by Carlyn Cade
“You make it sound like I’m a racehorse you’re breeding.”
“Clayton...Clayton. See what’s happening already? You say you hardly know this girl, and see how she’s changed you. I warned your father not to give you all this freedom.”
“Mother, I love you very much, but you can’t chaperone me my entire life. You have to let go and trust in what you’ve taught me since I was small.” Clay heard the door open and Sam walked into their suite. He waved one hand at his friend.
“But there’s so much at stake here. Not only in your ruling SwissDen one day, but also the financial empire you must govern. You know what the ultimate goal is.” His mother was silent for a moment, then added, “I don’t mean to be a snob, Clayton. But some choices are made for us, and we must accept them, like it or not. I’m sure Stacia’s a wonderful person, or you wouldn’t be attracted to her in the first place. But we’d still feel more comfortable if you’d bring her here. We don’t like the publicity the two of you together are generating. It can only get worse if you stay there. So bring her home, please. If you must have a fling, have it here under guarded conditions.”
“Mother, Sam just walked in. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Don’t worry. Stacia may not have blueblood running through her veins, but her red blood is purebred too, as far as I’m concerned. Tell Father not to worry either.” Clay hung up the phone and turned to Sam and shrugged. “Parents,” he said, accenting the one word to describe the whole conversation with his mother.
“Not everyone’s as lucky as you are, Clay. You’ve said your parents have always treated you great.”
“I know, and I’m not complaining. But Sam, for the first time in my life, I’ve met a woman whom I could fall in love with very easily. If I had my wish, I’d have a very simple life with her next to me.”
“Within the confines of SwissDen, right?”
“In a perfect world, yes.” Clay stood up and walked to the window and looked out into the night. He stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Do you see anything written in the stars out there?”
Clay laughed. “You mean about my destiny?”
“You already know what your destiny is. It was planned for you before your birth. Unfortunately, you have no brothers to take over the role of king. It’s solely up to you.”
Clay turned toward Sam, a frown crossing his face. “So what do I do?”
“For now, nothing. You’re only getting acquainted with Stacia. Enjoy yourself. She has her own fame and fortune, she’s not after yours. Besides, it takes two to make a love affair.” Sam grinned. “Maybe she’s not even interested in you, did you ever think of that?”
He hadn’t told Sam about Stacia’s and his talk. Today was a new day, and he now had a new plan. “If that’s the case,” Clay said, “I may just have to change her mind.”
♥♥
Early the next morning, Stacia called down to the desk and asked if someone would please bring her a newspaper. It arrived via a bellhop minutes later. Her hands shaking, she opened it up to the front page.
PRINCE AND SCREEN STAR FIND LOVE NEST IN LONDON AFFAIR, the headline blared out. Underneath it, a photo of Clay and her leaving the back door of her hotel proved the point. There she was, brunette wig, glasses, almost unrecognizable – yet they knew. Beside her was the prince in his Green Bay Packers’ cap and sunglasses.
And the prince was also rapping on her door. She checked the peephole and let him in.
“Today’s is worse than yesterday,” she said as she handed him the newspaper. “We sure look guilty.”
“I know,” he replied. “I already saw it.”
“And...”
“I’ll take care of that shortly. I have more important things to take care of first,” he said as he gathered her in his arms. He kissed her softly, than as she responded, his kiss became stronger, and she felt his desire fill her senses.
Her heart stampeded. She could only think of more, more, more! She was glad her arms were wrapped around his neck, because her knees felt too weak to support her.
He pulled away from her slightly, still holding onto her waist. “Pack your things, Stacia. I’m taking you home to meet my mother and father.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
…Several months later, Lily was lying in bed. Victoria sat next to her and stroked her forehead. Dr. Fulton stood at her other side. Clearly, death was standing in the room with them.
“Remember our holiday, Lily? Remember how much fun we had swimming and playing beach ball games?” Victoria’s eyes were tear-stained, but her courage was evident.
“I won...most of them, didn’t I?” Lily’s speech was slow and labored. Pain caused her face to grimace with each word. It was a struggle to even breathe. “You should...see her...Dr. Fulton...She’s terrible at...beach ball...games.” A tiny smile crossed her face.
“But she’s a good big sister, isn’t she?”
“The best…” Lily’s voice grew weaker. “Will...you...take care...of her...for me, Doctor?”
“You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart.” Victoria’s tears denied her attempt to be strong. “Close your eyes now and rest.” She bent over and kissed her sister on the cheek.
“Bye, Victoria,” the little girl said in one last brave attempt.
“Good night, Lily,” Victoria answered and kissed her again.
Dr. Fulton injected a hypo into Lily’s arm. Soon, she was resting peacefully. The doctor turned to Victoria. “Let’s go get some coffee. She’ll sleep for a while now.”
They left the room together for a small cafeteria close by. Victoria sat down, and the doctor filled two cups with steaming coffee. He returned to the table. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”
“Oh, I don’t know. This morning, yesterday. It really doesn’t matter.”
“You’re talking to a doctor, remember? You need to keep your strength up.”
