European Billionaire Beaus: The Complete Series

by North, Leslie

  She couldn’t deny the flush of pleasure she felt.

  “You are assuming I’ve done a lot to move the orphanage project forward in this.”

  “I’m sure you have,” Katie interjected.

  Armin frowned. “I don’t want to grandstand. I can’t leverage my charitable work to improve my image. It robs the work of its true purpose.”

  “Prince Armin—” She had to get to the girls, but they’d come to stand outside the doorway where she could see them. “You have a good heart. Your people need to see that.”

  “Not like this.”

  “Why not exactly like this? It will take the pressure off of you and off of the rumors about your family, and it will put the anti-royalists in a difficult position.”

  “How?”

  “If they want to attack you, they’ll have to attack a humanitarian project.”

  “So you want me to use the orphans as human shields?”

  Katie pursed her lips. “What’s more important? That the work gets done and there’s a home for these children where they can be safe and cared for, or that you maintain the appearance that you had nothing to do with it in order to keep your good deeds under wraps?”

  Armin’s eyes burned into hers, and there was a long silence. This is it, Katie thought. I’m going to get fired.

  “I suppose you have a point.”

  It shocked her back into her own thoughts. “What?”

  “I see your point.” The ghost of a grin played around Armin’s handsome mouth, drawing her attention to a razor-sharp jawline. “My grandmother built the orphanage, you know, and it wasn’t until years after it was completed that anyone knew she had a hand in it.”

  “Really? She was that secretive?”

  Armin shrugged. “There was so much going on at the end of World War II. The country was in disarray.” He looked past her, then back into her eyes. “She always told me when I was young that it’s our duty as members of the royal family to steward the future of the country, not to take credit for doing so.”

  “Okay, yes. There is something noble about remaining behind the scenes. But like she said—you’re a member of the royal family. Why not show your people why they should love you?”

  “Love me?”

  “If they knew you better, they could realize that you’re worth believing in. That your family is worth believing in. It’s something better to cling to than a tabloid story.” Katie’s voice softened. “I’ve certainly come to realize it.”

  Armin’s eyes heated. “Realize what, exactly?”

  Prince Armin was fishing for compliments.

  And with her core heating up at the sight of him, Katie found herself more than willing to give him some. “You’re a very good father. And…a good man.”

  Armin stepped closer, and she breathed in the spicy male scent of him.

  “You’re just…good. And good-looking…” The last bit slipped out unbidden, in a voice barely louder than a whisper. Katie was pretty sure her cheeks were on fire. Something shifted in the air between them and she realized he was leaning closer, that they were being pulled together like two magnets.

  “Tell me right now if you don’t want me to kiss you,” Armin said, his voice husky.

  “I want you to kiss me,” she said, quickly. Clearly. Firmly.

  Armin kissed her.

  It was deep and hot and something about it was deliciously authoritative.

  It was also over far too quickly.

  Katie resurfaced to hear Lily calling her name.

  “Katie, we’re going to be late.”

  “Yeah,” echoed Seraphine.

  Katie put her fingertips to her lips.

  That had just happened.

  It. Had. Just. Happened.

  Armin stared down at her, eyes aflame.

  “I’ll—we’ll see you later,” she said, and turned to go before she burst into flames herself.

  Oh, it had been such a bad idea. It had been so bad, to admit that she wanted to kiss him, to actually kiss him, and then…

  It had been so bad. But it felt so good.

  7

  The girls were finishing breakfast when Armin came into the dining room, a big smile on his face. He was….

  Whistling.

  Katie couldn’t help herself. She stared.

  “Good morning, Prince Armin,” she said from her spot at the table. “It’s a beautiful day.”

  “It is a beautiful day.” Armin kissed the girls on the top of their heads, then went to stand casually at the floor-to-ceiling windows that let light flood into the dining room. “Which is why I think it’s time for a holiday.”

  Katie watched him, stifling a laugh. It was gorgeous out—the sun played over the new and carefully tended grass on the lawns—but it had been beautiful for a week straight. Spring was gradually turning to early summer. That alone had never made Armin want to take a day off. She didn’t know he was capable.

  “A holiday?” chirped Lily. “To where?”

  “Yes, to where?” Katie echoed. Armin turned around to face them. Katie had never seen him look so excited about anything. “I’m so curious to know what’s made this day so beautiful.”

  “Isn’t the weather enough? Along with my beautiful girls.” The way he said it made Katie feel like he’d included her, and that sent a jolt of heat down her spine.

  “It might be, but I sense something else is up.” She winked at Seraphine.

  “Yes, what is up?” Seraphine echoed, looking quite proud of herself.

  “If you must know,” Armin said with a little sigh, “your press release worked.”

  He might as well have lit off a full fireworks show. Katie wanted to jump up and down, but she maintained her composure. “Well, of course,” she said, but she couldn’t stop the giant smile from spreading over her face.

  “It worked better than I could have imagined,” Armin said. “The original investors are recommitted to the project. And a handful of new ones have come out of the woodwork.” He stuck his hands in his pockets, looking between all of them. “On top of that, I’ve found some…unexpected free time in my schedule. I want to take you on a getaway.” He met Katie’s eyes. “All of you.”

