a few paintings of pastoral scenes and a copper sculpted flight of birds hanging beside one of them.
“I thought Dad would be here by now. I’m going to check the machine. My cell phone signal is weak in this area.”
Amira wandered around as Brent went into what she presumed was the kitchen.
He was back a few moments later, a scowl on his face. “I have some news that might change your plans. My father’s been delayed for a few days, some type of management crisis. That means you won’t have a chaperone here.”
Amira’s pulse beat faster. “What about Fritz?”
“I keep a car in the garage. Fritz is going to take a few days off and visit family in the area. We’ll be here alone.”
“I know what you’re thinking, but I didn’t plan this. Do you want to hear the message?”
Instantly she felt guilty for her thoughts. Why couldn’t she trust her instincts with Brent? Maybe because he was still so guarded. “No. I don’t need to hear the message.”
“I can have Fritz drive you back to Chicago if that’s what you want.”
She saw how tired Brent looked, remembered how kind he’d been to her the past few days, recalled every detail of every one of his touches and kisses. She almost felt as if it were her duty to take care of him.
Because she cared about him so much?
She felt a lot more than duty. Over the years in the palace, she’d learned about loyalty and faithfulness and always being ready to serve. But all these feelings for Brent took everything she’d learned to a new realm. Still, she shouldn’t make a rash decision. She’d been taught that, too.
“I’ll stay the night and decide what happens after that in the morning. I can always hire a driver to take me back.” They weren’t too far from De Kalb and she suspected there was a car service there.
“That sounds good to me.” Brent looked relieved.
Fritz interrupted them as he came down the stairway. “Sir, I took the luggage upstairs. The master bedroom is made up, but the other two aren’t.”
“That’s all right, Fritz, I’ll take care of it. You get going.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll check on the Jaguar before I leave. It was serviced two weeks ago and it should be in great condition. But I’ll make sure.”
“I’m sure it’s fine. Tell Estelle I said hello.”
“I will, sir.” He gave Brent a smile and then headed for the door.
Brent glanced at the stone fireplace. “Would you like a fire?”
She could imagine sitting in front of the crackling fire with Brent and no one else around except Cocoa. She wasn’t sure she should take the chance and put them in temptation’s way. Not tonight.
“I think I’m going to turn in early.” Maybe if she did, he would, too. He certainly needed the rest.