dinner for them and eat out on the terrace. Having to come home early had robbed them of another precious night in Bora Bora, but tonight he intended to make up for everything. The need to make love to his wife was all he could think about.
“Christina?” There was no answer. He walked through to their bedroom. She wasn’t there. Maybe she’d gone exploring, but she hadn’t left a note. It was possible that after being with her father she’d gone to visit Elena. He phoned his sister. “Does Christina happen to be with you?”
“No.”
“Hmm. I was doing a little business, but she’s not here.”
“She loves the outdoors. Maybe she took a walk outside to the kennel. That’s what we usually do when she visits me. You know how much she adores animals.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
He put through a call to the kennel, but no one had seen her.
Angry with himself for not putting a security detail on her first thing, he phoned the head of palace security. “Alonzo? I’m looking for Princess Christina. Find out where she is and let me know ASAP. I want surveillance on her twenty-four-seven starting now.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
He put off ordering dinner and hurried downstairs to the palace’s main office. “Did anyone here see Princess Christina’s father arrive?”
One of them nodded. “The princess asked that he be shown to your apartment. About twenty minutes later he passed by the office and left the grounds in a limousine.”
More than frustrated at this point, Antonio headed for Alonzo’s office. “Any news about her yet?”
Alonzo shook his head. “We’re still vetting everyone on the force. Some of them went off shift at five o’clock and we’re still trying to reach them for information.”
He frowned. She wouldn’t have gone to his parents’ apartment, would she? He called them on the chance that she was there for some reason. But they had nothing to tell him.
Definitely worried now, he put through a call to Christina’s parents. He should have tried there first. Her father got on the other extension. “Your Highness?”
“I’m looking for my wife. If you have any idea where she is, I’d like you to tell me now. The last anyone saw of her was you.”
“You mean she’s missing?”
His anger was approaching flash point. “What did you say to her?”
“The only thing a good father could say to his daughter. Do the right thing.”
Antonio saw red. He clicked off and spun around in fury. It was almost nine o’clock. Could she have flown to Nairobi without telling him?
Frantic, he asked Alonzo for his men to check the airport to see if she’d flown out. Within a few minutes the news came back that she hadn’t boarded any planes going anywhere.
“Hold on, Antonio. There’s another report coming in. The guard at the west gate saw her leave the palace grounds in a red Fiat before he went off duty just before five. He had no idea you were looking for her. She told him she was going to the charity foundation to take care of an emergency and didn’t want you to worry.”
His hands balled into fists. “Find out if she’s still there! We need to call all the girls working there to find out who drove the Fiat.”
Before long the report came back that the building was closed for the night. No sign of Princess Christina anywhere. In another minute they had a woman on the line. Antonio took the call. “Arianna?”
“Your Highness. I didn’t realize you were looking for her. When I dropped her off in front of the building, she said she was going to work in there for a while and that I should go home.”
“So you have no idea where she went, or if she even went inside.”
“No. I’m so sorry.”
“What state was she in?”
“She definitely had an agenda and asked me to hurry, but that’s all.”
“Thank you, Arianna.”
He handed the phone back to Alonzo.
Where are you, Christina. What did your father say to turn you inside out?
While he stayed there in agony, wondering where to turn next, the press secretary, Alonzo, came hurrying into the office. “Your Highness?”
Antonio turned to him. “Do you have news about the princess?”
His face had gone white. “I do. She told me if I said anything I’d lose my job, but I can’t let you suffer like this.”
“What do you know?”
“She handed me an envelope and wanted the television anchor to read her statement during the ten o’clock news.”
“She what?”
He nodded. “It’ll be on every network in five minutes in every country in the world.”
Alonzo turned on the big-screen television in his office. Antonio felt so gutted he started to weave.
“Better sit down, Your Highness.”
“I’ll be all right.” His heart plummeted to his feet as he saw the words breaking news flash across the screen.
Suddenly the female news anchor appeared. “There’s huge news breaking from the royal palace in Voti, Halencia, tonight, threatening to rock the already shaky monarchy decimated by scandal. It is struggling to stay alive in a nation so divided that one wonders what the ultimate outcome will be.
“I have in front of me a statement that Princess Christina, recently married in a private ceremony to Crown Prince Antonio de L’Accardi, has asked the press to read. These are her words and I quote. ‘Dear citizens of Halencia. It is with the greatest sadness that I, Princess Christina de L’Accardi, am removing myself from the royal family to end the bitter conflict. I confess that although my relationship with Prince Antonio started out as a publicity stunt for reasons I don’t intend to go into, I want everyone to know I love my new husband with every fiber of my being. A man with his integrity doesn’t come along every day, or even in a lifetime. I knew him when we were both teenagers. Even then he showed a love and loyalty to his country that put others to shame. I want everyone to know he’s the light of my life and my one true love. But I’m sorry that it isn’t enough for the people of Halencia.’”
Christina...his heart cried.
“Wow! How’s that for a heartfelt confession from the ‘Cinderella Bride’ as the nation has called her? Her charity in Africa has gained international attention. I have to admit I’m moved by her sacrifice and graciousness. That doesn’t happen to me very often. Stay tuned for news coming from the palace as the fallout from her surprising statement is felt throughout the country and the world.
“There’s no word from the
