The Marcelli Princess

by Sarra Cannon

Page 17

 

  Rafael caught him and stood. "What's all this?" he asked as he swung the boy in the air.

  "I think Danny just figured out you're sticking around. "

  "Of course I am," he told the boy. "I'm your father. "

  "I want presents," Danny said.

  "That will put you in your place," Mia told Rafael before reminding Danny, "It's not polite to ask people to give you presents. "

  "But I want 'em. "

  "Sometimes social niceties get lost on the post-toddler set. "

  "I want my daddy at my party. "

  "I will be there," Rafael said.

  "Promise?"

  "Of course. "

  Rafael set the boy on the ground. While he appreciated Mia's attempt to educate the child on ways to behave, he couldn't help being pleased with Danny's demanding personality. He would need that strength as he navigated his way through all the potential pitfalls of growing up royal.

  "There will be presents," Rafael told his son. "Many presents. "

  Danny grinned. He grabbed the scepter and banged it on the bed. "I'm the heir. I'm the heir. "

  Mia took it from him. "Not a toy," she said. "How about that race we were going to have?"

  Danny collapsed to the floor and began pushing the cars around.

  "You do well with him," Rafael told her as he sat on the edge of the bed.

  "Practice. My mom and the Grands have really helped. "

  "I look forward to meeting your parents. "

  "They were really excited to hear all about you. They wanted to come home, but I convinced them you would still be available for meet and greet when they returned from China. "

  "Of course," he said, knowing he would be back in Calandria. Most likely Mia would have returned home by then and they could hear her complaints in person.

  He studied the boy, then Mia, noting Daniel had the same color eyes as his mother. The boy was also very close to her, perhaps a result of her being a single parent. There would be a period of adjustment, he thought. But in time Daniel would understand why things had to be that way.

  As for Mia… Rafael took in her easy smile, then dropped his gaze to her full breasts. She would not be so forgiving. Her fury would stir the heavens, but there was nothing she could do to him.

  He briefly wished for another option, one that did not alter her world so completely and hurt her, but the choice was clear. He would do what was best for Calandria and for his son. She laughed at something Daniel had said. The sound filled him with the need to hear it again. Unfortunately, that was not his only desire where she was concerned.

  "What are you thinking?" she asked. "You have the strangest look on your face. "

  "Just that I have missed you," he said, the lie easy and smooth.

  "Are you bored here, living in the real world?"

  "I am enjoying myself. Normal is more interesting than I had realized. "

  "Sorry, but this isn't normal. Normal means holding down a job and struggling to pay the bills and trying to save for retirement and the kids' college while hoping your company doesn't get bought out and you don't get downsized. This is a really cool vacation. "

  "Then I am enjoying my vacation. "

  She grinned. "Because you would never make it in Normal Land. "

  "I could get a job. "

  "Doing what? You'd never last, Rafael. You're too imperious. "

  "You like that I'm imperious. "

  "Sometimes. "

  She lowered her lashes as she spoke and his gaze dropped to her mouth. He wanted her in his bed. Not only because he sensed that once they made love he will have won, but also because he ached for her.

  Their time together when he had played at being Diego had shown him that they complemented each other extremely well. She argued with him and sometimes won. She spoke different languages, understood different cultures, liked to laugh, and treated him as if he were just a man. Just as intriguing, there was a passionate fire that never seemed to go out, and no matter how many times he had her, he always wanted more.

  Their recent encounter had left him hungry and restless. She might not be the most beautiful woman he'd ever known, but she was the most sexually exciting. After she'd gone home, he'd tried to figure out what it was about her that got to him. Was it the sharpness of her mind? The sound of her laughter? The way she gave herself to him so completely?

  He had never discovered the answer, and now that he was with her again, he ached to claim her.

  Danny crashed two of his cars and giggled. Mia glanced at her watch. "Okay, my man, ten more minutes, then we need to run through your lines again. "

  Danny wrinkled his nose. "I know my lines. "

  "All of them?"

  He smiled. "Miss Valdrake will whisper them to me. She does when we practice. "

  "Uh-huh. Wouldn't it be totally, incredibly fabulous if you knew all your lines by yourself?"

  Danny nodded as he laughed.

  "This is his play for school?" Rafael asked. "He is the lead?"

  "He's a tree," Mia said. "Get over it. "

  A tree? "But he is the heir to— "

  "Actually, everyone in this room is very clear on that. "

  "But the teacher is not. My son will not be a tree in a play. " It was not acceptable.

  "I want to be a tree," Danny said, his smile fading. "I'm a good tree. "

  "Yes, you are," Mia said, and patted him on the back. "Don't sweat it, honey. You're going to be a tree. The Grands have worked too hard on your costume for that to change now. " She looked at Rafael. "Did I mention the imperious bit, because this would be an example. Besides, it's a production for preschoolers in a summer program. There is no lead. The play is about the forest, and the trees are the really cool parts. "

  He was not convinced but told himself it did not matter. No one would be seeing the play except other parents. "When is the play?"

