Kitabı oku: «Wedding Vows: Say I Do»

CHAPTER ONE

“SINCE the last two major college riots, we have to take what happened today seriously, Alex. I’m urging you to move yourself and your loved ones to one of your residences in the mountains away from the public where you’re not so vulnerable.”

“We’ve been over this ground before, Leo. I refuse to let fear rule our lives.”

“Then at least consider permanently closing off public access to the castle and estate. There are too many radical student elements out there wanting to bring down the monarchy. They never stop thinking up new and ingenious ways to wreak havoc for the sheer hell of it.”

“I agree there have always been those fringe elements in society, but I’d rather employ more security than shut myself off from the people.”

In Alex’s six years as king of the Romanche-speaking Valleder Canton in Switzerland, Leo had kept everyone safe, freeing Alex to attempt to do the job his father had done so superbly over a thirty-year period as sovereign.

He eyed Leo, the forty-year-old widower who’d been Interpol’s top agent before becoming Alex’s head of state security. They’d grown to be close friends.

“Tell me what happened.”

“An extremely attractive American woman came through on the 10:00 a.m. tour of the castle. After it was over she told the guide she had business with you and asked that she be given an audience on a private matter. When told you didn’t meet with the public she said, ‘Not even if I have something of value to return to him?’

“Naturally the guide called for security. They brought her by police car to the downtown office. During my interrogation she said she had a ring of yours and knew you would want it back.”

“A ring?”

Alex shook his head. “Where do these crazies come from? The only ring I have is the one my father gave me prior to his death six years ago. You’re looking at it.”

Leo folded his arms. “It’s obvious the woman intentionally created a scene to see what would happen, and of course she got her wish.

“She was searched and her passport seized. When I asked to see the ring, she said she hadn’t brought it with her because it was too valuable. But she had photos of it in the purse we confiscated.”

A sound of incredulity escaped Alex’s lips.

“This woman knew she would be detained and questioned. I’m positive she wanted to see how our security system works at the castle. Since the last demonstrators’ attempt to storm the north gate, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility they’re hatching another plan to get the whole canton’s attention and stir up trouble. Frankly I don’t like it. Especially with your wedding only three weeks away.”

“I don’t like it, either,” Alex admitted in a grim tone. If any of those incidents had hurt one of his family, he’d never forgive himself for not taking greater precautions. Thankfully Leo had been on top of things.

“What do you know about her?”

“She’s a resident of Aurora, Colorado, named Darrell Collier.”

Colorado?

Alex had been there, but he’d also been to several of the states in the U.S., even lived for a short period in Arizona.

“The woman is traveling alone under a newly issued American passport. She’s never applied for one before. Her nonstop flight to Zurich originated in Denver, Colorado, yesterday morning.

“When she deplaned, the douanier asked her the reason for her visit. She said she was taking a short vacation. She rented a car and drove here last night where she stayed at the Hotel Otter. This morning she showed up for the tour.

“I checked her employment. She works for Gold Jet Airlines in the States making reservations. There’s no police record on her, no outstanding warrants for her arrest in the U.S.

“I suppose she could be someone with a mental condition who stopped taking her medication. But my gut is telling me she’s very much in her right mind and working for some anti-royal group trying to discover the castle’s vulnerabilities.

“How many tourists traveling alone go straight from the plane to one castle for a short visit? It just doesn’t add up. So far she’s been calm and cooperative. She’s one cool customer.”

“In other words she’s willing to sacrifice herself for information,” Alex muttered.

The other man cast him a shrewd regard. “She hasn’t committed a crime and knew we had to release her. She’s been escorted back to the airport in Zurich. I’ve already alerted the American authorities. Once her flight leaves for the States, they’ll keep tabs on her. It’s the best we can do about her for now. My main concern is you and your family.”

That was twice in few minutes he’d talked about Alex’s family. Leo had more than a passing interest in Alex’s cousin-in-law Evelyn who lived on the estate and had lost her husband. Nothing would please him more than to see the two of them get together. But since Evelyn was a royal, Leo would never dare to presume.

“Greater measures need to be taken to protect all of you,” Leo emphasized again.

Alex decided to help things along. “Let’s double the security on the whole estate. It wouldn’t hurt if you went along with Evelyn the next time she goes riding or shopping. Warn her and the boys to be extra careful. Coming from you personally, she’ll take it better than from me.”

“I’ll be happy to do that,” he answered in a calm voice, but Alex saw the flare of excitement in his eyes. “This is a start in the right direction. I’ll take care of it immediately.”

