“I could say the same.”
“You could, but you’re a gentleman and you won’t.” Her smile faded. “I love you and I’m incredibly glad we’re not the ones getting married.”
“Me too.” His expression turned serious. “We were kids. What did we know about marriage and forever?”
“Plus you probably would have met Amber eventually and left me for her.”
“I would have felt bad about it.”
She laughed. “And that’s supposed to make it all better?”
He shrugged. “What can I say? She’s the love of my life.”
“David?”
They both turned and saw Amber stepping out of the dining room where Grammy M had carefully sent her to polish the silver. The preplanned move had allowed Amber to hear every word while staying out of sight.
“Amber.” David shifted uncomfortably. “We were, uh, just talking. Mia and I. It doesn’t mean anything.”
Amber’s eyes were bright with affection and understanding. “I know.” She turned to Mia. “I’m sorry I’ve been so foolish about so many things. It’s just you’re amazing and I’m just…”
“The woman David loves,” Mia told her.
Amber stepped into his embrace. “I am, aren’t I? Wow. How did I get so lucky?”
David hugged her tight. Over her head, he mouthed, “Thank you.”
Mia nodded, then turned away to give them privacy. Not that they cared. As far as they were concerned, they were the only two people in the world.
Mia returned to her room, where she could have her breakdown in private. This was the Marcelli family, after all, and if anyone saw her crying they would all want to know what was wrong, then work as a committee to fix it. Right now, she just couldn’t handle that.
She closed the door and then threw herself on the bed. But once there, the tears refused to come. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think about everything going on, but it was impossible.
She hurt. Every bone, every hair, every inch of skin. She ached with disappointment and a strong sense of having lost something that could have been-should have been-wonderful. For a few days, a couple of weeks even, she’d been in love with a caring, smart, funny guy who’d pretended to love her back. She’d allowed herself to believe. To have hope. It had been a long time since she’d had hope in the romance department.
So many pretty words, she thought. So many lies and she’d fallen for them all. Apparently she only looked smart.
Now everything felt broken. She knew Rafael was trying, but so what? How could she ever believe him again? How could she trust him? Or was that not her problem? Did she have to trust him? If he changed the law, then they would have to negotiate some kind of visitation for Danny in Calandria.
She rolled onto her back. If…There was no if. Rafael was nothing if not determined. He wanted his son to grow up knowing about his people and his duty. He wanted Danny to understand that being the heir meant more than waving a scepter and making pronouncements. Rafael would get the law changed and then she would lose Danny.
Her eyes burned as the tears came at last. Perhaps it was dramatic to think she would lose her son, but everything would be different. He would probably summer with his father and go to school in Los Angeles with her. He would have major life experiences without her, learn things, be independent. She’d expected that when he was a teenager, but not before he was eight.
She wanted to hate Rafael for all this. She wanted to blame him for everything, but she couldn’t. In truth, Danny was his son and he had as much right to the boy as she.
She closed her eyes and felt the trickle of moisture run down her temples and into her hair. Her chest ached. How would she survive without Danny around? The summer would be too long. She could-
Eventually he would have to go to school in Europe.
Mia sat up. He would need exposure to a larger world. An international one. She had the sudden hope that he’d inherited her ability to learn languages. It would certainly make his life easier.
But what about her? Should
She picked up a pillow and threw it across the room. “Damn you, Rafael,” she cried as more tears poured down her cheeks.
“Mommy.”
Mia froze and looked at the now open door. She’d been so caught up in her thoughts, she hadn’t heard it open.
Danny stood there, his eyes wide as he stared at her. “Mommy?”
She quickly wiped her face. “Hi, sweetie. I’m okay. What’s going on?”
“I want to do a puzzle.”
He still wasn’t very good at them. Even the ones with the really big pieces.
“Sure. I can help. Let me go wash my face and we’ll head downstairs.”
He crossed the room and climbed up on the bed. “Are you mad at Daddy?” he asked.
Her first instinct was to deny that she was, but based on what Danny had just seen and heard, that seemed kind of stupid.
“I am, right now, but that’s okay. Grown-ups get mad at each other and then we talk and make up.”
“Does Daddy have to ’pologize?”
“He has.”
“But you’re still mad?”
She sighed. “I’m mad about a lot of things.”
“You could make a list.”
She laughed, then put her arms around him. He hugged her back, his body small and sturdy.
“I love you, big guy,” she whispered. “So much. You’re my whole world and the best thing in it.”
“I love you, too, Mommy.”
She couldn’t let him go, she thought as she continued to hold on to him. Not even for a summer. She couldn’t survive. Which meant she and Rafael had a whole lot of stuff to work out.
But how was she supposed to negotiate with a man she didn’t trust?
She straightened. “Okay. Let’s go find that puzzle.”
“Okay.”
He smiled and slid off the bed. She followed him. In the hallway, he reached for her hand. She held on to his small fingers and vowed that no matter what, she was never letting go.
Rafael walked toward the back door of the Marcelli house. He’d had two angry phone calls with his father that morning. The king was not a patient man and he expected his grandson in residence before the end of the summer. Rafael didn’t see how that was possible. He was no longer willing to simply spirit Daniel away, as he had been before. Mia had worked legal magic to keep Daniel with her in any other circumstances. It was a problem without solution.
The door opened before he could knock. Daniel stood there.
“Good morning,” Rafael said pleasantly. “I thought we could go into town today. There is a children’s museum that is-”
“You made my mommy cry,” Daniel told him. “You made Mommy cry and say a bad word. Go away.”
With that, the door slammed shut, leaving Rafael standing alone outside.
Mia looked up when Grammy M walked into the library. “What’s up?” she asked.
The older woman was twisting an old dish towel. “It’s Danny,” she said, then quickly added. “He’s fine.”
“Okay.” Mia stood. “Did he do something wrong?”
“I’m not sure you’ll think so. Rafael was here.”
Mia glanced at the clock and swore. It was ten after two. Their appointment was for two.
“I was trying to figure out my class schedule,” she said. “I wasn’t watching the clock.” Her heart froze in her chest. “Oh, God, Rafael didn’t take him, did he?”
“What? Of course not. None of us would be lettin’ that happen. It’s nothin’ like that. Danny answered the door and told his father that he’d made you cry and that he should go away. Then he slammed the door in Rafael’s face
