Red Carpet Romeo

by Jenny Gardiner

  “I’d love that.”

  “In fact, let’s meet for breakfast and I can give you a tour, then maybe we can head into town to do some shopping. The city is lovely at Christmastime.”

  “Wow, I’m so lucky I got lost when I did and stumbled upon you. This will be so much fun,” she said just as they arrived at apartment eleven.

  “Meet me at nine in the dining room and we’ll go from there.”

  “Perfect,” Gisele said. “And if you need me to fend off that annoying person, like I said, well, I’ve got a mean left hook.”

  They both laughed. “Hopefully it won’t come to blows, but if it does, I might just call upon your services.”

  “Worst-case scenario, I’ll sic my brother on him.”

  “So you’re here with your brother, then?”

  Gisele nodded, inserting her key in the door. “Yes, he’s good friends with the groom. His name’s Parker. Parker Hornsby.”

  Chapter Eight

  Parker was just about to send out a search party for his sister when he heard her key turn in the lock.

  He turned the knob and opened the door, only to come face-to-face with not just his sister but also none other than the Queen B (and by that he meant Beyotch) of the evening.

  “Gisele,” he said, his voice stern with anger. “What the hell do you think you were doing out wandering the halls of the palace? I thought I told you not to leave this room.”

  “This is your brother?” Valentina said, interrupting his reprimand and pointing at his face as if pinning a perp in a line-up.

  Gisele nodded. “Yes, and normally he doesn’t act like such a jerk in public.”

  “Au contraire,” Valentina said.

  Parker glared at her. “The feeling’s mutual.”

  Gisele knit her brow. “Am I missing something here? You two know each other?”

  “Unfortunately,” Valentina said.

  “I have had the pleasure of making Miss Romeo’s acquaintance on several occasions,” Parker said. “Unfortunately Miss Romeo is known to hold a powerful grudge. Even when there are misunderstandings involved.”

  “Let’s just say your brother is really quite adept at being a total jerk in public and leave it at that.”

  Gisele frowned. “Um, does this mean we’re not getting together in the morning? I mean, I hope you don’t judge me based upon my brother’s actions, whatever they are. I was really looking forward to our day.”

  Valentina shook her head as if clearing her thoughts. “Goodness, of course we’re still going out tomorrow, Gisele. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. After all, as the saying goes, you are not your brother’s keeper. I’m totally good forgetting about your connection to him if you are.”

  Gisele smiled. “Of course I am,” she said, clapping. “I can’t wait. See you in the morning!”

  Parker frowned. What was it with women? Piling on like that. He’d like to think his own flesh and blood would side with him, but even if blood was thicker than water, evidently XY chromosomes trumped blood altogether.

  Damn. At the rate things were going, he might just be better off getting on the first plane out of this place.

  ~*~

  Once Valentina had left, Parker turned to his sister.

  “Et tu, Brute?”

  Gisele shook her head. “What?”

  “Really?” he said. “You sold me out for the chance to spend the day with the likes of her?”

  “But she was super nice,” she said. “I got lost and she helped me find my way back here. And she offered to be my guide. She’s like my palace Sherpa.”

  He shook his head. “Sherpa?” Honestly, could it get any more ridiculous?

  “Yes, she said she could help show me the ropes. You’re going to be so busy with all the pre-wedding things, I thought it would be great to do this with someone who knows the place. I mean, how would I know you two hated each other’s guts?”

  “But once you found that out, maybe you could have thought twice before hurling me under the wheels of the bus, you know. ’Cause right now I sort of feel like a squirrel plastered to the pavement.”

  She shrugged. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to be mean to you. But I wasn’t quite sure what to do, and I figured I don’t know her and I do know you and, well, you’re my brother and all so you have to forgive me, whereas if I rejected her in favor of you, then she’d never forgive me and there goes my chance for seeing the town with a local.”

  “She’s not even a local!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s Luca’s cousin. She’s one of the Romeos. I spent a summer at the family beach compound in Italy and got to know her then.”

