by Cathie Linz
“Learn from it, sir.” Oh, he’d learned all right. Learned it didn’t pay to trust a sexy princess. All that time he’d been upset about having to deceive her, and she’d been lying to him the entire time.
“We expected better of you, Captain.”
Letting down his fellow Marines was a black mark indeed against any Marine. The corps could only flourish if its values were respected—honor, courage, commitment.
Mark had let the Marine Corps down, and in doing so, had also let his own family down. His father was a Marine, as were his grandfather and great-grandfather. He’d blemished their honor by failing to accomplish this mission to the standards of their beloved corps. His humiliation ran deep. “I’m aware of that, sir, and I deeply regret the mistakes I made.”
His C.O. closed the file on his desk. “At least the princess has finally returned to Volzemburg. She’s not a Marine Corps problem any longer, she’s her father’s problem now.”
Mark wished he could dismiss her as easily as his C.O. just had. And as a tough Marine he should have been able to boot her out of his thoughts. But he couldn’t.
Which made him a real dope. She’d played him like a pro, wearing her flirty capri pants and smiling at him, kissing him and tempting him when all the while she was engaged to some millionaire back home. What an idiot he’d been.
He never should have trusted her. And to think she’d made him question his loyalty to the Marine Corps. Made him think about the possibility of opening a security firm of his own.
She couldn’t have done that if you didn’t have questions of your own to begin with, his inner voice countered. He’d reached a crossroads in his career and maybe she was just the catalyst that got him thinking about things. Maybe it was time he made his own way, rather than following Marine Corps tradition, as fine as that tradition was.
Mark felt as if he’d put his head in a cement mixer, with his thoughts tumbling round and round.
“I’m aware that this mission was out of the ordinary, Captain. You’ve got an excellent record with the corps, and while we are disappointed that things turned out as they did, you did accomplish the main goal of maintaining the princess’s security and of reporting her activities to King Leopold. I saw the e-mailed reports you sent in, Captain. While it is extremely unfortunate that you and the princess were caught in the aforementioned compromising situation, the king should have been more forthcoming in his explanation of the princess’s engagement. But regardless of that, it was totally inappropriate for you to engage in any sort of romantic or sexual activity.”
“No sexual activity occurred, sir,” Mark curtly stated.
“I’m relieved to hear that, Captain.” The lieutenant colonel tossed the file in his out bin. “As I said, this was an extremely unusual mission, and I for one am relieved that it’s over with. This sort of thing is better left to the people at the State Department. It’s not something the Marine Corps should be bothered with.”
“Agreed, sir.”
“As I said, you’ve got an outstanding record, Captain.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I believe you were scheduled to take some liberty time before you were given this assignment. Is that right, Captain?”
“Affirmative, sir.”
“Then take said leave. Mother’s Day is coming up, Captain. Having met your mother, I’m sure she’d appreciate a visit from you.”
“Affirmative, sir.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. This came for you.”
He handed Mark an envelope with a royal seal on it. “That will be all, Captain.”
“Yes, sir.” Mark saluted before pivoting and leaving his C.O.’s office behind. His internal misgivings remained with him, however, and showed no signs of abating as he opened the envelope. Inside was a check and a single sheet of richly embossed stationery from Her Highness Princess Vanessa Alexandria Maria Teresa Von Volzemburg.
For Your Expenses, she’d written and then itemized every single thing he’d gotten for her—every cab ride, the pizza, the meal at the fast-food restaurant, the ferry ride, everything, no matter how small.
He angrily ripped the check into tiny pieces and dropped it in a nearby trash can. He didn’t need her money. He didn’t need her.
“Why do you always have to make things so difficult for His Majesty?”
Vanessa had been hearing that same question the entire flight home yesterday from Oscar and from Hans, the head of security. She didn’t need to be hearing it from her sister, Anna.
Her younger sister always referred to their father as His Majesty when she was trying to make a point. She was clearly trying to make a point now.
“Give me a break, would you please?” Vanessa said before slumping into the only comfortable chair in the Blue Drawing Room.
Normally this was one of her favorite rooms in the St. Kristoff palace. It had a sunny southern exposure and was furnished in a playful rococo style. But today the richly decorated ceilings felt as if they were pressing down on her.
Her sister compounded that feeling. Only eighteen months younger than Vanessa, Anna was petite and dainty like their mother. She shared the same coloring as Vanessa, green eyes and blond hair. But her hair was longer, and like Anna herself, more obedient. It always fell perfectly into place.
Anna had an appetite for royal duties. She excelled at riding and entertaining. She had a head for governing and could be as Machiavellian as their father about the politics of interacting with Volzemburg’s elected assembly.
“I don’t know how you could have been so rude to Sebastian,” Anna was saying as she automatically straightened a pair of Meissen figurines so that they were exactly six inches apart on the gilt-wood table. “Standing him up to stay in New York City that way.” She made a tsking noise of disapproval. “Your latest escapade has upset our father terribly.”
“That makes us even then because his behavior has upset me terribly as well.”
Anna frowned at her. “You’ve spent too much time in America. You’re starting to sound…”
“Sound what?” Vanessa challenged her. “Like a real person?”