  The girls cheered and clapped, and Katie wanted to join in.

  There was only one hitch.

  “When?”

  “Don’t act so thrilled,” Armin said with a little grin.

  “I have a couple of errands to run in town.”

  “Better hurry, then.” The girls leaped from their seats and went to join him at the window. “We’ll leave soon for our surprise destination.”

  She returned his smile to hide the sharp turn of her gut. “I’ll be quick.”

  That, at least, was the whole truth.

  Katie had gathered her purse and jacket and was out of the palace in five minutes flat.

  The meeting place had been decided in advance.

  She texted Papazyan on the way.

  He was waiting for her when she got to the little tea house. She knew immediately that he had been scanning the crowds for her. His gaze was already locked on her when she walked in the door and moved quickly to his little table in the back.

  “I don’t have much time,” she said, not bothering with preamble. Katie slipped an envelope from her purse and slid it across the table to Papazyan. “I’ve got to get back.”

  Papazyan did not seem to care. He took his time picking up the envelope, opening it, and taking the papers from inside.

  It was Katie’s latest batch of notes.

  After a moment of examining them, while she was aching to get away, he tucked the papers into the front pocket of his jacket. “I’m not altogether impressed with this, Ms. Crestley.”

  Frustration curdled. “Well, honestly, Mr. Papazyan, I don’t know what you expected me to get. The prince is a good man. There’s nothing scandalous to find out.” The sensation of his lips against hers popped up into her memory, as hot as if it had just happened. So he did r
ecently kiss his nanny. But there was no way she could offer that information up to Papazyan. Over her dead body.

  “What about the latest rumors in the papers about the secret royal love child?” Papazyan drummed his fingers on the table.

  “What about them?”

  “Is there any truth to them?” His eyes bored into her. “Surely, you must have heard something from the prince about it.”

  Katie waved off the question. “He’s given me no reason to think the rumors are true.”

  “Would you stake your livelihood on it?”

  There was a gleam in Papazyan’s eyes that made her feel vaguely ill.

  Katie couldn’t find the words to answer.

  “Ask him about it,” Papazyan supplied. “Get him talking. Do whatever you need to do.”

  “For what? They’re just rumors.” A clock on the back wall of the little shop seemed to tick louder with every passing moment.

  “For confirmation.” Papazyan spread his hands in front of him and softened his tone. “This could lead to big things for you in your journalism career.”

  Katie swallowed hard and stood up. “I have to go.”

  He didn’t stop her.

  He didn’t call after her.

  It didn’t make Katie feel any better about what she was doing—and what she’d already done.

  She was doing it to protect them. All three of them. Armin, Lily, and Seraphine. If she didn’t pacify Papazyan with little tidbits, he might find something big about them. She didn’t know what it could be, but there was no way she’d let him sniff that closely. She still loved journalism, still wanted to return to that career someday, but Papazyan was an object lesson in how important it was to maintain a moral center in a newspaper. Without it, you had something that was just…sordid and wrong.

  Katie went into a shop on the way back to Whitestone and grabbed a few things. Sunblock. A beach towel. Random vacation things.

  In fifteen minutes, she was back at the palace. The girls were with Armin in their room, beside themselves with excitement.

  “Ready to go?” he asked her as they whirled through the room.

  “Absolutely,” she said, and she promised herself then that she’d put it aside. All the guilt. All the gross feelings about Papazyan.

  Right now, it was time to enjoy the moment. Or at least she should try really, really hard.

  * * *

  The villa was gorgeous.

  It was, of course, classically beautiful, with endless white bricks and smart black shutters that made it look like a fairy tale castle. Katie suspected that Armin wasn’t one to be left breathless by castles, since he’d always been steeped in royal traditions, but still—she could see the way his shoulders dropped in relief and relaxation as they crossed the threshold. He gave them all an expansive tour, showing them to their rooms on either side of a wide, sunlit hallway on the second floor. The prince was still smiling when they tumbled out of one of the back doors and the girls sprinted across the patio to the wide-open lawn.

  “Is everything all right?” he asked, hanging back with her on the patio.

  It was different, now. He’d kissed her. That had happened. She’d admitted that she wanted it, and he had done it, and now…

  Now what? They were on vacation together, though there was still that lingering tension. Armin was her boss. But he had kissed her.

  And she had loved it.

  Her body ached for more.

  Not that she could say that now, with the girls right in front of them and no privacy in sight for hours.

  She smiled across at Armin, struggling to dance on that line between personal and professional. “I’m well. Maybe a little tired from traveling.”

  Something flashed in his eyes, and Armin opened his mouth as if he were about to say something…naughty. A joke. A double entendre. But instead—

  “I thought that you’d like some time away from town,” he offered. “Given how busy we’ve kept you lately. But now…” Another flash in those eyes, which quickly mellowed to a faux concern. “Now I’m beginning to wonder if it’ll wear you out.”

  Pleasure dropped into the center of her like a raindrop on an open lake.

  There it was.

  The very hint of a dirty joke.