As he stood up, he put an eight by ten envelope on the desk in front of Alex. “These are enlarged copies of the colored photos of the ring which could have been purchased in any of the canton’s souvenir shops. There’s an inscription on the band in Romanche, but the sentiment doesn’t send up any red flags. My men are tracking down the regional jeweler as we speak.

“Like I said, she came to the castle with a definite agenda.”

After he left the room, Alex reached for the envelope whose contents served as a reminder of his official engagement to Isabella. It wouldn’t be long before he was a married man. He hadn’t been able to put it off any longer. If it had been up to Isabella, they’d have said their vows several years earlier.

His alliance with the princess of San Ravino, Italy, would cement certain lucrative business relationships Alex’s father had instigated with the king of San Ravino when Alex had been in his mid-teens.

On his father’s death bed he’d said, “A king needs a wife, Alex, and your mother needs a grandchild. Isabella is an intelligent, beautiful woman and will give you children you can be proud of.”

Admittedly Isabella with her black hair turned heads. Nine years younger than Alex, she would be biddable and make the perfect consort. Alex agreed the princess had qualities he admired. There’d be no surprises. Everyone was excited for the wedding. Everyone except him…

With a jerking motion he upended the envelope. Out spilled four photos of a man’s gold ring taken at different angles.

As Leo had said, the colorful enamel work showing the Valleder coat of arms appeared on pins, rings, virtually any piece of jewelry a tourist could take home as a reminder of their trip to the heart of the Swiss Alps.

The last photograph revealed the inscription on the inner band in the Puter dialect. Alex looked closer.

More than a cousin.

He closed his eyes tightly in pain.

This was the ring his deceased cousin, Chaz, had given him on his sixteenth birthday—the same ring he’d somehow parted with during a certain vacation to Colorado when he and Chaz had turned twenty. On that trip his cousin had urged him to forget he was a royal and simply live it up like they were two ordinary guys.

Alex sprang from his swivel chair, hardly able to comprehend that the young woman he’d given it to under fuzzy circumstances could be the woman who’d come to the castle trying to arrange a meeting with him.

These photos were the proof that something of significance had happened on that trip. He didn’t like what he was thinking, especially when his recollection of those events was a blur. This had to be an extortion tactic.

With no time to lose he pressed the programmed digit on his cell phone. It was his private line to Leo.

“Yes, Alex?”

“You’ve more than earned your pay today, my friend.”

“What do you mean? What’s going on?”

Alex wished he knew. “It’s my ring, Leo. One I parted with a long time ago, but the memory is hazy.” Since that experience he’d done everything in his power to be a good king, including agreeing to marry the princess his parents favored. No hint of scandal had touched his life until now, less than a month before his wedding…

“When exactly?” the other man fired.

“Thirteen years ago while I was on a trip, Chaz and I spent a wild night drinking with some girls. Things got out of control. I’d forgotten until I saw the photos.”

Leo let out a low whistle. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

“Don’t be fooled. I have a few skeletons lying around.”

His friend made a strange sound in his throat. “This one might have come back to bite you, if you follow my meaning.”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

Depending on this woman’s agenda, she could hurt him and the people he loved in ways he refused to let happen.

There was a palpable silence, then Leo asked, “How can I help? I’ve done everything to keep this suppressed, but you never know.”

“Tell me about it,” he muttered. “I’m going on a private fishing expedition, Leo. Alert your most trusted men to board my jet within the hour. The second this woman’s flight leaves the ground, I want to be notified.”

“Consider it done.” After another silence, “Alex—”

“I know what you’re going to say, Leo. But I’m afraid the time for damage control was years ago.”

By the time Darrell Collier’s jet landed at the Denver airport, she’d cried all the tears she was going to cry. Her final, fool-hardy attempt to unite her adopted son with his phantom father had completely failed. To her deep-felt sorrow, Phillip would never know the name or the whereabouts of the man who’d impregnated Darrell’s sister before disappearing from her life.

Deprived of the father he’d never known, Phillip was entering his teens with a giant chip on his shoulder.

Darrell loved him with her whole heart and soul, but his anger at fate had made him so difficult to handle these days, she realized she needed to get professional help for him.

Things were building to a crisis state. She felt more helpless now than when Melissa had died after giving birth twelve years ago, leaving Darrell to raise her sweet little dark-blond boy alone.

It had been the two of them against the world.

After her final effort to make contact with his father, it was still the two of them forging ahead alone. That was the way it would always be.