“I don’t care if I have any strength left when she leaves me. I’ll want to give up then. I don’t want to live without her. She means everything to me. How can life be so unfair as to take a child so young? She hasn’t even begun to live.”
“You can’t play guessing games, or God, about what destiny decides for everyone. We need to keep her comfortable now and give her our love. What we can’t do is stop the inevitable from happening.”
“You said, ‘our love.’ I don’t understand. Doctors are supposed to be detached. How can you love her?”
“It’s easy to love Lily. Maybe that’s why God needs her more than you do.”
Victoria grew angry, shook her head and the tears began again. “No, He doesn’t. He can have anyone else in the world. He has my parents and my brother. Why does He need Lily too?” She put her face in her hands and wept.
Dr. Fulton stood up and took Victoria in his arms. He held her and tried to soothe her. “I promise you what I told you the first day in my office will come true,” he said softly. “You will get your happiness.”
She raised her head off his chest and managed to smile up at him, her eyes big and round. “You don’t have to take care of me like Lily asked. She didn’t know what she was saying.”
The doctor cupped Victoria’s chin in his hand and gazed into her eyes. “It’s too late. I already promised her in my heart that I would look after you.” He grinned. “Now do I seem like a guy who breaks his promises?” He let go of Victoria. “Come on. Let’s go back in and see Lily...”
♥♥
Why am I doing this? Stacia asked herself on the way to the London airport. She could have made any number of other decisions. She could have holed up in her hotel, flew back to Hollywood, or even gone home to Wisconsin and hid until it was time to start filming. But she knew the answer to why she was escaping to Switzerland, and he was sitting next to her. She wanted to explore their relationship more because although they hadn’t had much time together, they did have a lot of fun and were comfortable with each other. And every time he kissed her, it seemed that the volatil
e TNT had been lit and could explode at any time.
The king’s private jet was waiting for them when they arrived at the airport. The sunlight accented the slick, gleaming white plane. A cameo of snow-capped mountains amidst the clouds adorned its tail. The word, SwissDen, was painted a powder-blue next to the mountain scene.
Clay ushered her inside. Opulence personified! was what first came into Stacia’s thoughts – designed with a king in mind. The sunlight streaming through the windows intensified the golden glow of the plane’s tasteful interior decorating.
When they were seated, the flight attendant asked if they would like anything to snack on or drink. They both declined and settled into the conversation pattern that had become a staple of their friendship.
“This plane is gorgeous,” Stacia said. “I was wondering where the name SwissDen comes from? I know it’s the name of a bank, but I heard your mother use it yesterday, and I saw it on the plane when we were boarding.”
“The story of its origin is one of my mother’s favorites. She’s been known to use it as dinner conversation because it’s about her ‘precocious young son,’ as she always calls me when she talks about my youthful days.” He grinned and continued. “When I was little, my mother wasn’t too impressed, I learned later, with some of my father’s activities. For one, she was against leaving her home country, even though my father knew the rebels against him had gained enough strength to overthrow the throne. Going into exile in another country, where his family would be safe and he could regroup his power, seemed to be his best option. They argued a lot about this, and my father, being the king, would naturally rule on the final outcome. One day, in utter frustration, my mother shouted out to him, ‘Well, talk about moving into a den of inequity!’ When you get to know my mother, you’ll learn she doesn’t raise her voice, so this gives you an idea how upset she was. She normally manages to get her message across without getting angry.
“I was playing in the room when she used the word, den, and whenever my father would leave for Switzerland – it took a lot of trips to build his palace – I would ask, ‘Father, are you going to the den? Will there be animals there?’ The word, inequity, was too confusing a word for me, and I thought I’d be living in a den with wild animals. When my parents tried to name our new home, one of them came up with SwissDen, and it stuck. Funny thing though, when they talked about moving to Switzerland after that, my mother no longer argued with my father. A smile would come over her face, and the word, SwissDen, would be used. When I was older and my mother would tell me this story, she’d add she’d learned the important thing was not where you lived, but who you lived with, and as long as she had my father and me, she’d be happy. And as far as I know, she’s happy to this day.”
“What a lovely story. Your mother must be very nice and very wise.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that after hearing her on the phone yesterday. I thought maybe you’d think she was a snob.”
Stacia smiled at him. “She was just protecting her son.”
“She needs to learn I no longer need protection, but in a way I do, because I’m running home to my safe harbor with a woman I’m falling in love with just to protect her from the paparazzi.”
Stacia wondered if the altitude had affected her hearing. Did he just say ‘falling in love?’ That wasn’t supposed to happen. She looked at him, and his gaze locked on hers. “I think maybe I’m just going to forget your last statement, or put it temporarily aside and pretend you didn’t say it.”
“Are you afraid, Stacia?” He lifted her face to his for a few moments, allowing his eyes to remain fixed on hers. Then he put his hands on his lap. “My mother seems to think every woman wants to marry her prince son – for his money, of course. Evidently she believes I won’t make it on my personality and charm alone. She’ll be glad to know there’s one woman who doesn’t want to marry me.”
