Scandal With a Prince (44 page)

“One of my favorite places.
 
I don’t come here often.
 
I’m too afraid it’ll be discovered.
 
One of my sister’s boyfriends brought her here once.”
 
He tilted his head, as if remembering.
 
“I gather the relationship didn’t end well, but she loved the spot.
 
She says it’s the only place on the planet she can feel completely alone and safe.
 
The narrow road and the angle from the cliff don’t allow for anyone to photograph this spot from a distance, and no one can approach without being heard.”

Megan could understand why he kept the location secret.
 
Which reminded her….

“Last time we looked out at the waves together, a photographer did snap a picture of us.”
 
She pulled off her heels and sank her toes in the sand.
 
“I don’t know if you’ve looked, but as far as I can tell nothing has shown up anywhere yet.”

“No.”
 
He sat atop the stone wall beside her, his shoulder inches from hers, and looked out to the sea.
 
“Nor will it.”

“How do you know?”

“I purchased them.”

She turned her head slowly to study him.
 
“You…really?
 
How?”

A tight smile played at the edge of his mouth.
 
“I spotted the same man in the airport that afternoon, waiting to board my plane.
 
He was actively trying
not
to look at me, even when I walked right in front of him.
 
I knew then he had to be a paparazzo.
 
He went through the boarding line before me and I managed to see his ticket while he was standing in front of me on the jetway.
 
As soon as I got back to the palace, I gave his name to my assistant.
 
She tracked him down and offered to buy the photos for a rather outrageous sum, stipulating that she would only do so if he signed a contract guaranteeing they were on an exclusive basis.”
 
He gave a sarcastic grunt.
 
“Having Barrali money comes in handy now and then.
 
It’s the Barrali fame that’s a pain.”

She put her hand over his.
 
Softly, she asked, “Is it?
 
I’m not so sure.”

He looked down at her hand, but made no move to take it.
 
“If I weren’t a Barrali, we never would have been separated.
 
We would have raised Anna together.
 
My entire life—
our
entire lives—would have been vastly different.
 
So yes, I’d call that a pain.
 
I also think that, because I’m a Barrali, it’s for the best if we keep things as they are.
 
I need you to understand that.
 
I can’t have you or Anna put in harm’s way.
 
Or pull you into a life you weren’t meant to live.”

“If you weren’t a Barrali, we might never have met.”
 
She spun on the stone to face him, waiting until he looked her in the eye before continuing.
 
“You might never have gone to Venezuela.
 
I wouldn’t have had Anna, and I certainly wouldn’t be sitting on a beach with you right now.
 
If you weren’t a Barrali, Anna very likely would’ve died in the hospital.
 
Your
fame
, as it were, meant you had the connections to bring in a terrific doctor.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but she continued, “Most of all, if you weren’t a Barrali, you wouldn’t be
you
.
 
You’re protective, strong, and unbelievably confident, yet you have a heart of gold.
 
All of those things are a product of your upbringing.
 
I heard what you said to the nurse about meeting that child with meningitis.
 
That’s part of who you are, deep at your core.
 
I was so sure I wouldn’t fit into your world that it blinded me to the fact that I love you for
you
.
 
All of you.
 
When I hid the job offer and the newspaper photo from you, it wasn’t because I didn’t trust you.”

He raised an eyebrow in skepticism.
 
“You didn’t trust me when I proposed to you.”

“No, I didn’t,” she admitted.
 
“Like I said then, I didn’t think you knew what you wanted.
 
I’d just seen you after years apart, I’d just learned the truth about Ariana, and it was a lot to absorb.
 
But after we spent more time together, I grew to love and trust you.
 
I saw that you were the man I fell for in Venezuela and so much more.
 
I’d decided to accept your proposal and I didn’t want anything to get in the way.”
   

“You were scared I’d tell you not to come to Sarcaccia if I knew about Gladwell.
 
Especially after we’d just been seen by a photographer.”

“I didn’t want it to weigh into the discussion because I’d made up my mind.
 
But yes, I was probably scared of what you’d say.
 
Same thing with the newspaper photo.
 
So I did exactly what I’d accused you of doing whenever you wanted things to go your way.
 
I took control.
 
I stuck it over by the sugar canister in the kitchen so you wouldn’t know.
 
And it ended up blowing up in my face.”
 
As it probably should have.
 
She should’ve been open with him.

“And now?”

She lifted a shoulder, then let it drop.
 
“Frankly, I’m still scared.
 
I’m scared you won’t want me here.
 
Or that if I’m here, you won’t want to marry me.
 
I’m scared that even if you do, I might fail at being what you’d need me to be as the wife of a prince.”
 

Her fingers tightened over his hand as she finished, “But I’m sure that this is where I belong, even if I don’t land the conference center job.
 
As long as we can be open with each other—if you can trust me to tell you when newspapers print silly photos, and I can trust you with the task of protecting Anna and me—we’ll be fine.
 
Even if it means finding a job at one of the hotels or having to live in a palace with little privacy and a lot of expectations.”

“Sure enough to turn down Gladwell?
 
I still think that was foolish.
 
His offer was more than generous.
 
