by Raye Morgan
“Oh, Leonardo,” she began.
But he cut her off. “Never mind, darling. We’ll have to deal with this later. Right now I’ve got my hands full. I’ve got my father’s ill health to come to terms with. And then there are the plans for succession.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“No. Tell me.”
“You know that my father arrived last night. They brought him in from France. I hadn’t seen him for weeks. I didn’t realize…” He stopped and rubbed his eyes. “My father is a vegetable, Pellea. I’m going to have to file for full custodial rights. And every little faction in the castle is sharpening its little teeth getting ready to try to grab its own piece of power.” He shook his head. “It’s a nightmare.”
“Oh, Leonardo, I’m so sorry.”
“Yes. It’s all on me now, my sweet. I don’t know if I have time for a marriage. Sorry.”
Leonardo shrugged and turned to leave, his mind on other things. Pellea watched him go and sighed with relief. That was one hurdle she wasn’t going to have to challenge at any rate.
Not that it left her in the clear. She was still pregnant. She was still without a husband. What would become of her and her baby? She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and forced herself to focus. She had to think. It was time to find some new answers.
Pellea went to sit with her father later that day. He was much better. She wasn’t sure what the doctor had given him, but she could see that his mind was clear once again and she was grateful.
She chatted with him for a few minutes and then he surprised her with a pointed question.
“Who was that man who was here yesterday?” he asked.
“The doctor?” she tried evasively.
“No. The other man. The one I momentarily mistook for King Grandor.”
She took in a deep breath. “It was his son, the crown prince. It was Monte DeAngelis.”
“Monte?” He almost smiled. “Oh, yes, of course it was Monte. I remember him well. A fine, strapping lad he was, too.” He shook his head. “I’m so glad to see that he survived.”
She paused, then decided to let honesty rule the day. “He makes a pretty good grown man as well,” she said quietly.
“Yes.” His gaze flickered up to smile at her. “I saw him kissing you.”
“Oh.” It seemed her father hadn’t been as out of it as she had supposed. Well, good. He might as well know the truth. Did she have the nerve to go on with the honesty? Why not? What did she have to lose at this point?
“I’m in love with him, Father. And I’m carrying his child.”
There. What more was there to say? She waited, holding her breath.
He closed his eyes and for a moment she was afraid what she’d said was too much for him.
“I’m so sorry, Father,” she said, leaning over him. “Please forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” he said, opening his eyes and smiling at her. “Not for you at any rate. I would assume this is going to put an end to my plans for you to marry Leonardo.”
She shook her head, sorry to disappoint him. “I’m afraid so.”
He frowned. “The powers that be won’t like it.”
“No.”
For the next few minutes he was lost in thought. She tidied things in the room and got him a fresh bottle of water. And finally, he took her hand and told her what he wanted to do next.
“I’d like to see the doctor,” he said, his voice weak but steady. “I think we’d better make some plans. I’m about to leave this life, but I want to do something for you before I go.”
“No, Father, you don’t have to do anything more for me. You’ve done everything for me my whole life. It’s enough. Just be well and stay alive for as long as you can. I need you.”
He patted her hand. “That is why I need the doctor. Please see if you can get him right away.”
She drew in her breath, worried. “I’ll go right now.”
The doctor came readily enough. He’d always been partial to Pellea and her father. After he talked to the older man, he nodded and said, “I’ll see if I can pull some strings.”
“Good,” her father said once he was gone. “Leonardo will have his work cut out for him fighting off all the factions that will try to topple his new rule. He doesn’t have time to think about me. I’m of no use to him now anyway and in no condition to help him.” He took his daughter’s hand in his and smiled at her. “The doctor will get me permission to go to the continent to see a specialist. And I’ll need you to go along as one of my nurses.”
“What?” She could hardly believe her ears. They were going to the continent. Just like that. Could it really be this easy?
“Are you willing?” he asked her.
“Oh, Father!” Pellea’s eyes filled with tears and her voice was choked. “Father, you are saving my life.”
Arriving in Italy two days later, Pellea was more nervous than ever. She wanted to see Monte again, but she was afraid of what she would find when she did. After all, how many times and in how many ways had he told her that he would never marry her? She knew there wasn’t much hope along those lines.
And there was more. She knew very well that the excitement of a clandestine affair was one thing. The reality of a pregnant woman knocking on the door was another. He might very well have decided she wasn’t worth the effort by the time he got home. Was that possible? She didn’t like to think so, but reality could be harsh and cold.
Still, one thing was certain. She had to go to him. She had to let him know that she was not in danger any longer, that she was not marrying Leonardo, and that her well-being was not a reason to launch an invasion. She was no longer in Ambria and no longer in need of any sort of rescue. The last thing in the world she wanted was to be the catalyst for a lot of needless killing.
She’d left her father in a clinic in Rome and she’d traveled a few hours into the mountains to the little town of Piasa where she knew Ambrian ex-patriots tended to gather. She found his hotel, and with heart beating wildly, she went to the desk and asked for him.