  “Please don’t tell me you slept with her and left her humiliated in a puddle of tears.”

  Parker gave her a deadpan look. “You do know it’s me you’re speaking to?” he said. “Like, I’m not exactly the love ’em and leave ’em type. Besides which, she was a little kid. I was in college. So no, I decidedly did not sleep with her.”

  “So why does she hate you so much?”

  “Because I guess in her childish mind, she’d entertained ideas of something more with me. But like I said, she was a kid and I was an adult. I had to make it clear to her that that was not going to happen. And I guess she then went home and whipped up a voodoo doll with my name on it and has been sticking pins in it ever since. In fact maybe it’s her fault Amanda and William betrayed me as they did. It was beyond their control once those pins got jammed into my doppelganger doll.”

  Gisele pursed her lips. “Huh. Interesting. Very interesting.”

  Parker looked at the devious look on her face and immediately sensed disaster. “Oh, no you don’t,” he said. “I know that look. It’s that look you get before you decide you’re going to meddle in my life. Like the time you signed me up for a Tinder account and failed to tell me. And then you lifted my phone from my pocket and started swiping right on the damned thing to try to get me hooked up with strange women who were at that bar we were both at in midtown.”

  Gisele laughed. “You must admit, that was pretty ingenious of me.”

  “Right,” he said. “Until those women kept coming up and grabbing my crotch.”

  “I can’t help they were so aggressive! I was just trying to give you a nudge in the right direction.”

  “You’re good at that.”

  “At what?”

  “Being a nudge.”

  She play-smacked his arm. “I’m not a nudge. I said I was giving you a nudge.”

  “Nudge, nudge, whatever,” he said. “But seriously, you need to be careful with this one. I mean, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t hang out with her, but I will ask you to please keep me out of it. I need to be diplomatic here because she’s a cousin to Luca and I don’t want anything to happen to jeopardize my friendship with him. Deal?”

  She sighed. “Much as I’d love to get involved here, I’ll play nice and steer clear. But only because I want to go have a fun day in Porto Castello, and doing it with Luca’s cousin means, well, she must be royal too, right?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Basically the rule of thumb around here is to err on the side of caution. Presume everyone is royal until you know otherwise.”

  “Oh my God, this is going to be the best week ever.”

  She gave her brother a huge hug just as he let out an even bigger sigh. Each time he thought the week had bottomed out, the pit grew deeper still. He was going to deserve a medal if he survived this without some major scene that involved the screaming of invectives. At him. By her.

  Lord help him.

  Chapter Nine

  Valentina was finishing up her cappuccino when she spied the Jerk escorting his sister down the Grande Staircase on their way to breakfast. She was amused they were taking that route since there were more direct, out-of-the-way paths to get to the dining room without making a huge entrance. Clearly Gisele was enjoying dabbling in the royal experience. And she hadn’t seen anything yet; sh
e would no doubt be blown away by the pomp and circumstance of the royal wedding, with guests attired to the hilt in the emblems of royalty. Valentina was going to have fun introducing her new friend to this fantasy world.

  She was sort of kicking herself for not realizing sooner that Gisele might belong to Parker. The American accent should have been a dead giveaway. After all, how many Americans would be in attendance at this shindig? Well, actually, plenty, what with the bride being from the States. But still, how many would show up so early before the big event? Try again, Valentina. Surely some of Larkin’s American guests would come for the pre-festivities. Well, then, how about because Gisele looks so much like the man. Of course she belonged to Parker.

  Although it was curious that he’d brought his little sister along rather than a date. Probably because no woman in her right mind would want to be his date anyhow. It would be like going on a date with a gargoyle. Or one of those heavy-breathing dogs with bulging eyes and tongues permanently dangling from the corner of their mouths. Pity the woman who got stuck with him.

  Well, never mind that one. Time to put on her game face and tune him out altogether.

  “Gisele,” she said, her arms open wide as she reached for her new friend, planting cheerful kisses on each cheek. “I trust you slept well last night?”