“Like a common person.”
“If you think being heir to the throne is such a great job then maybe you should take it. Then you could be engaged to Sebastian.”
Anna blinked away sudden tears. “That’s not amusing.”
Her sister’s emotional reaction took her by surprise. Anna was the perfect daughter. Which meant she always had things under complete control.
“Come on, Anna, you know it’s true. You’d make a much better future queen than I would. You’re much more obedient, and you have a talent for governing that I totally lack. I just want everyone to get along, but you make sure they do lest they face your wrath. I can’t do wrath very well.”
Anna’s momentary emotional display was replaced with a chilly glare.
“See,” Vanessa said with a slight smile. “That’s the perfect look of wrath. You’re much better at it than I am.”
“I may look like our mother, but you got her American independence.” Anna did not make it sound like a compliment.
“Our mother was the perfect queen. I wish I could do half as well as she did, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.” Vanessa straightened her shoulders. She might be battered and badly bruised by Mark’s betrayal, but she wasn’t completely broken. She refused to be.
On the plane trip home she’d caught herself falling into a dull acceptance as she sat there in a maze of pain. But when she’d reached the palace, she knew she couldn’t allow herself to be talked into once again trying to please those she loved. Let them try to please her for a change!
“I’m telling you, Anna, I am not marrying Sebastian,” Vanessa firmly declared. “No matter what Father says. The days when a king can order his daughter to marry someone are over. Mother would never have approved of this. She and Father married because they fell in love. That’s what I want.”
“Were you in love with th
e American Marine?”
Vanessa’s heart cracked a little more each time she thought of Mark. Just when she thought she couldn’t hurt any more than she already did, the pain welled deep within her again. “I don’t want to talk about him.”
Anna sat down in the chair beside her, leaning close to say, “Is it true that Oscar caught you kissing the Marine?”
Vanessa winced. “Why this sudden curiosity in my love life?”
“As I said, I don’t think it’s proper for you to treat Sebastian the way you have.”
Thoroughly aggravated by now, she said, “If you like him so much, you marry him.”
“I wish I could!” Anna suddenly burst out, leaping to her feet with tears running down her face. “But he never notices me!”
Vanessa was stunned. Anna loved Sebastian? “Oh, Anna, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” The next thing she knew, Vanessa was crying, too. Crying for her sister, crying for herself, crying for lost dreams that Mark was the man for her, that he loved her the way she loved him. How could she have been so foolish?
Love clearly affected a woman’s vision, especially when that woman was a princess.
“Excuse me, Your Highnesses.” Celeste stepped into the drawing room before freezing. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Anna looked mortified at having been caught crying by the lady-in-waiting. Vanessa was beyond caring about appearances. “It’s all right, Celeste. My sister and I were just having a good cry about men.”
A big tear slid down Celeste’s cheek as she sniffed, “They are all rotten! How could Abraham have deceived me like that? I thought he liked me, but he was involved in Captain Wilder’s deception. That’s the only reason he kept stopping by to see me at the hotel in New York.”
Betrayal. Vanessa knew all about it. Being struck down by the one person you trusted above all others, the one man who’d made her feel safe and loved. But it had all been a sham. He’d only been following orders, orders placed by her father.
She handed a box of facial tissues to her sister and then to Celeste before taking one for herself.
Yes, men were indeed rotten. And being betrayed by the man you loved was even more rotten.
Mark’s parents were waiting for him at the Phoenix Airport. After retiring from the Marine Corps, his dad and mom had moved to Arizona where his dad worked on improving his golf game and his mom was taking classes at the local community college to finally complete her college degree.
“You didn’t have to come meet me,” Mark said as they waited for him at the gate. “I could have rented a car.”
His mom hugged him while his dad gave him one of those powerful backslaps he was famous for. “So you survived baby-sitting that princess, huh?” his dad said in his booming gravelly voice.
“Now, Bill,” his mother scolded, “the boy just got off the plane. Give him a few minutes before you bombard him with questions.”
“Me? You’re the one who was worrying about some wealthy princess turning your son’s head with her ritzy European ways.”
“Oh, stop.” She playfully slapped her husband’s arm. “I was not worrying. We met Vanessa at Joe’s wedding, and she seemed very nice.”
Just the sound of her name made Mark flinch. He refused to think about her anymore. He’d already spent hours staring into that stupid snow globe she’d left behind, wondering what could have been, wondering what she was doing and if she was doing it with Sebastian.
After she’d left, he’d almost ended up throwing the snow globe against the wall and smashing it to bits. Instead, he had it tucked in his duffel bag along with the silver-slipper necklace and the two pieces of clothing the guards hadn’t packed—those damn capri pants and the I Love NY T-shirt she’d slept in. It still smelled of carnations, of her. How sick was he? He told himself he was going to mail everything off to Prudence and have her forward it on. He told himself he could donate the stuff to Goodwill and let someone get some use out of it.
He told himself a lot of stuff, but the bottom line was that he had to stop thinking about her or he’d go crazy. Instead, he focused his attention on his parents. Despite the many moves, despite his father’s dedication to the Marine Corps, their relationship had always been bedrock firm.
