“You sounded exactly like Mr. G, Zoe. That was perfect. Tomorrow night your father will read it to you again. Now Dot has to go to sleep. I’ll leave the book with you.” She slipped out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.
Zoe clasped it to her chest as if it were her greatest treasure. Alex’s eyes smarted because lying before him was his greatest treasure. She fell asleep within minutes. As soon as she was out, he left the room knowing Sofia was sleeping in the adjacent room and would hear her if she woke up.
He strode through the palace, intending to talk to Dottie before she went to bed. Hector met him as he was passing his grandmother’s suite on his way to the other wing.
“The queen wants to see you before she retires.”
His brows lifted. “You wouldn’t by any chance be spying on me for her, would you, Hector?”
“I have never spied on you, Your Highness.”
“You’ve been spying for her since the day Stasi and I were born, but I forgive you. However, Stasi might not be so forgiving once he’s crowned, so remember you’ve been warned. Tell the queen I’ll be with her in ten minutes.”
He continued on his way to Dottie’s apartment. After he knocked, she called out, “Yes?”
“It’s Alex.”
The silence that followed was understandable. He’d never used his given name with her before, or given his permission for her to use it. But considering the amount of time they’d been spending together since her arrival at the palace, it seemed absurd to say anything else now that they were alone. “Would you be more willing to answer me if I’d said it’s Zoe’s father, or it’s your Royal Highness?”
He thought he heard her chuckle before she opened the door a couple of inches. “I was on the verge of crawling into bed.”
Alex could see that. She’d thrown on a pink toweling robe and was clutching the lapels beneath her chin. “I need to talk frankly with you. Zoe has decided you’re her new mommy. She got hysterical tonight when I tried to tell her otherwise.”
“I know. She’s told me on several occasions she wishes I were her mother. This happens with some of my youngest students who don’t have one. It’s very normal. I just keep telling them I’m their teacher. You need to go on telling her in a matter-of-fact way that Princess Teresa was her mommy.”
“I did that.”
“I know. I saw the photograph and see a lot of the princess’s beauty in Zoe. What’s important here is that if you don’t fight her on it, she’ll finally get the point and the phase will pass after a while.”
“That’s very wise counsel.” He exhaled the breath he’d been holding. “You made a breakthrough with her tonight.”
“Yes. I’ve wanted her to feel confident about one sound and now it has happened.”
“How did you know she would do it?”
“I didn’t, but I hoped. Every success creates more success.”
Talking through the crack in the door added a certain intimacy to their conversation, exciting him. “Her success is going to help me sleep tonight.”
“I’m glad. Just remember a total change isn’t going to happen overnight. Her vowels are coming, but G is only one consonant out of twenty-one. Putting that sound with the rest of a word is the tricky part.”
“Tricky or not, she mimicked you perfectly and the way you read that book had her spellbound.”
“There was only one thing wrong with it.”
“What’s that?” He found himself hanging on her every word, just like his daughter.
“It didn’t have a page that said the prince stopped rrrrruling and said good-night.”
Alex broke into full-bodied laughter.
Her eyes smiled. “If you’ll forgive me, you should do that more often in front of Zoe, Your Highness.”
“What happened to Alex? That is my name.”
“I realize that.”
“Before I leave, I wanted you to know that I’ve worked things out with my internal affairs minister so I can eat dinner with my daughter every night. From now on he’ll take care of the less important matters for me during that time period.”
“Zoe’s going to be ecstatic!” she blurted, displaying the bubbly side of her nature that didn’t emerge as often as he would have liked to see.
“I hope that means you’re happy about it, too, since you’ll be joining us for our meals. Good night, Dottie.”
“Good night, Alex.”
She shut the door on him before he was ready to leave. After being with her, he wasn’t in the mood to face his grandmother. As he made his way back to her suite, he thought about his choice of words. The only time he’d ever faced the queen was when he’d been a boy and had a reason to feel guilty about something.
Tonight he had a strong hunch what she wanted to discuss with him. After Zoe’s nightmare, now he knew why. If she’d told Yiayia that Dottie was her new mommy, nothing would have enraged his grandmother more. She would have told Zoe never to speak of it again, but that wouldn’t prevent his daughter from thinking it in her heart.
Until the phase passed, Dottie had said.
What if it didn’t? That’s what disturbed Alex.
Zoe’s insistence that Dottie was her new mommy only exacerbated his inner conflict where the speech therapist was concerned. Since he’d peered into a pair of eyes as blue as the flowers fluttering in the breeze around the palace in Aurum, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.
In truth he had no business getting physically involved with someone he’d hired. He certainly didn’t need the queen reminding him of what he’d already been telling himself—keep the relationship with Mrs. Richards professional and enjoy the other women he met when he left the country for business or pleasure.
Too bad for his grandmother that he saw through her machinations and had done so from an early age. She always had another agenda going. Since Teresa’s funeral, she’d been busy preparing the ground with the House of Helvetia. But until Stasi married, she was biding her time before she insisted Alex take Princess Genevieve of Helvetia to wife for the growth and prosperity of the kingdom.
Lines darkened his face. The queen would have to bide away forever because Stasi would be the only one doing the growing for the Constantinides dynasty. He was the firstborn, Heaven had picked him to rule Hellenica. Ring out the bells.
Alex had a different destiny and a new priority that superseded all else. He wanted to help his daughter feel normal, and that meant coaching her. With Dottie’s help, it was already happening. She understood what was going on inside Zoe. Her story about her own stuttering problem had touched him. He admired her strength in overcoming a huge challenge.
His first order of business was to talk to Stasio tonight. His brother needed to come home now! With Alex’s work schedule altered, he could spend the maximum amount of time with Zoe and Dottie throughout the day. It was going to work, even though it meant dealing with his ministers in the early morning hours and late at night when necessary.
Once Stasio was home, Alex would move back to the island of Aurum, where he could divide his attention between helping Zoe and doing the work he’d been overseeing for the country since university. With Dottie installed and a palace staff and security waiting on them, Zoe couldn’t help but make great strides with her speech and he’d convince Dottie she couldn’t leave yet.