Cursed: Gowns & Crowns, Book 5

by Jennifer Chance

  “I know, I know,” she said grimly. “But the fact remains my father is quite serious about the curse being broken in our generation, not for the least reason that he retains all of the familial outrage that we ourselves are not royal, that instead our distant cousins by marriage, the Andris family, rose to the throne when Garronia was first formed. The Saleris have nurtured their indignation over this slight for centuries, and Silas—my father—is its champion. He’s determined that the curse will end in this generation.”

  Vince couldn’t believe he was actually following the logic Edeena was laying out. “Which means you need to marry a prince.”

  “Exactly. I do or one of my sisters does, in any event. A matter complicated by the fact that the two eligible princes in the realm are otherwise spoken for.”

  Vince narrowed his gaze on her. “You were involved with one of them?” He couldn’t imagine anyone turning down this woman for any reason, other than the fact that she apparently believed in ancient curses.

  “In a manner of speaking, yes. Everyone expected I’d marry the Crown Prince of Garronia, and to keep my father occupied, I encouraged that rumor, though Ari and I never seriously dated.”

  “Ari.” Vince kept his voice level, but there was no denying the quick stab of irritation at the smile now on Edeena’s face as she thought about this other man.

  “Aristotle Andris,” she said. “But he’s very much beside the point. He’s engaged, his brother is engaged, and that means I’m fresh out of princes.” She gave a small, scoffing laugh. “Present company excluded.”

  Vince found himself suddenly annoyed that he wasn’t a real prince, despite the absurdity of Edeena’s story. He pushed that thought away.

  “And you came to Sea Haven…why?”

  Edeena’s gaze had returned to the view from her window, taking in the enormous, Spanish moss-laden trees stretching over the two-lane road they were taking out to Heron’s Point.

  “I will find a way to beat the curse, Mr. Rallis, but I need time. More importantly, I need to ensure that my sisters have the space to start a life of their own choosing regardless of what I do. I don’t want the weight of the family baggage to fall on their shoulders. It’s not fair.”

  “But it’s fair to you?”

  “I’ve been brought up with it, they haven’t.” She shrugged. “Caro and Marguerite should be able to choose their own paths freely. And that means I have to act first, before my father does.” At Vince’s confused glance she tightened her lips.

  “Garronia has many charming characteristics. Our ancient code of law isn’t one of them, particularly when it comes to the marital rights of noble children,” she explained. “If I don’t choose who to marry by the time I’m twenty-seven years old, my father can choose for me—or he can marry off one of my sisters in my place if I refuse. It’s his paternal right.”

  Vince could only stare. “And you turn twenty-seven . . .”

  “In three weeks.” Edeena managed a wan smile. “As you can see, I don’t have a lot of time to find a prince of my own choosing—and why I was so concerned when I thought you were, in fact, a prince. Fortunately, you’re not.”

  Vince found himself compelled to argue that point, but at that moment a pair of large, modern pillars flanking an ornamental gate rose up ahead, set off to the left of the main road.

  “Oh! Is that Heron’s Point?” Edeena asked, clearly happy to talk about anything else.

  “No—though Heron’s Point is the next turn.” He nodded as they passed the gates. “That’s the entry for the Cypress Resort.” A sudden, not particularly happy thought struck him. “That’s not the resort your sister is interested in, is it?”

  “Cypress…hmm.” Edeena turned to peer in the rear window. “There were several resorts she investigated. I’m not sure which one came through. Either way, I didn’t realize we were so close to a resort. The Google Earth images I saw of Heron’s Point certainly didn’t show that.”

  “Even Google takes time to update,” Vince said, taking note of Edeena’s flash of annoyance. The woman apparently didn’t like to be caught off guard. Something they had in common. “Cypress opened nine months ago, and has been building out continually since then. Rental villas, restaurants, spa, golf, horseback riding, shopping—all the trendiest amenities for tourists. It’s proven to be very profitable.”

  “I see. What sort of tourists, do you know?”

