So he had a very large advantage over Ayme. He certainly couldn’t expect her to share his goals when she’d never even heard of most of them and wouldn’t know what to do with them if she had.
Their conversation had faded away by now and she spent some time watching the countryside roll past. Morning had come and gone and afternoon was sending long shadows across the land. The countryside was much more interesting now with its checkerboard fields and beautiful green hedgerows and the quaint little towns. This was more like the England she’d expected to see.
But the unanswered questions still haunted this trip as far as she was concerned. Where were they going? And why?
They stopped for petrol and David noticed a park nearby.
“Want to get out and stretch your legs?” he suggested as he maneuvered the car into the little parking lot next to a large tree. “I need to make a phone call.”
They got out of the car and he strolled out of listening range. She let him go. There was no reason to resent his wanting privacy, after all.
He looked back as their paths diverged. He didn’t want her to get too far away. But he needed to make contact with his brother.
Once he had Monte on the line, he filled him in on Ayme and the fact that he had her in tow. Monte was not enthusiastic.
“You’re not bringing her to Italy, are you?”
“No, of course not. I’m taking her to my sister’s. Marjan will take good care of her.”
“Good.”
“But in the meantime, I’d like you to do me a favor.”
“Anything. You know that.”
“Just information. First I need to know about a car accident outside of Dallas, Texas, sometime last week. A young woman named Samantha Sommers was killed. I’d like a brief rundown of the facts in the case, the survivors, etc.”
“I’m jotting down your info as we speak.”
“Good. Besides that I’d like anything you can find on Ayme. Her name is Ayme Sommers. She’s an attorney for a law firm in Dallas that has a division which specializes in Ambrian immigration issues.”
“Will do.”
“And here’s another one. There seems to be someone—probably in the greater London area—who is fathering babies under the guise of being Prince Darius.”
That gave Monte pause. “Hmm. Not good.”
“No. Do you think you can make inquiries?”
“I can do more than that. I can start a full-fledged investigation on that one.”
“Without identifying your own interest in the case?”
“Exactly. Don’t worry. I can do that easily.”
“Good. I figure he’s either found a way to make time with the ladies using the royalty dodge, or…”
“Or he’s an agent trying to flush you out.”
“You got it.”
“I’m voting for the latter, but we’ll see.” Monte’s voice lightened. “In the meantime, David…a bit of news. I’ve found the perfect wife for you.”
David’s head reared back. Despite his overwhelming respect for his brother, that hadn’t sat well with him from the beginning.
“I don’t need a wife right now,” he shot back. “And if I did, I could find my own.”
“You can find your own mistresses, Darius,” Monte said, his tone containing just a hint of rebuke. “Your wife is a state affair.”
David groaned softly, regretting his reaction. Where had his tart response come from, anyway? He and his brother had already discussed this and he knew very well that he needed a wife to help support the cause. The right wife. It was one of the obligations of royalty.
The two of them had pledged that everything they were going to do from now on was going to be for the benefit of Ambria. No self-serving ambitions or appetites would be allowed to get in the way. They were both ready to sacrifice their private lives—and even their actual lives if it came to that. He was firmly committed to achieving their goals. Nothing else mattered.
“Families are the building blocks of empires,” Monte was saying blithely. “We need you to be married and to have a solid relationship. We’ve talked about this before. I thought you were on board.”
“I am,” David put in hastily. “Sorry, Monte. I’m just a little tired and short tempered right now. Don’t pay any attention.”
“Good. Wait until you meet her. She’s beautiful. She’s intelligent. And she’s totally devoted to overturning the Granvilli clan’s totalitarian regime. She’ll fight by your side and rule there, too, when we achieve our goal.” He chuckled. “I’m not worried about how you’ll react. She’ll knock you out when you see her.”
“I’m sure she will.”
But David grimaced, wondering if Monte wasn’t perhaps overselling the case. He’d known a lot of bright, gorgeous and astonishing women in his time. So this was another one of them. Readiness to fight for the cause would be just the icing on the cake. He’d seen it all before.
But he couldn’t completely discount Monte’s opinion. He’d spent so many years adrift, not knowing where he was going or what he wanted to do with himself. He’d done well in his Dutch father’s business, but his heart wasn’t in it.
Once he and Monte had found each other, their future trajectory became clear. Now he knew what he was on earth to do. He had a new seriousness and a sense of purpose. His life had meaning after all. Finding the rest of his family and restoring them all to power was all he lived for.
“Keep me apprised as best you can. Let me know where you are if you can.”
“I will.”
Ringing off, he started back to join Ayme and the baby, stopping only to toss the cell phone into a trash can. You couldn’t be too careful and he had a stock of extras, just in case.
The park was pretty and green and centered on a pond with a small bridge over it, creating a lovely vantage point for watching small silver fish swim by below.
“Look, Cici. Look at the fishies,” Ayme was saying, holding the baby precariously at the rail and making David laugh. Still, he moved in quickly to avoid disaster.
“She’s a little young for a swim,” he commented. “Here, I’ll take her.”
And he did so easily. Ayme sighed. It seemed to come naturally to him and she was having such a hard time with it.
She watched him for a moment. He glanced up and caught her eye, but she looked away quickly, still uneasy, still not sure what the point of all this was. The questions just kept bubbling up inside her and she needed some answers.
“Okay, here’s what I don’t understand,” she challenged him as they walked through the grass. “If you’re Dutch, how come you care so much about Ambria? What is your tie to the place?”
He looked startled, then like a man trying to cover something up. “Who says I care so much about Ambria?”
“Oh, please! It resonates in everything you say.”
Hmm. That wasn’t good news. He was going to have to be a bit more guarded, wasn’t he? Still, it did seem churlish to keep such basic information from her. It would all be common knowledge soon enough. Once he got to Italy, all would