He moved to the table and took a seat across from her. “My guilty secret,” he said with a shrug. “I made you promise not to tell.”
“I never knew why it was such a big deal. So you don’t cheat. Most women consider that a good thing.”
“My father has kept mistresses all his life. Usually two or three at a time. They know about each other and on the surface all is well. I was never comfortable with that. I could see the pain in their eyes.”
He looked away, as if embarrassed by the turn in the conversation. That surprised her, and in a good way. She liked knowing that the imperious crown prince had a weakness or two. Twenty would be better but she would take what she could get.
“Tell me about life in the palace,” she said, taking pity on him and changing the subject.
“It is not so different from your world,” he said.
She laughed. “Oh, please. Royalty. It has to be different. Do you have your own wing or county or something?”
“I live elsewhere, in a private house on the edge of the sea. I am close enough to be reached quickly if there is an emergency, but I do not still live at home.”
“I wouldn’t have thought living in the palace would count as living at home.”
“I learned very quickly that it was difficult to take girls to my room when we had to tiptoe past my father’s quarters. At twenty, such things mattered to me.”
“They would matter at any age. Okay, so you get up and one of your several harem women prepares you for your shower.”
“I am sorry to disappoint you, but I do not have harem women.”
“Not a good crop this year?”
“I get myself ready in the morning.”
“What? No servants?”
“A handful. They prepare my breakfast and take care of my clothes.”
“Nice work if you can get it. Then what?”
“Then I drive to the palace for my morning meetings with my father and officials from our government.”
“Do Umberto and Oliver tag along?”
“I have bodyguards in a car following me.”
This was one of the strangest conversations Mia could remember having. To her, none of what Rafael talked about was real, yet every bit of it was his life.
“So what happens after a hard morning of governing the little people?”
“You mock me.”
“It’s something I’m really good at. The reverence thing has always been a problem. Fortunately I don’t run into many people deserving of that kind of attitude.”
He sighed. “You are going to be difficult, but I expected as much.”
“Really?” The thought pleased her.
“Of course. You forget, I know you. You are too smart for your own good and intimidated by no one. A dangerous combination.”
“Ooh, let me guess. For a woman.”
“For anyone. And to answer your question, which you have probably already forgotten, I lunch with different heads of state or visiting dignitaries. Sometimes I meet with officials in parliament. I spend my afternoons with charity work-I deal with three international organizations-or events in the city. Once a week or so there is an official dinner or fund-raiser of some kind.”
“Sounds boring,” she said. “What do you do for fun?”
“Polo, sailing, skiing, mountain climbing. I keep busy.”
Her idea of excitement was a twilight stroll around the vineyards, followed by an extra glass of wine with dinner. They were practically twins separated at birth.
“I am in the unique position of training for a job that I may not have for years,” he said. “I do not wish my father to die, yet this is the expected way of succession.”
“Would he abdicate?”
“We have talked about it. He does not want me to wait indefinitely.”
“So you would be king sooner rather than later?”
He nodded.
She didn’t like the sound of that. Not with a proposal still hanging between them. Bad enough to be a lousy princess, but it was so much worse to be a horrible queen.
“You would do well,” he said, reading her mind.
“I have many, many doubts. I could put them into categories and have them spiral bound for you, if you’d like.”
“Calandria is a small country. Your duties-”
She cut him off with a strangled cough. “See, that’s the thing. Any sentence that begins with the words
“There would be compensations.”
She wasn’t sure if he was going to talk about the wealth and relative power or the thrill of being married to him. Right now she didn’t want to think about either.
“What about Danny?” she asked. “What would his life be like?”
“He would have tutors.”
“Now?”
“Of course. There’s much he has to learn.”
That didn’t sound good. She remembered what Rafael had told her about his years growing up.
“Just so we’re clear,” she said flatly, “he’s not being sent away to some European boarding school. He can go to a regular school with other Calandrian children.”
Rafael stiffened as if she’d slapped him. “My son is the heir to the Calandrian throne.”
“Funny, because my son is just a little boy. Are you saying Calandrian schools are substandard?”
“Of course not. They are the best in Europe.”
“Then think of the money we’ll save. Besides, if Danny is going to grow up to rule the people, doesn’t it make sense that he get to know them from an early age?”
She could feel Rafael winding himself up for some kind of princely tirade, so she quickly asked, “Did you like being sent away when you were all of seven? Didn’t you miss your friends and your family? Do you really want that for Danny?”
“There are traditions,” he began.
“There’s also reality. It’s a new century, Rafael. How about pushing the monarchy into it? I’m not sending Danny away to school.”
She also was fairly sure she wasn’t going to be marrying Rafael anytime soon, although the idea was fun to think about.
“You are right,” he said, stunning her into silence. “I did not enjoy being sent away. I was angry and resentful. I vowed it would be different for my son.”
“You might want to remember that,” she said, trying not to melt at the thought of a scared and lonely seven- year-old Rafael.
“Was it too horrible?” she asked.
“I survived. I had my uncle Vidal, who visited me frequently. My father’s brother,” he added. “We were close. Much closer than I ever was with my father.”
She imagined it would be tough to get close to the king. “It’s too bad your father didn’t remarry. Having a woman around would have helped.”
“Perhaps, but my father had done his duty and saw no reason to do it again.”
Marriage as duty-an interesting concept. “What about marrying for love?” she asked.
Rafael took her hand and lightly kissed the tips of her fingers. “Such a thing would not occur to him.”
“What are
His blue eyes darkened with emotion. “I have turned down three acceptable arranged marriages and I have been unable to tell my father why. Each of the women was exactly what I said I wanted, and yet when the time