She could only hope that in time he would let the anger go and embrace his life. He had everything to live for, but right now he couldn’t see beyond the unfairness of an existence without a dad. Emotionally he reminded her of Melissa, who’d also felt deprived because of a car accident that had robbed them of their parents.

Her pain had turned her into a willful and tempestuous teen their grandmother couldn’t handle. It appeared history would be repeating itself unless Darrell took an active stance to help Phillip before it was too late.

Having a plan was better than no plan, she told herself as she took the train to get her luggage. After retrieving it, she left the terminal and headed for the parking lot, anxious to get home. She’d been gone three days and missed him horribly. She couldn’t wait to pick him up.

Eventually she reached her compact car. As she was putting her suitcase in the trunk, two men suddenly appeared out of nowhere dressed in shirt sleeves and Jamaica shorts.

“Ms. Collier?”

Though it was midafternoon and there were other people around, she suddenly felt nervous. “Yes?”

They flashed her their photo ID cards.

FBI?

“If you’ll come with us, we’ll take you to a place where you can meet with the king of Valleder in private.”

Darrell was convinced she was hallucinating. After the balmy temperatures in Switzerland, this long walk in the sweltering one hundred degree July heat must have gotten to her.

“The king is here? In Denver?”

“Yes, ma’am. He’s made it possible for you to discuss a certain private matter with him.”

The other federal agent handed her the envelope containing the photos she’d left with the police in the capital city of Bris.

So he had recognized the ring.

After giving up all hope, she was incredulous this was happening now. In a daze she slowly shut the trunk lid.

“The king is waiting. We’ll bring you back to your car later.”

The next few minutes passed in a blur as she was helped into the back seat of an unmarked car. One of the agents sat next to her. The other sat in front next to the driver. At a glance she realized there were several unmarked cars with agents forming a cortege.

The driver left the airport and took the E470, a toll road that eventually led to the Centennial Airport where the private jets landed. They wound around to a gleaming white jet with the Valleder royal coat of arms on the side.

She saw the stairs being lowered. Security people were everywhere.

One of them greeted her after she’d gotten out of the car. Another stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“His Majesty is just inside. Go ahead.”

Feeling she was in some sort of trance, Darrell climbed the steps, wondering if she’d wake up before she reached the opening.

“Oh—” she cried softly when a well honed male who stood six foot three stepped out from the interior.

He was a stranger, yet because of certain physical traits that reminded her of Phillip, he looked familiar, too.

A relentless afternoon sun gilded the natural highlights of his wavy dark-blond hair.

The Internet pictures of the king of Valleder could never do justice to his rugged masculine appeal, let alone capture the intensity of his unique hazel eyes.

His gaze traveled over her classic features that hadn’t seen makeup in twelve hours. It lingered on her puffy, tear-swollen eyes the color of drenched pansies. With her shoulder-length ash-blond hair needing a shampoo, and her aqua blouse and skirt looking less than fresh, she’d never felt a bigger mess.

The realization that she was standing before the king she’d risked a great deal to meet was so surreal, she couldn’t think clearly.

He had her at a distinct disadvantage. As his gaze swept over her feminine attributes, heat rose through her body from her curling toes to the crown of her head.

Compelled by a force stronger than her will, her gaze took in his white sport shirt covering a well-defined chest. He wore tan chinos that molded his rock-hard legs, hinting at powerful thighs.

Looking at him made her realize that one day her tall, lanky son would resemble his attractive father in quite a few ways.

“Ms. Collier, I presume?”

Still in disbelief that he’d flown all this way, she was too tongue-tied to think with any coherence. She cleared her throat. “Yes. I know you’re the king, but I—I don’t know what to call you,” she stammered in embarrassment.

“I realize the situation is foreign to you. Under the circumstances just call me Alex. It appears we have something important to discuss. Please come in.” He spoke impeccable English with virtually no trace of accent.

Once over the threshold, she entered a world where only the privileged conducted business thousands of miles above the earth. Besides everything else, the air-conditioning was heavenly.

He led her to a room with a grouping of furniture much like an elegant den. The second she sat down on one of the couches, a steward appeared with a tray of drinks. She chose cola, then sat on the edge of the luxurious white upholstery unable to relax. Again she had the feeling she was existing in another state of consciousness.

He took a chair opposite her, the picture of urbane sophistication while he drank coffee.

“Why don’t we start by you telling me how you came by that ring.”

He’d come straight to the point, not appearing worried about the history behind it.

