Summer with the Millionaire

by Unknown

  “The food is out of this world, but I’ll have to pass on the cannoli dessert,” Carolena exclaimed a little while later. “If I lived here very long I’d look like one of those fat Sicilian rock partridges unable to move around.”

  Both men burst into laughter before Valentino devoured his dessert.

  Carolena looked at Abby. “What did I say?”

  Vincenzo grinned. “You and my wife have the same thought processes. She was afraid pregnancy would make her look like a beached whale.”

  “We women have our fears,” Abby defended.

  “We certainly do!”

  Valentino darted Carolena another glance. “In that purple swimsuit you were wearing earlier, I can guarantee you’ll never have that problem.”

  She’d walked into that one and felt the blood rush to her cheeks. That suit was a frivolous purchase she wouldn’t have worn around other people, but since she’d been alone... Or so she’d thought. “I hope you’re right, Your Highness.”

  His eyes smiled. “Call me Val.”

  Val? Who in the world called him that?

  He must have been able to read her mind because his next comment answered her question. “My brother and I didn’t like our long names, so we gave ourselves nicknames. He’s Vito and I’m Val.”

  “V and V,” she said playfully. “I’m surprised you didn’t have to wash your initials off some of those putti.”

  Another burst of rich laughter escaped his throat. When it subsided, he explained their little joke to Vincenzo and Abby.

  Carolena smiled at Abby. “I’d caution you never to tell that story to Max, or when he’s more grown up he might take it into his head to copy his uncles.”

  “Fortunately we don’t have putti,” Vincenzo quipped.

  “True,” Abby chimed in, “but we do have busts that can be knocked over by a soccer ball.”

  Amidst the laughter, a maid appeared in the doorway. “Forgive the intrusion, Your Highness, but the queen says it seems the young prince has started to cry and is running a temperature.”

  In an instant both parents jumped to their feet bringing an end to the frivolity.

  Wanting to say something to assure them, Carolena said, “He’s probably caught a little cold.”

  Abby nodded. “I’m sure you’re right, but he’s still not as used to the queen yet and is in a strange place. I’ll go to him.” She put a hand on Vincenzo’s arm. “You stay here and enjoy your visit, darling.”

  At this point, Valentino stood up. “We’ll have all day tomorrow. Right now your boy needs both of you.”

  “Thank you,” they murmured. Abby came around to give Carolena a hug. “See you in the morning.”

  “Of course. If you need me for anything, just phone me.”

  “I will.”

  When they disappeared out the doors, Carolena got to her feet. “I’ll say good-night, too. Thank you for a wonderful dinner, Your Highness.”

  He frowned. “The name’s Val. I want to hear you say it.”

  She took a deep breath. “Thank you...Val.”

  “That’s better.” His gaze swept over her. “Where’s the fire?”

  “I’m tired.” Carolena said the first thing that came into her head. “I was up early to finish some work at the firm before the limo arrived to drive me to the airport. Bed sounds good to me.”

  “Then I’ll walk you back.”

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  He cocked his dark blond head. “Do I frighten you?”

  Your appeal frightens me. “If anything, I’m afraid of disturbing your routine.”

  “I don’t have one tonight. Forget I’m the prince.”

  It wasn’t the prince part that worried her. He’d made her aware of him as a man. This hadn’t happened since she’d fallen in love with Berto and it was very disturbing to her.

  “To be honest, when you showed up at the swimming pool earlier, you looked tired after a hard day’s work. Since it’s late, I’m sure you’d like a good sleep before you spend the day with Vincenzo tomorrow.”

  “I’m not too tired to see you back to your room safely.”

  “Your Highness?” The same maid came to the entrance once more. “The queen would like to see you in her apartment.”

  “I’ll go to her. Thank you.”

  He cupped Carolena’s elbow to walk her out of the dining room. She didn’t want him touching her. The contact made her senses come alive. When they passed the guard and reached the grounds, she eased away from him.

  “After getting to know Vincenzo, I realize how busy you are and the huge amount of calls on your time. Your mother is waiting for you.”

  “I always say good-night to my mother before retiring. If our dinner had lasted a longer time, she would have had a longer wait.”

