Forbidden Marquis

by Victoria Pinder

  “Your happiness was contagious,” he said and their foreheads pressed together.

  A new tingle went through her and her lips lifted for a kiss.

  However the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Stephano kissed her forehead rather than her mouth and led her to the penthouse.

  His touch made her weak in the knees, and she was never weak. With Stephano she had a new home and start to life. He opened the door and pulled her inside the beautiful room with a rooftop stairwell that was currently open. She glanced up at the bright blue sky and remembered the past few days with Stephano. “I just need to shake off that conversation.”

  She reached for her husband, tugged him close, and kissed him with all of the emotion he brought forth in her. His hand cradled the back of her head and he returned each press of her lips.

  And her legs were spaghetti, again.

  Wow. As the kiss ended, and she returned to her normal orbit, she laughed a little. Her past was just that, the past. She hummed as she opened one of her bags and pulled out her makeup kit. She brought it to the bathroom as she heard the phone ring. When she came out, Stephano had fixed some drinks from a bar. “Your friend, Clara, is coming over to join us now with Astorre.”

  Good. If Clara thought I traded up, then everyone else would. Her lips pinched together and she shook off that thought with a sigh. “Okay. I’ll feel better knowing she’s been having a good time.”

  Stephano held up two bottles of wine and she said, “Something white.”

  He nodded and poured two glasses for her and Clara. “Then tonight you and I will see some of Paris by ourselves.”

  “Excellent.” A moment later there was a knock and she slipped her arm around Stephano’s waist as he opened the door. She then let him go and hugged her best friend.

  Stephano shook Astorre’s hand and signaled for them to come inside as he said, “Clara. Astorre.”

  Clara crossed the threshold and looked at her with a smile. “Rossie, you look good.”

  “You too.” Rossie discreetly checked her makeup in the oval mirror above the side table.

  Stephano and Astorre walked onto the roof with their drinks. Rossie offered a glass of wine to Clara as her friend asked her, “Everything okay between you and Stephano?”

  Hopefully Clara understood. She held her glass to her side as she said, “Yes. He’s been wonderful to me.”

  “But?” Clara asked, swirling the liquid but not taking a drink.

  Rossie took a fortifying sip. “I ran into Alberto.”

  “Drat.” Clara put her glass down on the table with a vase of flowers on it and looked up, sucking in her lips. “So he did follow me here.” Clara sighed. “I was worried he had, but I didn’t see him to tell him to leave this hotel too.”

  “Are you okay, changing hotels?”

  Clara wouldn’t look at her directly but hummed her agreement. “What happened when you saw him?”

  Rossie needed to get her priorities in order and forget about Alberto. She motioned toward the small round dining room table near the bay windows of her room. Clara picked up her glass and followed. As they both sat, Rossie said, “It’s fine. I told him to leave.”

  Clara took a tiny sip of wine as if she was stalling. Rossie held her breath and waited. But finally Clara asked, “So did he say something that upset you?”

  That I was inadequate. The thought stung. He was the one that had cheated and it wasn’t her fault. She touched her pendant. “It was nothing, but I need to talk to you about something more important.”

  Clara pushed her practically full glass to the side and folded her hands on the table. “Okay, what?”

  Rossie’s heart sped up a little bit. She could offer Clara freedom. A smile grew on her face as she reached out and took her friend’s hands. “I can’t run my wedding business anymore. And you need to stop waiting on people for dinner and cleaning people’s homes.”

  Clara took her hands back without looking up. “I wasn’t qualified for more. Besides, I was thinking of finishing my degree.”

  The last time Rossie had offered Clara a job as a part-time bookkeeper, her friend had turned it down. Rossie’s skin buzzed that Clara might turn her down again. “Well, if you don’t want to run my business, then I can sell it. But I wanted to offer it to you first—no strings attached.”

  Clara’s eyebrow raised as she met her stare. “Run your wedding business?”

