With no sign of an heir on the horizon, Sophia knew it was futile to hold out hope that Prince Olivier would rescind the contract. During her two-year marriage to Prince Olivier’s father, Sophia had become well-versed in the stifling complexities and obligations of royal life. But that damn marriage treaty had been the breaking point of her tolerance.
Sophia had cried, ranted and threatened divorce for months. She couldn’t believe that her beloved prince, who’d chosen her—an American bride without a family trust fund or an ounce of nobility in her veins—had heartlessly consigned his daughter to a loveless marriage.
But at least she’d succeeded in giving Rory a normal childhood away from the spotlight in exchange for the sacrifice Prince August expected his daughter to make for her country. Under the terms of the separation agreement, Sophia had no obligation to tell Rory of her birthright until her twenty-third birthday. If Rory happened to fall in love and marry in the meantime, well then, c’est la vie.
Sophia frowned worriedly and stirred her tea. Unfortunately, Rory wasn’t seeing anyone, despite Sophia’s urgings that she go out more often.
Sophia consoled herself with the knowledge that she had done her best to prepare Rory for the future that awaited her. She’d encouraged her daughter’s love of knowledge and had given her a broad range of experiences. She’d insisted Rory study French and had carefully chosen the small private college that would encourage Rory to find her strengths.
And Sophia would be there to guide her daughter through the transition to palace life. Provided, of course, that Rory forgave her for keeping this secret.
With a shaking hand, Sophia carried her mug of raspberry tea out to the cliff-side garden of their La Jolla home that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. The water was lazy this afternoon, the waves jiggling and lifting like huge rolls of blue-green gelatin topped with whipped cream. Surfers in wet suits bobbed among the waves.
Sophia settled into the wooden swing that perched on an outcropping of sandstone at the rear of the sun-drenched garden. It was Rory’s favorite place to dream and read, with the world and the ocean at her feet.
Sophia kicked the swing into motion. How was she supposed to tell Rory she was a princess? Or explain that her father had betrothed her to a prince?
Sophia never had time to find the right words. With a sickening lurch, the cliff beneath the swing gave way. Crying out in horror, she plummeted to the rocky beach below.
LA JOLLA WOMAN Killed in Fall.
The ten-day-old newspaper headline made the reader’s pulse thrum with excitement. Was Princess Charlotte Aurora dead? There was mention of a cliff and a swing. This had to be it. The reader eagerly devoured the details: “Neptune Place…erosion…the dangers of building homes on cretaceous sandstone along the California coast…The victim was pronounced dead on arrival.”
Dead. For the paltry sum of one hundred thousand American dollars.
There was no mention that foul play was suspected.
The thrill of having successfully gotten away with murder buzzed in the reader’s brain like the finest champagne. Prince Laurent would not be marrying Princess Charlotte Aurora after all.
Slowly, as if relishing the last bites of a delectable meal, the reader read the final sentence of the article. The victim was identified as Sophia Kenilworth.
No! This could not be! The reader gouged the newsprint with the ornate silver-plated letter opener from the desk. The wrong woman had died. Princess Charlotte Aurora still lived.
Chapter One
Eight Months Later
It was her first birthday without her mother.
Rory Kenilworth felt the raw ache of loss squeeze her throat as she stuck a birthday candle in her morning cranberry muffin—just as her mother, Sophia, would have done.
She was not going to cry.
She sniffled. Okay, maybe she was. I miss you, Mom. I wish you were here singing off-key and giving me a birthday card announcing this year’s bonding adventure.
Her mother’s birthday presents had always taken the form of memorable moments spent together rather than the exchange of material objects—a trip to Egypt to see the Great Pyramids of Giza, an Alaskan cruise, backpacking in the Grand Canyon, a tour of Thailand. Rory’s favorite had been the trip to Prince Edward Island to see Green Gables—the home of Anne Shirley, one of her favorite fictional heroines, who had the enviable ability to express herself in a way that Rory rarely had the confidence to mimic.