  Vince didn’t see any reason to sugar coat it. Edeena needed to understand her neighbors. “Singles, mostly, I guess you would call them. It’s already becoming popular as a vacation destination.”

  “Singles?” She immediately caught his emphasis on the term. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean it’s targeted to men and women who are unattached, or couples without children. It’s not designed to be a family-friendly resort so much as an adult getaway.”

  “An adult getaway.” Edeena sank back in her seat. “Why do I suspect this is exactly the resort that Marguerite targeted?”

  Despite himself, Vince chuckled, earning him an irritated scowl from the back seat. “It’s not all that bad,” he assured her. “And you’ll be right next door if that’s any consolation.”

  On cue, he turned into the graceful entryway of the estate, following Marks’s limo down a long dreamy-looking track cut into the foliage, the narrow lane once again overhung with Spanish moss that fairly dripped from enormous trees. After a few minutes, they exited the trees and approached the main house through an open park.

  Vince had seen Heron’s Point many times, but it still impressed him—a three-story mansion that fanned out to either side with smaller two-story wings, as if it was embracing visitors. The place was a Southern showpiece, all yellow-painted brick and white trim, fronted by an imposing white staircase that swept up to the second floor. The ground floor was walled in stone, probably once used as stables.

  “Good heavens,” Edeena said quietly, her worries apparently assuaged for the moment. “I’d say this is some consolation, you’re right. No wonder Mother loved this place.”

  Vince didn’t see any reason to answer that, and he scanned the building as they neared. “That’s your cousin, standing at the top of the stairs. Have you two met?”

  “We haven’t,” Edeena said. She leaned forward, her slender hand gripping his seat beside his shoulder. The scent of her perfume wafted over him, honeysuckle and lavender, and Vince grimaced as his body reacted once again. This was seriously going to become a problem.

  “She’s my second cousin, twice removed, by the way,” Edeena corrected him as she took in the trim, elderly woman in the flowery pink dress, standing like a sentinel before the enormous front doors of the house. “She’s related to my mother—who usually referred to her as an aunt, instead of cousin, given their age differences—but though Mother visited here often, we never came. Father wouldn’t allow it.”

  Vince digested that additional detail, lining it up with the rest. Silas Saleri seemed to rule his children with an iron fist, none of them more so than Edeena.

  “Well,” she said briskly, cutting across his thoughts. “Let’s get this adventure started. If I know my sisters, they’ll be keeping you quite busy.”

  Vince pulled the car behind Marks’s limo, and glanced at her. “Your sisters, but not you?” he asked, trying for levity.

  Edeena’s return smile was rueful. “Oh, I won’t be here long enough to cause you any trouble.”

  Chapter Two

  Morning dawned bright and cheerful the next day, so Edeena and her sisters celebrated the balmy August sunshine with an impromptu breakfast on the back porch. They’d spent most of the previous evening catching Prudence up on fifteen years’ worth of Garronia gossip, and their cousin had told them all she could about the lovely little island they’d be calling home for as long as Edeena could manage. Already, Edeena felt like it was a second home. A small inlet was barely visible through the marsh grass if they looked in one direction, and rolling dunes rose tow
ard the beach in the other direction. It was quite possibly the prettiest setting Edeena had ever seen—in a completely different way than the sand, surf and cliffs of her own kingdom.

  “I think shopping is a must-do,” Marguerite announced, looking up from her dish of pineapple and oranges.

  Caro nodded, her eyes bright. “Yes! Shopping. Not solely the trinket shops, though we have to hit those as well. But I want to see what sort of local stores there are for things like fruits and vegetables. Prudence said she tries to buy local whenever she can, but she does most of her bulk purchasing on the mainland. There must be another option.”

  “That sounds perfect,” Edeena said, mustering up a smile. “I need to go over some paperwork with Prudence this morning, but you both should go.”

  As expected, her sisters’ expressions dimmed.

  “Oh, Edeena, really?” Marguerite said. “It’s your very first day here.”

