Forbidden Royal
Victoria Pinder
Love in a Book
Forbidden Royal
Copyright©2018
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemble to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
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Published in the United States of America.
Copyright © 2018 Victoria Pinder Love in a Book
All rights reserved.
Created with Vellum
This book is dedicated to my sister Rachel. She was the one who dreamed of being an author as a child. She studied English; she has her masters in creative writing. And I’m so happy for her that she finally wrote her first book. It’s not a romance but who cares. She’s finally following her passion and that is something we should all do more of in life.
Contents
Series information
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
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About the Author
Series information
Please check out the entire Princes of Avce Series and get caught up.
Princes of Avce
Forbidden Crown
Forbidden Prince
Forbidden Royal
Forbidden Duke
Forbidden Earl
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1
With a sense of bemusement, Royal Prince Lucio Aussa of Avce read the slip of paper his older brother Antonio handed him in his private office and then rubbed his eyes and read it again just to make sure. "Amy Fields?" How on earth had the IT department matched him with Evie’s little sister? This had to be a joke.
Everyone in the family knew that when he’d been a teen, his mother had forbidden him from dating Evie Fields after she caught them in his bed. Now, with less than a year on the clock to find himself a wife, he'd agreed to let his brother have the Royal IT department scour the web for his perfect match, but Amy Fields couldn’t be it. Impossible.
His brother gave him the rest of the file along with her picture. He must have carried it in from his office down the hall. "I spoke to Mother the second I saw her name going to the top of the charts."
As a teenager, Amy’s older sister Evie had been Lucio’s entire world. She'd come into the library one morning as he’d studied History, demanding that he go out with her. In that brief time, she'd shown him, at fifteen, all about sex.
He remembered the ache in his chest when his mother forced him to choose between his family and his girlfriend and, of course, he’d sided with his family. Evie's tears when he’d broken up with her had haunted him at the time, though truthfully, he'd forgotten exactly what she looked like. Now her name was more the shield he wielded when his mother interfered with his life.
Amy's sweet face was clear in his memory. Pretty Evie had dark hair, right? While Amy’s was lighter, almost wheat-colored. Her big brown eyes, cautious behind brown-framed glasses and the shy smile when he spoke to her came back with clarity. He shook his head. "I thought I'd die losing Evie when we moved to Avce." Drama and angst as only a teen boy can feel.
His brother patted him on the back. "You were fifteen and she was your first. You've dated thousands since then."
Thousands sounded like too big of a number, but he wasn't counting. Beautiful women fascinated him, though he had little in common with any of them.
He studied the light blondish-brown hair and clear brown-eyed beauty in the picture. Nice curves beneath the cashmere sweater and designer jeans. He recognized the Ferris wheel in Hyde Park in the background of the photo, which meant Amy must still live in London. No. He put the photo down. "Evie's little sister cannot be the perfect bride."
Antonio pointed to the folder Lucio held. "Read the report. Her parents and ours are already in agreement, if that matters to you."
His hair bristled on his arms. "Not especially. Our mother once pushed Sophia toward you for marriage, and look how that turned out." Sophia Venko was now in jail waiting for her trial after trying to overthrow the Aussa family.
"Sophia’s parents want us to send her back to England as they are still deposed royals." Antonio’s lips curled.
"That's not going to happen." Lucio paced around his desk. So why had his mother, who had told him in no uncertain terms that Evie was not good enough, agreed to set Lucio up with her sister?
Was it the time clock? But he had a year… Maybe his memory was flawed. The buzz in his ear told him there was more and now he was curious. "Antonio..."
Antonio crossed his arms and leaned closer to explain. "Amy's parents want a chemical plant in Avce and feel that if they are family then Mom and Dad will give them the go ahead. Mom wants you to stay and be part of our family, which means you need a wife. From every account Amy outshines her sister." Antonio sat on the desk corner. "She majored in political science, works as an analyst, lives on her own in a nice part of London—and best of all, she’s not dating anyone."
Amy sounded great on a resume. There was no denying her beauty, but she was still Amy Fields. Tomboy, studious, glasses too big for her face. Her sweet smile stayed in perfect focus from years ago. "What happened to Evie?"
"Forget about her." Antonio dropped his arms and stood up, posture straight. "Evie is engaged to be married to a Scottish lord and family friend."