Her heart pounded so hard she was certain he could hear it in the confines of the room.

“My sister entrusted it to me.”

He put the coffee cup on a side table and leaned forward. “What’s her name?”

How strange to be talking about her sister, the woman he’d enamored to the point she would have done anything for him, and did.

“Melissa Collier. Does that mean anything to you?”

He eyed her with an enigmatic expression. “I’m sorry to say it doesn’t.”

His response came as no surprise to Darrell. After thirteen years, how many men in his position remembered the names of the girls they’d been with for a one-night stand? Particularly a rebellious yet vulnerable teen like Melissa. She’d probably made up a fake name so she wouldn’t get into trouble with the management where she worked.

He rubbed his lower lip with his thumb, mesmerizing Darrell. “Why didn’t she come to Bris?”

Darrell drew in a shaky breath. “Because she died twelve years ago.”

Lines darkened his striking features. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, sounding surprisingly sincere.

“So am I.” Her voice faltered.

“How did she die?”

There’s your opening, Darrell.

Yet oddly enough she found herself unable to go on. No matter how long she’d prayed for this moment for Phillip’s sake, what the king was about to hear was going to change his life. She found she couldn’t do this to him. The shock would be too enormous to any man, let alone a king—What had she been thinking?

“It doesn’t really matter. All I know is, she wanted you to have the ring back because she knew it was valuable.”

“The ring has gotten my attention. Now I want to know what’s behind it.”

Darrell felt ill. “I—I made a mistake coming to Switzerland. Haven’t you ever made one?” she cried in panic. “Let me just get the ring for you and then you can go home and we’ll forget this ever happened. Please—”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Tears ran down her face. “I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want anyone to be hurt—”

She had to get out of there, but before she reached the doorway, he said, “The best way to hurt me is to make a scene in front of my staff. Why don’t you sit down and answer my question about your sister.”

Realizing he wouldn’t go away until he knew the truth, Darrell wiped her eyes and finally did his bidding.

“Two days after she gave birth to an eight-pound boy, a brain aneurism took her life.”

A pulsating silence filled the cabin.

His body didn’t move, but she saw a flicker in the depths of his eyes, turning them the green of a stormy ocean.

“Do you have pictures of them on you?”

She’d thought he’d deny it was his son, or at least question her outrageous suggestion that he might have been the father.

He did neither. Instead he’d responded in a forthright manner that astounded her.

“I have a packet in my wallet. The photo of Melissa is her junior year high school picture. The rest are pictures of my son taken on every birthday in case I ever found his father and he wanted to see them.”

One dark brow lifted. “Your son?”

“Yes. I adopted him.”

“You never married?”

“No.”

Her hands trembled as she opened her purse and pulled the packet from her wallet.

He got up and reached for it.

She held her breath while he stood there with his legs slightly apart, studying each photograph with an intensity that held her spellbound.

The likeness of his son to him couldn’t be disputed.

“What day was he born?”

“February 27. He’ll be thirteen on his next birthday.”

He examined the pictures for a long time. “What did you name him?” His voice revealed a husky quality that indicated he was deeply moved. Another surprise.

“When Melissa had an ultrasound and found out she was going to have a boy, she named him after you.”

His gaze shot to hers. “I have several names.”

Darrell’s mouth had gone dry. “I know. I saw the long list on the Internet. You told her you were Phil from New York. So Melissa called him Phillip.”

A haunted expression crossed over his features, making the thirty-three-year-old monarch appear older than he was.

“Now that I see her picture, I do remember visiting a dude ranch in Colorado Springs in June thirteen years ago. A college girl a little shorter than you with hair several shades darker than yours worked there.”

“Yes. That was Melissa. She was a room maid for the summer. Except that she wasn’t in college. She was only seventeen, and had another year of high school ahead of her.”

His lips thinned.

“Don’t worry,” Darrell murmured. “I’m sure she lied about her age. She looked older and couldn’t grow up fast enough. She said you’d both been drinking and got into a sleeping bag under the stars. That’s when you parted with the ring.

“Knowing Melissa, she probably begged you to let her put it on. Especially after you told her you were really a prince.

“I thought the whole story was bogus. But two weeks ago when I consulted a heraldry expert who identified your family’s coat of arms, I had to take it seriously.

“The Internet articles and pictures of you helped me with the rest. Not only was one of your names Phillip, I read that you were the prince of Bris before your coronation six years ago. Suddenly everything fell into place. But like all fairy tales, her glorious interlude with you came to a bitter end.

