The Heir_Billionaire Royal

by Sophia Summers

  “Please.” He glanced at all the people in the room. Sierra had moved to sit by Jo’s father. “Can we talk?”

  The knocking on the door pounded again.

  “Jo?” Her father’s voice had a hint of worry.

  “He feels better when you are here, but the crowd outside unsettles him. Perhaps it would be better for me to talk to them and then they will leave?”

  “No.” Nick shook his head. “They are never satisfied. The only way to hush them up is to ignore them until another story more interesting pulls them away.”

  Sierra worked to distract her father.

  Nick pulled her into the hallway. “Please, Jo. Listen?”

  She nodded, full of skepticism. Full of disappointment, betrayal. After feeling like she had found something special, the blow of bad news felt especially poignant.

  “I came here to Shady Lake to avoid the scandal brewing in my country.”

  “I’m listening.”

  He cleared his throat. “Angelika is out to get me. She hired photographers to follow us on a”—he ran a hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable—“trip on my boat.”

  Jo felt ill. Nick could be like any of the famous people she saw in the tabloids, surrounded by women, playboy, reckless.

  “She then posted the pictures everywhere, all over the place.” He reached for her hand. “I’ve made some mistakes, lived a carefree life, but, Jo, I’m changing. I want to be better. Since I met you I have a whole different outlook. I need to grow up—”

  “So, I’m your Kevin?” She opened her mouth in disbelief. “You want me around so I can help you study, do your work, be responsible.” She remembered her father’s words: “ground you.” Somehow they came back sounding like a whole different idea in the light of day.

  “No, Jo. You are fun! And exciting. And more enticing than I care to admit. But what I mean to say is, I’m not proud of what I’ve been. And Angelika captured some of it, the drinking, the partying, and things.” He reached for her hands. “When you see these things, I just hate what you will think of me.”

  “I can’t help that. You are the one who behaved…” She stomped in frustration. “It doesn’t matter what I think. You made this mess. I assume you will be heading back to your country?” She swallowed. “To take care of your child?”

  “I promise that is not my child. Come with me.” He held both her hands in his own. “Jo, come with me.”

  “What?” She stepped back, not sure what to think about the child not being his, but wanting to believe it.

  “Please. Come with me. Meet my family, see my home, help me weather this and figure it out.”

  A sliver of hope rose within her. He wanted her. He needed her. She was his choice.

  Someone wiggled the front doorknob. And her father called out, “Nurse June?” He sounded so vulnerable.

  Jo closed her eyes, knowing what she had to say. She felt a tear squeeze out her left eye, pain welling up inside. When she opened her eyes again, the understanding in Nick’s undid her.

  “Stay.” He opened his arms to hug her. “You can’t leave right now. Stay.”

  She stepped into his embrace and wrapped her hands around his back.

  He said, “I don’t think your father would do well without you. And you might miss some of these precious moments when he remembers everything. I would never forgive myself.”

  “Nick, I…”

  He shook his head. “No, I understand. I should never have asked it of you.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Try to still hold some sort of friendship for me when all this comes out.” He stepped quickly away toward the front door. “Please believe me. I am not that man anymore.” He reached for the handle.

  “Wait!”

  But he did not stop. The door opened, and he faced the crowding cameras and flashes.

  Julian jumped up from the couch and joined him at his side. “Step back, please. His Majesty needs some room, please. He will give one statement all at once. No questions.”

  Jo slumped back against the wall. How had she become entangled with such a person? And how could she live without him? Images of Angelika and her rounded belly flashed through her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized, Nick was gone forever.

  14

  Sierra threw a piece of popcorn at Jo’s face. “You know you think he’s hot. Just cause he turned out to be trouble and the prince of an unknown Mediterranean island, doesn’t mean he wasn’t hot.”

  She grinned. She loved Sierra’s ability to make her laugh. “I never denied it.”

  They had her laptop synched to the TV and they were doing internet searches of Prince Nico. She refused to call him Nick anymore. Nico seemed so distant, and not the man she had come to rely on. At least they hadn’t progressed further. She could have fallen for him way past her ability to get over him.

  She secretly wondered if that threshold had already been crossed, with one kiss. She didn’t even miss Kevin. But already, a day without Nick, Nico, felt like a day without the sun. She blocked the malaise.

  Jo grinned. “Let’s look at his baby pictures again.”

  Sierra groaned. “No. I want to look at his brothers.”

  “And Julian?” Jo widened her eyes, innocently enough. She knew Sierra had a thing for Julian. She didn’t know if they had discussed it or where it might be going, but Sierra had it bad, and she was almost as desolate with the prince’s departure as Jo was.

  She clicked through palace pictures and brought up an image of all the brothers in tuxes, standing at a ribbon cutting for a new hospital. They were each sculpted miracles. Nico was the only light-haired one. Everyone else had dark or bronze hair. Six men. They had a sister. But her picture was difficult to unearth. Exquisite. Such a beautiful girl, looked to be around sixteen.