"Engaged?" At fifteen, she'd seemed like she had the secrets to life—wild, fun-loving and carefree. It was almost funny that she’d been tied down after all. While Evie had been daring, Amy had spent time in the library, surrounded by book stacks.
"Many of us never wanted to get married," Antonio shrugged, "and then we did. People change."
In college, and the years since, he'd had a penchant for finding beautiful, unsuitable, girls he'd never bring home as payback for his mother interfering so long ago. Now, according to Avce custom, he needed a wife or else he’d be banished. The idea of Amy appealed. Hopefully she wasn't whiny and s
till liked to read for enjoyment.
Antonio pointed to the manila envelope again. "I suggest you read this, meet with our parents, and hers. They are visiting and would love the contract for the cement plant signed, as well as a pre-nup. Then go meet Amy. She's not your usual type but that's probably a good thing."
He looked at the glossy photo. She’d ditched her glasses, and smiled with confidence. "I remember she was all skin and bones."
"She's grown up." Antonio patted the arm of Lucio’s black leather office chair. "The IT department found me Kristin and I'm forever grateful. What if all those years ago you should have met Amy instead of Evie? This could be the Universe’s way of correcting that mistake."
Her sister had been his first and that might present a problem. "You're becoming philosophical now that you're happily married." Lucio scoffed and steeled his spine. "Would you have married any of my ex-girlfriends if the computer told you she was the one for you?"
"I was desperate, so I don't know what I'd have done." Antonio's face went red, but he took a breath and continued, "I had a month left before I was thrown out of the family and I finally listened to the IT department. You have a year and you know about the law—I didn’t. Why don't you at least meet her face-to-face and then decide if she is or isn't the one? You still have some time."
Lucio dropped the folder to the desktop. "Fair enough. But first, I should clear the air with Evie—I’ll go in person to talk with her again." What would she be like fifteen years later?
"Good luck." Antonio walked toward the door.
Lucio opened the file to the first page, his gaze drawn to Amy’s smile. "Right now I've only agreed to meet her, nothing more, Antonio."
"I understand." His older brother lifted one hand in a wave. "See you."
Lucio sunk into his chair and flipped through the files to the back where there were more pictures. As he stared at Amy’s face, he looked for familiar nuances. He remembered in flashes that she’d been so quiet as she’d watched him. How she’d avert her attention when Evie joined him. Could he marry a timid mouse? The thought left him cold.
If he didn't marry, he'd lose his family. The law was the law. And the truth was, his brothers were happy on a toss of a dime. Lucio didn’t expect love, though whoever he married, he'd demand loyalty from as well as give.
Logically, cheating or keeping someone else in the background was too much work and he'd never harm the family name.
He went back to the beginning and read the brief description for the fifth time. At least on file, Amy Fields was the perfect candidate. He picked up the phone to ready the private jet. If he married Amy, then her sister couldn't be an issue.
2
Lucio Aussa. Every time Amy Fields typed out his name on her laptop while at her desk in her office on the fifth floor of Whitehall and Fisk, her heart still skipped a beat. Yes, a decade had passed since high school, but her sister's teenage boyfriend had been the only person to ever make her dream of fairy tales where he might notice her. Lucio’s brooding smiles had never been meant for her.
She flexed her fingers and finished her rushed report on Avce and the royal family that had been urgently requested despite the premium price, pressing the print button.
Done with her assignment, she finished for the workday and now could plan her trip to the Highlands for her sister’s wedding to Michael, where she’d happily give the wedding toast.
She looked outside at the gloomy, foggy day in London and put her jacket on. In seconds, she went from stylish in her black skirt with a white button-down shirt, accented with pearls, to matching the dreariness outside. She found her hat and put it on, completing the transformation into dull, then picked up her umbrella and headed outside.
Amy couldn’t wait to get home, put the kettle on for tea and go through her Chinese take-out menu to order dinner. Fifteen minutes, max. She opened her umbrella, stepped off the threshold and onto the sidewalk full of people. An older man in a black trench coat, clear blue eyes that were like crystals, and a bowler hat bumped into her. She ignored it but he stayed too close. However, when he bumped her a second time, she turned and stared at the older gentleman. "May I help you?"
"Are you Amy Fields, ma'am?"
She stopped, not recognizing him though his clear blue eyes were almost haunting. Had the tap been meant to get her attention? Goosebumps rose on her skin and she positioned her umbrella against the downpour of rain. "Yes, may I help you?"
