While they were commenting on the fierceness of the wind, a call came through informing the king that the Loretto sailboat was missing from its slip. Someone thought they had seen Signora Loretto and her daughter out sailing earlier, but they hadn’t come back in yet. Several boats were already out there looking for them.
Abby—
Vincenzo was aghast. She was out there?
The sweet girl who’d always been there for him was battling this storm with her mother, alone?
Fear like Vincenzo had never known before attacked his insides and he broke out in a cold sweat. “I’ve got to find them!”
“Wait, son! Let the coast guard deal with it!”
But he’d already reached the door and dashed from the room. Driven by fear, he raced through the palace. Once outside, he ran to the dock, where a group of men huddled. He grabbed one of them to come with him and they took off in his cruiser to face a churning sea.
The other man kept in radio contact with the rescue boats. Within a minute they heard that the sailboat had been spotted. Vincenzo headed toward the cited coordinates, oblivious to the elements.
The rescue boats were already on the scene as Vincenzo’s cruiser came close to the sailboat. It was tossing like a cork, but he couldn’t see anyone on board. “Have they already been rescued?”
“Signora Loretto was found floating unconscious in the water wearing her life preserver, but there’s no sign of her daughter yet,” replied his companion.
Vincenzo’s heart almost failed him.
Abby had drowned?
It was as though his whole life passed before him. She couldn’t have drowned! He couldn’t lose her! Not his Abby...
“We’ve got to look for her! She knows to wear a life jacket. The wind will have pushed her body through the water. We’re going to follow it. You steer while I search.”
“It’s too dangerous for you, Your Highness!”
“Danger be damned! Don’t you understand?” he shouted. “There’s a seventeen-year-old girl out there who needs help!”
“Tell me where to go.”
He studied the direction of the wind. “Along the coastline near the caves!” Vincenzo knew this coastline like the back of his hand. When a low pressure over the Mediterranean approached the coast from the southeast, the weather could change quickly for the worse and its clear sky change to an east wind. If Abby had been knocked unconscious, too, she could have been swept into one of the caves further up the coast.
When they reached the opening of the largest cave, Vincenzo dove in and swam through to the three hidden grottoes, where he’d been many times with his friends. In the second one, his heart had leaped when he saw Abby’s body floating lifelessly, like her mother’s. Quickly he’d caught hold of her and swum her out to the boat, where he took off her life jacket and began giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. At first there was no response. Her face was a pinched white. Though terrified she was too far gone, he kept up the CPR.
At the last second there came sounds of life, and her eyelids fluttered. He turned her on her side while she coughed and threw up water.
“That’s it, my precious Abby. Get rid of it.”
When she’d finished, she looked up at him, dazed. “Vincenzo?”
“Sì,” he’d murmured in relief. “You were in a storm, but I found you in one of the grottoes and you’re all right now.”
Abby blinked. “My mother?” she cried frantically. “Where is she?”
“With your father.” It wasn’t a lie, but since he didn’t know the whole truth of her condition, he kept quiet.
“Thank God.” Her eyes searched his. “I could have died in there. You saved my life,” she whispered in awe. In a totally unexpected gesture, she’d thrown her arms around his neck and clung to him.
“Thank God,” he’d whispered back and found himself rocking her in his arms while she sobbed.
Vincenzo had never felt that close to another human being in his life. She’d felt so right in his arms. When they took her to the hospital and she learned her mother had died of a blow from the mast, she’d flung herself into his arms once more.
That was the moment when he knew Abby meant more to him that he could put into words. Their relationship changed that day. His feelings for her ran much deeper than he’d realized. To imagine his life without her was anathema to him.
She’d been too inconsolable for him to do anything but let her pour out her pain and love for her mother. His only desire had been to comfort her. He’d held her for a long time because her father, overcome with grief, had to be sedated.
In front of the queen today, they’d both relived that moment. Abby’s outpouring of her soul had endeared her to him in such a profound way, he could hardly find expression. Though he knew it was wrong, he’d decided to break one of his own rules and pick her up from work.
Bianca had put Abby through a torturous session. Despite his guilt in seeking her out for a reason that wasn’t a medical necessity, he couldn’t let it go until he’d seen for himself that she was all right.
“I came to find out how well you survived the day.”
The picture of her in that yellow dress when she’d walked in the room had made an indelible impression of femininity and sophistication in his mind. Bianca couldn’t have helped but notice how lovely she was, along with her moving sincerity. It hadn’t surprised him his mother-in-law had been so quiet after Abby had left the room to go to work.
“My worry has been for you.” She sat down opposite him and fastened her seat belt. “For me, work is the great panacea. But it’s evident the queen has been in absolute agony.”
“She’s flown back to Gemelli with a lot to think about.”
“The poor thing. We have to hope she’ll let go of her preconceived beliefs so she can enjoy this special time.”
There was a sweetness in Abby that touched Vincenzo’s heart. “You’re the one I’m concerned about. It hurts me that you no longer have your mother to confide in.” Until now he hadn’t thought about how alone Abby must feel. Bianca’s castigations had been like a dagger plunged into her, bringing out his protective instincts.
She flicked him a glance. “But I have my father, and I have you and the doctor. Who better than all of you to comfort me when I need it?” Except that Vincenzo wanted to do more than comfort her, God forgive him.
He held her gaze. “I’m sorry if anything the queen said has upset you, but I promise everything’s going to be all right in time.”
“I believe that, too. Did she say anything else?”
“No, but her son Valentino and I are good friends.” When he’d gone with the queen and his brothers-in-law to visit Michelina’s grave once, they’d eaten lunch before he’d accompanied them to their jet. “He’s promised to keep in close touch. Now let’s change the subject.”
“You’re taking too great a risk, Your Highness. We mustn’t be seen out together like this.”
“The limo protects us.” Even as he said it, he was trying to tamp down his guilt over pressuring her when it was obvious she was afraid to be seen with him. He ought to be worried about that, too, but something had come over him.
“Please, Your Highness. The fact that there are so many security men will cause the locals to speculate about who is so important, driving around in the crowded streets. Have the