Scandal With a Prince (9 page)

“Ah.”
 
Stefano looked stricken, as if he hadn’t considered his engagement to be a factor.
 
But how could he not?

“Stefano, think back to what was happening in your life then.
 
If anyone had learned about Anna, it would’ve been a disaster.”

Stefano scowled, but not before turning toward the window to hide his expression from the rest of the restaurant.
 
“I wish you’d have persisted.
 
Or tried to find another way to reach me.
 
I would have wanted to know.”
 

Could he not see reason?
 
“Stefano—”
 

“It’s all right.
 
I understand why you didn’t.”
 
He kept his gaze on the street, watching as the balladeer packed his guitar now that the morning bakery crowd had thinned.
 
“You were likely right to keep the information to yourself after making so many attempts.
 
The scandal would have been swift and certain.
 
No child should start life under such a cloud of speculation.
 
And it would only have gotten worse when my engagement ended.”

Megan itched to ask what happened with the relationship but couldn’t bring herself to pry.
 
Press releases from both the Barrali and the Bassi families issued only three weeks before the wedding date stated that the couple decided to part amicably and that neither family would discuss the matter with the press.
 
Despite Stefano and Ariana’s requests for privacy, gossip about the couple continued to fill the media for months, only dissipating after Ariana eloped with a famous Argentinian polo player.

Had Stefano been heartbroken?
 
Or relieved?
 

During the long nights Megan spent walking back and forth through her small apartment with a colicky baby, worrying about whether she’d be awake enough to make it through her next day of classes, she’d harbored a deep-down fantasy about Stefano picking up the phone and calling her to say he’d ended the relationship with Ariana because he missed what he and Megan shared in Venezuela.
 

Unsurprisingly, that call never came.
 
Megan’s mother advised her struggling daughter to simply love the child and trust that the rest would fall into place.
 
She was right, of course.
 
Anna outgrew the colic and Megan finished graduate school and landed a full-time job at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
 
In the meantime, Stefano started to date other women—models, actresses, and women from well-connected European families.
 
Megan’s midnight fantasies eventually gave way to reality.
 
She embraced her new career, her growing financial independence, and the ups and downs of life with an exuberant toddler.
 
Then, the summer before Anna started kindergarten, Megan nabbed the position at the Grandspire, which turned out to be a dream come true.
 

Had Stefano actually called during those difficult weeks and months following Anna’s birth, Megan suspected the relationship wouldn’t have transcended its status as a brief, heady fling.
 
She and Stefano were from two different worlds, as evidenced by her inability to contact him, if nothing else.
 
His stratified circumstances weren’t ideal for Megan, let alone for Anna.
 

He’d known it the entire time he’d been with her in South America.
 
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so anxious to see Ariana when he’d returned home.

Stefano faced her again, his demeanor back to the same easiness he exuded whenever he appeared in public, giving no sign that he was thinking of a long-ago broken engagement.
 
“Let me ask the important questions, then.
 
Anna is doing well?”

Megan nodded, unable to elaborate as their waiter approached the table with breakfast.
 
The scent of freshly-made omelets and hot buttered toast filled the air as the young man set their meals before them.
 
He arranged each plate with extra care, his posture rigid as he did so.
 
Megan forced herself to stay quiet, though she was dying to offer him reassurance.
 
He was clearly anxious to impress the prince.
 
Sensing the waiter’s nerves, Stefano set aside the hotel information folder to offer his compliments on the meal and the quick service.
 
Once the waiter departed, Megan said, “That was kind of you.
 
You have a talent for putting people at ease.”
 
People other than her.

“If I were really talented, they wouldn’t be uneasy in the first place.”
 
Stefano gestured for Megan to go ahead and eat, urging her to tell him about Anna between bites.
 
“You mentioned last night that she’s in fourth grade?”

“Yes.
 
She attends an international school here in Barcelona and loves it.
 
Her teachers and classmates come from all over the world.”
 
Megan couldn’t help but share Anna’s enthusiasm for the school.
 
“It’s a unique experience.
 
She has new stories to tell me every night about things that happened to her and her classmates—who did well on a spelling test, who told a funny joke, who brought what for lunch.
 
She’s taken field trips to several of the places she’s studied in history class.
 
Just last week her entire grade toured the monastery at Montserrat.
 
And every summer she spends a few weeks in Minnesota with my parents, which allows her to see our extended family and become comfortable with living in the United States.
 
The variety gives her a sense of independence that I love.”

“It all sounds wonderful.”

“It is.”
 
She gestured to the street, where the guitarist was busy unlocking a bike from a pole outside the bakery so he could ride on to his next stop.
 
“In fact, just before you walked into the restaurant, I was watching the crowd surrounding that street musician and thinking about how fortunate Anna and I are to live here.”

“By ‘here’ do you mean Barcelona in general or the Grandspire specifically?”

Megan paused with a slice of toast halfway to her mouth.
 
Something in his tone set off her internal alarms.
 
She returned the uneaten slice to her plate.
 
“I meant Barcelona in general, but I’ve been lucky with the Grandspire, too.
 
Anna and I have a two-bedroom suite on the twentieth floor.
 
It allows us access to the hotel fitness center and pool and the location can’t be beat.
 
