needed to know was that she wouldn’t be returning to California for a while.
Later on she would tell him the truth. He alone would understand why she was ready to do anything to pay off her mother’s debt, even to being a stand-in consort for an equally desperate prince. But kind as Mr. Watkins was, he wouldn’t fail to remind her that two wrongs still made a wrong.
Deep in her psyche Alex knew what she was doing was wrong, but it was far too late to back out now. She was more her mother’s daughter than she wanted to admit.
CHAPTER FIVE
AT QUARTER to five Alex stood in front of the bathroom mirror wearing the newly cleaned and pressed outfit she’d worn to the jewelry store yesterday. The maid who’d taken her lunch tray away had seen to it. Naturally it had to have been on Lucca’s suggestion since he knew Alex only had two outfits with her.
She brushed her freshly washed hair into some semblance of order. It would cooperate for all of five minutes, then the natural curl would take on a life of its own and become unruly once more. In deference to meeting his parents, she applied a soft pink lipstick.
Since talking with her boss and Mr. Watkins, both of whom had been surprisingly understanding and supportive of her plans, she’d tried to sleep, but it never came. No matter how much she rationalized it, her conscience wouldn’t allow her to forget she and Lucca were about to perpetrate a great fraud on his family.
When she heard a knock on the door of the suite, she jumped. Her nerves were frayed to the point she wanted to hide.
“Alexandra? I’m coming in.” The next thing she knew Lucca was striding over the threshold, his hard-muscled legs covered in casual stone-colored trousers.
Her stunned gaze lifted to the navy cotton crew-neck pullover stretched across his powerful frame with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows. With his black wavy hair and striking aquiline features, his looks transcended every known superlative in her vocabulary.
He’d purposely worn an outfit that would make her comfortable in hers. Everything he did was for her welfare, causing her to care a little more for him when she didn’t want to.
They met halfway across the sitting room. To her dismay she was out of breath. His dark eyes searched hers with an intensity that made it impossible to look away. “Only one thing is missing. Stand still while I pin this on you.”
He reached in his trouser pocket and pulled something out. She assumed it was a family heirloom of some kind, but almost fainted when she glimpsed the unmistakable Ligurian diamond suspended beneath a small gold crown. In one deft move he’d attached it to the draped part of her blouse covering her right shoulder.
How could he have had the jewel fashioned into a pin this fast?
She pressed her hand against it, as shaken by the brush of his fingers against her skin through the thin material as anything else. “What have you done?” she cried in panic. “I can’t wear this!”
“Why not?” came his mellow query. “It’s mine to give and was meant to be worn by a woman of your height and looks. No one else could carry it off.”
Heat scorched her cheeks. “I’m not my mother!”
“That’s true. You’re your own self with a little of her thrown in.”
“You know what I meant. This is a mockery.”
“Only in your mind.”
She tried to remove it, but Lucca prevented it, shaking his dark head with a determination that sent shivers down her spine. “This is my signature. The sight of it will convince my father I’m happy with my choice of bride and am ready at last to relieve him of his burdens.”
He had an answer for everything. It stopped her every time. “You should have given this to the woman you love.” Her voice trembled. “She alone has the right.”
Lucca gave an unconscious shrug of his broad shoulders. “You’re going to be my wife. It’s expected that you wear a family jewel. Nothing in the museum would suit you better than this. Are you ready?”
No, she wanted to scream, but she didn’t dare. On the ride to the airport a century ago she’d agreed to marry him and she had no right to question what he felt was necessary to make his parents happy.
After reaching for her purse, she followed him to the door of her suite. As she moved past him their bodies touched. She might as well have come in contact with a current of electricity and rushed into the hall ahead of him.
Carlo stood a short distance away. He probably saw her reaction. Great. Lucca never went anywhere without him. His permanent shadow. The bodyguard probably pitied Alex who was going to be nothing more than a token wife. Alex didn’t want his pity. The thought sickened her.
“Is everything all right?” Lucca asked with concern. “My parents are waiting for me in the sitting room of their apartment, but if you need more time …”
Me, he’d said. Not us. She shuddered.
She flashed him a little smile. “Not time, just courage.”
“I promise you they’re wonderful people.”
“They would have to be in order to raise a man like you … and Regina,” she added as an afterthought so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Already she was letting things slip he could misinterpret.
“She likes you, Alexandra, not simply for my sake.” When Alex shook her head he said, “Believe it or not, that’s what she told me a little while ago. My sister’s a good judge of character. I’m glad you’re going to get along.”
If he was glad, she was, too. He dictated their pace down the hall toward the west end. He had to know she’d never been this nervous in her life. Though he pointed out various murals from his family history in an effort to put her at ease, she wasn’t in a mood to appreciate his anecdotes, amusing as they were.
They could have been out for a leisurely stroll on the palace grounds instead of inside its walls walking the plank. That’s what it felt like to Alex.
When they neared the double doors where more palace personnel were on guard, Lucca reached for her hand. His hooded eyes flicked to hers. “Your presence is going to add a year, maybe even several to my father’s life. For that you have my undying gratitude.” With another disturbing kiss to her palm, he opened both doors.
By tacit agreement they moved inside the sumptuously decorated room, yet it showed signs of modernization with several comfortable-looking couches and chairs with ottomans. Lucca left her side long enough to kiss his parents, who were casually dressed in pants and shirts. Both sat in front of a television set.
While they conversed in Italian, she hung back where she could study his attractive mother. She was small-framed with stylishly short dark hair, an older version of Regina both in coloring and features. Alex sobered, however, at the sight of his thin father, who shut off the TV with the remote. It sounded as if they’d been watching a golf match.
No doubt the recent loss of weight and hair was due to his chemo treatments, but she could tell he’d been a very handsome man when he’d been healthy, just like his son. An oxygen tank with tubes rested against