  Her heart rate increased. Maybe Clara saw the potential. “Absolutely. You’ve helped me with inputting the data. You know more about the backend of running the business, so you would need to learn how to direct the employees but I would help. You could do this, Clara.”

  “Let me think about this tonight.” Clara hugged her waist.

  At least that wasn’t a no. Rossie reached for her glass and pretended everything was fine. “I don’t want to pressure you.”

  Clara took one more sip of her wine and then stood, leaving it on the table. “Rossie, you never could pressure me.” Footsteps echoed. “I think the men are finished talking—I should go. This is your honeymoon.”

  Maybe Clara said no because she was falling in love. Clara pushed her hair behind her ears and bounced on her heels. Rossie stood next to her. “Did you have a fun time at the vineyard?”

  Clara beamed a smile that was brighter than a lamppost as Astorre walked over to her. Clara hugged Rossie one more time and said, “Yes, you’ll love Chelsea when you meet her tomorrow. I think we’re all going down the Seine for a private lunch.”

  If her friend found true love and happiness, they’d be neighbors and stay close. Astorre smiled more today and she hoped that was Clara’s influence. Rossie walked her guests to the door as she said, “Oh, well okay. Talk to you soon.”

  The moment the door closed, Stephano massaged her back. “Rosalind?”

  “Just hold me Stephano and don’t let me go.” She threw her arms around his neck.

  “Absolutely.” He tilted her head so he could kiss her throat.

  His five o’clock shadow tickled her delicate skin. Life was so good. Her wayward thoughts were stupid anyhow. It was better to just hold on to Stephano because he was her prince.

  Stephano checked his black tuxedo and gray vest with the matching tie. Tomorrow they’d attend his friend’s wedding and he’d meet Rosalind's mother, but tonight he planned to impress his wife and hopefully whatever had happened with her ex would dissipate from her mind.

  He knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you almost ready for dinner?”

  The door unlocked and a moment later, Rosalind stepped out in a body-hugging black dress that went to her knees with matching high heels. She made the “little black dress” sing. His collar felt tight, but then she tugged the dress on her hips to pull it down a little then touched the rose pendant she wore and asked, “Does this look okay?”

  “You look amazing, as always.” He kissed her hand.

  Before the ceremony for Matteo, he’d shower Rosalind with diamonds to wear. He should have found some of his mother’s pieces in the vault before they left, but Rosalind might prefer new.

  She shook her head and checked her lipstick in the side mirror as she sucked in her breath. “I’m not always amazing, but if I look okay then we’re good.”

  Stephano pressed his hand to her lower back. Hopefully their outing revived her spirits. He held open the door for her and said, “Rosalind, I wouldn’t have married you if I didn’t think you were exactly what I needed in a lady.”

  Again she played with her necklace. “You told me your conditions. Beauty wasn’t one of them.”

  “Not one I stated,” he said while he called the elevator.

  As the doors opened for them, and she headed into the elevator, she asked, “Where are we off to?”

  Romance wasn’t something he normally cared about but tonight he wanted to impress. “I interrupted your plans to see Versailles by proposing on the tower so I booked us a private dinner at the palace.”

  T
hey exited the elevator and crossed the lobby toward his waiting limo. She didn’t glance anywhere but at him as she narrowed her eyes. “Near the palace or in the palace?”

  Renting a room at the palace was mostly just red tape for him. He waited for her to climb in the limo. He followed. “In the petite palace, to be exact. It’s less crowded.”

  She bounced in her seat as the driver took off. “I’m excited. This is where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were when the revolution happened?”

  They drove out of the city and Stephano watched Rosalind’s expressions. She seemed almost giddy, which was good. Clearly his plan to cheer her had worked. He settled into his seat. “Moving out of the city was their royal mistake. Nobles and royals need to understand exactly what’s happening to their people and do what they can to help everyone in need.”

  She made herself comfortable and let out a small sigh as she traced the leather seats. “That thinking is what probably saved the nobles in your country.”