Even the less agreeable aspects of those birthday adventures, such as having a fifty-five-pound pack strapped to her back, her fear of horses or her tendency to get motion sickness, couldn’t dampen her fond memories today.
Following in the footsteps of tradition, Rory lit the candle and stared into the leaping yellow flame.
Tears collided in her throat.
“‘Happy birthday to me,’” she sang quietly. “‘Happy birthday to me—’” She broke off with a choked sob as pink wax dribbled down the candle onto her muffin.
Rory covered her mouth with her hand and blinked rapidly to stem the tears stinging her eyes. She could hear the echo of her mother’s soft alto singing in her ears. See her mother’s proud smile.
Rory was not going to fall apart. She could share her birthday with her mother in spirit. She sighed, causing the candle to flicker. Okay, what to wish for?
Usually she wished to meet her father, but since that hadn’t happened on her twenty-two previous birthdays and she hadn’t found any information about him in her mother’s belongings after her death, Rory wasn’t going to waste her wish again. If she could have anything in the world it would be to have her mother back.
But wishing wouldn’t make that happen.
She frowned. How about the miracle loss of ten pounds in a single day?
Those kinds of diet never lasted.
A good hair day?
She grabbed a fistful of amber curls. Another miracle request that had no chance of ever coming true.
How about someone tall, dark and handsome who had read the classics?
Hmm…now that had potential. She rolled her eyes heavenward and laughed. “Bet you never thought I’d make a wish like that, Mom.” But then, she’d never been lonely while her mother was alive. Her mother had been her best friend, as well as her parent and her only family.
Rory upgraded her wish to a tall, handsome male under thirty-five who knew that the classics referred to literature, not cartoons featuring a smart-aleck rabbit or a roadrunner, and blew out the candle.
The doorbell chimed over the muffled roar of the surf.
“Okay, that was freaky.” Rory ran her fingers through the riotous curls that slipped out from her ponytail no matter how hard she tried to contain them and tightened the belt of her mother’s red silk kimono that she’d donned over her sleep shirt. Not for a moment did she really think she’d find a tall, dark and handsome man on her doorstep at 8:27 a.m. on a Saturday morning, but it was her birthday and she was keeping her options open.
Her stomach lurched as she peered through the glass door and recognized the sleek silver bob and Ann Taylor wardrobe of her mother’s steel-magnolia lawyer, Marta Ishling.
Was it a coincidence that Marta had chosen today to drop by? She opened the door. “Marta, this is a surprise.”
The lawyer’s surgically perfected face stretched into a taut smile as she held up the briefcase clutched in a manicured hand. “Happy Birthday, Rory! I’m here this morning at your mother’s behest. May I come in?”
Rory’s hand faltered on the doorknob. A fresh spate of tears stung her eyes like dust. “Of course. Can I offer you some coffee or a glass of orange juice?”
“No, thank you, dear. Perhaps later, after we talk.”
Rory stepped back to let the lawyer enter, her palms damp and her stomach churning. Marta’s heels clicked on the marble slabs that formed a compass on the floor of the foyer as she crossed to the sunset-red-inspired great room. She settled on one of the white ultramodern sofas.
Rory sank into a nearby armchair and tried not to appear anxious as Marta laid her briefcase on the bubble-glass coffee table from which a bronze mermaid arose.
“I confess I feel somewhat like a fairy godmother this morning.” Marta laughed as she removed a black portfolio embossed with an unusual seal from her briefcase. She held the portfolio on her lap as if guarding its contents. “How much did your mother tell you about your father, Rory?”
This was about her father? Curiosity tingled in Rory’s chest. “Not much. I know he was a European businessman.”
Marta arched a thinly plucked brow. “That’s an interesting way of describing your father’s occupation. Your father was August Frederick Louis Karl Valcourt, the tenth ruling prince of Estaire, a small European principality located along the Rhine. Your mother was the prince’s second wife for just over two years. You were the only child of the marriage.”