  The more she read about them, the prouder she was of this little nation and of the Valdez family. Nico Valdez. His name had a regal sound to it.

  She’d been doing research. The country of Torren used innovative recycling and energy-saving methods on their island. The Valdez’s had a strict policy about ocean dumping and found as many other methods of preserving resources and the beauty that was around them as possible. The island was covered with lush green mountains, valleys, stunning beaches, beautiful palaces. The homes were a bright, white stucco with different colored roofs.

  They worked hard to care for their poor, employment was high. Small nation though it was, it was run by capable rulers and had been for many years. She felt a love for a land she had never seen.

  For the hundredth time, she wondered how Nick was doing.

  She clicked to the latest newsreel. “Angelika has admitted to fabricating most of her accusations against the crown prince, Nico. She is not found to be with child, and has decided to leave the island and live with her family in their home in the Philippines.” The camera showed a clip of a sprawling mansion on the ocean. Angelika waved as she boarded her private jet and looked altogether too happy with her situation.

  “I wonder if they paid her off.” Sierra frowned.

  Jo wondered if Nick would call.

  Sierra wiped her fingers off on a napkin. “Let’s watch the clips of him clubbing.”

  Jo knew Sierra was trying to keep it light, but these were the clips she liked best. It reminded her so much of their one night at the Rumble, their one date. And even though the press portrayed him in such a negative light, she couldn’t help but appreciate the smile, the reckless fun, and the pure enjoyment that she had come to expect in Nick. His energy was the first thing that had drawn her to him. In a time in her life when fun was difficult to come by, when even Kevin was all about responsible productivity, Nick had provided fun, and she remembered how important it was in her life.

  The next clip started before she could click pause. She knew she had to face it anyway so she let it play. Nico stood in front of crowds of people at a gala of some kind. This was just yesterday. A beautiful blond approached,
kissing his cheeks and standing at his side, her hand wrapped around his arm. They smiled together, angling for the cameras, and Jo felt ill. She paused the frame. Staring at the image, she had never seen a more picture perfect couple to rule a nation.

  “Ugh!” She threw her pillow at the screen.

  “That’s the girl his mother is trying to hoist on him.” Sierra ate a handful of popcorn. “Julian says he doesn’t even like her. Hates the idea of a setup.”

  Jo wasn’t convinced. And what she knew and Julian probably didn’t, was that Nick might be crowned king sooner than they were all expecting, and he would need a queen. Not, she reminded herself again, not, a small-town marina girl from South Carolina.

  A small voice reminded her of her MBA from Vanderbilt, of her success there and her potential to do much good herself in this world, even without a throne. But it was a very small voice. That woman, that poised beauty she scowled at on the screen, she was raised to be royal. And Jo was way out of her element.

  Nick gritted his teeth.

  Home had become a stifling monotony. No wonder he had left so often before. If he didn’t get out in his boat soon, he might go crazy.

  Yet another meeting waited for him in the conference room. His father seemed tired, pinched around the eyes, concerned.

  Tumors had been removed, biopsies completed. So far everything was inconclusive, but Nico watched his father as if the ticking of a bomb marked coming doom. And because of this, he attended every meeting the man suggested. Supported him in any way he could. He immersed himself in the matters of state and the concerns of his country.

  When this last meeting was over, he rushed from the room until his father called him back.

  At his father’s side in an instant, Nico watched his face with concern.

  “I’m fine, son.”

  “I know, Father. But as you said, it’s good to be prepared, and I’m glad you are taking care of this.”

  “Monique and her family are coming for dinner.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  “Use the time to get to know her, ask her out, be charming. It could be her as much as anyone.”

  He knew he looked defiant.

  “Son, what is it?”

  “It is just the very manner in which these things are carried out that is off-putting. I cannot feel anything for a girl my mother is trying to manipulate me into liking.” He shrugged in his jacket, stretching his arms across his chest, trying to find a manner in which the fabric might feel less confining.

  “She is laying it on a bit thick. Try to push past the irritation and consider, son, Monique is a beautiful woman, but there is more to her than just straight teeth. She may surprise you.”

  Nico agreed to give her a chance. His father was right. It may as well be her as any princess or royal he knew. Thoughts of Jo tore at him. He missed her and the man she brought out in him. She was never far from his mind.

  “Dad, what about—”

  “The American?”

  It surprised him his father would know the direction of his thoughts. He had not as yet mentioned her. “How could you—”

  “You haven’t said a word about her, but the whole country watched through the cameras at her door.”

  Nico nodded. “What if she were someone special to me?”

  “Is she?”

  “I think she could be. I am stronger when I am at her side.”

  His father eyed him. “It has never been done. Bringing an American here opens up an international world to our small island. The attention might not be welcome.”

  Nico considered his father’s words. “The attention could be a positive thing.”

  His father nodded. Then his eyes softened. “When it comes down to it, decisions of marriage are not questions of state, not really. A strong, committed marriage is much better for our country, no matter where she comes from than an arranged shambles. But that is the question to consider. Could you have a strong union with someone so foreign? We are different than anything she has ever known. You would be asking her to leave whatever goals and life she has made for herself. The crown comes first. Is she prepared for that reality? There is much to consider, but if you would like to pursue her in this direction, I would support you. Your mother, well…” He clapped his son on the shoulder. “She might need some convincing.”