“When she reported for work the next day, you’d already disappeared without a trace. All she had of you was the ring. Before she died, she begged me to find you. After the funeral, I hid it away.”

His jaw hardened. Darrell could feel the tension emanating from him.

“How you must despise me.” His deep voice throbbed with self-abnegation. “Under the circumstances, why didn’t you tell the police what you’ve just told me? It was the perfect opportunity to expose me.”

Though she didn’t want to feel any compassion for him, there was something innately honorable about him owning up to his past behavior without offering excuses.

She hadn’t expected it of him. She hadn’t expected to have a positive feeling anywhere in her body for this man who’d made her sister pregnant, indirectly bringing on her early death.

Darrell rubbed her eyes with her palms.

“The last thing on my mind was creating a scandal for you. What happened between you and Melissa has happened to millions of couples since time immemorial. The difference is, not every child turns out to be the son of a king.

“Phillip wants his father more than you can imagine. Lately he’s been angry over the fact that you’re out in the cosmos someplace, unaware he’s alive. He’s wishing with all his heart and soul that he had a dad like his friends. He’s become quite inconsolable.

“But now that I’ve found you, I realize it was a mistake. I had no right to disrupt your life even if my son is suffering. He wouldn’t be the only child in the world to grow up without a father.

“The problem is, after raising him from birth I love him too much. The saying about a mother rushing into a burning building to save her child is truer than even I knew until now.”

She lifted her head and stared up at him with glistening eyes. “In this life there are some things that happen which are better left alone. This is one of them.”

“How can you say that?” he asked in a low voice. “I’m responsible for her pregnancy. I wish I’d known of Phillip’s existence from the beginning.”

“It would only have complicated your life. While I was checking out of the Hotel Otter, I overheard the desk clerk telling a tourist that there’s going to be a royal wedding at the end of July. I heard him say you were marrying a princess named Isabella.

“Learning you’ve been betrothed for several years, that news made me glad I hadn’t been able to talk to you. Please be assured neither you nor your intended bride will ever see or hear from me again.”

Alex moved as if to speak but Darrell rushed on, not giving him the chance to interrupt her. “If you’ll wait before flying back to Bris, I’ll drive home and ask one of the agents to bring the ring to you.”

She jumped to her feet, “Forgive me for forcing you to fly all this way. I’m so sorry—” she whispered before rushing out of the cabin and down the stairs of the jet.

“Please take me to my car, then follow me home. I have something of the king’s you need to return to him before he leaves the airport.”

The agent looked surprised, but he helped her in the car and instructed the man at the wheel to go back to the main airport’s parking lot.

A half hour later Darrell was still trembling as she pulled into the driveway of her small, two-bedroom condo. The agent’s car pulled in behind her.

She dashed in the house and hurried up the stairs to her closet. The ring was inside a little velvet pouch she kept in the pocket of an ancient winter coat she’d never thrown out.

Within seconds she’d run back outside and handed it to him through the car window. He nodded to her before they drove off, taking all incriminating evidence with them. Only then did she realize the king still had the pictures of Melissa and Phillip.

That was all right. Whatever he did with them, it didn’t matter. She had duplicates.

So…it was over. Phillip’s father would remain Phil from New York. End of story.

The pilot buzzed Alex. “Your Majesty? We’re ready for takeoff at anytime.”

Alex’s hand closed around the ring the agent had brought to him moments ago. “Thank you. I’ll get back to you in a minute.”

He’d laid out Darrell Collier’s photos on the desk in front of him. As he studied each one, his father’s voice seemed to call out from the grave. “Always remember that one day you’ll be King.”

One wild night thirteen years ago he’d rebelled against the rules governing his royal life with this the result.

He actually had a son from his own body named Phillip.

Alex was a father!

Dear Lord—how could he just fly back to Switzerland as if nothing had happened, his secret safely hidden forever?

Maybe an ambitious king with no soul, or an unscrupulous man with no moral conscience, was capable of it. Ms. Collier had made a promise he would never hear from her again, that Phillip would never learn his father’s identity. Alex believed her.

But he knew himself too well. There was no way he could turn his back on his own flesh and blood no matter how the reality would impact his personal or political life. The knowledge that he had a son living in Denver, Colorado, would eat him alive.

Phillip hadn’t asked to be born.

He was the innocent product of an irresponsible twenty-year-old and an underage teen! By some miracle Darrell Collier had been there to mother Phillip and do the job Alex should have been doing all along.