  “It’s never as much fun without you,” Caro put in, though Edeena knew this wasn’t at all the case. If anything, her overprotective streak tended to put a damper on her sisters’ wilder schemes. Part of her—a very small part—wanted to be more carefree, but the much larger part of her wanted them to be carefree. And to ensure that, she needed to focus.

  “Well, I’m being quite selfish in fact,” she said, holding up a hand at their protest. “If I can get through all the paperwork and find out why in the world no one has put a bid in on this beautiful house despite Father listing it ages ago, I can spend the entire rest of the week doing nothing but buying seashell-encrusted mirrors and trying out local restaurants with you. Assuming you haven’t bankrupted the family by then.”

  Her sisters laughed as she’d hoped they would, and talk moved on to the long weeks and even, perhaps, months ahead of them. Caroline had studied anthropology in college, so she was all about the things they would learn on the island—its history and its people—while Marguerite gushed over all the places they would go and the trips they would take during their stay in America. Edeena agreed with all of it, though her heart grew heavier with each new adventure Marguerite dreamed up, each holiday Caro described enjoying with a “low-country” flair. If she did all she needed to do, she’d be gone long before the first harvest festival.

  “Ah! There you are.” Lugging a heavy tote bag, Cousin Prudence sailed in as Marguerite finished her pitch for a trip to New York City. “Your bodyguards have arrived, it appears. They’re young enough and dressed suitably enough to pass as college friends, though rather a bit bulky I should say.”

  Marguerite groaned. “We don’t really need bodyguards, do we, Edeena?” she complained, rolling her eyes. “It’s not like we’re ten.”

  Edeena smiled firmly. “Humor me okay? It won’t be for long. We’ll scale back soon, I promise.”

  “For you, anything,” Caro said, instantly defusing Marguerite’s complaint as she stood. Caro’s worried eyes betrayed her, however, and Edeena stifled a grimace. If Caroline had any idea what Edeena was planning, she’d find some way to circumvent it. As the middle sister, Caroline seemed to have taken on the job of balancing Edeena’s worries with Marguerite’s impulsiveness, and all too often that meant she compromised her own simple joy. Caro had turned down all too many social engagements to keep Edeena company when their father went on a rampage, and she’d chaperoned Marguerite on countless adventures she would have rather skipped when Edeena’s presence would have stifled their youngest sister too obviously.

  But at least now they could enjoy themselves equally. As Prudence herded her sisters on their way, Edeena turned her attention to the gorgeous views outside the screened back porch and finally, happily relaxed.

  By the time she heard her cousin’s voice again, the sun had warmed the veranda to a balmy heat, the day promising to be steamy. Lulled by the heavy scent of magnolias and rose bushes, Edeena didn’t at first register the import of her cousin’s drawling chatter and soft, murmuring laughter.

  Chatter meant conversation. Conversation meant another person, despite the fact that her sisters had clearly left.

  Edeena turned in time to see her cousin enter the back porch with Vince Rallis on her arm. As it had the first time, seeing the man gave her a jolt. He was simply too big, too unnervingly good-looking, and his ready smile and golden-brown eyes unnerved her. She schooled her expression into one of polite civility, but her keen-eyed cousin outed her immediately.

  “No scowling, dear,” Prudence said primly. “Vince is your head of security here, and he needs to keep informed of what we discuss today. If your father accosts us in the dead of night, you’ll thank me.”

  “He’s not going to accost us in the dead of night.” Edeena sighed as Vince’s brows shot up. Did he have to be so attractive? Seriously? Or staring at her with such obvious concern that had nothing to do with her as a woman, and everything to do with her as a client?

  Of course he did. Because she was cursed.

  She waved them both to sit, then eyed her cousin, whom she’d commandeered weeks ago to assist in her research. “Okay, let’s get this over with, then. Where do we stand with the royal rolls? And before you even suggest it, Prince Henry is not an option. I know him far too well. But Luxembourg and Lichtenstein remain available, right? And Greece if we don’t put too fine a point on it. At least the list has some possibilities.” She picked up a file folder and flipped it open, then grimaced, setting it down again. “If only Prince Albert could forgive me for that gas tank prank. I was just a kid.”

