Chapter Eleven

SOMETIME DURING THE NIGHT, a team of black-clad men with face masks, night-vision goggles, headphones, and weapons burst through the outer doors to her prison and incapacitated the two guards. A voice ordered her to stand back, and then a flash of light split the gloom. Before she could process the popping sound, her cell door swung open and one of the men swept her into his arms.

Lily had no idea who they were or where they were taking her, but she prayed to God it was somewhere safe and that she would be reunited with her baby. She clung to her rescuer’s neck, tired and aching and so, so ready for this nightmare to be over.

The men rushed up to the landing pad where a black helicopter descended onto the tarmac, blades whopping and doors wide-open. They piled in as shouts went up from below. Moments later, the craft levitated to the metallic burst of gunfire.

This helicopter was much louder than the executive version she’d flown in earlier, a stripped-down military monster that made conversation impossible. Lily tried to get away from the man still holding her, but his grip didn’t loosen. As her struggle intensified, he reached up with one hand, stripped off the mask and headset and let them fall.

Lily’s shock lasted only a second. Then she slapped him.

The city looked the same as it had yesterday, and yet nothing was the same. Lily refused to speak to him. Not that Nico blamed her. He sat at his desk staring into nothingness. He couldn’t concentrate on the papers his assistant had given him earlier. The events of the night before had been outrageous, brutal and shocking. He’d wanted to strangle Paolo with his bare hands, yet to do so would have been a death sentence for them both.

Instead, he’d wasted no time once he’d left Monteverde in ordering Lily’s rescue.

He shoved away from the desk and made his way to the nursery. He knew she would be there. She hadn’t left their son’s side since he’d brought her home. He hadn’t wanted to leave, either, but his presence seemed to upset her. For the time being, he’d respected that. But no more.

Sunlight speared into the nursery. Danny was in his crib, napping. The sight of his son curled up with the blue dinosaur sent a wave of emotion through him. If not for the nanny’s decision to do the right thing, he might have lost his wife and child both. A wave of despair tumbled through him at the thought.

A movement caught his eye and he turned his attention to the window. Lily lay on the window seat, head turned to look outside, a book dangling from one hand.

“Liliana,” he said, surprised at how rough his voice sounded. At the mix of feelings tumbling through him. He shut them down without mercy, as he’d learned to do long ago. He already felt so out of sorts that he couldn’t process them right now.

She turned bloodshot eyes on him. “Go away.”

“No.”

She didn’t respond, simply stared out the window. He went to her side, took the book away and sat facing her, trapping her between him and the casing.

“Please don’t touch me,” she said, her voice cracking with the effort to control it.

“I apologize for what happened. I should have refused to take you to Monteverde. I did not trust Paolo, but I didn’t know he was crazy enough to carry out such a scheme. He did not harm you, did he?”

She shook her head.

“Lily—Dio, I’m sorry you had to think I would go along with his plan, but it was the only way—”

“How did he get to Gisela?”

Nico shoved his fingers through his hair. “She has a brother, tesoro mio. He has been in much trouble in the past, and he’d once more fallen in with a gang. He disappeared a few days ago, no doubt on Paolo’s orders. Gisela was offered money and the return of her brother should she hand Danny over when ordered. Instead, she chose to go to the authorities when the command came.”

Wisely, since Paolo would have killed them both once he had Danny. Fortunately, Nico’s men had located her brother; he was now free and would receive the rehabilitation he needed.

Her lip quivered. “I am grateful for that, but—oh God—he’s just a baby. I wanted him to have a normal life, and now this. Will he always be at such risk?” Her head dropped to her knees as she brought them up in front of her, shielding her face from his view. “Of course he will, and it terrifies me. How do you live like this? Wait, don’t tell me—duty.”

