I...” Her cheeks blushed crimson, and then she stood, her nose colliding with his cheek before she wobbled backward. “I’ve only ever wanted one man like that.” The words seemed to be stuck in her throat. “I never will again. I’m sure. And I refuse to discuss it. Least of all with you.”
And then she turned and ran from the room.
SINCE MAKING A fool out of herself in front of Luca days earlier, Sophia had done her best to avoid him. It wasn’t that difficult. Luca was always busy with affairs of state, and it was actually for the best. The problem was that every time she heard heavy, authoritative footsteps on the marble floors of the palace, her heart caught, and held its position as if it was waiting, waiting to bow down to its king.
She did not want Luca to be the king of her heart. Being King of San Gennaro was quite enough power for one man. But her heart didn’t listen. It beat for Luca, it stopped for Luca, tripped over itself for Luca.
It was starting to feel like she was running an obstacle course every time she made any movement in the palace. One wherein Luca was the obstacle that she was trying desperately to avoid.
But she wanted to see him, too. That was the real conundrum. The fact that she wanted to both avoid him and be with him all the time. Foolish, because he wasn’t even nice to her. He never had been. But still, he captivated her in ways that went beyond sanity.
And today there would be no more avoiding him as he had engaged the services of a new stylist to help her prepare for the ball. The ball wherein she was supposed to choose a husband.
Luca and those dossiers had enraged her. She had picked every man who was completely opposite to him, to spite herself, mostly.
She highly doubted that she would marry any of these men. But one thing she knew for certain was that she would not marry a man who was simply a pale carbon copy of her stepbrother. She would not choose a man who was tall, dark and handsome, who had that kind of authority about him that Luca possessed. Because it would simply be an effort at giving her body a consolation prize. And that was far too tragic, even for her.
She shouldn’t be tragic, she mused as she wandered down the labyrinthine hall toward the salon where she was meeting the new stylist. She had been a commoner, and she had been raised up to become the princess of a country. She had been adopted by a king. A man who had loved her, and had loved her mother. Who had shown them both the kind of life that neither of them had ever dreamed possible.
But Luca. Always Luca.
It was as though her heart was intent on not being happy. As though it wanted to be tragic. In the same way that it had determined that Luca would be its owner.
In a palace, a life of luxury, and with that came a fervent, painful love for the one man she could never have.
And, he didn’t like her.
Star-crossed lovers they were not. Because Luca could hardly stand to share the same space as she did. He thought she was silly, that much was apparent from their exchange yesterday. They were from completely different worlds. The man couldn’t understand why she found it off-putting to be looking through file folders filled with profiles of men she had never met, trying to work out which one of them she could see herself marrying.
Although she supposed it wasn’t entirely different from online dating.
No. She refused to pretend that any of this was reasonable. It wasn’t.
She wondered if she would ever find someone who just wanted her. These men, who had agreed to come to the palace, would never have done so if she wasn’t a princess.
It was the only reason her biological father had ever spoken to her. After he’d seen her mother in the media, marrying King Magnus.
King Magnus had loved her. But...he had only strived to love her because of her mother.
And Luca...
Well, nothing seemed to make Luca like her at all. Not status, or herself.
He was consistent, at least.
She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the sight of him. That was another problem with Luca. Too much exposure to him and her poor heart couldn’t recover between moments. Not enough, and it always flung itself against her breastbone as though it were trying to escape. Trying to go to him. To be with him.
Her heart was foolish. And the rest of her body was worse.
She gathered herself up, drew in the deepest breath possible, hoping that the burning in her lungs would offset the rest of her physical response. That it might drown out the erratic tripping of her pulse.
Then, she pushed the door open.
And all the breath left her body in a rush.
There was no preparing for him. No matter how familiar she was with his face, with that imposing, muscular physique of his, it was like a shock to her system every time. Those dark eyes, eyes that she sometimes thought might see straight through her, but they couldn’t. Because if they did, then he would know. He would know that she was not indifferent to him. He would know that her feelings toward him were in no way familial.
He would be disgusted by her.
It took her a while to notice that there was a woman standing next to him. The new stylist, presumably. It took her a while, because as far as she was concerned when Luca was in the room it was difficult to tell if anyone else was there at all.
“You must be Princess Sophia,” the woman said. “I’m Elizabeth.”
“Nice to meet you.” Belatedly, she decided that she should try and curtsy or something, so she grabbed the edge of her sundress and bent forward slightly. She looked up and saw that Luca was watching her with a disapproving expression on his handsome face.
If she bowed down and called him King of the Universe he would disapprove. He was impossible.
“She needs something suitable for an upcoming event,” Luca said. “She must look the best she ever has.”
“I am confident that I can accomplish such. It is simply a matter of knowing what sort of energy Sophia should be projecting. All these colors that she’s wearing now are far too drab. And from what I have seen in pictures and publications over the years, her overall color palette doesn’t suit her. I have plans.”
Suddenly, Sophia felt very much like she was being stared down by a hungry spider. And she was a fly caught in the web.
“Just leave it to me,” she said, shooing at Luca.
“I must approve the selection,” he said. Obviously not taking kindly at all to being shown the door in his own palace.
“You will approve,” Elizabeth said, her tone stubborn. “You will see soon.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent styling and plucking and scrubbing.
Sophia felt as though she had been exfoliated over every part
