He checked his watch. “Forty-five minutes until the ceremony. Maybe thirty at the most to get you down to the staging area.”
She nodded. “Let me read through this. I’ll just skim it, maybe read more later. But I want to know.”
“All right.”
He stuck close, skimming over her shoulder as she read.
She learned her father had a falling out with his family, which is why she never met her aunt.
She learned her grandparents were dead, and this aunt and cousin were essentially the only family she had. Her aunt, incidentally, who was much younger than her father, had made up with him during the trial and had kept in touch since then, only sending messages through the agency protecting them.
She learned her parents had seen her on television when she’d started dating Nate. They wanted to get word to her, but they never had an opportunity.
Never, that is, until Charlie happened to be at a hospital on a random day with Rebecca.
Even them working with Rebecca was something they’d lobbied for. Not only to help kids like their son, but also on the off chance they could meet her.
She read some more, skimmed some more, then shut the folder.
She still didn’t have a family in the conventional sense—not as far as she was concerned—but through Nate, she had a family who loved her and cared for her. She’d never been a conventional woman anyway.
She was okay with having a family through Nate. More than okay. The love they’d build between the three of them—with the bonus of his family’s love and support—was all that mattered.
“Charlotte.”
“I’m all right.”
“Do you want to meet them?”
“No.” Her answer was immediate and without emotion.
“Are you sure?”
She tapped the folder. “I didn’t read it in depth, but it sounds like, at least to me, they didn’t try to find me until I was seen with you.” She eyed the agent. “Is that what you feel, too?”
“Yes, Ma’am. We do believe that is an accurate assessment.”
“Did they try to find me once they got in witness protection? Maybe to bring me with them?”
“We asked, but the aunt wasn’t sure. We’d have to reach out to your parents through the American government to find out.”
She nodded. “Then, I don’t want to see them.”
“Charlie.”
She got up, handed the folder to the agent, and turned to Nate. “They didn’t try to find me once they were caught and knew they’d find a way to safety. Even after the dust settled, years later, they didn’t try it, either. They didn’t care about me until they recognized me on television or in the press. They don’t want me, they want the woman who’s dating a prince.”
“You’re married to that prince.”
She nearly smiled. “They don’t know that. It sounds like they’re still selfish. Even my aunt…she was so weird at the hospital. Maybe she thought I could do something for her kid, so that’s why she saw her chance and took it.”
She shrugged. “I’m sorry for my cousin, and I’ll do what I can to help him—if there’s even anything I can do—but I don’t want them in my life.”
Nate stood and walked to her. “All right, Charlotte-mine.”
She turned to the agent. “I don’t want to contact them, but can you get my parents’ pictures? I don’t remember them, but I’d like to see what they look like.”
“Yes, Ma’am. That should be easy enough.”
“Can you also get their medical histories?”
Nate lifted his brow. “What do you need that for?”
“We’re going to have a kid. If they’ve got something that could mess with my kid, I want to know.”
Nate smiled wide. “I adore you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we go now? I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Let’s go.”
“We’ll get that information for you, Ma’am.”
“Thank you.”
Once they were out of the room and on their way to the wedding, Nate wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “You took all of that really well.”
She wrapped her arm around his waist. “No other way to take it. I’m not going to give them any more headspace. Maybe they’ll think I’m…whatever terrible thing they can think of…because I’m not going to see any of them, but I can’t control that. If they retaliate in some way, maybe by revealing our connection even if it would be a dumbass idea considering witness protection, we’ll handle it then. We have the agents to help us and our family to help us.”
He paused in the hall. “Our family?”
She frowned. “Your family is mine now, too, isn’t it?”
“Yes, of course it is. But it’s the first time you’ve referred to them as your family instead of just mine.”
Oh. “I didn’t realize.”
“I’m glad.” He kissed her nose. “Very glad.”
“My lips are right here.”
“Is that where they are?” They continued walking towards the wedding.
“You don’t want to kiss me anymore?”
He gave her a ‘please don’t be ridiculous’ look. “If I kiss you properly, I’ll smudge your makeup and your makeup artist would yell at me.”
“You could kiss me improperly and see how that goes.”
He tried to hide a smile but failed. “Do you even have some lipstick in your purse?” He glanced at her hands. “Do you even have a purse at all?”
She smiled. In addition to hating clothes, she wasn’t too fond of makeup either. “No.”
“I would have put your lipstick in my pocket. Then I could have kissed you. Properly and improperly. Think about that next time.”
She would. She definitely would.
For now, for Marcello and Grace’s wedding, they’d just have to avoid kissing.
At least until after the ceremony and the wedding photos were taken.
Chapter Twelve
Grace adjusted the sleeve of her wedding gown. It didn’t need adjusting. It was perfectly ironed, perfectly placed, perfect in simply every way.
She, however, felt the furthest from the perfect there could be.
