by Cat Schield
The dress awaiting her was as beautiful as she remembered from the sketches. It had stood out among the half dozen Noelle had shown her six months ago; in fact, the rendering had taken her breath away.
With the help of Noelle’s assistants, Olivia donned the dress. Facing the three-way mirror, she stared at her reflection, and was overcome with emotion. It was perfect.
From the bodice to her thighs, the dress hugged the lean curves of her body. Just above her knees it flared into a full skirt with a short train. Made of silk organza, embroidered with feathery scrolls over white silk, the gown’s beauty lay in its play of simple lines and rich fabrics. Although Noelle had designed the dress to be strapless, Olivia had requested some sort of small sleeve and the designer had created the illusion of cap sleeves by placing two one-inch straps on either shoulder.
“What are planning to do for a veil?” Noelle asked.
“The queen is lending me the tiara she wore on her wedding day,” Olivia said. “I’m not sure I want to use a veil with it.”
“Good. When I designed the dress, I didn’t picture it with a veil.” Noelle stepped back to admire her handiwork. “You have lost a little weight since we measured you. The waist needs to be taken in a little.”
Olivia turned sideways to peer at the way the short train looked behind her. “I will try not to gain before the wedding.”
For the next hour, Noelle and her staff worked on minor alterations to the fit. While Olivia thought the dress fit well enough that she could have worn it as is, Noelle was obviously a perfectionist.
“I have another project that I’d like to talk to you about,” Olivia said as Noelle handed off the dress to her assistant.
Ever since arriving, she’d been thinking about including the twins in the wedding. While Gabriel seemed okay with the idea, she wasn’t sure how his family would react, but after this morning’s media coverage of the girls’ arrival at the palace, hiding them from public scrutiny would be impossible and counterproductive.
“Come into my office,” Noelle said. “Tell me what you have in mind.”
Sipping the coffee Noelle’s assistant had provided, Olivia contemplated the best way to begin, then decided to just dive in.
“Did you happen to see the news this morning?”
“About Prince Gabriel’s daughters?” Noelle pressed her lips together. “The royal family hasn’t given them much fodder for stories in the last few years. I’m afraid the level of coverage on this particular item so close to your wedding is just too huge for them to use restraint.”
“Dealing with the media comes with the territory,” Olivia said. “You’d know that.”
Noelle looked startled for a second. “I only design for the stars,” she demurred. “I’m not one of them myself.”
“You are making a name for yourself. Don’t be surprised when you become as big a story as your clients.”
“I hope that doesn’t happen. I like my quiet little life.” Noelle’s gaze touched a silver frame on her desk. It held the photo of a small dark-haired boy. The angle didn’t offer a very good view of his face, but Olivia could tell from Noelle’s expression that he was very special to her.
“Is he your son?”
“Yes. Marc. He was two in that picture. The same age as the prince’s daughters.”
Olivia felt a clenching low in her abdomen. A cry from her empty womb. “He’s beautiful. How old is he now?”
“Almost four.”
Olivia didn’t ask about the boy’s father. She knew Noelle wasn’t currently married and wasn’t sure if the question would arouse difficult memories.
“I would like to include Prince Gabriel’s daughters in the wedding and want you to make dresses for them.”
“I’ll work on some sketches and send them over to the palace. Did you have a color in mind?”
“White with pale yellow sashes. To match Princess Ariana’s gown.” The color suited the dark-haired princess and would her nieces, as well.
“I’ll get to work immediately.”
At the sound of a light knock, both women looked toward the door. Noelle’s assistant hovered on the threshold.
“I just wanted to let you know that there are media outside.”
Although the announcement of her engagement to Gabriel had briefly made Olivia newsworthy in England, the future princess of a small country hadn’t interested the British press for long.
In Sherdana, however, it was a different story. She’d found the citizens were very curious about her. When she’d visited three months ago, she’d been besieged by requests for interviews and followed wherever she went. Numerous public appearances had filled her daily schedule from ribbon-cutting ceremonies to attending sessions of parliament.
But when Olivia emerged into Noelle’s reception room, she understood the assistant’s concern. At least a hundred people crowded the streets, most of them armed with cameras. Surely not all these people were reporters. David, her driver, and Antonio, the enormous man Gabriel had assigned to accompany her whenever she was out in public, had called in five others from palace security to create a corridor of safety between the front door of the wedding shop and the car.
Olivia shot Libby a look. “I think life as I knew it has come to an end.” Then she turned to Noelle. “Thank you for everything. The dress is perfect.”
“You’re welcome.”
Squaring her shoulders, Olivia put on her public face and stepped toward the front door. Noelle held it open for her with a whispered, “Bon courage.”
“Olivia, how are you dealing with the discovery of the prince’s illegitimate children?”
“Lady Darcy, can you tell us if the wedding is still on?”
“How do you feel about raising another woman’s children?”
“Do you think the prince would have married Marissa if he’d been able?”
The questions rained down on Olivia as she headed for the car, smiling and waving as she walked, but responding to none. She slipped each query into its own special cubbyhole for later retrieval and didn’t realize she was holding her breath until the car had pulled away from the curb. Libby watched her in concern.