“He’s not seeing visitors, miss,” the concierge told her. “Perhaps if you left your name…”
How could she leave her name? She wasn’t staying anywhere he would be able to find her. She turned away from the hotel desk in despair, losing hope, wondering where she could go.
And then, there he was, coming out of an elevator with two other men, laughing at something someone had said. Joy surged in her heart, but so did fear, and when he looked up and saw her, her heart fell. He didn’t look happy to see her. He seemed almost annoyed.
He excused himself from the other men and came toward her. He didn’t smile. Instead, he pressed a room key into her hand.
“Go to room twenty-five and wait for me,” he told her softly. Then he turned on his heel and went back to the men, immediately cracking a joke that made them laugh uproariously, one even glancing back at where she stood. Had he told them why she was here? Was he making fun of her? Her cheeks flamed crimson and, for just a moment, she was tempted to throw the key in his face and storm out.
Luckily, she calmed down quickly. There was no way she could know what he’d said to the other men, or even what he was thinking. He might have needed some sort of ruse to maintain his situation. She had no way of knowing and it would be stupid of her to make assumptions. Taking a deep breath, she headed for the elevator.
She found her way to the room, and despite her sensible actions, she was still numb with shock at the way he’d acted. Just as she’d feared, he was another person entirely when he wasn’t in the castle of Ambria. What was next? Was he going to hand her money to get lost? And if he did that, how would she respond? She was sick at heart. This wasn’t what she’d hoped for.
She paced the room for a few minutes, but she was so tired. After a few longing looks at his bed, she gave in to temptation and lay down for a rest. Very quickly, she fell asleep.
But not for long
. The next thing she knew, someone was lying next to her on the bed and kissing her ear.
“Oh!” she said, trying to get up.
But it was no use. Monte was raining down kisses all over her and she began to laugh.
“What are you doing?”
“Some people welcome with flowers,” he told her with a sweet, slow grin. “I do it with kisses. Now lie still and take it like a woman.”
She giggled as he dropped even more kisses on her. “Monte! Cut it out. I’m going to get hysterical.”
“Do you promise?”
“No! I mean… Oh, you know what I mean.”
He did, and he finally stopped, but his hand was covering her belly. “Boy or girl?” he asked her softly.
She smiled up at him, happiness tingling from every inch of her. “I don’t know yet.”
“It’s hard to believe.”
She nodded. “Just another miracle,” she said. “Are you happy about it?”
He stared into her eyes for a long moment before answering, and she was starting to worry about just what his answer was going to be, when he spoke.
“Happy isn’t a strong enough word,” he told her simply. “I feel something so strong and new, I don’t know what the word is. But there’s a balloon of wonderfulness in my chest and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. It’s as though a new world has opened at my feet.” He shrugged. “And now that you’re here, everything is good.”
She sighed. “I was worried. The way you looked when you saw me…”
“In public you’ll find I am one person, Pellea. In private, quite another. It’s a necessary evil that someone in my position has to be so careful all the time.” He traced her lips with his finger. “But with you, I promise always to be genuine. You’ll always know the real me, good or bad.”
She was listening, and it was all very nice, but she still hadn’t heard certain words she was waiting for. She told him about what had happened at the castle, and how she had accompanied her father for his visit to the specialist.
“I hope they can do something for him,” she said.
“Does he plan to go back?”
“Oh, I’m sure he does. His life is in Ambria.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “You’re not going back,” he said, as though he had the last word in the decision.
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow. “And just what is going to keep me here?”
“I am.”
She waited. There should be more to that statement. But he frowned as though he was thinking about something else. She was losing her patience.
“I’ve got to get back to my father,” she said, rising from the bed and straightening her clothing.
Monte rose as well. “I’m going with you,” he said firmly.
She looked up at him in surprise. “But…you hate him.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I hate the man he used to be. I don’t hate the man he is today.”
“You think he’s changed?”
“I think we all have.” He pulled her close. “And anyway, there are no good jewelers here in Piasa. I need to go to Rome. I need a larger city to find a real artist.”
“Why would you want a jeweler?”
“I need a good copy made.”
“Of the tiara?” She scrunched up her face, trying to figure out what he would want that for.
“In a way. I’d like to find someone who could reproduce the main part of the tiara as…” He smiled at her. “…as an engagement ring.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh.”
He kissed her on the mouth. “Would you wear a ring like that?”
And suddenly she felt as though she were floating on a cloud of happiness. “I don’t know. It would depend on who gave it to me.”
“Good answer.” And he kissed her again, then took her two hands in his and smiled down at her. “I love you, Pellea,” he said, his feelings shining in his eyes. “My love for you is bigger than revenge, bigger than retribution, bigger than the wounds of the past. I’m going to take care of all those things in good time. I’m going to get my country back. And when I take over, I want you with me, as my queen. Will you be my wife?”
She drew in a full breath of air and laughed aloud. There they were. Those were the words she’d been waiting for.
“Yes, Monte,” she said, reaching for the man she loved, joy surging in her. “With all my heart and soul.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7944-9
CROWN PRINCE, PREGNANT BRIDE!
First North American Publication 2011
Copyright © 2011 by Helen Conrad
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