“Nothing like this has ever happened before—”

She speared him with a glare. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t again! I thought the media was bad, but what if something happened to one of us? Or both of us? What would Danny do then? And if you tell me the king and queen would take care of him, I’ll scream. Those two shouldn’t be allowed to take care of a goldfish, much less a child—”

“Nothing will happen, Lily,” he said firmly, though he couldn’t disagree with her assessment of the royal couple’s child-rearing skills. “We have taken the men who were behind the thefts into custody, and many of the artifacts have been recovered. It was a Monteverdian gang that Paolo sanctioned in order to finance his greed. Some of the art had been lost along the way, which is how those statues ended up amongst the ones the vendor had. It’s over now.”

“Maybe this time—but what about the next?”

“There will be no next. Paolo was a desperate man, cara. He steered Monteverde into bankruptcy over the years of his rule. The union with Montebianco was necessary for him to infuse his failing government with cash, but it was his last resort. His son has challenged his rule and it looks like he will be removed from power. Then the healing will begin.”

“Things like this don’t happen where I come from. Life is normal.” She gave a half-hysterical laugh, sucked it in sharply. “My God, until last night, I had no idea you were actually in the military, that you would risk yourself in a rescue operation—”

“Did you think the uniform was simply for show?” he said gently. He wasn’t an active member of the Montebiancan navy any longer, but he’d been trained extensively during his time in the service. He’d been advised against the mission because he was the Crown Prince, not because he wasn’t prepared. Nothing, however, could have kept him from going.

“I don’t know what I thought. But I do know I hate it here,” she said softly, her eyes filling with tears again. “I’ve been nothing but miserable since the moment I set foot in this country—no, since the moment I met you two years ago.” She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “God, what an idiot I was to get involved with you.”

“Then why did you do so? You should have given yourself to someone more worthy, then married him and bought your house and picket fence, as you Americans say.”

Her comment stung, though he knew she wasn’t wrong. Far better for her if he’d simply prevented the pickpocket from taking her purse and said goodbye. Instead, he’d been intrigued by her sweet innocence.

She shook her head. “I wish I had. I wish Danny was someone else’s child.”

If she’d pierced his heart with a hot knife, she couldn’t have caused him more pain. But he knew something else now, something he should have recognized long ago.

“Lily, look at me. Please.” He waited until she did so. The move was reluctant, but it was enough. “I should have told you who I was that night. I would say that I shouldn’t have made love to you, but the truth is I don’t regret that. If I’d realized in time, then yes, I should have stopped. But when I knew you were innocent, that I was your first, I should have been truthful with you.”

He lifted his hand to touch her, thought better of it. “The first time is special, for a woman most of all I think. It is your right to know who you give yourself to.”

Her shoulders slumped. “So many shoulds, Nico. Will we ever get it right?”

“Does anyone?”

“When there’s love, then yes, I think so. But you don’t love me. And I don’t love you.” She wouldn’t look at him when she said it. Her words hurt him more than he’d have thought possible. She didn’t love him. What did he feel?

His life was happier with her in it. But was that love? He didn’t know, and couldn’t focus on figuring it out when he was still smarting from the knowledge she didn’t love him.

“I am fond of you, Lily. You have courage and integrity. You are the mother of my son, the mother of my future sons. We will have a good life together.”

“But you will tire of me eventually. And then you’ll go back to your mistresses and party-boy ways.”

“I want no one but you,” he protested, stung.

“Now. It will change, Nico. You’re that kind of man.”

He didn’t know what to say, how to reach her. He just wanted to hold her, but he knew she would not let him right now. “Let us not talk about this yet. When the time comes, we will discuss—”

“When the time comes?” she hissed. She shoved herself up. The book fell to the floor with her sudden movement, but she ignored it. She popped her fists onto her hips and glared at him. “I thought you were out of your mind last night when you came bursting in with a group of commandos, but this absolutely takes the cake—”

Danny’s cry interrupted her speech. She hurried to the crib, swung Danny into her arms and turned back to fix him with a hard look. “Go away, Nico. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

Danny began to wail as she rocked him too hard. He saw the worry and self-loathing on her face, but then she seemed to take a deep breath—and calm washed over her. Danny’s wailing turned softer as she crooned rhythmically.

