Chapter Ten

THERE WERE THREE KINGDOMS, Lily learned on the flight to Monteverde’s capital, that had once been a single country. But more than a thousand years ago, three feuding brothers divided the country between them when their father died. Montebianco, Monteverde and Monterosso were now ruled by the descendents of those brothers—though the connection was so far in the past they were no longer related except in the most distant way.

Montebianco and Monterosso had good diplomatic ties, and had done for over one hundred years now. But Monteverde was the odd kingdom out, the one ruled by a tyrant who controlled his people’s access to news, the Internet and travel. They were an insular people, but they had many things to offer if free trade could be established. The Monterossan king refused to negotiate with King Paolo, but Montebianco was the peacemaker of the three. Good relations, Nico explained, would benefit everyone.

Lily had never ridden in a helicopter, but she had a feeling this one did not quite count. The interior was plush, like Nico’s jet, lined with cushioned seats and polished wood. “Marrying me ruined everything, didn’t it?” she asked when he’d finished his discourse on regional politics.

His expression didn’t change. “It did not please Paolo, no.”

She wondered if he regretted his hasty decision to marry her, but she could not bring herself to ask it right now. She’d been angry last night, and she’d as good as said that her life would have been better if he hadn’t forced her into marriage.

And yet she wasn’t certain it was the truth. Yes, she’d have her independence—but she wouldn’t have the freedom to be the kind of mother she’d been lately, the sort of mother who had the luxury to spend as much time with her baby as she wanted. She’d still be working long hours to provide a good home for them both and wondering when life would ever get easier. Her baby would be spending most of his time in day care instead of with her. Though Nico had taken much from her, he’d also given her a precious gift. If he said that he regretted it, she wasn’t sure how she would handle it.

Instead, she turned to the window and watched the darkness slide by until the lights of a city appeared on the horizon. Once they arrived at the seaside fortress belonging to Monteverde’s king, their six-man security team, clad in black suits and probably packing enough artillery to take over a small country, preceded Nico and Lily out of the helicopter and took up stations to await their descent. Nico went first, then held out his hand and helped Lily to the landing pad.

A man in a white dinner jacket and bow tie came forward and bowed deeply. “Serene Highnesses, welcome.”

Lily bit the inside of her lip and followed Nico’s lead. She had to relax, had to get through this night and the inevitable meeting with Princess Antonella so that she could return to the palace and hug her baby close again.

Would she lock the bedroom door tonight? Or should she encourage Nico to join her? She was still angry with him, but perhaps they could move forward if they reconnected on the intimate level they’d shared at his house on the beach.

“Relax, Lily,” Nico said quietly, looping her arm inside his and placing his hand over hers. “You are the Crown Princess of Montebianco. You outrank everyone here with the exception of the king. Remember this when you feel overwhelmed.”

“I just want it over with,” she said through the smile she’d pasted on her face as they passed between two rows of onlookers on the portico.

“It will be so soon enough,” he said as they entered the interior.

Not soon enough for her liking.

They stopped in front of a large set of double doors, and the man who’d escorted them spoke to Nico in Italian. When he was finished, Nico bent to whisper in her ear.

“They will announce us, and we will enter onto the ceremonial staircase. We stand while the photographers take our picture, and then we descend. The king is not yet in attendance, but will appear after we’ve arrived.”

“So we don’t upstage him?”

“Precisely, cara.”

Somehow, she got through the grand entrance, the photos, and then down the stairs—without stumbling on her high heels—to a large ballroom that had fewer people than she’d expected. It wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t packed, either.

Nico handed her a champagne flute. She took it, but did not drink. If anything, she needed a clear head tonight. They did not have long to wait before King Paolo arrived. He was a large, florid man, dressed in a uniform that was dripping with jewels and medals. At his side was a woman who made Lily’s heart stutter in her chest.

Princess Antonella was the most graceful, elegant creature she’d ever seen. Her long, thick hair was swept into a pile on her head; her tiara made Lily’s look puny, and she wore a deep ruby gown that set off her hair and skin to perfection. She walked with a lush, sensual roll of her hips that was most surely designed to rivet the attention of any male within sight. Lily wanted desperately to look at Nico, to see if there was regret or lust on his face, but to turn away would be an insult to the king.

And perhaps it was a blessing she couldn’t look at Nico. Was she truly prepared to handle what she saw there?

Instead, she focused on the couple coming down the stairs. Antonella’s beautiful face was set in a cool, detached mask while the king looked gruff and arrogant. From the corner of her eye, Lily saw Nico bend at the waist. At the last second, she remembered to drop into a curtsy.

“Welcome to Monteverde, Your Highness,” King Paolo said to Nico, ignoring her altogether.