"Do you have the report on Avce completed?"
Her boss had promised it would be complete by 8 a.m. The client had ordered a comprehensive analyzation of the strengths and weaknesses of the royal family. "It's done." She nodded and pointed to her office building right behind them. At least she’d earned a hefty commission for this project, so she’d deal with the five-minute hassle. "Let's go back in, then. I thought you'd be here in the morning?"
"My superior wanted me to try and get your report for him to read tonight."
"One minute later, I'd have been gone." They went inside, his manner off-putting. What was his boss’s name? Why did he want the report? But that was not her business—she compiled information, studied it and was paid well for her opinion.
She brushed off the thought and pressed the elevator button. "This way."
The tenseness in every muscle made her stride brisk, but she ignored the sensation and walked the man into the outer chambers of her office where there was a row of chairs and a glass table with current magazines. "Wait here."
Inside her office, her heart raced as if she was in danger, but that was silly—the man in the bowler was leafing through Forbes. She took her manila folder and returned to the waiting room. "Here you are, sir."
He dropped the magazine and opened the file, saw her cover page and flipped through it. She kept her umbrella at her side, her hand tight on the grip as if it were a sword.
"Very well, thank you, Ms. Fields." He tucked her file under his arm and walked out without holding the door or waiting for her.
She stilled and the sensation disappeared once the man went into the elevator and was out of sight. Her pulse returned to normal. She waited another few seconds and headed back out into the dreary evening. The fog made the world seem darker.
Amy opened the door, head down, and walked right into a wall of muscled chest. Worried it was the man in the bowler hat, she swallowed a cry, stepped back into the foyer of the building and looked up at the man who was at least a foot taller than her. Her breath caught in her throat. Lucio Aussa still seemed larger than life.
"Amy Fields?" His rich tones were deeper and brought a chill of adult awareness.
She dropped her umbrella to the linoleum. She knelt down to pick it up, as did he. They almost bumped heads but she let him get her umbrella and he handed it back to her. "You're prettier than I remember."
"You remember me?" She straightened, her legs shaky.
"You're Evie's little sister." He stood too.
Right. Her stomach shouldn't flip. He had to get married soon, as the world knew, and her sister was the Fields girl he’d been interested in. It was too bad Evie intended to marry His Grace Michael Flynn, and be his duchess. Why was Lucio here, speaking to her right now? "That's right. My sister doesn't work with me or anything…"
"It's raining pretty heavily. Let me give you a ride." He opened the door, allowing a cool rush of air inside.
There was no reason her stomach should tense. His dark, shining hair curled over his ears and those dark brown eyes tempted her to swoon. Amy Fields never swooned. She lowered her head, her face hot with embarrassment. "I don't want to be a bother, Your Highness."
"I came to talk to you," he said. "So it would be my pleasure, Amy."
He had? Her named rolled off his tongue with ease. Her chest warmed from his nearness, and her cheeks must be scarlet at this point. "If you’re here to order an analysis of your country, you’ll need to come back in the morning and sign a contract with my boss."
"I'm
not here to hire you." A servant with a six-foot wide umbrella met them at the front door and Lucio led her toward his waiting limo on the street corner. "Not exactly anyway."
The servant opened the rear passenger door and she slid in across the leather seat. As Lucio closed the door, sitting so close to her their legs touched, she was rocketed back to high school Amy, who’d stared at him with longing as she wished he'd notice her, but then her sister would jump in front of her and throw herself at him. Evie had been relentless in her quest to one day be a princess. Amy shook off the memory as the car rolled down the street. She said, "I live out in Clapham."
"I know. You're doing pretty well for yourself." Drops of rain glistened on Lucio’s shoes. "I was hoping you'd join me for a quick dinner so we can talk."
Dinner? With him? It seemed like a dream where any second someone would yell "gotcha", but she reigned in her imagination. He was a prince, and he’d belonged to Evie. She lifted her chin, intending to say no, but his brown eyes persuaded her to change her mind. "Okay. Dinner. I am curious, I’ll admit."
Giving in was a bad trait she needed to work on. His hand brushed against her leg but jerked back fast so she knew it had been an accident. However, the jolt she felt was unexpected. "Thanks." He turned toward the driver. "Please take us to Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester."
"Yes, Your Highness." The driver raised the partition to give them privacy.
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