  There was no talking him out of letting her get back to her room by herself. “What kind of work were you doing today?” She had to admit to a deep curiosity.

  He grinned. “I always come home looking dirty and need to wash off the grime.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to. Volcanoes are a dirty business.”

  Carolena came to a standstill before lifting her head to look at him. “You were up on Mount Etna?”

  “That’s right.”

  His answer perplexed her. “Why?”

  “I’m a volcanologist with the National Center of Geophysics and Volcanology lab in Catania.”

  “You’re kidding—” After that movie she’d watched on the plane, she couldn’t believe what he’d just told her.

  One corner of his compelling mouth lifted. “Even a prince can’t afford to be an empty suit. Etna has been my backyard since I was born. From the first moment I saw it smoking, I knew I had to go up there and get a good look. Once that happened, I was hooked.”

  With his adventurous spirit, she wasn’t surprised but knew there was a lot more to his decision than that. “I confess it would be fantastic to see it up close the way you do. Have you been to other volcanoes?”

  “Many of them.”

  “You lucky man! On the way down here I watched a Hollywood movie with Louis Jourdan about a volcano erupting in Polynesia.”

  “You must mean Bird of Paradise.”

  “Yes. It was really something. Your line of work has to be very dangerous.”

  For a second she thought she saw a flicker of some emotion in his eyes, but it passed. “Not so much nowadays. The main goal is to learn how to predict trouble so that timely warnings can be issued for cautioning and evacuating people in the area. We’ve devised many safe ways to spy on active volcanoes over the decades.”

  “How did your parents feel about you becoming a volcanologist?”

  A smile broke the corner of his mouth, as if her question had amused him. “When I explained the reasons for my interest, they approved.”

  That was too pat an answer. He sounded as if he wanted to get off the subject, but she couldn’t let it go. “What argument did you give them?”

  His brows lifted. “Did you think I needed one?”

  She took a quick breath. “If they were anything like my grandmother, who was the soul of caution, then yes!”

  He stopped outside the entrance to her wing of the palace. Moonlight bathed his striking male features, making them stand out like those of the Roman-god statues supporting the fountain in the distance. His sudden serious demeanor gave her more insight into his complex personality.

  “A king’s first allegiance is to the welfare of his people. I explained to my parents that when Etna erupts again, and she will, I don’t want to see a repeat of what happened in l669.”

  Carolena was transfixed. “What did happen?”

  “Tha
t eruption turned into a disaster that killed over twenty-nine thousand people.”

  She shuddered, remembering the film. “I can’t even imagine it.”

  He wore a grim expression. “Though it couldn’t happen today, considering the sophisticated warning systems in place, people still need to be educated about the necessity of listening and heeding those warnings of evacuation.”

  “In the film, there’d been no warning.”

  “Certainly not a hundred years ago. That’s been my greatest concern. Gemelli has a population of two hundred thousand, so it can’t absorb everyone fleeing the mainland around Catania, but I want us to be prepared as much as possible.”

  “How do you get your people prepared?”

  “I’ve been working with our government to do mock drills to accommodate refugees from the mainland, should a disaster occur. Every ship, boat, barge, fishing boat would have to be available, not to mention housing and food and airlifts to other islands.”

  “That would be an enormous undertaking.”

  “You’re right. For protection against volcanic ash and toxic gas, I’ve ordered every family outfitted with lightweight, disposable, filtering face-piece mask/respirators. This year’s sightings have convinced me I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s needed to be done to feel at all ready.”

  “Your country is very fortunate to have you for the watchman.”

  “The watchman? That makes me sound like an old sage.”

  “You’re hardly old yet,” she quipped.

  “I’m glad you noticed.” His remark caused her heart to thud for no good reason.

  “I’m very impressed over what you do.”

  “It’s only part of what I do.”

  “Oh, I know what a prince does.” She half laughed. “Abby once read me Vincenzo’s itinerary for the day and I almost passed out. But she never told me about your scientific background.”

  “It isn’t something I talk about.”

  “Well, I think it’s fascinating! You’re like an astronaut or a test pilot, but the general population doesn’t know what you go through or how you put your life on the line.”