Rory gaped at the lawyer, stubbing her toe on the coffee table as her knee jerked in reaction. Valcourt was the name on her birth certificate, though she’d never used it. She rubbed her toe. “My father was a prince?”
“Yes, and you’re a princess. Her Serene Highness, Charlotte Aurora, Princess of Estaire, first in line to the throne.” Marta beamed, preening.
“The throne?” Rory felt dazed. She’d imagined many things about her father, but not this! Why hadn’t her mother said anything? Her fragile self-esteem immediately provided the most logical answer. Her father hadn’t wanted her, of course. “You said my father was a prince?”
Compassion softened Marta’s hazel eyes. “I’m afraid he died seven years ago. But you do have an older half brother, Prince Olivier, who is currently ruling Estaire. He is Prince August’s child by his first marriage.”
Rory’s crushing disappointment over the loss of her father warred with the elation of discovering she had a brother. An older brother! She’d always wanted a sibling.
Her mother’s lawyer studied her. “Your brother has arrived from Estaire for your birthday and wishes to meet you for dinner tonight. He’s sending a car at seven.”
“Tonight?” she squeaked. “But…I need time to prepare. I don’t have a thing to wear, and look at my hair!”
“You’ll do fine,” Marta said.
Panic broadsided Rory. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this after my mother died?”
“Under the terms of your parents’ separation agreement, you were not to be informed of your birthright until your twenty-third birthday when it was expected that you would assume certain responsibilities. Your father left you a five-million-dollar trust fund that will provide you with a generous allowance as of today. You’ll find documents concerning the trust fund and the first monthly check in the portfolio, plus some photos your mother intended to give to you on this occasion.”
Rory nodded, her knees shaking. She and her mother had been comfortably well-off, but five million dollars! She struggled to think through the layers of shock numbing her brain. Something Marta had said had raised a red flag.
“What do you mean ‘certain responsibilities’?”
Marta’s smile faded a notch. “Your brother will explain that to you this evening.” She handed Rory the portfolio. “I’ll leave you to look at this in private. Call me on my cell phone if you have any questions. Happy Birthday, Princess Charlotte Aurora.”
Princess Charlotte Aurora.
Rory nearly fell out of her chair. “Wait! What do I do? Should I curtsy? Should I address him as Your Highness? How do I act?”
But Marta just waved as she left.
Rory’s mouth opened and closed in soundless protest. This had to be a mistake. She could not be a princess. She had her life all planned out. She was going to open a children’s bookstore and marry a nice handsome man who loved literature as much as she did. They’d have four children in a house overflowing with books, a dog and her cat, Brontë.
Unease furrowed her brow. She hadn’t liked the sound of her parents’ separation agreement that Marta had mentioned. It sounded like a contract. And most contracts, she knew from the business course she’d taken, were difficult to break.
Was that why her mother hadn’t told her about her father?
Rory felt sick to her stomach. She and her mother had always been close. Having this news dropped in her lap mere months after her mother’s death felt like a betrayal. Her mother had been the one person she’d trusted most in her life to be honest with her. Why had Sophia lied to her?
Hoping to find answers, Rory opened the portfolio. Papers, documents and photographs tumbled onto the coffee table.
But Rory only had eyes for one photograph. Tears blurred her vision. She’d waited a lifetime to see the handsome blond man wearing regal gold robes and a ruby-studded crown. The father who hadn’t wanted her until now.
“Hi, Dad. Your timing sucks.”
BY THE TIME the doorbell rang punctually at 7:00 p.m., Rory had drawn blood with her toenail clippers as she’d trimmed her nails, ripped two pairs of nylons and decided to do without them, and rejected as impractical the possibility of disguising herself as a paper bag princess. There wasn’t a shopping bag large enough to contain the volume of her hair.
She stared at herself in the full-length mirror, her stomach churning with doubts. The dress she’d bought looked great, thanks to the cleavage that came courtesy of a water-filled bra that her personal shopper had convinced her to purchase. She just hadn’t realized in the dressing room that the dress would be so snug across her backside or that the narrow skirt that was so slimming would be so difficult to walk in. But the gorgeous fabric made her feel special.