When her lips wobbled, and her eyes started to blink away the wet, she took several deep breaths. It wouldn’t do to cry tears of sadness today.
It was her wedding day, after all.
She couldn’t help but remember her first wedding. She’d been happy and smiling, the perfect blushing bride. She hadn’t seen any signs of his abuse before the wedding, or maybe she hadn’t wanted to see them, or she’d just been too innocent or naïve to recognize them. What had started as the perfect day had become an abusive, abysmal marriage.
Staring at herself in the mirror now, she saw a different woman. Having lived through everything she had, of course she’d be different. She wasn’t innocent. She wasn’t naïve. She now knew what a real relationship was and, more importantly, what a healthy relationship was. Marcello had shown her that and given her the security and support she’d so desperately needed.
After her first husband, she never thought she’d marry again, even date again. She’d had no desire for any of it.
Not until she felt desire for Marcello.
Yet, now she wondered if he still felt the same. They’d spent months reliving bad news, this month the worst of all because they’d had real hope for the first time.
Should she finally accept that another child just wasn’t for her? And why was she deciding this on her wedding day?
She heard a telltale click nearby and whirled around as best she could without disrupting the simple train of her dress.
He was there.
Marcello.
He stepped out of a secret passage, dressed handsomely in his military regalia. She’d always loved a man in uniform, especially her man in uniform, but right then he took her breath away.
He stopped dead as soon as he entered, his gaze raking down her dress,
then back up to pause on her face. “My God, Grace. You’re beautiful.”
She couldn’t help but smile. She smiled so much more since she met him, and she actually believed him when he complimented her. It had taken so long to accept even the simplest compliments after her first husband. “You shouldn’t see me. It’s bad luck.”
He walked to her, carefully avoiding her train, and cupped her cheek. Oh, how she loved when he did that. It was the simple touches, the gentle caresses that she loved the most.
“We couldn’t have bad luck, you and I.”
Her throat clogged, and she cleared it. “We had some bad luck a few days ago.”
He wrapped an arm around her, careful not to snag the medals on his jacket on her dress. “My fair Grace, it’s not about luck with us, it’s about love. We’ll love each other through the thick and thin. Maybe that news was on the thin side, but we’ll get through it. I told you before that I’d try for our child as long as we had it in us to try. I hate to see you hurt.”
Just those six words meant everything to her. She’d had a husband once who reveled in her pain. Now, she would have one who’d do anything in his power to keep her from it.
Any doubts she’d had about Marcello had drifted away long ago. He wouldn’t leave her. He’d never stop loving her. Marriage wouldn’t change him or them. They’d only grow stronger together.
However, she didn’t need to be the stoic lady, perfect at dinner parties, perfect in public, perfectly adept at hiding wounds, both external and internal. She didn’t need to be perfect. She just needed to be herself, and wasn’t that lovely?
She took another long breath, unafraid to speak her mind. “I must admit that I don’t like to be hurt much either. Maybe we should take a break from trying for a child.”
“We can. We can take a permanent break from it. We can try adopting or surrogacy. Or we can try none of it.”
“I feel guilty, I suppose. I feel as though I’m denying you something.”
“I’m not going to deny that I wouldn’t love our child, however they came to us, but I’d have more than I ever dreamed with just you.”
There was more than one way to be a parent or to become a parent. Maybe they should explore those. “I love you.”
He smiled, the corners of his mustache tipping up. It must be said that she also loved his mustache, for a variety of reasons. “I love you.”
“Let’s talk about this after the wedding.”
“Let’s wait until after the honeymoon.”
She blinked. “We get a honeymoon? A proper one? Not just a few days away like you mentioned? Even Alex and Rebecca never got their honeymoon.”
“Alex is working on that, believe me, but, yes, we get a honeymoon.”
“Where? To the mountains like we’d originally planned?”
A devious smile broke out on his face. “It’s a surprise.”
“But…but what if I haven’t packed the right things?”
“Since you’ll be naked the entire time, you won’t need anything.”
She blushed, the heat of it racing across her body and even to her toes. “Marcello.”
He pulled her tighter against him. “Completely. Naked. For days. So I can have you whenever I want you, and you can take me just the same.”
Oh God. “That sounds…”
He nipped at her lower lip. “What?”
“Wonderful.”
“Good.”
“If we’re going to be naked the whole time, it must be warm where we’re going, isn’t it?”
He just smiled but didn’t respond.
“Marcello.”
He winked. “I just came by to make sure you were okay. See you at the end of the aisle, my fair Grace.”
He stepped back and headed for the secret entrance again.
“Marcello!”
He gave her one last smile, then disappeared.
She laughed, she couldn’t help it. When she turned back to the mirror, her face wasn’t sad anymore. It was hopeful and happy. A different happy than she’d felt at her first wedding. This was a realistic, yet still giddy, happy.
She smoothed her hands over her dress and her fingers caught a snag. Oh, no. Marcello’s suit must have done it. She gave it a critical eye but determined trying to fix it might just make it worse.