“I’m fine.”
“You look...unhappy.”
“I’m just tired. The twins slept in my bed and I wasn’t able to get comfortable on the couch. That’s all.”
The excuse pacified her secretary and gave Olivia the space to sort through the highs and lows of the last twenty-four hours. While she wasn’t naive enough to think that Gabriel was marrying her for anything other than business, Olivia had hoped that he’d grow fond of her. But while they’d kissed in the garden, she’d let herself believe that their future could be filled with passion and romance.
The photos of him with Marissa that the media had broadcast this morning had been a wake-up call. That was love. Olivia stared out the window at the old town slipping past.
She needed time to adjust to sharing him with a ghost.
Five
When Olivia returned to her room after the fitting, she discovered an invitation and a small, slender box wrapped in ribbon. Heart pounding, she opened the envelope and recognized Gabriel’s strong handwriting.
A quiet dinner, just the two of them. In his suite. She clutched the stationery to her chest and breathed deep to calm her sudden attack of nerves. Except for the brief time last night and this morning, they hadn’t been alone together. Did he intend to seduce her? Olivia certainly hoped so, but what did she wear to her deflowering? Something demure that matched her level of experience in all things sexual? Something that bared her skin and invited his touch?
Her fears that he didn’t find her attractive had melted beneath the heat of this morning’s kiss. But he was accustomed to women with far more experience than she possessed. Apprehens
ion made her nerves buzz like a swarm of angry hornets.
Leaving her worries to sort themselves out, she tugged at the ribbon holding the box closed. The pale blue silk fell away. Her fingers brushed the hinged lid as she savored the anticipation of her first gift from Gabriel. From the box’s shape, she knew it was a bracelet.
Olivia took a deep breath and opened the lid. Lying on a bed of black velvet was a stunning free-form emerald an inch and a half wide and almost two inches long that dominated the design. The rest of the band was diamonds, set in a diamond-shaped pattern. Bold and contemporary, it wasn’t the sort of thing she’d wear, being a little too trendy, but she couldn’t fault Gabriel’s taste.
Ignoring a pang of disappointment that he’d chosen something so not her taste, she draped the wide cuff over her wrist. As she admired the sparkle, she couldn’t shake a nagging sense of familiarity. It was a unique piece, something one-of-a-kind, yet she was certain she’d seen it before. But where? The answer eluded her and she set aside her musings as Libby arrived and helped Olivia decide on the perfect outfit to highlight Gabriel’s extravagant gift.
Around midafternoon she went up to the nursery and found the twins eager to visit the stables. But she listened with only half her attention as Bethany chattered on the short walk to the stables. Olivia was having a hard time thinking about anything except her dinner with Gabriel and the hope that they could forget all about Marissa and begin their lives together. Comparing herself to Gabriel’s former lover would only lead to trouble down the road. She’d be smarter to put that energy into keeping Gabriel’s mind fixed on the present.
While a pair of grooms took Bethany and Karina to look at the ponies their father had ordered to be delivered to the stable, Olivia drifted along the barn’s center aisle, stroking a soft nose here and there, lost in a pleasant daydream. The soothing sounds of the barn wrapped her in a cocoon of stillness that allowed her ample privacy to relive the moments in the garden that morning.
Her blood heated and slowed, flowing into the sensitive area between her thighs that Gabriel’s fervent kiss had awakened earlier. She leaned her back against a stall and closed her eyes to better relive the delicious caress of his hands against her back and hips. Her breasts had ached for his possession. She’d never felt anything like the powerful craving his kiss aroused. She’d been seconds away from begging him to touch her everywhere. He’d been her master. Her teacher. And she, a very willing student.
The memories disturbed the smooth rhythm of her breathing. How was it possible that just thinking of Gabriel aroused her?
“Are you okay?”
Olivia’s eyes snapped open. A groom peered at her, concern in his brown eyes.
She offered a weak smile, feeling heat in her cheeks, put there by her sensual daydreams. Had she really been standing in the middle of a barn, imagining how it would feel to have Gabriel’s large, strong hands roaming over her bare skin?
“Fine.” The word came out a little garbled. What magic had he wrought to make her forget her surroundings so completely? “I’m fine.”
From outside came the twins’ high-pitched voices lifted in childish delight. Olivia pushed away from the wall and went in search of them. In the stable yard, beneath the watchful eyes of the grooms who’d taken charge of them, they each stood on a mounting block in order to better acquaint themselves with their new pony.
Olivia fought anxiety as she watched the girls, but soon she calmed down. These ponies had obviously been chosen for their placid demeanor; otherwise the excited movements of the twins would have startled them. The geldings were well matched in size, color and markings. Bethany’s had a long, narrow blaze that stretched from forehead to right between his nostrils. Karina’s had a wider stripe of white that spread out as it reached the nose. Both ponies had two white front socks and one back.
Bethany was the first to notice Olivia. She threw her arms around the pony’s neck and said in an excited voice. “Look at my horse. Her name is Grady.”
