The Marcelli Princess
Page 5

"I do not mean to rush anyone," he said. "We will— what is the phrase?— make it up as we go along."
She smiled. "I'd like that."
"Good."
She had known him as Diego as well as anyone, he thought. But she didn't know him as Rafael. If she did, she would realize that he never allowed himself to simply go along with circumstances. He always had a goal and he always achieved it.
* * *
Danny's eyes were wide, but he didn't squirm.
Mia crouched in front of her son and took both his hands in hers. "Remember when you had to get a shot and I told you it would hurt?" she asked.
Danny nodded.
"And when we went to the dentist for a cleaning and I said it wouldn't hurt and it didn't?"
He nodded again.
"This won't hurt at all. Okay?"
He looked from her to Umberto, then opened his mouth and closed his eyes. The tall, burly bodyguard stuck the swab into the boy's mouth and rubbed it against his cheek.
"I am finished," he said in thickly accented English.
Danny blinked. "That's it?"
Mia grinned. "Uh-huh. Did I say it wouldn't hurt? Did you believe me?"
As she spoke, she tickled Danny's sides. He laughed and pretended to push her away, while cuddling closer.
"It was okay," he said between bursts of laughter.
Umberto nodded and left with the swab. Joe stepped out of the corner.
"They'll rush it through," he told her. "It should only be a few days."
Mia pulled Danny onto her lap and glanced at her brother. "Still having doubts?"
"More like false hopes," he admitted. "I don't like this."
"I don't know how I feel," she admitted. Too much had happened too quickly. Four hours ago she'd been asleep in her own bed and now a man she thought dead and buried had strolled back into her life. And not just any man.
"Is he really a prince?" she asked.
"Pretty much."
Impossible, she thought. "I've never been very good at reverence."
"You'd better learn to curtsy."
She couldn't imagine that ever happening. "It's a new century. Royalty isn't like it was before."
Joe smiled. "They've let go of their love of a good beheading." His smile faded. "I don't know what to hope for," he admitted. "Danny needs a father, but this guy?"
"I do have interesting taste in men," she said, still unable to get her mind around all that had happened.
Grammy M walked into the dining room. "He's leaving," she announced. "Just like that. Prince Rafael is leaving."
"Going back to Calandria?" Mia asked, wanting him gone and not gone in equal measure.
"Worse. A hotel. Tessa says he's not staying here, which is just ridiculous. I've never seen her like this before. She was always difficult and stubborn, but not like this. Imagine takin' an instant dislike to little Danny's father."
Danny looked up at Mia. "Daddy stays here."
She wasn't sure if it was a question or a request. She turned to Joe. "What does your military training say?"
"We can keep an eye on him in either place."
There weren't that many hotels around the hacienda. Santa Barbara was the closest town, and as it was summer, the main tourist season was in full swing. Would he even be able to find a room nearby? Did she care?
"He could stay in the house," Grammy M said eagerly, "and those other two can use the guest cottage. That will get them out of the house. We shouldn't have guns in the house. Not with little fingers about."
Or even the whole boy, Mia thought. Technically there was room. Her parents were gone for a few months and the hacienda was big. "All right. Sure. Invite Rafael to stay." Assuming royalty was willing to bunk with the common man.
Grammy M held out her hand to Danny. "Come on, then. Let's go see if we can be convincin' your father to grace us with his presence."
Mia let the older woman lead Danny away.
"I'm not excited about the 'gracing us with his presence' attitude," she admitted when she and Joe were alone. "The situation is already difficult enough."
Joe moved close and put his arm around her. "We'll be fine."
"You sure about that?"
"Almost."
"Great. What can we do to move you to be completely sure? Because I'd like that better."
"You scared?"
Scared? Sure. And nauseous and apprehensive and a whole lot of other things.
"I saw him die, Joe. I've spent the past five years feeling guilty about the fact that he saved my life only to lose his own. Now he shows up and tells me he's not who I thought, he's not dead, and hey, 'I rushed to your side as soon as I found out you were still alive yourself.' There should be a limit on surprises in a twenty-four-hour period."
"Agreed. I'm going to call in a few favors and get extra security around the house."
Mia didn't like the sound of that. "Is there a problem?" Her body tightened with sudden cold. "Do you think once the DNA test is back he'll try to kidnap Danny?"
"Don't go there. We don't know enough, Mia. I want to be cautious."
"Cautious is good. Be the king of caution. You're good at that. In the meantime, I'll try to muddle through. This is all good, right? Like you said, Danny needs a father and who better than his biological one."
"You don't sound convinced."
"I'm not. I should be, but I'm not. I feel like I'm overreacting by expecting the worst. I don't know. It's all crazy."
He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe."
"Promise?"
"You bet. Nobody screws with my family."