To his mom, her sons would always be “the boys.”
To his dad, they’d always be… Marines.
But what happened if Mark decided he didn’t want to continue being a Marine?
Emotion gripped Mark, making his stomach burn. He was an officer, for God’s sake, trained to make split-second decisions as well as long-term plans. Yet here he was, mired in indecision and filled with frustration about his own future.
The truth was that he’d been wanting to punch someone or something ever since the royal minions had swept Vanessa away from him. An array of intense emotions were there, right beneath the surface, ready to boil over if he didn’t keep a tight lid on them.
His dad didn’t notice anything amiss, but Mark could tell by the anxious looks his mom was giving him that she sensed something was up.
As always, he tried to batten down his emotional hatches, and keep going as if nothing was wrong. You do your job and you keep going. It was that simple. No excuses, no exceptions.
That evening Mark let off steam by going into the basement and taking his frustrations out on his dad’s punching bag. He was furious with Vanessa for playing him for a fool. Wham. A fierce right hook to the bag. He was furious with himself for falling for her act. Wham, wham. How could he have been so stupid? Wham, wham, wham. He heard her words, playing like a tape in his head—Did you really think a princess like me would want a Marine like you? And her prissy note: For Your Expenses…
Whamwhamwhamwhamwham…
“Whoa there, son,” his dad said from the basement steps. “You keep taking out your aggression on that bag and you’re going to knock it into the next block.”
Sweat poured down Mark’s face as he stood there panting.
“You want to calm down a minute and tell me what’s bothering you?”
Mark lifted his head and faced his father. Exhaustion had taken hold, allowing the words to just tumble out. “You never told me what you thought about my becoming an officer. Why is that?”
His dad blinked. “Where in the Sam Hill did that come from?”
Mark shrugged, not wanting him to see how much he cared. “The family has a long tradition in the Marine Corps, but as enlisted men. Not as officers.”
“Enlisted men are the backbone of the Marine Corps.”
The avid pride in his father’s voice stung. Grimly, Mark demanded, “Which makes me what? Excess baggage? A staff weenie?”
“You are and always will be a United States Marine.” The words were delivered in the booming voice of a drill sergeant.
Mark responded by shaking his head. “I’m not so sure about that.”
His father faltered slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I might want something more.”
“More than the Marine Corps?” Now his father looked horrified. “Where is all this crazy talk coming from? Did that princess mess up your brain? Is she trying to talk you into quitting the Marine Corps and going back to be her consort or something?”
“She hates me,” Mark stated flatly.
“Then she’s plain stupid, princess or no. If she can’t see what a fine man you are, then I say good riddance to her.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Now that he’d gone this far, Mark wasn’t backing down. He’d wondered and stewed about this for years. It was time to finally get things out into the open. “When I first told you I wanted to become an officer, you got this look on your face. It wasn’t the look of a proud father.”
His dad paused before squaring his shoulders and looking Mark directly in the eye as he admitted, “It was probably the look of a father afraid that his son thought being an enlisted man wasn’t good enough, that his father wasn’t good enough.”
Mark was stunned by his words. “How could you ever think that? I just wanted you to be proud of me. I wanted to be the best I could be.”
“Son, I’m always proud of you,” his father declared gruffly, before slapping him on the back so hard Mark winced and then smiled. “Even when you go and do something stupid like fall for a princess.”
“I didn’t, I haven’t…” Mark sputtered.
His father simply nodded understandingly.
Mark swore softly and succinctly before sinking into his dad’s ratty recliner that his mom had banished to the basement.
Again his father nodded understandingly and said, “I think it’s time for a beer, don’t you?”
“Forget the beer,” Mark said wearily. “Get out the good stuff. Get out the scotch.”
“I can’t believe you were stupid enough to fall in love with a U.S. Marine,” Anna said to Vanessa. She’d been acting snippy ever since she’d let down her hair and cried yesterday.
Vanessa had escaped to their private royal apartments, but Anna had simply followed her. They were both trying to avoid Sebastian. Vanessa was keeping herself busy by going through storage boxes of personal items, as if searching for herself in the mementos of her life.
This bedroom was known as the Queen Adrianna Bedroom, named after one of Volzemburg’s most famous queens who ruled during the time of Queen Victoria. She may have been a wonderful queen, but her taste in furnishings was lavish and overbearing. The walls were covered in red velvet and all the furniture was covered with rich gold decorations. Vanessa had had to move in here after her mother died. Tradition dictated that on her sixteenth birthday, the heir to the throne would reside in this room.
It had always given her nightmares.
“As the royal family we’re supposed to set the standard,” Anna continued.
“Mais absolument.” The announcement came from the doorway. Countess Desiree Dupres-Konig-Bernini stood in the threshold in all her sophisticated and colorful glory. Their godmother.
Her short dark hair was cut in the latest style to show off her high cheekbones and brilliant green eyes. She was their father’s first cousin, and the only person on the planet who was bossier than he was. She was also one of the few people on the planet who could intimidate him. She didn’t show up often at the palace—Vanessa hadn’t seen her since her own twenty-first birthday party and before that at her mother’s funeral.