  Prudence cleared her throat delicately. “Well, ah, now that we’ve come to it, it’s . . . not that clear cut, I’m afraid,” she said, and an uncharacteristic stiffness strained her voice.

  Edeena looked up from the second folder she’d selected. “What do you mean? Are those princes all out of the running already?”

  “Not exactly,” Prudence said. She glanced from Edeena to Vince, then fluttered her hands. “This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of the Saleri curse, dear. Your mother knew about it, though I know she didn’t speak of it much to you. Still, she and I discussed the matter when you were young. It . . . I should say it doesn’t go exactly the way you’ve recounted it to me.”

  Edeena stiffened. “What do you mean? I don’t have to marry a prince?”

  “Well . . . yes, though ‘prince’ is a bit open to interpretation. You need to marry a man of nobility, whose bearing is princely, to be exact, but it goes beyond him being of suitable rank. He must have the ability to draw your house together. That’s the true root of the Saleri curse. That you all fell apart, and you can never be successful until you come back together.”

  Edeena’s brow furrowed. “Come back together . . . like in a group hug?” She shrugged. “If the man has enough money and a royal pedigree, Silas will greet him with open arms.”

  “No, dear,” Prudence said quietly. “I mean your entire family—the extended family, including those branches that don’t even recognize themselves as Saleris anymore—they must agree to come together, in peace and joy. In one place. That’s what your prince must accomplish.”

  Edeena stared at her a long moment. “Oh,” she said. “So we’re doomed.”

  Vince barked out a sharp laugh, shattering the heavy silence, but Edeena didn’t object to his response. He didn’t understand—couldn’t understand. Not only was he American, he appeared to be someone from a normal family, who lived and made friendships on his own terms. He could have no idea what life was like for her and her sisters.

  Even that sounded ridiculous, she knew. Curse or no curse, Edeena and her sisters were rich, pampered, fêted members of the Garronois aristocracy. She was not about to complain about her lot in life. She was blessed beyond all conceivable measure. It wasn’t lost on her, of course, that all of those blessings had come in large part from the sacrifices and compromises made by generations before her. Life hadn’t always been easy for the Saleri family, but they’d done what was necessary to ensure a better life for their children, and for
their children’s children. Surely, she could do no less.

  Still, what Prudence was saying now was inconceivable—and in the pursuit of it, her father would most assuredly marry her and her sisters off in rapid succession, chasing after a goal they could never reach. “Where are you getting this information, anyway?” she demanded. “Is there some sort of record of the curse? Because going from prince to princely is a bit of a jump, and nowhere close to the jump of someone who can pull us all together again.”

  “It’s been officially recorded, yes, including what qualifies as a special generation—such as one with all girls,” Prudence said. “It’s in the Saleri family illuminated bible, from the tenth century.”

  Edeena frowned at her. “I’ve never seen that bible.”

  “Few people have.” Prudence’s gaze shifted to Vince again as Edeena’s phone pinged. Edeena could sense a long-winded explanation coming on, so she grabbed the device, flipping it over, and smiled as Prudence wound through the family history. Though the phone hadn’t rung for some reason, she’d received a voicemail. Probably from Caro, letting her know they were having a good time. Caro was thorough that way.

  Vince’s voice jerked her from her thoughts. “Enough is enough, though,” he said, addressing her. “You can’t really be planning to live your life according to the rules of some old book, right?”

  Prudence gave a little bleat of distress and Edeena blinked at him. His American shock was becoming a touch less charming now. “It’s a little more complicated than that,” she said.

  “No, it’s not,” Vince cut her off. Definitely less charming. “You’re simply making it more complicated.”

  “I—” Edeena’s sharp reply was cut short by another trill of her phone. That was a new sound. They’d gotten the devices right before arriving in the US, and she hadn’t had time to learn every feature. She picked up the phone again, frowning at it. Truth was, Vince was probably right, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of saying so.