“That’s still relatively young.”
“From my point of view I agree, but my parents had hoped I’d be married by twenty-five and a father by twenty-six. To quote my mother, ‘For you to be thirty-four and still single is positively indecent, Lucca. The whole country is waiting.’”
The way he imitated his parent made Alex chuckle. “At least your mother cares about you and loves you.”
“She does, but there’s more to it than that. My father’s not well and needs to step down. It’s within my power to lengthen his days by becoming king, thus relieving him of all responsibilities, but I can’t become his successor without first taking a wife. Those are the rules.
“As a way of playing on my guilt, my mother and sister continually remind me I’m the only son and the only one who can perform this duty to save the day.”
And Alex had thought she’d lived with a burden all these years.
She smoothed an errant curl away from her forehead. “What’s wrong with your father?”
“He’s had lung cancer.”
“I’m sorry. How cruel to him and hard for all of you.”
“It has been,” the prince conceded, causing her to feel an empathy for him she didn’t want to feel. “Part of his right lung was removed, leaving him in a weakened condition. Though he’s in remission, the doctor says this disease is tenacious and it’s only a matter of time before it comes back. The best medicine for him would be to give up the throne and relax.”
Alex cleared her throat. “Since you love him so much, it seems you don’t have a choice. Is there someone from the royal pickings you believe cares for you enough that you could see yourself married to her?”
“I can’t answer that question since I haven’t given them much of a chance to get to know me. The thought of marriage to any of them is something I can’t abide.”
Well, Alex. Ask a foolish question …
There was one princess Lucca had known for several years. Neither he nor Sofia were romantically involved, but they’d become good friends. Both sets of parents expected them to marry, but she wanted to abdicate her title and serve a humanitarian cause, thus allowing her younger sister to be the next in line. Sofia was waiting for Lucca to marry before she made the secret known to her family.
Out of loyalty to her and her wishes, he’d remained silent. Suddenly restless, he got up from the chair. “I need to choose someone who understands the situation for exactly what it is. No lies. No self-deception or pretense.”
“You mean, someone who has no expectation of love. Is there such a woman?”
“Among my parents’ short list? No.” Except for Sofia. Sofia who devoted her life to charity work in Africa and had a missionary zeal to help people.
He came to sit on the corner of the desk so his legs brushed hers. “But an extraordinary thing happened to me today. I’ve met someone who would be the perfect consort to come to my rescue in this emergency situation. At the same time I could help her in ways no one else can. She’s of royal blood yet is under no illusions about life or me. Better yet, she’s single and uninvolved with a man at present.”
As the portent of his words sank in, Alex’s eyes widened in disbelief. What he’d just intimated was so outrageous, an odd sound escaped her lips. She slid out of the chair to put distance between them.
“You are out of your mind and can’t possibly mean what you’re saying.”
He rose to his intimidating height. “I never say what I don’t mean,” came the words of steel. “When you get to know me better, you’ll realize I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”
She shook her head. “So you’ll pay my mother’s debts if I agree to marry you. Then you’ll become king and two strangers will live unhappily ever after in a loveless marriage with no hope of producing an heir and both of us sneaking behind the scenes looking for fulfillment elsewhere.”
He gave a careless shrug of his elegant shoulders. “If that’s what you want.”
Alex hugged her arms to her waist. “What I want doesn’t come into it. This conversation is utterly absurd! Don’t you know that old movie script has been done and redone ad nauseum?”
One dark brow quirked. “But not to the tune of twelve million dollars. That will be my wedding present to you. In return, you’ll play the loving wife in front of other people, be it my family or the public.”
“I will not!”
“I’ve spent time with your great-uncle,” he continued talking, unfazed by her outburst. “Do you know you have the same regal bearing? I noticed it immediately. The perfect plum from the royal Grigory tree.”
She let out a strangled cry that was probably heard by everyone inside the House of Savoy.
“I meant that as a compliment, Alexandra.”
The way he said her name just now with his slight Italian accent made her body tremble. That angered her further.
“However tarnished the sordid legacy from my mother, I’m not a piece of fruit to be plucked!”
His expression grew solemn. “No. Like a gift from the gods you’ve fallen into my hands at the providential moment to save us both from a hideous fate.”
Hideous was the word, all right. The thought of going back to Los Angeles to face her mother’s creditors, to face poor Manny, let alone live with the smear tactics the media would always use against her caused bile to rise in her throat.
“I’m not asking that this arrangement last forever,” he added in a velvety tone.
“Of course not. Just a lifetime,” she blurted on a note of sarcasm.
One dark eyebrow dipped. “Who knows? Neither of us can see that far ahead into the future.”
She bit her lip. “How inconvenient for you.”
“You have no idea,” his voice grated, conveying some deep-seated emotion that caught her on the raw.
“When is your wedding supposed to take place?”
“Preferably yesterday.”
“Obviously.” She tried to hide her smile but lost the struggle.
“To answer your question, my parents have planned it for a month from today. The wedding ceremony will follow my coronation in the cathedral.”
Only four weeks? “I’m sure a royal wedding takes a great deal more time than that to organize.”
“You don’t know my parents. Everything’s been arranged. It’s only a matter of adding one detail … the name of the woman I’ve chosen. They’ve been living for this day.”
“That’s nice. I can’t say the same thing about mine. Now I’m afraid I have to go. My job is waiting for me back in Los Angeles and I have a plane to catch.” She started for the outer door once more.
“Is it your chosen career?”
When she reached it, she looked over her shoulder at him. “What? Putting makeup on movie stars? No. The job chose me and has kept me alive.”
He moved closer. Her heart did a funny kick. “What job would you choose if you could?”
That gave her pause. “You mean, in my wildest dreams?”
It was his turn to chuckle. “Is it that out of the ordinary?”
“For me, yes.”
“You want to be an astronaut?”
“No.” Her mouth curved upward once more. “This