  Nico expected much more than a little convincing would be in order, but he was grateful for his father’s candid response. “I’ll consider your words, Father.”

  He patted him on the back. “Here’s the truth of it. If you can fall in love with someone from our world, raised with the expectations we have, who understands how firmly the country rests in our priorities, who is willing to give all for Torren, then life will be simplest.”

  Nico nodded his acceptance of this bit of wisdom. “I see what you are saying.” He vowed to try anew to appreciate Monique or someone else in their circles. And he tried once again to put Jo from his mind. The further she drifted from his hopes or possibilities of a future, the bleaker his life appeared.

  15

  Three weeks since she had seen Nick, but plenty of Prince Nico was plastered across her TV screen and Twitter feeds. It seemed America had picked up on his family and their small island. And had fallen instantly in love. And not just with Nick. Each of the brothers had gained significant hashtag traffic, pictures of their sculpted chests everywhere Jo looked.

  The press had bothered her at first, but soon left her alone, recognizing that the prince had left and hadn’t said anything about her—and was seen frequently escorting someone named, Monique. She sighed.

  Twenty-one days, and he hadn’t called. No texts. He had simply dropped out of her life. And plenty of Monique had intruded in. The cameras had caught some friendly looks between them. Jo would never tell even Sierra of all the moments she’d spent analyzing screen shots of these expressions. Did he care for her? Did she ground him?

  She was going to have to get another life. Or appreciate the awesome one she had.

  Her father entered the kitchen, his step more sprightly than she’d seen it. “I’m off to the marina.”

  “Great. How are you feeling?”

  “Just fine. New meds still doing their job.”

  Relief filled her. Three weeks in with a different prescription, and his anxiety was gone. His confusion came and went, but he had a button to push, his phone with him, and his nurse accompanied him. They were trying out a new drug that halted symptoms and lengthened out full cognitive use of his brain. It couldn’t correct issues or even prevent the eventual onset of dementia, but it gifted them with more time. And every day she was grateful for that precious gift.

  Sierra walked in through the back door.

  Jo waved from her chair at the kitchen table. “Breakfast. Dad made it.”

  “He’s really doing great, isn’t he?”

  ‘Yes, they said it can be a false high sometimes. The dementia may hit stronger again in a little bit. But I’ll take what I can get. And he’s so happy.”

  She scooped up some eggs and joined her at the table. “Whatcha doing?”

  “Just some research. I bet I can find a fellowship opportunity close to home.”

  Her eyes clouded, but she said, “Great!”

  “What are you doing?” Jo wanted to ask if she’d heard from Julian, but it had become an uncomfortable topic between them as things progressed between Sierra and Julian. Her best friend became aware of things that might make Jo want to throw more pillows. Mostly they avoided the topic altogether, but as part of a sweet torture, Jo had to know. “Any news?”

  Sierra looked away. “Nothing new. I might go visit…” She let it dangle just like that, watching Jo’s face as she said it.

  Which made Jo self-conscious about her response. “That’s great!” She sounded overly happy, forced, but there was nothing she could do about it. The day Sierra left for Torren without her was the day she would curl in a ball and hide.


  “You could call him.”

  Jo shook her head. “He’s working through some things and obviously quite happy with Monique whatsit.” She rose to put her dishes in the sink.

  Sierra only nodded. There were no “he hates her” disclaimers this time, and Jo’s mood sunk even lower.

  They moved to the living room, and Jo flipped on the TV. She had never watched so much news in her life. But the local channel was just covering the upcoming yacht race out on the bay. Then they interrupted with highlights for the evening news.

  “And further news from the country of Torren. Francisco Gerard Valdez, King, fell into a coma last night. The country reels in shock as they look to Prince Nico for leadership in the interim. The front gate has been lined with flowers all morning.”

  Tears filled Jo’s eyes. “Oh no!” She longed to comfort him, wished she were the one he turned to.

  Sierra was texting, her thumbs flying across the screen.

  “Pass along my deepest condolences.”

  She nodded. “I will. I’m doing it right now.”

  Later that night Jo lay in bed, scrolling through pictures of Nick when a new number popped up, calling. It had a foreign code at the front. With shaking hands she brushed her finger across the screen. “Hello?” The hope in that one word filled the resulting silence. “Hello?” She paused, then whispered, “Nick?”

  Shaky breath and a deep intake followed. “Jo.” That one word was filled with the broken sobs of a man.

  “I’m here.”

  Sniffling followed and a coughing clearing of his throat, but still no words.

  “I’m sorry.”

  They lay there in silence for a time, Jo hurting for him and grateful for the connection between them.

  At length his sobbing subsided. And he said, “Thank you, Jo.”

  “You’re welcome.” After a pause, he added, “I wish I could do something. I miss you.”