3
"You don't like him," Mia said.
Grandma Tessa slammed the side of her knife against several cloves of garlic. "Liking or not liking isn't an issue. If he's Danny's father, then he's part of the family."
"There's no 'if,'" she told her grandmother. "The DNA test will prove that."
Mia half expected the older woman to reach for her rosary. It usually took a lot less than this to get her to take a trip around the beads. But her small hands continued to chop the garlic.
"I know you're disappointed," Mia said, feeling young and awkward. "That we… That I… About Danny." Which was a polite way of saying she was sure her grandmother was disappointed that Mia had not only had sex with a man she wasn't married to, but that she'd gotten pregnant.
Tessa glanced at her. "Why are you saying that now? You never cared what I thought when you brought your boyfriends around before."
Mia winced. "Things are different," she admitted. "I'm not that wild child anymore. I'm Danny's mother." She no longer brought home boyfriends to share her room. Shocking her family had ceased to be entertaining, even if she couldn't seem to stop doing it.
Her grandmother smiled. "You're a good girl, Mia. You're smart and independent and sometimes you act before you think. At least you used to. Since you had Danny, you've settled down."
"Become boring," she muttered. Her life was her son, her family, and law school. Or it had been. "Of course now I know a prince. That's going to change things."
Tessa's smile faded. "I don't like him."
"Really? I hadn't noticed."
Her grandmother narrowed her gaze. "You're not to be taking that tone with me, young lady."
Mia leaned down and kissed her cheek. "You don't scare me."
A floorboard creaked overhead. Mia glanced up. "I guess Rafael is settling in."
"I'm not sure his highness will like living in a real home with regular people. This isn't a palace, and if he thinks he's going to have us at his beck and call, he can think again."
Mia found herself torn between defending Rafael, who, technically, had not been unreasonable, and siding with Grandma Tessa.
"The bodyguards are in the guest house," she said. "That's something."
Tessa scooped the garlic into the heated pan and stirred the garlic and olive oil mixture. Mia had no idea what she was making. Practically every Italian dish began with garlic and olive oil.
"That was Joe," Tessa said curtly. "He's looking out for his family. Imagine those gorillas wanting to stay in this house with a little boy around. What if one of us got up in the night? They'd think we were after their precious prince and shoot us all in our sleep."
Mia thought about pointing out that anyone walking around was unlikely to be sleeping, but she liked that Grandma Tessa was on her side.
"Why don't you like him?" Mia asked.
Her grandmother went to work on a bowl of tomatoes, chopping them quickly and efficiently. "I don't know the man. It's for the Lord to judge him. That's not to say I'm willing to ignore my good sense just because he has a title, like some people I could name."
Mia knew the dig was aimed at Grammy M, who seemed happy to accept Rafael at face value.
Tessa nodded at the refrigerator. "There's corn in there. It won't be shucking itself."
Mia collected the bag and went to work. "I don't know what to think about all this," she admitted. "I know who he was, but I don't know who he is." She brushed corn silk into the trash can, then put the clean ear on the counter.
"Have you called Marco and Colleen?"
"No. I will. I want to tell them; it's just they've been looking forward to this trip for years and it took so long to arrange." Her parents, in charge of the overseas sales of Marcelli Wines, had just left for China three days ago. They were supposed to be gone two months. "I'm going to wait until they're in Beijing, then phone them at the hotel. I don't want them to come home early just for me. It's not as if Rafael is going anywhere."
Nor did she know if she wanted him to. While it would make her life easier, what about Danny? She wanted him to know his father.
"What about the girls?" Tessa asked, referring to Mia's sisters.
"I left a message for each of them already." There would be plenty of shrieking when they found out. "Brenna's out of town until tomorrow night, so Francesca and Katie will come over with her."
"They'll want to be with you," Tessa said. "They'll understand."
"I know." Sometimes her family made her crazy, but in situations like this, she appreciated the support. She wouldn't want to be going through this on her own.
Not that she even knew what "this" was.
The back door opened and Danny raced inside. Grammy M followed a bit more slowly.
"We picked berries," Danny said proudly as he showed off his red and purple fingers. "For dessert. Grammy M said I could help make it."
"I thought a berry shortcake would be nice for tonight," Grammy M said as she carried a basket to the sink. "I'm sure Rafael will appreciate some fine home cooking."
Tessa snorted. "I'm sure he's been longing for a little homemade dessert to chase away the flavor of all those five-star meals he's been forced to eat."
The two old women glared at each other. Mia took Danny by the hand. "Let's get you washed up," she said, more than willing to let them fight it out themselves.
"Is that man really my daddy?" Danny asked as they climbed the stairs.
"Yes, he is."
Her son looked at her, his eyes large and filled with questions. "Does he like me?"