Olivia started to correct Bethany on the gender of her new pony, but Karina jumped in before she could speak.
“Peanut.” The quieter twin looked so delighted that Olivia wondered if she would still demand a puppy for her birthday.
“They’re lovely,” Olivia said. “But I think they’re both boys.”
The girls were too excited to listen and went back to petting and chattering to their ponies. The head groom came over to where Olivia stood.
“They will make fine horsewomen.”
“I believe you’re right.”
“Would you like to see the mount His Highness chose for you?”
It had never occurred to Olivia that she would receive a horse as well when she told Gabriel how she loved to ride whenever she spent time at Dansbrooke. The park around the palace wasn’t as extensive as the lands surrounding her family’s country estate, but she welcomed the opportunity to get whatever exercise she could.
“I’d love to see him.” She laughed. “Or her.”
“It’s a mare. A Dutch Warmblood. I heard you’ve done some eventing. You’ll find Arioso is a wonderful jumper and an eager athlete.”
The beautiful chestnut had large, soft eyes and a gentle disposition, but before she had time to do more than stroke the mare’s long neck, the twins had finished with their ponies and joined her at the stall.
Deciding they’d had enough for one day, Olivia gathered them together and bid the grooms goodbye. After depositing them with a pair of maids in the nursery, she returned to her room to bathe and dress.
Olivia took a long time preparing for the evening. She played with hairstyles for an hour before settling on a softly disheveled updo that required only a couple of pins to keep it in place. The gown she’d chosen was a simple black sheath that bared her arms and appeared demure in the front but dipped low in the back.
Anticipation began to dissolve her calm as she zipped up the dress and fastened simple diamond dangles to her earlobes. Boldly eschewing panty hose, she slid her feet into elegant patent leather pumps.
She wanted everything about her to say “touch me.”
And surveying her appearance in the full-length mirror, Olivia felt confident she’d done just that. That left only one more thing to do. Olivia popped the top on the jewelry box and laid the wide bracelet across her wrist. Libby helped by securing the clasp.
“Is this all for my brother’s benefit?” Ariana had slipped into the room after a soft knock.
Olivia felt her cheeks heating. “Do you think he’ll approve?”
Ariana smiled. “How could he not?” Her gaze slipped over Olivia, stopping at the diamond-and-emerald bracelet. She reached for Olivia’s hand, as the color drained from her face. “Where did you get that?”
“Gabriel sent it to me.” Concern rose in Olivia. Why was Ariana looking as if she’d seen a ghost? “Why? Do you recognize it?”
“Gabriel sent it?” Ariana echoed. She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“You recognize it?” Olivia felt her heart hit her toes. “It’s cursed, isn’t it?”
“You might say that.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s none of my business.”
There was no way she was letting Ariana get away without an explanation. “If there’s something wrong, I need to know.”
“Really, I shouldn’t have said anything.” Ariana backed toward the bedroom door. “I’m sure everything is fine.”
It wasn’t like Ariana to hedge, especially when it came to things that distressed her. And seeing the bracelet had obviously upset the princess.
“What do you mean everything is fine? Why wouldn’t it be? What aren’t you telling me about the bracelet?”
Olivia caught Ariana’s wrist in a tight grip. Startled, the brunette looked from the hand holding her, to th
e bracelet on Olivia’s wrist and finally met her gaze.
“I don’t want to upset you.”
“And you think that’s going to persuade me to let you walk out of here without spilling the truth?” Olivia tugged her future sister-in-law toward the wingback chairs flanking the fireplace. She didn’t let go until Ariana sat down. “Tell me what about the bracelet upset you.”
Releasing an audible sigh, the princess leveled her pale gold eyes on Olivia. “The last time I saw that bracelet was the night before Gabriel broke things off with Marissa.”
Pain lanced through Olivia, sharper than anything she’d experienced this morning as she’d watched the pictures of Gabriel and Marissa on the television.
“He bought it for her.”
“Yes. It was...for their second anniversary.”
The cool platinum burned like acid against Olivia’s skin. She clawed at the clasp, blood pounding in her ears. Her excitement over having dinner alone with Gabriel vanished, replaced by wrenching despair. The first gift he’d given her had been the bracelet he’d bought to celebrate two years with Marissa?
The clasp popped open beneath her nails. Olivia dropped it on the mantle and sat in the chair opposite Ariana, unsure how much longer her shaky legs would support her.
“How did he get it back?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she returned it when they broke up.”
Olivia felt sick. It was bad enough that Gabriel had given her the trinket he’d bought for another woman, it was worse that it was a returned gift. “I thought I’d seen it before,” she murmured.
Ariana leaned forward and placed her hand over Olivia’s. “I’m sure this is all a huge misunderstanding. Maybe I’m thinking of a different bracelet.”
Olivia drew comfort from Ariana for a moment, before sitting up straight and bracing her shoulders. “The only misunderstanding is mine. I thought tonight was supposed to be the beginning of something between us.” She offered Ariana a bitter smile. “I forgot that our marriage is first and foremost a business arrangement.”