She stared at her reflection again, turning this way and that to see if it would be noticeable. After a minute, she decided she didn’t care.
She didn’t need to be perfect, and neither did her dress. Marcello would still marry her, still love her, and apparently ravish her in an unknown location for days.
It was safe to say she was perfectly fine with being imperfect.
When the knock came at the door and Cat, her maid of honor, entered, she was smiling and ready.
Chapter Thirteen
Marcello watched his lovely, fair Grace as she walked down the aisle. He couldn’t believe this day was finally here. He couldn’t believe that he was finally marrying the woman he loved. When he’d seen her earlier standing alone in a room, in front of a mirror, her eyes had seemed sad.
Her eyes weren’t sad now.
She looked beautiful. She was on the arms of his father, who was giving her away, and he looked incredibly proud to have her on his arm. In this small garden, hidden with arbors and eaves and blooming flowers, Marcello’s family around him, he felt proud, too.
The only thing marring the day were the sounds of the helicopters overhead—the press trying to get shots of their wedding.
They wouldn’t get it. He’d seen to that.
After the wedding, he had something special planned for his Grace. Besides what he’d told her in that room minutes ago about the honeymoon they’d have, he had other surprises in store for her. Other surprises that meant she wouldn’t have to worry about her home or family or anything else ever again.
In his line of work, even though he didn’t go on missions anymore, it was still dangerous. It was still at times terrifying, exhilarating, and even debilitating.
So, he’d done what he’d needed to do in order to make sure Grace was taken care of if he was gone.
Over the last two years, he’d shifted certain aspects of his job to his direct reports. Alex had asked him to find someone to take over in those times when Marcello wasn’t there, probably because those times were growing more and more frequent. He understood what his brother wanted. He understood his brother was looking out for the country’s best interests and needed to find someone they trusted to take over his position temporarily. Marcello had slowly been training one of their cousins, previously in the military, to take over and stand in his place when those times came.
Seeing Grace as she walked down the aisle towards him, and towards their future, he had to admit that he didn’t mind this at all. Two years ago, it would have been a different answer. But this time with her, with his love, and the future they were making together, it felt good and it felt right.
When they reached the end of the aisle, his father gave Grace a kiss on the cheek and then passed her hand over to him.
“Thank you, Papa.”
“It’s been my very great pleasure. May you both have much happiness.” His father kissed him on the head and walked to his seat. He sat down and took his mother’s hand, and Marcello could have sworn he saw his father brush away a tear.
Turning back to his bride and unable to resist, Marcello pulled his Grace into a hug. He needed to feel her slim, strong body against his before they made these vows.
She didn’t seem to mind.
Marcello turned to the wedding officiant, and they began the ceremony.
* * *
Later, at the reception, Eddie watched Marcello dance with his bride. It was a fast song, but they were wrapped up in each other, oblivious to everything else. Cat sat beside him, her arm twined with his. Her tit was pressed up against his arm and his cock was taking notice, but he was keeping it at bay. For now. He wanted to dance with her some more before
they moved their dancing to a more private location, but she’d wanted to sit this one out. He couldn’t say he minded just sitting and enjoying the scene with her.
She leaned into him some more and whispered in his ear. “It’ll be our time soon.”
“Yes, it will.”
“Maybe it’s time for us to pick a date then.”
He cocked his eyebrows. “Thought you wanted to finish premiering your fashion line and becoming a fashion mogul first.”
“You’ve been waiting a long time for me.”
“I’ve got you beside me in bed every night. Sometimes even underneath me, or riding me, or against the wall in the lavender shed, or—”
“Eddie,” she hissed. “Someone could hear.”
“Think your family knows we have sex.”
“They don’t want to be reminded of it.”
He grinned.
“What if I don’t want to take that long? What if I want to get married sooner?”
“Then we’ll get married sooner.”
“So, when?”
He gave her a devious smile. “I’ve only been waiting until you were ready. If you’re ready now, and if you think we can get away with it, we could elope tomorrow.”
“My parents would kill you. They nearly killed Nate.”
“Your parents love me.”
Cat shrugged. “They sort of love you.”
“They adore me.”
“I think you’re overestimating how much my family likes you.”
“I think you’re overestimating how much your family likes you.”
She scrunched her nose in that fucking cute way she had. “Everybody loves me.”
“Yeah, they do. So, no eloping?”
“No.” The way she said it made him feel as though she really wished they could elope.
“Your fashion line is supposed to launch next month. That still on target?”
“If everything goes okay. Trying to launch it during one of the biggest Vollywood award shows of the year is probably a ridiculous idea.”
“It’s exposure, baby. People will love it and they’ll buy more of it.”
“Or they’ll really hate it and they’ll never buy anything from me again, and it will be a disaster.”
Permanently Princess (Royals of Valleria #10) Page 12