“We are delighted to be here, Your Majesty,” Nico replied smoothly, though she knew it was anything but the truth. “My wife and I thank you for your hospitality.”

“Come then, let me introduce you to some of my government ministers,” the king said to Nico. “Antonella, entertain the prince’s companion.”

Lily watched them go, her heart pounding so hard she thought everyone could surely see it, and then turned to the woman who would have been Nico’s wife had it not been for her. She expected to see hatred, but Antonella’s expression remained cool and controlled. “Principessa, do join me.”

She led the way to a small sitting area off one end of the ballroom. A few other women occupied the space, but found a reason to leap up and fade into the background as soon as Lily and Antonella appeared.

Lily sank onto a chair facing her beautiful rival. “I’m sorry you have to do this.”

How hard it must be for Antonella to have to entertain her in public, knowing everyone was watching her be nice to the woman who’d ruined her happiness.

Antonella raised her champagne glass. “It is my duty,” she replied before taking a delicate sip.

That word again. Lily was beginning to hate the sound of it. She turned her head sideways, studying the other woman. Something about her makeup…

“Are you okay?”

Antonella shifted in her seat, rotating the right side of her face away from scrutiny. “Yes. It is nothing,” she said, her fingers straying up to her cheek. “I was clumsy and ran into a door.”

It was possible, Lily supposed, but she didn’t quite buy it. Still, the bruise under Antonella’s eye was none of Lily’s business. It was well hidden under her makeup, though upon closer inspection the purpling skin was obvious when compared with the left side of her face.

Who would hit her? Her father? The idea horrified Lily, but then she’d disliked the man on sight—and Nico’s description of him hadn’t exactly been warm.

But Antonella seemed uncomfortable, so Lily didn’t mention it again. The minutes ticked by as Antonella made small talk, and Lily soon relaxed. She found she couldn’t help but like the princess even if the other woman was so well schooled in proper behavior that her questions were merely polite and not truly because she was interested.

“Your son, he is talking now?”

Lily laughed. “He talks quite a lot, yes.”

“I think I would like a baby someday,” she said almost wistfully.

Lily bit her lip and leaned forward. She hesitated to speak, but decided she had to do it. For her own peace of mind, if nothing else. “I’m sorry if I’ve caused you pain. But I’m not sorry Nico chose to be a father to his son.”

Antonella’s exotic eyes widened. “You love him?”

She’d gone this far; there was nothing for it except to be honest. The feeling was still so raw and new, but she wanted to share it with someone. Was it wrong to do so with this woman who had loved him, too? Or was it right to let Antonella know where she stood? “Yes, I do.”

“Then I am very glad for you. To be in love, it is extraordinary. I wish to feel this for a man someday.” Antonella’s smile was startling—and genuine.

Lily blinked. “You aren’t in love with Nico?”

“Oh good heavens, no,” she laughed.

Lily felt as if a weight had been lifted from her soul. Antonella did not love Nico!

“You seem quite pleased,” the princess said, smiling once more.

“I have to admit I am. I was afraid I’d ruined all your dreams.” But what about Nico? Had he been in love with Antonella? She didn’t think so—but she wasn’t certain. It seemed unlikely. Or did it?

Antonella shook her head. “I was engaged to Gaetano first. Poor man. He chose his path, and that is all any of us can hope to do—though not so tragically, one would hope. When Gaetano died, my father negotiated to wed me to Nico instead.”

Lily remembered her conversation with Antonella in Paris. She’d said she had a habit of chasing away grooms. Now it made sense.

“You will find someone,” Lily said. “It’ll happen when you least expect it, I imagine.”

Antonella frowned. “I am not so sure. Love is perhaps not for me.” Her gray eyes were piercing suddenly. “Be careful, Lily. Prince Nico, he is handsome and pleasing, but he knows these things about himself. He knows how to make women love him. He also knows how to break hearts.”

Lily realized she was clutching her hands in her lap. “I—yes, I know.”

Antonella reached across and squeezed her hand. “I do not wish to upset you. You are a nice girl, but Nico is a jaded man. I would not say this if I didn’t know the truth. He had an affair with one of my school friends a few years ago. She’d been expecting marriage, I think. But Nico found a new woman to amuse himself with and moved on. This is often the way with such men.”

“Such men?” Lily repeated, feeling the twist of the vise around her heart with every word.

“He is a prince, gifted with a handsome face and raised on entitlement. Trust me, I have a brother. I understand this quite well. But do not fret yourself, Lily! Nico may very well be tamed by marriage, and I will have upset you for nothing.”

