How like a man to cut to the chase, dealing with the facts rather than the emotions. “I haven’t broken any laws, and Dominic didn’t hurt me. He did exactly what I asked him to do. He gave me great sex and a memorable vacation.”
“But?” Candace prompted.
Madeline scrunched her eyes. Candace possessed the stubbornness of a mule. If Madeline wanted her cooperation it would cost her. The truth.
“I fell in love with him.”
Candace squealed and bounced in her sandals.
“Keep it down, for crying out loud. We’re in a church,” Madeline whispered. “And do not say ‘I told you so.’ I’m a little too raw for that right now.”
“But this is great!”
Vincent shifted on his feet and looked back toward the others gathered in the cathedral as if he’d rather be anywhere except the middle of a girlie tête-à-tête.
“No, it’s not great. He’s flying off to meet his fiancée this afternoon.”
Candace’s smile morphed into a fierce scowl. “He’s engaged? The lying two-timing royal rat.”
“He wasn’t committed to anyone else until today.” Madeline honestly believed that. “From what I overheard I gather some committee or other has been searching for an acceptable princess-to-be. Now they’ve found her. And he’s going to marry her.” Just saying the words made her throat feel as raw as if she had a full-blown case of strep.
She grabbed Candace’s and Vincent’s hands. “I won’t let you down with my wedding duties, but until Dominic is gone I need to stay out of sight. And I can’t do that by myself. I don’t know the language and I don’t know the country.”
“I’ll handle it,” Vincent said without hesitation.
“Thank you.” Madeline’s eyes burned, but she blinked back the tears. If one seeped through she feared a torrent would follow.
One day. She only had to get through one more day. And then Dominic would be gone and she could lose herself in Candace’s wedding preparations until she returned home.
She would have laughed if she weren’t afraid it would turn into hysteria. She’d come to Monaco wanting to avoid the wedding preparations. Now she wanted to bury herself in them and occupy her every thought with marriage minutiae so she wouldn’t have time to think of what she’d never have with Dominic or anyone else. Because this time her heart had sustained too much damage to ever recover.
The dining room was crowded. Too crowded for what Dominic had to say.
He stopped beside his father’s table, but waved away the waiter who rushed forward to pull back his chair. Instead he slipped him a large tip and asked him, “Would you please have our luncheon served in the suite?”
“Certainly, Your Highness.” The man hustled toward the kitchen.
“Dominic, what is the meaning of this?” his father asked.
“I have something to say and you don’t want me to say it here.”
“Your Highness,” Ricardo began, but Dominic silenced him with a frown. The councilman, who’d risen at Dominic’s approach, shifted on his feet and looked to his king for guidance.
Dominic’s father rose. “Very well, son. If we must.”
The return to the suite passed in tense silence due to the presence of other hotel guests in the elevator. Dominic recognized Derek Reynard, the owner and CEO of the world-renowned Reynard Hotel chain, and his wife. It was the perfect opportunity for Dominic to introduce himself and ask for a meeting to discuss the construction of a Hôtel Reynard in Montagnarde, but he had more important matters to deal with at the moment. The couple turned toward Madeline’s suite. He wanted to follow, but first he had to deal with more critical issues.
The moment Ian closed the suite door behind them, Dominic faced his father. “I cannot marry the girl the council has chosen.”
The minister sputtered. Dominic feared the septuagenarian might have a heart attack.
Dominic’s father tensed, but otherwise showed no reaction. “Why not?”
“Because the woman I love is here in Monaco.”
“And what of your duty to the crown?”
“I willingly serve my country, but I should not be cursed with an indifferent marriage due to a three-hundred-year-old custom. That custom, like our economy, needs modernizing.”
“What of the agreements, Your Highness?” Ricardo asked. “The negotiations?”
“I’ll renounce my title, if my decision causes difficulties for Montagnarde, but I will not marry that child or any other the council selects. I would rather live in exile than spend my life with a woman I care nothing about. I’m not a stud whose sole purpose is to service a mare.”
“You would leave your family and your country for this woman you’ve been consorting with during your stay in Monaco?” his father asked.
“Yes, sir. I prefer to live happily elsewhere with Madeline than miserably at home without her.”
“Doing what, Dominic? How will you support yourself and your wife if you leave your title and fortune behind?”
“I have the qualifications and connections to find work in the hotel industry.”
His father’s eyebrows rose. “You would work as a commoner? Draw a salary. Pay a mortgage?”
“Yes.”
“What of your plans to develop Montagnarde’s tourist potential?”
“I would mourn the loss of my dream, but not as much I would regret losing Madeline. I have dedicated the past fifteen years of my life to the betterment of Montagnarde. My plan is a sound one, and with or without me you should pursue it. But I would walk away from it all in an instant for her.”