  Gisele rolled her eyes. “Once I was done being lectured by that one,” she whispered, aiming her thumb behind her at her brother, who cocked his eyebrow and frowned, evidently able to hear all that she was saying.

  Valentina waved her hands dismissively in his direction. “Let’s not concern ourselves with that,” she said, not even bothering to use a pronoun in reference to the man. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us. Why don’t you grab a croissant from the tray and I’ll fix you a quick shot of espresso and we can be on our way.”

  Gisele leaned in toward Valentina. “I feel sort of bad leaving Parker behind. You sure he’s going to be okay?”

  “I wouldn’t worry about him. He’ll find some homeless person to insult or steal a loaf of bread from a starving child. He’ll be happy as a clam.” She said that loud enough so that he could indeed hear her, and he made a snarly face as if mockingly repeating her words.

  “Normally I’d say let’s sit and have a relaxed breakfast,” Valentina continued. “But, well, the company will be much more palatable once we’re away from here. Don’t you agree?”

  Gisele threw one of those “What can I do? I can’t help it!” looks to her brother and shrugged as Valentina led her out of the dining room and down the hallway toward the awaiting car.

  Outside, bright December sunshine reflected off the blanket of snow that covered everything.

  “What a perfect day,” Gisele said, spreading her arms wide. “I swear I keep pinching myself that I’m actually here. At a palace. For a royal wedding! Which reminds me, what exactly is your connection to the royal family?”

  “My family, the Romeos, has been in Italy for hundreds upon hundreds of years. We are from Italian royalty before unification happened in Italy and the royals were shut out. So while technically we are of royal stock, our country no longer recognizes us as such,” she said. “The Eastons—the Monaforte royals—are my cousins. My mother, Fabiana, is sister to their father, Prince Enrico. And as such, we spent many hours together as children, and I regard the palace as a second home. Well, that and our family seaside retreat.”

  Gisele lifted an eyebrow. “Where you met my brother?”

  Valentina grumbled. “Unfortunately. Yes. But let’s not ruin the day with such talk. I’ve got lots in store for you.”

  It had crossed Valentina’s mind that perhaps it was insulting for her to diss the woman’s brother like that, but honestly, the mere thought of the man made her skin crawl. At least when it didn’t make it feel all warm and tingly. All the more reason it was really important to reinforce that he was the Enemy. But she was big enough about things to not let her hatred of Parker get in the way of a fledgling friendship with his sister. It was nice to be reasonably minded, she thought.

  “Jerome will be our driver today,” Valentina said as he ushered them into the Rolls-Royce.

  “Oh, yes, I remember you! You’re the one who picked us up at the airport,” Gisele said.

  He nodded to her and waved his hand in the rearview mirror. “Where to, Signora Romeo?”

  “First let’s do the drive-by tour of the city,” she said. “Then we’ll go down to the waterfront to do some shopping and have lunch.”

  And maybe by the time they finished their busy day, old Parker would have boarded a plane back to New York and would be out of her life completely.

  ~*~

  “This is the most romantic city I think I’ve ever seen,” Gisele said. “The gorgeous Gothic architecture, all those haunting gargoyles, the tall spires. And oh, everything is bundled up for Christmas, the pine roping everywhere, the twinkly fairy lights. Streetlamps adorned with Christmas wreaths and large red bows. Even the horses pulling carriages down the boulevard are wearing red velvet blankets trimmed in white. It’s magical.”

  Valentina smiled. It was fun seeing this place through fresh eyes. It really was a romantic city, all cozy and warm despite the chill in the air. All the restaurants and bars had warming fireplaces as well, and it was hard to not feel the embrace of seasonal cheer.

  “I love being able to show it to you,” she said. “The National Gallery of Art, where the pre-wedding gala dinner will be held, and the Cathedral of Santo Giacomo il Maggiore, the site, of course, of the wedding. This place is so steeped in history. But now we eat and shop. Jerome, if you could take us down to the waterfront, please.”