  "In a couple of weeks. "

  Rafael wasn't sure if they would still be here or not. "I will attend. "

  Danny scrambled to his feet and started jumping up and down. "My daddy's coming to my play! My daddy's coming to my play!" Then he threw himself at Rafael and wrapped his arms around his neck.

  Danny straightened. "You're the best daddy ever," he announced, then kissed Rafael and then Mia. "I'm hungry," he announced.

  "I heard that," Grammy M said as she stuck her head in the room. "Come along, little man. I'll be gettin' you a snack. " She smiled at Rafael, then took the boy by the hand and led him away.

  Rafael stared after them. He was still absorbing Daniel's reaction to his attending the play.

  "He wanted me to be there," he murmured. "And at his birthday party. "

  "Of course he did. You're important to him. That was one of the things that stunned me about being a parent. I knew there would be responsibility, but I didn't expect to be his whole world. At least until he grows up a little. "

  His world. Rafael hadn't expected that either. Until arriving, he'd thought of Daniel in abstract terms. A child. His child. But now the boy was more than that. He was a separate person with thoughts and ideas and dreams.

  "Kind of scary, huh?" she asked.

  He shrugged. "It is different. He is different. "

  She leaned against the bed. "Let me guess. Less well mannered. "

  "He has not been raised in a palace. "

  "You're going to have to teach him to salute. "

  He narrowed his gaze. "Even the mother of the heir should take care not to mock the crown prince. "

  She grinned. "Oooh, will the big, bad prince punish me now?"

  "No, because that is what you want. " He picked up one of the race cars. "When I was his age, I could already recite the lineage of my family back to the twelfth century. "

  "There's a party trick. "

  "It is not a trick. It is who we are. "

  "It's who you ar
e. And Danny's not you. He's not even four yet. Give him a break. "

  Rafael appreciated her concern, but he also resented it. How strange. Perhaps if his mother had lived she would have…

  He shook off the thought. "Before I left for school in England, I was already attending meetings of state. I would visit with my father three times a week and listen while he explained what was going on in our country and in the world. "

  "Arranged meetings?" she asked. "What about just hanging out. Playing, having him read you a story?"

  "He is the king. He does not read stories. "

  "Right. Because he has a staff to do that. " She leaned over and put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. "

  He stiffened. "Your apology is not required. "

  "I wasn't apologizing. I was expressing sympathy and compassion. That's a tough life for any kid. It shouldn't have been like that. "

  He stood and glared down at her. "It was exactly as it should have been. I am crown prince— "

  She rose, put her hands on his shoulders, and cut him off with a brief kiss. "Get defensive much?" she asked as she drew back. "I know who you are. You've lived a life of great privilege and that's wonderful, but you've also paid a price for that. Everyone has trade-offs. Yours were different from most, but they still existed. That's okay. "

  He hated what she was saying as much as his body wanted to respond to her nearness.

  "I do not need you making excuses for me," he told her.

  "I'm not. I'm saying that childhood is a tough gig, even for a prince. No kid should have to get dressed up and have an appointment to see a parent. Parents should be the safest place in the world, and so many times they're not. "

  He didn't want to think about that— about how his father had been a stranger. There had been other people he could depend on. His uncle Vidal had talked to him about life and been a trusted confidant.

  Mia took his hand and tugged until he sat next to her on the bed. "I have a question. "

  "That is hardly unusual. "

  "True. What would you be or do if you weren't a prince?"

  He stared at her. "I am a prince. "

  "Yes, we're all totally clear on that. The flashing neon sign over your head doesn't let anyone forget. But if you weren't, what would you be? How would you make a living?"

  "I have never considered such a thing. "

  Except he had… once. Rafael had spent a month his summer before university on the private island of a friend of his father's. There had been no press, no parties, no public appearances. Just the large house and its staff, along with those people indigenous to the island.

  None of them had cared who he was or where he came from. They lived their lives bound by the seasons, growing crops, marrying, having children, getting old, and then dying.

  "A doctor," he said without thinking, then wished he hadn't spoken.

  "Really? An actual medical doctor?"

  He nodded stiffly. "I would take care of people. I would also do research to fight diseases. "

  "You mean help them?" She sounded both intrigued and disbelieving.

  "This conversation has no purpose. "

  "It does for me," she told him. "I'm still trying to figure you out. I wouldn't have thought a doctor. "

  It was a moment to push his advantage. He should discuss this more and allow Mia to believe he was everything she wanted. Instead he asked, "And you? When you were a young girl, what did you want to be or do?"

  She laughed. "I wanted to rule the world. Sort of the ultimate imperial queen. It's been a joke in my family for years. Instead I decided to become a diplomat and along the way ended up, very briefly, being a spy. You know the rest. "