  The limo driver turned into the small town. Versailles was just outside the city, but a few hundred years ago the walk took a long time. Stephano paid attention to every detail, though he kept the conversation flowing. “As a child I didn’t have a country. I had hotel rooms in various countries until I was a teenager.”

  She took his hand and patted him gently. “So you didn’t have a home before then?”

  After his mother died, he never felt like he had one at all. Maybe once he and Rosalind settled in, he’d have a true home. He rubbed the back of his neck. “No. What about you?”

  She folded her arms in her lap. “You read my profile.”

  Right. He traced her thigh, revealed by her little black dress, sheltering her feminine parts that drove him wild. “No, actually, I didn’t. Matteo and Astorre read your profile. I avoided it and then I met you and didn’t need to read it.”

  Her eyes grew bigger before she shrugged. “I grew up in Miami. I’m an only child, and my mom stuck me in the international baccalaureate programs where I had to study about foreign countries and she expected me to succeed. I was probably to live out her dreams.”

  He stopped playing with her bare skin as the limo pulled into the palace grounds. The air around her always smelled like roses. “Which were?”

  She blinked and he realized the palace must have caught her attention, but she focused back on him. “To own my own business and be successful. Barbara Diaz is quite the capitalist.”

  The limo pulled in front of the palace. Stephano waited for the chauffeur to open the door, so he laced his fingers with Rosalind’s as he said, “I like your mom already. The hardest part of taking control of our estate was meeting all the people who were now back to renting their livelihood from us after coming out of the communist system. Luckily, most of our subjects are intelligent and we worked out individual business plans with many that also led to private ownership.”

  The door opened and she scooted out first. As he followed, she looked at him and not the grounds behind her as she asked, “Was that your father’s idea?”

  He gently took her elbow to turn her around to see the palace as the limo pulled away. “No. It just seemed the smartest thing I could do was partner with my people and not try to rule like some feudal lord.”

  Again she didn’t look forward. She stared at his profile and her nearness made his heart beat a little faster. “Then the years in exile taught you well.”

  “Here we are.” They stood in front of the Grand Palace and the gardens were just behind it. He waited for Rosalind to turn and look rather than be so focused on him.

  When she did, she placed her hand on her heart and her expression softened. “I’ve seen countless pictures of this palace in books and in movies or online, but none of that does this place one lick of justice.”

  He offered his arm to lead her inside as he asked, “Lick?”

  “Yes. It’s an American thing.”

  “Versailles is beautiful and elegant.” He led her through the palace and aimed right for the gardens behind it. He held the glass door for her to leave instead of showing her the hall of mirrors and the usual art tourists gawked at. “Our dinner awaits.”

  The fountain and reflecting pool all displayed the late afternoon sun and tourists littered the scene just as ladies of the court might have years ago when this was a real palace.

  Stephano understood he’d never be happy in a place so set apart from the world. At least in Avce, the country was small and everyone could drive to each other’s houses in a few hours.

  As they headed toward the shepherd village that Marie Antoniette had built to pretend to be a shepherdess, Chelsea’s voice rang out in the air. “Stephano?”

  He turned and saw the blonde woman with the bright smile he’d always teased. She was prettier than he remembered but he chalked it up to her being happy instead of moaning and complaining about life beside him. He hugged Rosalind close and her bare arm that brushed his skin made him realize just how happy he was with her as he made the introductions. “Chelsea. Cassidy. This is Rosalind.”

  Chelsea shook his wife’s hand and said, “We’re happy to meet you.”

  “And you’re both beautiful.” Rosalind frowned and seemed like she grew smaller.

  Rosalind must realize that she outshone both of them and was just trying to make them feel comfortable. Chelsea was her usual cheerleader self as she said, “And we’re happy that Stephano listened to reason and married who Cassidy said.”

  Cassidy had deep brown hair and glasses, though today’s spectacles were a fashionable greenish-blue., “I don’t say.” She tapped her collarbone. “It was my computer algorithm.”