Nico watched her soothe their son, something in him growing tight and heavy. She shot him another glare, then turned her back on him, shutting him out. Danny looked over her shoulder, but even he turned away without acknowledging his father.

Long after Nico was gone, Lily still wanted to walk out onto the terrace and scream at the top of her lungs. Maybe she would feel better. Most likely, however, she would make her throat hurt even worse than it already did. She’d yelled herself hoarse when Nico left her in the prison cell last night, then she’d cried when she thought she was doomed to stay there. She’d truly believed Nico had sacrificed her for his country’s sake.

But, damn it, she was finished with crying. She had no one but herself to blame for the way she felt about him. She’d known what he was before she’d fallen in love with him. Why he’d risked himself in the rescue operation was beyond her. She did not fool herself he did it because of her.

She watched Danny play with a red fire truck and felt an urge to pick him up and hold him tight. She’d already done that so many times today that he was getting quite fussy whenever she gave in to the urge.

But she’d almost lost him, and it made her feel panicky and on edge. Still, she sat on her hands and watched him play, unable to leave him for more than a few moments at a time. Nico had already sent a new nanny—an older woman with a kindly smile—but Lily was reluctant to retreat for some much-needed rest.

Nothing about her life had been even remotely normal since the moment she’d arrived. She wasn’t kidding Nico about that, though she’d perhaps been a bit harsh when she said that she wished Danny were someone else’s child. She’d been upset, confused. She just wanted a normal life for her and her child. Why was that so much to ask?

“Oh God,” she said, pressing her hands to her eyes again. She had to stop this weepiness. It was ridiculous.

He wasn’t a bad man; he was a good man, a man with a strong belief in doing what was right. He’d married her so Danny would have a father, no other reason, and she had to admit it was noble—even if she didn’t agree with his method or the fact she’d had no say in it once he decided. After his own childhood as the unwanted son under Queen Tiziana’s thumb, she could understand why he did not scatter illegitimate children in the wake of his liaisons.

When he’d learned of Danny, he’d been truly shocked. Since then, he’d done the best he knew how to take care of them both. He was not at all the irresponsible womanizer he’d been made out to be in the media.

She was angry with him, angry with herself, but she’d been wrong to lash out at him the way she had.

And yet, in spite of the way she felt about him, she knew for an absolute fact that she could not live the kind of uncertain life he wanted to restrict her to. She couldn’t share his bed, couldn’t love him and bear his children, all the while knowing he didn’t feel the same. That’s why she’d lied and said she didn’t love him. How could she give him that kind of power over her?

And how, if she did, would she be any different than her mother had been? She’d grown up watching her mother reorder her life—ruin her life—simply to accommodate a man she couldn’t seem to stop loving no matter how he treated her.

Lily would not compromise herself that way. Not ever. And she intended to tell Nico that just as soon as she apologized for saying she’d been miserable since she’d met him.

“Signora Cosimo, can you watch Danny?” she said as she went into the adjoining room.

“Si, Mi Principessa,” the woman replied, curtsying deeply.

He’d made a mess of everything.

Basta! Nico threw down his pen and put his head in his hands. Why, in trying to do what was right, did he keep getting everything wrong?

He’d made a mistake in bringing Lily here. She was beautiful and vibrant, and she loved their son to distraction. And he’d nearly lost them both because he had put them in danger. By forcing her to be his wife, by claiming his son, he’d put their lives on the line. They weren’t accustomed to this life. Danny was young and would learn, but was it fair to force Lily to be something she did not want to be?

He loved his child. And, though his feelings were in a tangle he was having trouble sorting out accurately, he knew he felt something for Lily. It wasn’t the same as what he felt for Danny, which was why he couldn’t quite figure it out. But he cared for her, cared what happened to her—cared very much about her happiness.