We’re less than a mile from her school and within minutes we can be playing on the beach or sitting down at any of dozens of fantastic restaurants.
 
We can even walk to our favorite fruit market, to the Gothic quarter, and to several museums.
 
The list goes on and on.
 
Why do you ask?”

Stefano lifted a forkful of omelet, taking his time to chew, swallow, and blot his mouth with a napkin before answering.
 
“As wonderful as Anna’s school may be, and as convenient as your living accommodations are to tourist attractions, I have to ask: Is a hotel really the best place to raise a child?”

Chapter Seven

No.
 
No, no, no.
 
Bile rose in Megan’s throat.
 
Stefano was actually questioning her ability to raise her daughter.
 
But as a prelude to what?

How foolish she’d been to let her guard down when he asked about Anna.
 

Keeping her voice as level as she could manage, she asked, “What’s your point?”

“No point.”
 
He set his napkin in his lap as casually as if they were discussing last night’s fireworks display.
 
“I simply want to know how my daughter is being raised.”

His daughter?
 
Technically, yes.
 
But….

This couldn’t be happening.
 
Arguing for custody—if that was his intent—went against everything she believed about him.
 
Megan balled her fist in her lap and counted backward from five, just as her mother urged her to do when she was a young girl and lost her temper with a playmate.
 
Once Megan knew she could keep her tone restrained, she said, “My first instinct is to defend myself by asking who you are to judge my choices.
 
As I recall, you made mention of your own upbringing more than once during our time in Venezuela, referring to your life in the palace as ‘sanitary’ and ‘controlled.’”

“My upbringing is immaterial in this—”

“Please, let me finish.”
 
She couldn’t allow him to argue her into a corner.
 
The stakes were too high.
 
“You said you didn’t truly experience life until you were out of the palace during your gap year project.
 
It offered you the opportunity to see the world as if you were a typical volunteer rather than a rich-as-sin prince.
 
That’s what I want for Anna.
 
I want her to experience all the world has to offer, at her own pace, and make friends from all walks of life.
 
So if I need to defend my choices to you, well, there’s my defense.
 
As to living in a hotel, our suite is just as nice as the apartments in any of the condo buildings along the beachfront, which is where many of Anna’s friends live.
 
She can be at their homes within minutes.”
 
Megan took the folio from the side of the table, holding it in front of her so she’d appear to be going over the hotel information with Stefano.
 
It also helped cover the fact her hands were shaking.
 
“She’s a bright, curious, and well-adjusted girl, Stefano.
 
She’s had the opportunity to see more of the world than I ever believed possible and she values what she’s learned from experiencing other cultures.
 
She’s lived exactly the kind of life you’d want for her.
 
She’s healthy and she’s happy.
 
So am I.”

He took a moment to absorb her words.
 
She thought he’d acquiesce…until he opened his mouth.
 
“But your job—”

“What about my job?”
 
Her voice held more snap than she’d like, especially given that more guests were drifting into the restaurant, but a quick look around ensured that she hadn’t been overheard.
 
In a more rational voice, she asked, “What is your concern?”

He eyed her as if unsure what to make of her jumpiness.
 
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s my understanding that work like yours, developing conference and event facilities, is transient in nature.
 
Once a venue is up and running, with a stream of bookings to ensure future income, you move on.
 
So even if Anna has all the benefits you claim, they’re not permanent.”

She took a deep breath and told herself that he was asking so many questions out of concern for a child rather than to attack her.
 
“You’re not wrong.
 
It’s rare in my industry to be in one place as long as I’ve been at the Grandspire.
 
And I’ll be leaving soon.
 
A full-time sales force is taking over the bookings now that the facilities are complete.”
 
At his smug look, she continued, “However, I applied for this position when Anna was young specifically because the project was so extensive it would keep me in one location for several years.
 
My success here sets me up to search for another position, one in which I hope to remain until Anna graduates from high school.”

“But you don’t know where?”

“Not yet.
 
I’m looking for a situation that fits both my career goals and what I want for Anna.”
 
He didn’t sound like he was asking out of curiosity about where she’d live, but accusing her of failing to plan ahead.
 
She shut the folio, then smiled across the table as if they were nearing the end of a successful business meeting.
 
“I know this is hitting you out of the blue, so I’m trying to be patient with your questions.
 
But my job is no different than many others, across a number of industries.
 
Every so often, I have to move.
 
In fact, many other jobs would require me to travel for days or weeks at a time.
 
This doesn’t.
 
I’m available for Anna whenever she needs me.
 
So if you’re insinuating that I’m not raising her properly, a child you don’t even know—”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?”
 
His eyes shone as he leaned closer.
 
“I don’t know her.”

His simple declaration left her stomach in knots.

“Maybe,” she admitted.
 

Yes.
 

If he knew Anna, if he caught her sneaking a joyous cartwheel in one of the hotel hallways or witnessed the pride on her face when she earned an A on an exam, he wouldn’t have doubts.
 
Megan wouldn’t be compelled to justify her parenting decisions as if arguing before judge and jury.
 
Tears stung her eyes at the sight of the emotion in his, but she fought them back as yet another group entered the restaurant for breakfast.