my shoulders. I didn’t know how to say goodbye to her so I chose not to. That’s what drove her to do something reckless enough to cause real trouble. While the funeral was going on, I thought it the best time to leave.”
Palace gossip had reached his ears that now her father was dead, her marriage to King Nic was imminent. Dizo hadn’t wanted to deal with the pain and thought to escape it by going back to Sardinia.
Who would have dreamed Gina would come after him like that? It wouldn’t surprise him if he were suddenly struck by lightning for feeling the joy of it. Heaven knew he’d been playing with fire for years, but he was so selfish, he hadn’t counted on anyone except himself getting burned.
“I’m going to phone the palace. Her secretary will get word to her I’m here in the greenhouse waiting to talk to her.”
Dizo’s father patted his arm. “Corragio, figlio mio.”
This went beyond courage. Dizo didn’t have a choice but to face the situation head-on. A scandal like this would rock Nic’s world. It would undermine the honor of both his family and Gina’s.
He thought of other royal families who’d been caught up in similar situations. Once the press got wind of what was going on in Castelmare, their lives would never be the same. They’d all be labeled and crucified. The torment would never end.
For himself, it didn’t matter. For Gina, he would do whatever it took to protect her.
CHAPTER TWO
REGINA was on her way home from a town council meeting when she saw that her secretary was trying to reach her. She answered the call. “Si?”
“Your Highness? Dinozzo Fornese is in the greenhouse awaiting your instructions about the trees you want planted at your father’s grave. What shall I tell him?”
At last!
Her pulse raced so fast she went weak from excitement. “Tell him not to leave yet. I’ll join him within five minutes.”
“Very well.”
After hanging up, Regina told her chauffeur to drive her straight to the greenhouse at the northwest end of the palace grounds. Dizo wouldn’t have asked her to meet him there if his father and brothers were still around. This summons meant he’d arranged it so they would be alone. Good. No Guido to interfere.
She smiled. No matter how angry Dizo might be with her, he hadn’t been able to forget memories of last night and this morning—those moments of unleashed passion they’d shared even in his highly inebriated state. His desire had brought him back on the first plane leaving for Nice.
Regina had never seen him drunk. Her tall, intelligent, fiercely proud, disciplined Dizo with those aquiline features and piercing black eyes of his Sardinian race didn’t make mistakes. Except for last night.
To realize his secret flight from Castelmare to Sardinia had to be shorn up by emptying a bottle of alcohol lent him the vulnerability she’d been waiting years to discover. He would have slept in the truck for the rest of the night if she hadn’t opened the door and coaxed him into her arms.
Caught with his guard down, he’d succumbed to her kisses. By the time they reached the back room he hadn’t fought her as she helped him get ready for bed. Once her jacket came off, he pulled her down almost savagely and began kissing the daylights out of her.
She moaned when the alcohol he’d consumed finally took over and he fell asleep first. Regina slept a little, but toward morning she awakened to study the beautiful man who held her so possessively even in sleep. The hair on his chest matched the darkness of his wavy hair he wore longer most of the time because he was too busy to get it cut.
Though she had olive skin, his was darker. Such a strong, powerful man could have no idea how safe she’d felt cocooned in his arms. She’d pressed her face into his neck, loving the male scent of him. For so many years she’d only been able to look, not touch. To suddenly have him all to herself where she could show him what he meant to her made her euphoric. How could she possibly marry Nic after this?
Breathless for the sight of Dizo, she jumped out of the limo the moment it stopped in front of the greenhouse and told the chauffeur she wouldn’t need him anymore. She noticed Dizo’s rental car parked to the side. It took every ounce of composure to walk inside as if she really were going into the office to consult with one of the gardeners on a legitimate landscaping matter.
Her feet stilled the second she saw Dizo standing in front of a window looking out over the grounds. In a navy crew neck shirt and dark trousers, he took her breath. He was half-turned, giving her a glimpse of his chiseled profile. His thoughts had to be dark for lines to bracket the mouth that had driven her mad with desire during the night. It sent a frisson of nervousness down her spine.
“Dizo?”
His dark head whipped around giving her the full brunt of his scrutiny. With no alcohol left in his system he was totally in charge. Gone was the lover who’d cried her name over and over before morning, begging her never to leave him. Her joy dissipated as she sensed his quiet fury and was shaken by it, but she didn’t dare let him know it.
His sharp intake of breath reverberated in the enclosed space. “The fairy tale came to an end when I woke up and found you in my bed this morning.” His voice grated. “I only have one question.”
She’d anticipated it. “We didn’t cross the forbidden line.”
“Whose fault was that?” His eyes held an ominous glitter.
“I flew to Sardinia to talk to you and find out why you left without telling me, but you were too drunk to do more than kiss me before you fell asleep.”
“Grazie a Dio.” His hands formed fists. “Will you please get your brother on the line and ask him to come down to the greenhouse?”
The blood pounded in her ears. “No, Dizo—”
“Yes, Principessa—” he fired back. “If you don’t, I’ll call him myself right now.”
Regina had never seen Dizo this forbidding in her life. She didn’t know him like this. His mouth had gone a bluish-white around the edges.
“W-what are you going to say to him?” she stammered.
He moved closer to her. “That’s my business.”
She shook her head in terror. “Don’t make me do this.”
“Hand me your cell phone, or do I have to take it from you.”
Her eyes filled with liquid despite all her efforts to maintain control. “Dizo—”
“Tears won’t work. You’re about to be married to another man. End of story!” He grabbed her purse and felt inside for her phone. “Do I surprise your brother who might not be in the right circumstances to hear my voice coming from the other end? Or do you find a way to get your brother down here without causing him any more stress than necessary? The decision is up to you.”
He meant it—every word of it. She hadn’t expected him to go this far. Once Lucca knew…
“Time’s up.” He pressed