“What makes you think she’s worthy of becoming a queen?”
“She’s intelligent and courageous and doesn’t have an obsequious bone in her body. She doesn’t care about my title or wealth, and she fights me for the check after dinner. She calls me the most hideous names.” Your Royal Beefcake, His Serene Sexiness and Sir Lickalot were but a few. The memories brought a smile to his lips.
His father’s eyes narrowed speculatively. “She’s never married?”
Dominic sucked a surprised breath at the question which cracked open the door to possibility.
Ian cleared his throat, drawing the king’s attention. “Your Majesty, if I may speak?” He waited for acknowledgment. “I have the full report on Mademoiselle Spencer if you wish to peruse it.”
The king made a go-ahead motion with his hand and Ian left the room and returned with a folder. He opened it and read, “Madeline Marie Spencer, thirty-two, has never married although she has had one long engagement. She has no children, graduated near the top of her university class and is currently employed as a physician’s assistant in a trauma center in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A., where she is well-respected by her peers. Her credit rating is excellent, her personal debt minimal, and she has no criminal record. Not even a parking ticket. Her father, a policeman, is deceased and her mother is a retired schoolteacher.”
“Where is she, this paragon?” Dominic’s father asked.
“She has not been located, Your Majesty, since she left the hotel this morning. At Prince Dominic’s request, we are searching.”
Dominic’s frustration level rose. He had to find her.
“I would like to meet this woman who has mesmerized my son in such a short time. When she’s found bring her here.” His attention returned to Dominic. “This will not be without complications, you understand?”
Adrenaline pulsed through Dominic’s system at his father’s acceptance. “I do.”
“She has accepted your suit?”
“I have not been free to state my intentions.”
“But, Your Majesty, the agreements…This could cause a diplomatic scandal,” Ricardo protested.
Dominic’s father held up a hand to silence him. “My son has had enough unhappiness in his life, Ricardo. Dominic and I will deal with the agreements. We will fly to Luxembourg this afternoon to personally make our apologies and any reparations required.” He turned back to Dominic. “You’re sure she’s the one?”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”
“And do you believe she will accept your proposal?”
Tension invaded his limbs. “I don’t know, Papa. But if I can’t have Madeline I don’t want anyone else.”
“I don’t know why you couldn’t just use your passkey and take Madeline’s passport from Dominic’s room safe,” Candace whispered to Vincent in the hallway of the American Consulate on Tuesday afternoon.
“Because it’s stealing,” Vincent replied patiently for the third time. “The hotel cannot afford the reputation of violating its guests.”
“But it’s hers.”
“Stop,” Madeline interjected. “As much as I love you, Candace, Vincent’s right. We can’t go digging around the safe just because we think my passport might be there. I’ve reported it lost and the consulate guys have promised to put a rush on it. I should have a replacement before I fly home on Sunday.”
Madeline leaned against the wall beside the exit while Vincent stepped outside and signaled the waiting car. She slid on her new oversize Jackie-O sunglasses and covered her hair with a silk scarf. Disguised like a fugitive and her only crime was falling for the wrong guy.
She grimaced. “I can’t believe Dominic didn’t check out of the hotel. Why is he keeping the suite? Is he coming back? I can’t go on riding in the floorboard of Vincent’s car and hiding at his apartment.”
Candace squeezed her hand. “You have no choice. Dominic had that Fernand guy following you. You had to disappear. You’ll only be riding in floorboards and sneaking up service elevators for a few more days.”
“But you had to reschedule everything except the wedding and rehearsal party because Dominic had my schedule.”
“Like that’s the worst catastrophe to ever befall a bride. Jeez, get over it, Madeline. I’ve said it’s not a big deal.”
But it was a big deal. Candace had enough stress dealing with planning a wedding in a foreign country. She didn’t need the additional pressure of shuffling times and meeting places at the last minute because of Madeline’s mistake.
“Maybe I should just see him and get it over with when he returns. If he returns.”
She hoped it wouldn’t kill her. God knows, losing Mike had never hurt like this. But then she’d realized in the three days since her affair with Dominic had ended that Mike’s defection had hurt her pride not her heart. She’d been more concerned with what her coworkers thought of her for being so easily duped than with Mike’s leaving.
She hadn’t loved Mike. Not the way she loved Dominic.
Not once had she pictured herself growing old with Mike. She’d focused more on the house and children they’d have and thought more about being a mother than a wife. Not so with Dominic. She’d miss waking up beside him, making love with him and listening to his aspirations in the darkness. She’d miss his stupid little bows, the way he could melt her with his smile and his loyalty to the hulking Ian. Children? Oh yeah, a few little princes and princesses would have been nice, too, but Dominic was the main attraction.