saw him? As a royal dilettante? He thought back to his father’s initial reaction when he’d first approached him about bringing new economic life to Aristo.
“What could you possibly bring to Aristo that I have not?” Aegeus said, with his usual imperialistic charm.
A casino, for one. A new commercial port that specialized in handling enormous cargo ships. A colony of upscale second or third or fourth or even fifth homes for multi-billionaires looking for seclusion on the island’s northeast coast overlooking the Bay of Apollonia. He had even managed to divert some of the super-rich from building in the new resort town of Jaladhar on the island of Calista, which, together with Aristo, had made up the Kingdom of Adamas until they’d been declared separate nations by his grandfather, King Christos, more than three decades ago.
So, no. Oh, no. He had never worked a day in his life. He travelled between his offices in New York and Ellos, he flew to all the major cities of the world, met and negotiated with hard-headed businessmen and heads of state and it was all nothing but a wealthy man’s hobby. Or so this woman thought.
He glared at Maria. At the smug little smile on her lips. Part of him wanted to grab her and shake her.
Part wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her until she begged for him to do more.
Thank God he wasn’t fool enough to do either. Instead, he jerked his chin in her direction.
“Coat,” he said briskly. “And shoes. Make it quick or I’ll sling you over my shoulder and carry you downstairs just as you are.”
He would do it, too.
Maria knew that.
So she pulled on heavy socks, a pair of bulky boots she’d bought the winter she’d almost—almost—decided to try skiing, stuffed her arms through the sleeves of a warm but ugly vintage parka she’d found at the Hell’s Kitchen flea market, secured her wild mop of hair with a scrunchy and marched to the door.
Let His Mightiness see what kind of bed-warmer he’d bought himself, she thought grimly.
Useless. He didn’t even blink. Instead, he motioned her toward the steps and followed her out of the building. The snow was still coming down but the flakes were big and slow, the kind that normally turned the city into a wonderland.
She could see nothing wonderful about it tonight.
As they stepped off the curb a uniformed driver sprang from behind the wheel of the big limo, touched a finger to his cap and clicked his heels.
Maria snorted.
Alex ignored her.
“Hans,” he said.
Hans clicked his heels again. Alex thought about telling him to stop doing that but he’d already told him the same thing at least a dozen times. Apparently, Hans was one of those people who dreamed of the grandeur that was royalty.
Maria, clearly, was not.
Hans reached for the bags. “I’ll put them in the trunk,” Alex said sharply. “You see to Ms. Santos.”
Another click. Maria rolled her eyes. Hans swept open the rear passenger door, gave her a little bow as she stepped inside the car. The door shut with the sort of solid ‘thunk’ she figured you expected when a car cost as much as a house. A swirl of warm air, perfumed with the scent of expensive leather, swallowed her up as she fell back into the soft seat.
The only thing that spoiled it was Alex, who opened the other rear door and got in beside her.
“The airport,” he said.
The car moved gracefully from the curb. Maria’s gut moved, too, but not gracefully. What in the world was she doing? She had to phone Joaquin to say she was leaving, and she certainly had to say goodbye to her mother.
“Wait!”
The car stopped. Alex turned toward her. “Whatever you forgot,” he said coldly, “can stay right where it is.”
“No. I mean, it can’t. I mean …” She took a deep breath. “I can’t go with you.”
Alex folded his arms. “We’ve been through all this.”
“I can’t just leave. I mean… I have to let people know. I have to say goodbye.”
“People,” he said coldly. “You mean, your ‘friend’, Joaquin.”
She thought of correcting him, but what for? He could believe what he liked.
“And will you tell him the intimate details of our arrangement, glyka mou?” he said with a sly smile.
Her head came up. “I will never tell anyone about that.”
He stared at her for a long minute. For some insane reason, he wanted to take her in his arms and tell her he would not hurt her, that he would do all he could to bring her pleasure…
To hell with that.
“What’s his address?”
“Why?”
“Hans is an excellent driver,” Alex said with a tight smile, “but he has one flaw. He can’t find a place unless I give him its address.”
“Oh,” she said quickly, “no, that isn’t necessary. Just—Driver? Driver, there’s a subway stop two blocks up. If you’d drop me off there—and then I can, ah, I can meet you somewhere later …”
“The address,” Alex said quietly, but in a tone so filled with authority that Maria knew she’d lost.
She sank back in her seat.
“One seven four oh Grandview Avenue,” she said in a small voice. “That’s in the Bronx.”
“The Bronx?” the driver said.
“The Bronx,” Alex repeated firmly, and the big car started up again.
Alex watched Maria’s face as the limo made its way along the snow-laden streets.
She sat huddled in the corner, as far from him as she could get, staring straight ahead, her face pale in the glaring headlights of the few cars coming toward them. The snow had all but emptied the city streets.
She was trembling.
He frowned. Was she cold? Impossible. The sole virtue of that ugly jacket had to be its warmth. Besides, the car’s interior was warm.
She was nervous, then. Or anxious. About agreeing to go with him? Not that she’d actually agreed. He’d forced her into it.
Never mind.
Was she nervous about telling her lover she was going away with another man? Alex’s jaw tightened. A week from now, hell, a couple of hours from now, her lover would be history. Once they boarded his private plane, he’d take her to the big bedroom in the rear of the cabin, strip her out of that foolish outfit and touch her in ways that would make her forget