  So regal. So royal.

  “That remains to be seen,” Katie said lightly, looking away.

  “Are you sure you’re happy to be here?” Urgency tinged his voice.

  “I am happy.” Katie turned her focus on the girls up ahead, who had run in a wide circle and were now sprinting across the lawn. “It’s a good thing for me to…to get away from our routine. Not that I have a problem with it,” she said with a little laugh. “We’re all mostly content with the schedule. But it’ll be nice for them to have a break, too.”

  Lily and Seraphine plunged headlong into a garden, where they were quickly hidden by the hedges. Armin and Katie’s conversation stopped while they chased after the two sprites.

  On the other end of the garden was a hidden lake.

  Katie gasped at the sight of it—the shining, clear water. “I had no idea there was a lake here.”

  “And a boathouse.” Armin pointed up the shore to a white building snuggled up to the water. A dock jutted out halfway between the building and where they stood, and a strip of gleaming sand formed a beach.

  The girls stood ankle deep in the water, shouting just to hear their voices echo back across the little lake. Then, with a mischievous look in her eye, Lily scooped a hand into the water and splashed Seraphine.

  “Lily!” Seraphine’s face was the picture of shock. “Why did you do that? My dress is wet!” Her face reddened.

  “It’s only a little wet,” shot back Lily. “I was having fun. It’s water anyway. It’s not like I dumped juice on you.”

  “You might as well have,” answered Seraphine sharply.

  Armin didn’t hesitate. He waded into the water too, not bothering to roll up his pants. He only stopped to kick his shoes and socks off. “Girls.” He came up alongside them in the water, towering over them. “There’s no need to fight like this. Let’s all calm down.”

  Seraphine rounded on Armin. “Calm down? I’m not going to calm down.”

  “Seraphine—”

  “It was just water,” insisted Lily.

  “I don’t have to calm down,” Seraphine shouted. “I don’t have to do what you say, because you’re not our real father and you never will be.”

  Katie didn’t take off her shoes. She didn’t take off her socks. She went into the water and reached them in four long steps.

  Armin was frozen, looking down at Seraphine, and the girl was shaking, her expression flinging back and forth between anger and hurt and fear.

  “Seraphine, I understand how you feel.” She reached out a hand to the girl, who crossed her arms over her chest. “I understand.” Katie kept her hand extended until Seraphine relented, putting her little hand in Katie’s. “But the way you spoke to Prince Armin was unkind. Please apologize to him.”

  Seraphine looked down at her own feet in the water. “I’m sorry.” She flicked her eyes to the side, next. “I’m sorry to you too, Lily.”

  “It’s all right,” Lily huffed.

  Seraphine waited, eyes on the little waves.

  “I accept your apology,” Armin said stiffly. There was another beat during which Katie thought things might turn around, but Armin didn’t smile. “Let’s all come out of the water.”

  A black cloud seemed to hover over them as they made their way back to the villa, which had lost some of its shine. Or maybe it was just the mood that had been dampened, along with their clothes. A cloud passed over the sun as they went in the back door, and Katie missed the heat and brightness.

  “Girls, let’s go change. Put on swimsuits if you want to play in the water any more this afternoon.” She took them to their room, but neither one wanted to go back to the lake. They settled on comfortable sundresses, and then Lily found a bookshelf
stuffed with books about horses. In fifteen minutes, they were both lying across one of the beds, picture books open on the bedspreads.

  All was quiet and calm.

  Katie went back out into the hall to find Armin.

  He was in his own room, sitting in an elegant chair, bent forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

  She tapped her knuckles softly on the doorframe, and when he looked up at her, Katie saw him—Armin the man, not Armin the prince.

  “I handled it all wrong,” he said, his voice ringing with disappointment. He looked out the window. “Maybe I should let you handle those kinds of things in the future.”

  It was as much of an invitation as anything else. Katie stepped into the room, coming level with his chair.

  “The first thing you should know, Prince Armin, is that the girls are calm and happy right now. They’re reading in their room.” She gave him a little smile. “You must have chosen that room on purpose. They’ve already found the books.”

  He laughed, a short burst. “I had a selection brought up while we were traveling.”

  “See? You do get it right.”

  Armin frowned. “Not nearly enough.”

  Katie took a deep breath. “When I was in college, I was a nanny for two children.”

  He looked at her, crooking one eyebrow. “I know that.”

  “Yes, but what you don’t know is that those children had just lost their mother three months before I took the job.”

  “Ah.” Armin’s eyes were glued to her.

  “They’d lash out sometimes. It would seem…unrelated to anything that was happening in the moment. It would seem to come from nowhere. Screaming fits. Tears. Accusations.” Katie shook her head, her heart still aching for those children. “But it wasn’t about me. Just like Seraphine’s comment earlier wasn’t about you.”

  “No?” Armin’s jaw tensed. “It seemed to be very much about me.”

  “It’s about her own grieving process. And, honestly, sometimes kids are little assholes. Dealing with that is just part of parenting.”

  This time, Armin’s laugh was genuine.

  “I’m sure you weren’t always a little angel,” Katie prodded.