“I don’t want to marry anyone right now. I told you before that when the right time comes, I want to devote my life to the man I marry, and for now, I want to devote my life to my career. You’re messing up our agreement.” She stood up and stretched.
Clay laughed. “How will you know when the right time is? Do you think you can dictate to your emotions and Cupid’s arrows to act on a schedule of the right time? Sometimes things don’t work out no matter how much planning you do.”
“I’m finding that out with you,” she said and pointed at him to emphasize her point. “But so far, I’ve gotten everything I’ve wanted with my life, my career, and even more.” However, in complete honesty, along came a prince, and she had to admit to herself that Clay had made her doubt her aspirations of the right time. She wasn’t as sure as she’d been even a few days ago that she could usher love into her life at her demand. Somehow this man had entered her life way ahead of schedule.
“I wish you luck on your goal and for my part in your life, I promise I won’t mention marriage again. It’s friends forever from now on between us, except for a stray kiss now and then. Agreed?” He put out his hand to shake hers.
She did, and when she leaned over to accept his hand, he pulled her close to him. “One last kiss to seal our agreement,” he said.
His lips met hers one more time as they floated over the Swiss Alps. For the moment at least, Stacia’s life schedule was the farthest thing from her mind.
♥♥
“There it is. There’s SwissDen,” Clay said, pointing out the window to what seemed like an oasis in the mountains. Even from this height in the air, the palace was humongous. All brownstone-colored and outlined with its turrets and transparent domes acting as its rooftop, the palace created a dark contrast against the stark whiteness of the snow-packed mountains. The only other color Stacia saw was a long black strip which she assumed was where they’d land.
The plane instituted a curve, and the pilot engineered it smoothly to the landing field. When they were ready to descend the steps, Stacia saw a black limousine waiting at the bottom.
“Good afternoon, Prince Clayton,” the uniformed driver said as he opened the door for them. “I trust you both had a good flight?”
“Yes, Jonathan, we did.”
The limo sped the distance of the landing field quickly and headed for a bridge leading to the palace with a moat built under it. She noticed guards stationed at the top, almost hidden except for long, slotted windows running around the width of the building.
“You wanted privacy, Stacia. You’ll get it here. I guarantee you there’ll be no more gossip about us as long as we’re at SwissDen. My father has this down to a science. The people who are invited here have one thing in common – they’re rich and they guard their privacy ferociously. My father makes sure no one’s disappointed in that respect.”
She was convinced already. Armed sentries stood at the beginning and end of the bridge. The guards opened the gates and once inside, she saw immediately where the prince’s creative talents originated from – the genes of his father. The king had designed a paradise – almost too exotic and grandiose to even be believed. Surely, the Garden of Eden had not contained more lush trees, fragrant flowers, birds chirping and rushing waterfalls than this heavenly kingdom. Everything was climate-controlled, there was no sign of snow anywhere, except for the mountain peaks visible through the individual domes. The limo followed a winding path, which led to what appeared to be another castle nestled amid a manicured jungle.
“Welcome to my home,” Clay said.
“You say that as if you live in some simple cottage. How can anything impress you after living here? My mind can’t even consume all this beauty. It’s like how I feel when I see your ice sculptures. Everything is so...overwhelming...yet...welcoming, I guess is the word.”
“That’s my mother’s touch. She wants her guests to feel welcome here.” He stepped out of the limo, reached back in and took her hand to help her out. “Come on, let’s go meet my parents.”
They entered the castle through a gold-studded door. The bu
tler told Clay the king and queen were waiting for them in the atrium. Once again, Stacia could not believe the resplendent beauty. Even the main entry hall glistened as if burnished in gold. White carpeting led upstairs on stairs wide enough for six people to walk up side-by-side.
They walked through a huge doorway leading to the atrium. “This is where we welcome our guests. It’s another of my mother’s ideas. She thinks Mother Nature has made every forest a welcoming sight, a place of tranquility. She tried to bring the same ambience in here.”
“Well, she certainly succeeded,” Stacia said, her eyes trying to scan the mixture of outside and inside consolidated together as one in this peaceful room. White wrought-iron sofas with thick, red velvet pillows were spaced around the paths. Tables with red-cushioned chairs were nestled into specially-designed hollowed-out areas among the greenery. Regal flower arrangements decorated each table. Exotic plants and trees, many with fragrant blossoms, were intricately placed to allow privacy at each sofa.
“Hello,” Clay said as they neared where his parents were sitting together on one of the sofas. “This is Stacia.”
“Welcome to our home,” his mother said, as simply as Clay had when they’d arrived at SwissDen. She gave Stacia a warm smile.
And the genes for his charm must come from his mother, Stacia thought. “I’m pleased to meet you, Your Majesty.” She restrained her almost uncontrollable urge to bow to this woman whose very presence radiated royalty and commanded reverence to the blueblood circulating in her veins. Stacia dropped her eyes out of respect and mumbled humbly, “You have a magnificent home.”
“Clay explained how upset you were by some of the references made in the tabloids,” his father said. “I want to assure you that you are protected here from any further exposure.”
“Do you two mind if I show Stacia around?” Clay asked.