  “That’s a big exaggeration.”

  “Not at all,” she argued. “It’s almost as if you’re leading a double life. What a mystery you are!”

  She wouldn’t have put it past Abby to have chosen that particular film because she knew about Valentino’s profession and figured Carolena would get a kick out of it once she learned about his secret profession.

  After a low chuckle, he opened the doors so they could walk down the hallway and around the corner to her room. She opened her door. Though she was dying to ask him a lot more questions about his work in volcanology, she didn’t want him to think she expected his company any longer. She was also aware the queen was waiting for him.

  “It’s been a lovely evening. Thank you for everything.”

  His eyes gleamed in the semidarkness. “What else do you do besides give unsuspecting males a heart attack while you’re diving?”

  Heat scorched her cheeks. “I thought I was alone.”

  “Because I was late getting back, I cut through that part of the grounds and happened to see you. It looks like I’m going to have to do it more often.”

  He was a huge flirt. The tabloids hadn’t been wrong about him. “I won’t be here long enough to get caught again. I have a law practice waiting for me back in Arancia.”

  He studied her for a moment. “I heard you’re in the same firm with Abby.”

  “We were until her marriage. Now she’s a full-time mother to your nephew.”

  A heart-stopping smile appeared. “It must be tough on your male colleagues working around so much beauty and brains.”

  “They’re all married.”

  “That makes it so much worse.”

  She laughed. “You’re outrageous.”

  “Then we understand each other. Tomorrow we’ll be eating breakfast on the terrace off the morning room. I’ll send a maid for you at eight-thirty. Buona notte, Carolena.”

  “Buona notte.”

  “Val,” he said again.

  “Val,” she whispered before shutting the door. She lay against it, surprised he was so insistent on her using his nickname, surprised he’d made such an impact on her.

  After their delicious meal, she wasn’t ready for bed yet. Once she’d slipped on her small garden-print capri pajamas, she set up her laptop on the table and started to look up Mount Etna. The amount of information she found staggered her. There were dozens of videos and video clips she watched until after one in the morning.

  But by the time she’d seen a video about six volcanologists killed on the Galeras volcano in the Colombian Andes in 1993, she turned off her computer. The scientists had been standing on the ground when it began to heave and then there was a deafening roar. The volcano exploded, throwing boulders and ash miles high and they’d lost their lives.

  The idea of that happening to the prince made her ill. She knew he took precautions, but as he’d pointed out, there was always a certain amount of risk. The desire to see a vent up close would be hard to resist. That’s what he did in his work. He crept up close to view the activity and send back information. But there might come a day when he’d be caught. She couldn’t bear the thought of it, but she admired him terribly.

  The playboy prince who’d had dozens of girlfriends didn’t mesh with the volcanologist whose name was Val. She didn’t want to care about either image of the sensational-looking flesh-and-blood man. When Carolena finally pulled the covers over her, she fell asleep wishing she’d never met him. He was too intriguing for words.

  At seven-thirty the next morning her cell phone rang, causing her to wonder if it was the prince. She got a fluttery feeling in her chest as she raised up on one elbow to reach for it. To her surprise it was Abby and she clicked on. “Abby? Are you all right? How’s Max?”

  “He’s still running a temperature and fussing. I think he’s cutting another tooth. The reason I’m calling is because I’m going to miss breakfast with you and stay in the apartment with him. It will give Vincenzo and Valentino time to get some work done this morning.”

  “Understood. I’m so sorry Max is sick.”

  “It’ll pass, but under the circumstances, why don’t you order breakfast in your room or out by the pool. I’ll get in touch with you later in the day. If you want a limo, just dial zero and ask for one to drive you into town, and do a little shopping or something.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll love relaxing by the pool. This is heaven after the hectic schedule at the law firm.”

  “Okay, then. Talk to you soon.”

  This was a good turn of events. The less she saw of Valentino, the better.

  Copyright © 2014 by Rebecca Winters

  ISBN: 978-1-472-04818-9

  SUMMER WITH THE MILLIONAIRE

  © 2014 Jessica Gilmore

  Published in Great Britain 2014

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