  They pulled up on the main street in the historic district of Porto Castello, and Jerome let them out to stroll. The street was lined with charming, candy-colored-timbered Alpine farmhouse-style structures with gingerbread wood tracery that made them look as if from a fairy tale. Pine garland was draped along the buildings, and the ubiquitous fairy lights decorated each one as well. Behind the buildings loomed the mighty Alps, and before them stood the Mediterranean Sea. In a nearby marina, beautiful sailboats bobbed in the water, waiting for warmer days to explore the many nearby coves. The church bells from the Cathedral of Santo Giacomo il Maggiore began to peal at the top of the hour.

  “There’s a cozy little pub where we can tuck in and grab some lunch. It’s my favorite place on a cold winter’s day.”

  They walked a half block to the King’s Arms Tavern and entered into the somewhat dimly lit pub, a blazing fireplace on one side and a long oak bar on the other. They sank into leather club chairs at a small table that was made of a wine cask, and the waitress handed them menus and asked for their drink orders.

  “I believe hot chocolate is in order,” Valentina said, nodding to her guest. “Sound good to you?”

  “Sounds perfect,” Gisele said, opening her menu to peruse her choices.

  “They make a divine chicken pot pie with a puff pastry topping,” Valentina said. “As well as a beef goulash that’ll knock your socks off. I’m game for splitting one of each if you are.”

  “I’d like nothing better,” Gisele said, closing her menu.

  The waitress brought their hot cocoa with homemade marshmallows, and they both held them tight to warm their cold hands as they placed their orders.

  “So,” Valentina said. “Tell me more about you. What do you do back home? How is it that you came to be here for this wedding?”

  “I’m an assistant to a production assistant with a production company back home,” Gisele said. “In other words, I get sent out to Starbucks about ten times a day to retrieve coffee for the higher-ups. Hardly a glamorous job.”

  “You have to start somewhere.”

  “That’s true. And I hope eventually to get into the production end of things myself. Right now I’m just soaking it all in, staying late many nights, called in on weekends at the whim of someone above me who likes to make us work just because they can.”
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br />   “Ahhh, the power plays,” she said. “Don’t you hate that?”

  Gisele nodded. “I’m trying to understand that from a sociological perspective, but so far it’s not working. Like why do those higher on the pecking order try to make life so miserable for those on the bottom? So instead I just paste on a smile and hope for the best,” she said. “And as far as why I’m here? I’m my brother’s date, which I was more than happy to do to go to a royal wedding. What about you? What do you do?”

  Valentina shrugged. “I’ve been at loose ends for a little while. Technically I work with my family’s vineyard, though to be truthful I don’t have a specific job I can lay claim to. We had a big project I helped to oversee the decorating of, but now that it’s done, I’m trying to figure out how to parlay that into something more.”

  “Sounds fun.”

  “It was, but in Italy everyone has great design sense. So it’s hard to break into the market, there are so many entrenched companies. That said, I could and should use my family connections. I guess I’m just reluctant to do that because I want to succeed on my own.”

  “That’s an admirable quality,” her friend said. “But maybe you can use your name to get your foot in the door and then the rest is all from you.”

  “You’re right. It’s on my to-do list.” She laughed. “I guess I’m pretty lousy at marketing myself, aren’t I?”

  “We can’t all be good at everything,” Gisele said. “So dare I ask the million-dollar question?”

  Valentina frowned. “Must you?”

  She nodded. “I’m afraid so,” she said. “After all, I sort of stuck myself in the middle of things. It’s the least I can do to educate myself about what I’m trapped in.”

  Valentina heaved a sigh. “I sure never thought I’d be regaling anyone with this embarrassing story, especially not to the guy’s own sister. You must have some magical ways with you, Gisele, to get me to talk.”

  “In that case, truth serum is definitely called for.”

  Gisele flagged the waitress down and ordered two shots of tequila, which were delivered in short order. She held up her shot glass to her new friend’s glass and smiled. “On the count of three...”