She didn’t love him. She’d told him so only hours ago. It still hurt.

What kind of a selfish bastard was he to ask her to give up her life for him? Weren’t there other solutions? He had money, power and the ability to travel when and where he liked. If he let her go, could they work it out somehow?

He didn’t want to let her go. An ugly, selfish part of him raged at the thought of not having her in his life. At the thought of some other man making her his wife. But after everything that had happened, he owed it to her to give her the choice. She deserved far better than he’d done by her thus far. She deserved happiness.

If it was the last thing he did, he would give it to her. No matter how much it hurt.

Reluctantly, and with a sharp pain piercing his chest, Nico picked up the phone.

“Liliana.”

Lily turned her head, stomping down on the current of pain and joy she felt each time he entered the room.

She’d looked for him everywhere earlier, but his assistant informed her he’d gone out. Exhausted, she’d finally given in to the urge to nap. Once she awoke, she’d showered and changed, then she sat on the terrace and watched the white lights of a cruise ship in the distance. It wasn’t dark yet, but the sun had set and ribbons of crimson and purple still stretched across the horizon.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said. “Anselmo said you were gone on business earlier.”

“Si, there has been much to attend to.” He moved with the shuffling gait of someone who was physically exhausted. He dropped a folder on the table before falling into a chair across from her. Before she could say anything, he pushed the folder toward her.

Her mouth felt suddenly dry. “What’s that?”

“The answer, I hope.”

“Answer to what?”

He rubbed his forehead absently, fixed her with a look. “Sign those papers, cara, and our marriage is no more. I am setting you free.”

Lily had to work very hard to sound normal. “Is this a joke?”

“Not at all.” He flipped the folder open, took a pen from inside and clicked it. Laid it with the top facing her. “Sign, Lily, and you may go.”

Anger, fear, despair—she felt them all. “You aren’t taking my son away from me. I told you before that I wouldn’t leave him.”

“Of course not. He will remain with you.”

Lily gaped at him. Was he in his right mind? After everything they’d been through, everything he’d done to bind her to him and get Danny? “You aren’t making sense, Nico.”

“No? It is simple enough, tesoro mio. We will share our son, as many divorced couples do. He is still my heir, and he will need to spend more time in Montebianco as he grows up. But you will have a house here and will be with him.”

Goose bumps prickled her skin. She was so cold all of a sudden. “You’re divorcing me, but you want me to remain in Montebianco?”

“I am settling one hundred million of your American dollars on you, cara, and more in the future should you need it. You may buy a house on every continent should you wish. But I require you to spend time in Montebianco with our son so that he may learn his heritage and his position. Should he choose not to follow me when he is old enough to do so, that is his right.”

Lily stared at the pen in front of her through a blur. He was offering her everything she could have hoped for. Danny would be safe and well. He would only have a part-time father—but that was better than no father. Or, at least it was when that father was Nico. He would not neglect his son, not ever. They could work it out, and her baby would never be in danger again.

Signing was the right thing to do. Earlier, she’d wanted to tell him she would not be a passive participant any longer. They could be married—because she truly hadn’t thought he would divorce her—but she would not share his bed and wonder when he would cast her aside. She felt too much when they were together, and she wouldn’t torture herself like that.

She deserved a man who loved her the way she did him. She wanted that man to be Nico, but clearly he never would be.

“If you are pregnant, cara—”

“I’m not,” she said fiercely, not caring when a tear spilled free and dropped onto the paper. She’d gotten that news when she’d woken from her nap. There would be no baby.

“Ah.”

She stared at him for a long minute, waiting for what she did not know. Did she expect him to confess his love? To tell her it was an elaborate ruse for some reason she couldn’t fathom?

She picked up the pen, hesitated. Would he stop her? But he didn’t move.

Lily had to lean closer to see the line. Another tear spilled, landed with a fat plop on his signature. Quickly, she scratched the pen across the line below his, then dropped it and shoved away from the table.