And he’s Jack-freaking-Gladwell.
 
He’s one of the most powerful men in the world.
 
Think of the opportunities you’d have working for him.”

She grinned at both his statement and his use of the word
freaking
, which sounded completely out of character given his lush Sarcaccian accent.
 
“Jack Gladwell doesn’t have nearly as much to offer me as you do.”
 

He was silent for a few long, painful moments before saying, “In that case, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.
 
It may alter your plans.”
 

His dour tone sent her stomach plummeting.
 
She’d been sure she’d handled the interview well.
 
The committee members seemed happy with her responses and she’d felt a genuine friendliness in the atmosphere.
 
Natalie, in particular, seemed anxious to hire her.
 
So what had happened?

Or did he truly not love her?
 
Was he going to stick to his guns regarding marriage?

“Go on,” she urged when he said nothing more.

“I hate to tell you this” —he reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, leaving the palm of his hand to cup the side of her head— “but if you accept the job, which I am quite sure you’ll be offered—”

“How could you know—”

“—you won’t be living in the palace.”

His tone remained serious, but a glimmer in his eyes led her to say, “No?”

“You have the option of getting your own apartment, of course.
 
My guess is that the committee will be so anxious to have you that you could negotiate a stipend to cover the cost.
 
But I’d much prefer you live with me.
 
In my home.”

“Live with you?”
 
She felt her jaw go slack as she processed the second part of what he’d said.
 
“Wait…in your…did you say home?”
 

“More of an apartment,” he clarified.
 
“When you received the offer from Jack Gladwell and I returned to Sarcaccia, the palace felt suffocating.
 
I decided it was high time I moved out.”

She stared at him in stunned silence.
 
No one moved out of the palace, not the children of the monarch, at least.
 
She’d read enough about Sarcaccia over the years since Anna’s birth to know that much about its traditions.

“I don’t believe it,” she said.
 
“That’s…that’s not done!”

A self-satisfied grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
 
“Being with you showed me how much I value my independence.
 
The best times in my life have been when I’ve been away from the palace and its strictures.
 
When we volunteered in Venezuela, when I was in the military, and especially when I was with you in Barcelona.
 
I could be myself.”

“In disguise,” she pointed out.
 
“That’s the antithesis of being yourself.”

Laughter erupted from him.
 
“In disguise, when necessary.
 
But still myself, the man I truly am on the inside.
 
When I couldn’t have you in my life because you’d be working for Gladwell—or so I thought—I decided I had to be true to myself if I ever wanted to be happy.
 
While I can never get away from the media completely, or from my role in the royal family, being away from the palace will give me space.”

“I take up space.
 
So does Anna.”

“There’s plenty,” he assured her.
 
“It’s the top floor of a gorgeous old building, but it’s been completely modernized on the inside.
 
There’s a doorman, underground parking, and four large en suite bedrooms.
 
The international school is a half-mile away and there’s an enclosed park out back if one would like to, say, walk a dog or play ball.
 
Oh, and there’s an ocean view.
 
You might like it.
 
In fact, I’ll admit that when I bought it, my first thought was that you’d love it.
 
It even has one of the decorative cornerstones I told Anna about the day we explored the Gothic Quarter.”

“It sounds like heaven.”
 
Especially if she shared it with Stefano.
 

“In that case, I have an important question to ask.”
 
His other hand came up to frame her face, the intensity in his gaze making her dizzy.
 
She knew with a certainty that he was going to propose.
 
For real, this time.
 

And this time, she’d give the answer she knew would make them both deliriously happy.

“Would you, Megan Hallberg, consent to” —he paused dramatically, then raised an eyebrow— “owning a dog with me?”

For a split second, she was taken aback, but soon laughter spilled from her with such intensity that tears sprang to her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
 
“A dog?” she choked out.
 
“Why yes, Stefano Barrali, I will consent to owning a dog with you.
 
I’m sure it’ll make Anna very, very happy.”

“Will it make
you
happy?”

She nodded.
 
How could she ever live without this man?
 
“It will.”

He leaned in to brush his lips against hers, the slight touch sending a shiver of satisfaction through her.
 
She expected him to kiss her again as she leaned forward and moved her hands to his thighs, but instead, he eased back and said, “Perhaps we should do things in the proper order.
 
Marriage first, then the dog?
 
It should be raised by two loving parents.
 
If not, there’d be a scandal.
 
Sarcaccia’s an old-fashioned country that way.”

She punched his chest.
 
“You’re miserable, you know that?”

“Only without you.”
 
His thumbs caressed her cheeks, wiping away her tears.
 
“I love you, Megan.
 
With all my heart and soul.”

A deep sigh escaped her as she looked into his brilliant green eyes—so much like Anna’s—and absorbed the depths of emotion there.
 
“It took you long enough to tell me.
 
That’s all I wanted to hear the day Gladwell offered me the job.
 
All I wanted to hear when you proposed marriage in the first place.”

He grimaced and leaned his forehead against hers.
 
“I was so worried you’d think I was trying to manipulate you into marriage, I didn’t want to say the words.
 
I’m an idiot.”