  Whatever it was didn’t matter. It had unwittingly pointed him in the right direction.

  Rosalind pressed her hand on his chest. “Stephano and I wanted to make a donation to a charity in your name for your help.”

  Chelsea jokingly hit her sister’s arm and said, “See, Cassidy? Stephano isn’t awful.”

  His ears buzzed. He leaned closer and asked, “Awful?”

  Rosalind paled.

  He straightened and hoped she wasn’t jealous. Chelsea was a friend and nothing more. Rosalind was his wife. Cassidy said, “Chelsea, that’s not what I said. I told you to follow your heart and not marry a man just because he has money.”

  Rosalind fixed her necklace as she pursed her lips. “I thought you were both nobles from Avce, like Stephano.”

  Chelsea’s face went red as she said, “We are, but Cassidy worked her tail off to pay for running the estate and for my education. Anyhow, you both seem to have something private going on so we’ll leave you alone.”

  Tail. His friend still sounded like the California girl she’d been once upon a time, before her family returned. Perhaps Chelsea might give him insight into the American mindset of his wife—and what “lick” meant. He filed the thought in his brain in case he ever needed to ask but bowed. “Chelsea?”

  “Yes, Stephano?” She blinked like she had no clue what he’d say.

  Rosalind tensed beside him. Soon they’d be alone, but for now he told Chelsea, “I’m sorry if I ordered you around and took you for granted. I’m glad we both found our own happiness.”

  Rosalind smiled—her relief evident to him only because he was aware of her. He offered his hand, which Rosalind took with a squeeze.

  Chelsea shrugged like what he said hadn’t mattered. “Stephano, we were always friends. If you need anything, either of you, please don’t hesitate to call. In fact, I’d love to help Rosalind settle into Avce—I know all the stores when I’m in town.”

  “Shopping. Rosalind, that is Chelsea’s specialty, if you want the company.” He’d paid Chelsea for years to deal with his estate as she liked to shop.

  Cassidy linked her arm with her sister and added, “Chelsea will come stay with me next week so if you need her, just call. But we have to go finish the tour to see if we want to host an art show here.”

  He waved at them and said, “B
ye.” The Bright sisters faded out and he was left next to his personal goddess. He caressed the soft fabric covering her lower back. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded and walked beside him.

  As they approached the Petite Palace, he held the door for her and the string quartet he’d ordered played classics in the background while the chandeliers reflected the candlelight. She entered, her eyes wide.

  “For you, Rosalind.”

  Dinner was perfect. Tonight they’d be alone. The candles were lit and the table was set so they could overlook the pretend village Marie Antoniette had built for her own pleasure. The soft cream walls showed the candles flickering from the chandelier above them. He’d chosen this to impress Rosalind and her smile showed her pleasure. After dinner, he’d find a way to show her that she was everything he ever needed.

  Rossie stepped out of her bathroom dressed in a white ball gown that might double for a simple wedding dress.

  She’d helped brides who wore similar styled dresses on their special day.

  As she fixed the clasps on the new diamond earrings Stephano had given her, she took a deep breath.

  This wasn’t her wedding day and dressing like this felt strange.

  Stephano ran his hand up her back and gently massaged her shoulder. “Are you ready?”

  She glanced beside her. He was dreamy, like an angel in his white pants and button-down white shirt, complete with a matching white tie. “Are you sure that we are supposed to wear all white?”

  “The bride has requested it.” He helped her with the diamond bracelet that was on the table in front of her. Once he clasped it, he kissed the back of her wrist. “Perfect.”

  No. He was the perfect one. She walked beside him. Okay, she floated beside him as she looked him up and down and said, “You look nice in white slacks.”

  His hand caressed her lower back, but the doorbell rang before they could get carried away. He let out a small sigh and then winked at her as he reached for the door. “That must be Astorre and Clara.”

  Fair. She came beside him and both their friends were also wearing a matching color, though Clara had more of a bone shade that shockingly showed off her figure.