She might even order champagne to celebrate the gift of a newfound brother and drown out the wounded, angry voice in her head that kept asking why her mother had never told her the truth about her father or her heritage. The French and English newspaper articles she’d found in the portfolio along with her parents’ wedding pictures had only told her that her parents had had a whirlwind romance. There were no details about their divorce.
The doorbell rang again. Rory reached for her mother’s black evening bag. It looked hideously conspicuous against the brilliant orange tones of the gown. Whoever said black went with everything was wrong.
She teetered toward the foyer in her high heels, feeling more awkward than elegant. Why had she believed the sales clerk’s promise that strappy sandals were sexy? She felt strappy enough, but not the least bit sexy.
The bell rang a third time before she could reach the door. “Coming,” she called out, hurrying forward. To her dismay, she heard fabric rip.
She looked down. The right side seam of the skirt had torn a good two inches. The doorbell chimed impatiently, accompanied by an authoritative knock. No time for needle and thread, she needed duct tape. Shuffling to the kitchen, she scavenged some duct tape from the junk drawer and repaired the torn seam. Praying that her hair still looked decent, she finally jerked open her front door, blowing at a curl that flopped over her left eye.
The man waiting on her doorstep, whom she presumed was her half brother’s chauffeur, was her birthday-wish fantasy come to life. Tall enough to be imposing, he fit the image of the dark hero in every romantic novel she’d devoured in her youth. Dark brows winged over eyes that were full of intelligence and capable of great arrogance. The refined strength in his full lips and aquiline nose made her shiver with appreciation.
Though broad in his shoulders and obviously athletic, she had a feeling this man had cracked the spines of dozens of books in his lifetime. Hundreds even.
He did not, however, look friendly. She tucked the curl away from her eye. Did her hair look worse than she’d originally diagnosed? With the duct tape rubbing against her leg and the water-filled chambers of her bra pressing against her breasts, she felt like a fraud. And she suspected this man knew it.
PRINCE LAURENT OF DUCHARME rarely found himself rendered speechless. His first glimpse of Princess Charlotte Aurora was one of those rare moments.
By the time she’d opened the door, he’d been about to summon Heinrich, his bodyguard, fearful that she had come to harm.
Mein Gott, what was she wearing?
With her outrageously brilliant dress in three varying shades of orange clinging to her generous curves and her golden skin dewy with heat, she looked aflame.
And that hair. Amber curls corkscrewed in wild abandon around her head and shoulders, seizing him with an insane desire to catch one in his palm.
Feeling aflame himself, Laurent searched inward for the control he had mastered as a young boy while he took in the ripe, golden cleavage that should only be revealed to her husband on their wedding night. To him.
Sharp talons of frustration and grief curled into his heart. His first—and only—love might have deliberately ended her life three years ago because he was honor bound to marry the woman standing in front of him.
The never-ending questions about Marielle’s death had been the reason he was embarking on this charade of posing as his own deputy secretary. He would never be convinced that she’d died by her own hand, no matter how deeply he’d hurt her that night by breaking off their relationship. Marielle had had too much self-esteem to dabble in recreational drugs.
No, Laurent was convinced that someone had slipped her the drugs and that her death had darker political roots; to ensure his infatuation with her wouldn’t threaten the marriage treaty between Estaire and Ducharme, or to implicate him in her death and cause a scandal that might induce Prince Olivier to rescind the treaty. Laurent was determined to keep his presence in California and his identity a secret to protect Charlotte Aurora. He would never forgive himself for failing to protect Marielle.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Princess Charlotte Aurora said, her cheeks pinking becomingly.
“No need to apologize, Your Serene Highness,” he said with a formal bow. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sebastian Guimond. I hold the position of deputy secretary. Prince Olivier dispatched me to escort you to his hotel. The car is waiting out front.”
Determined to Protect, Forbidden to Love Page 24