“No, you’re right. I’d be naive to think otherwise.” Lily sipped her champagne because she needed something to do. The liquid was no longer cold, and the bubbles nearly made her sneeze.

Perhaps she’d need to take champagne-drinking lessons before the next official soiree, she thought sourly. The idea would have made her laugh had her conversation with Antonella not tweaked that insecure part of her that was simply waiting for Nico to live up to his playboy reputation.

And what did she expect anyway? It’d been a little under two weeks since he’d married her, only a couple of days since they’d started having sex. Did she really think he could feel the same for her as she did for him? That his fascination with her body was anything more than the excitement of being with a new lover?

Until last night, he’d said all the right things, complimented her and seemed to enjoy their lovemaking. But was that enough to build a real relationship on? Without Danny, the entire scenario would be moot. He would not have lifted a single custom-shod foot to tromp down to her cell in the police station if she hadn’t been carrying a picture of her baby. It was enough to make her breath catch painfully.

Antonella’s gaze went beyond Lily’s shoulder, her expression morphing from confusion to horror. Lily pivoted in her chair to see what was going on. A group of men in uniform, carrying automatic rifles, stomped toward them. Antonella bolted to her feet. Lily joined her more out of instinct than anything, surprised when the other woman gripped her hand and moved her body in front of Lily as if to shield her.

“What do you want?” Antonella demanded when the men fanned out, taking up position around them.

“Scusi, Principessa Antonella,” a tall, lean man who seemed to be the group leader said. “But we are under orders to take this woman into custody.”

“This woman,” Antonella pronounced, “is the Crown Princess of Montebianco. Surely you are mistaken.”

“No, Mi Principessa, I am not.”

Nico sat in the king’s private study, listening to the man expound on his theory of a united Monteverde and Montebianco forcing Monterosso to bow to their collective wills. It was entertaining, if pointless. The man had despotic tendencies and ambitions that were no good for his country, especially if he truly attempted to put any of his plans into action.

Nico had been introduced to several government ministers, who were only yes-men to Paolo, and then shown to the king’s study where Paolo insisted he share a vintage bottle of Montebiancan brandy and talk.

Or, as it turned out, listen.

Nico was more than ready to leave. He glanced at his watch. Another minute, and he was making his excuses, retrieving his wife and flying home. He’d already been here two hours and Paolo had yet to commit to any of his proposals for getting the treaty back on track.

Maybe Nico’s heart wasn’t in it. He’d been out of sorts since his argument with Lily last night. He’d wanted to go to her, wanted to bust down the door and make love to her until she screamed his name, but he hadn’t been able to make himself act. She’d said he’d made her life worse by forcing her into marriage. And he’d wanted to rail at her that in contrast he’d made his life worse. He was the one justifying his actions to his father, to this irritating man pontificating about alliances and the future, and to himself as he began to wonder whether he’d done the right thing or not.

He’d never wanted a child of his to endure a life like the one he’d had, but had marriage been the necessary vehicle to take care of Danny? Could he not have found another way to provide for them?

Basta, no. He’d done the right thing, the only thing he could do. Lily would learn how to be a princess, and Danny would grow up as a prince and the heir to the throne. What was done was done.

A man came in to hand Paolo a paper, leaning over to whisper something in his ear as he did so. Paolo’s face split into a grin.

“Prince Nico,” Paolo said when the man had gone again. “It seems as if we have caught a thief.”

“A thief? How extraordinary.”

Paolo’s mouth twitched. “Indeed, she is quite extraordinary.”

Nico’s skin prickled in warning.

“I am so sorry to inform you, Your Highness, but it seems as if the woman who accompanied you tonight is part of an international gang of antiquities thieves.”

Nico shot out of the chair just as the door burst open to admit several armed men. He stood there in impotent rage, fists clenched at his side, heart racing, and glared at the man who watched him with an amused look on his face.

“If you’ve hurt her—”

How could he have brought her here tonight? How could he have put her in danger? He should have refused, no matter what his father or Paolo demanded. Ice dripped into his veins. He needed to deal with this man coldly, on his level. He could not afford the distraction of any emotion right now.

“This is what you will do,” Paolo said coolly, all pretence gone. “You will divorce this woman and marry my daughter, as you should have done in the first place.”

“You dare to imprison my wife? To threaten me? You’re risking war, Paolo.”

“You would take your country to war over a woman? Like Menelaus, yes? You know what happened to Menelaus—the beautiful Helen ran off with Paris willingly, and the Greeks spent ten years trying to get her back. Was it worth it?”

“It’s not about the woman,” he bit out. “It’s about sovereignty. You insult my nation with this act of aggression against her Crown Prince.”

Paolo’s face turned an alarming shade of purple as he banged a fist on his desk. His crystal tumbler rattled violently, brandy sloshing over the side to splash the wood.

“You will marry my daughter. I insist on it. I have worked too hard to be thwarted by one such as you.” Spittle formed at the corners of his mouth. “If you don’t do as I say, I will have you both killed.”

Nico was tempted to laugh—until he realized Paolo meant the threat. The man’s eyes gleamed with barely contained madness. He’d thought Paolo was simply stubborn before, but it was much more than that. The King of Monteverde was unbalanced. There’d been rumors to that effect for a few years now, but there were always rumors coming out of royal palaces. He knew that firsthand, which was why he’d given them little credence.

Nico sized up the man before him. He could resist, but what was the point? If he agreed to do what Paolo wanted, then he had a chance to save Lily. Because he would not allow her to remain here as Paolo’s prisoner—even if he had to die to free her. He’d put her in danger, he would get her out again.

“Very well, Your Majesty. But I want to see Lily first. And I want your assurance she will be well treated.”

That this cell was far more luxurious than the one in which she’d been imprisoned in Montebianco was not a comfort. Bars were bars, and guards were guards.

Lily wrapped her arms around herself and stood in the middle of the sumptuously appointed room, an actual palace room with a cell door welded to the frame. Very odd, but then she’d learned that nothing was as she expected it to be since she’d left Port Pierre. Part of her could hardly believe she was here. Another part wanted to howl.

The lean man with the blade-thin nose had told her she was under arrest for her ties to an international ring of thieves who dealt in artifacts. The idea was preposterous, and yet here she was.

She rubbed her gloved hands over her bare shoulders. The chill ricocheting over her skin was the result of bone-deep fear, not from a lack of warmth in her prison. No, the room was everything a guest could want—were she a guest.

Lily sniffed back angry tears. This was all a mistake. She had faith that Nico would fix it. He would not allow his wife to be imprisoned by a neighboring monarch.

Antonella, bless her, had resisted mightily—but orders were orders and the guards were determined to carry them out. Lily finally agreed to go, certain it was a mistake and that it would all be sorted out.

When Nico finally appeared, relief threatened to buckle her knees. Lily flung herself at the bars, reaching for him. “Nico, what’s going on? Get me out of here!”

She had only a glimpse of the fury on his face before he turned away from her as King Paolo came into view. Nico was coldly, brutally angry. If she were Paolo, she’d shrink in terror.

Yet the king merely looked smug. “You have seen her,” he said in English, no doubt for her benefit. “Now you will return home and divorce her.”

“Your word she will not be harmed, Paolo, or the deal is off.”

The deal? “Nico? What’s going on?”

He ignored her. A chill snaked down her spine, even colder than the chill she’d felt when she’d been brought to this room. Why was he so calm, so dispassionate? Didn’t he care that she was in a cell? Or was he truly making deals with this awful man?

The possibility of it staggered her. And the truth. Montebianco came first. He’d told her that more than once. If he had to sacrifice her for his country, he would do so.

Oh God—

“She will not be harmed,” Paolo said. Then he chortled gleefully. “Oh this is fun! I may have forgotten to mention, by the way, that I will soon have your son in my custody. Just in case you have any ideas of reneging on our agreement.”

Lily’s heart stopped. It. Just. Stopped.

How could she worry about herself when her baby was in danger? She wanted to choke the life from this man. From both of them. Fury, dark and cold, ate her from the inside out.

“If you hurt my child,” she swore savagely, “I’ll kill you myself.”

Paolo spun toward her, laughing. “Oh ho, a threat to the monarch’s life. This as well as her involvement with that despicable gang of thieves.”

“You lying bastard,” Lily hissed.

“Lily,” Nico said sharply. “Enough.”

“No,” she shouted, gripping the bars in her fists. “How dare you stand there so passively when this—this man threatens our baby?” Her gaze swung to Paolo. “Tell me right now what you’ve done with my child!”

Paolo’s glee was unholy. “Your nanny is a sweet creature, is she not? And yet she has a price. Everyone does—is that not right, Your Highness?” he asked Nico.

A muscle in Nico’s jaw ticked, but he didn’t reply. How could he stand there so mutely? She wanted to shake him, scream at him, make him act! He wouldn’t correct the media, and now he wouldn’t stop this evil king? What kind of man was he?

“Yes,” Paolo said again, “everyone has a price. Mine is that you marry my daughter and make her your queen.”

Lily felt as if someone had yanked the floor out from under her. She gripped the bars in an effort to hold herself up. Nico would not agree to this. He would not, would not—

“I have said I will do so,” Nico replied. “But I want my son back immediately. Without him, there is no deal.”