Her Unforgettable Royal Lover

by Merline Lovelace

  “Please, Natalie! Say you’ll work with me on the research.”

  “I, uh…”

  “Would you consider a one-year contract, with an option for two more? I’ll double what I’m paying you now for the first year, and we can negotiate your salary for the following two.”

  She almost swallowed her tongue. “You’re already paying me twice what the average researcher’s services are worth!”

  Dev leaned across the table and folded his big hand around Natalie’s. “You’re not just a researcher, kid. We consider you one of the family.”

  “Th-Thank you.”

  She refused to dwell on her nebulous, half-formed thoughts of actually becoming a member of their clan. Those silly hopes had faded in the past month…to the point where she wasn’t sure she could remain on the fringe of Sarah’s family orbit.

  Her outrageously expensive dinner curdled at the thought of bumping into Dom at the launch of Sarah’s book six or eight months from now. Or crossing paths with him if she returned to Hungary to research the history of the St. Sebastians. Or seeing the inevitable gossip put out by the tabloids whenever the sexy royal appeared at some gala with a glamorous female looking suspiciously like Natalie’s mental image of Kissy Face Arabella.

  “I’m overwhelmed by the offer,” she told Sarah with a grateful smile. “Can I take a little time to think it over?”

  “Of course! But think fast, okay? I’d like to brief my editors on the concept when we meet with them next week.”

  Before Natalie could even consider accepting Sarah’s offer, she had to come clean. The next morning she burned with embarrassment as she related the whole sorry story of her arrest and abrupt departure from her position as an archivist for the State of Illinois. Sarah listened with wide eyes but flatly refused to withdraw her offer.

  “Oh, Nat, I’m so sorry you got taken in by such a conniving bastard. All I can say is that he’s lucky he’s behind bars. He’d damned well better keep looking over his shoulder when he gets out, though. Dev and Dominic both have long memories.”

  * * *

  Relieved by Sarah’s unqualified support but racked with doubts about Dom, Natalie was still agonizing over her decision the following Tuesday, when a taxi delivered her and Sarah to the tower of steel and glass housing her publisher. Spanning half a block in downtown Manhattan, the mega-conglomerate’s lobby was walled with floor-to-ceiling bookcases displaying the hundreds of books put out each month by Random House’s many imprints.

  It was Natalie’s third time accompanying Sarah to this publishing cathedral but the display of volumes hot off the press still awed her book-lover soul. While Sarah signed them both in and waited for an escort to whisk them up to the thirty-second floor, Natalie devoured the jacket and back-cover copy of a new release detailing the events leading to World War I and its catastrophic impact on Europe. Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were major players in those cataclysmic events.

  Karlenburgh sat smack in the juxtaposition of those cultures and epic struggles. Natalie itched to get her hands on the book. She was scrambling for her iPhone to snap a shot of the book jacket when a shrill bark cut through the low-level hum of the busy lobby. She spun around, her jaw dropping as a brown-and-white bullet hurtled straight toward her.

  “Duke!” She took two front paws hard in the stomach, staggered back, dropped to her knees. “What…? How…? Whoa! Stop, fella! Stop!”

  Laughing, she twisted her head to dodge the Agár’s ecstatic kisses. The sight of Dom standing at the lobby entrance, his grin as goofy as the hound’s, squeezed the air from her lungs. The arms fending the dog off collapsed, Duke lunged, and they both went down.

  She heard a scramble of footsteps. A frantic voice shouting for someone to call 911 or animal control or whoever. A strangled yelp as a would-be rescuer grabbed Duke’s collar and yanked him off her. Sarah protesting the rough handling. Dom charging across the lobby to take control of the situation.

  By the time the chaos finally subsided, he’d hauled Natalie to her feet and into his arms. “Ah, Natushka,” he said, his eyes alight with laughter, “the hound and I hoped to surprise you, not cause a riot.”

  “Forget the riot! What are you doing in here?”

  “I called Sarah’s office to speak with you and was told you’d both flown to New York.”

  “But…but…” She couldn’t get her head and her heart to work in sync. “How did you know we’d be here, at the publisher? Oh! You did your James Bond thing, didn’t you?”

  “I did.”

  “I still don’t understand. You? Duke? Here?”

  “We missed you.”

  The simple declaration shimmered like a rainbow, breathing color into the hopes and dreams that had shaded to gray.

  “I planned to wait until I could bring the Canaletto,” he told her, tipping his forehead to hers. “I wanted you with me when we restored the painting and all the memories it holds for the duchess. But every day, every night away from you ate at my patience. I got so restless and bad-tempered even the hound would snarl or slink away from me. The team’s infuriatingly slow pace didn’t help. You probably didn’t notice when I called but…”

  “I noticed,” she drawled.

  “But it all boiled down to frustration,” he finished with a rueful smile. “Pure, unadulterated frustration.”

  She started to tell him he wasn’t the only one who’d twisted and turned and tied themself up in knots but he preempted any reply by cradling her face in his palms.

  “I wanted to wait before I told you that I love you, drágám. I wanted to give you time, let you find your feet again. I was worried, too, about the weeks and months my job would take me away. Your job, as well, if you accept the offer Dev told me about when I called to speak with you. I know your work is important to you, as mine is to me. We can work it out, yes?”

  She pretty much stopped listening after the “I love you” part but caught the question in the last few words.

  “Yes,” she breathed with absolutely no idea what she was agreeing to. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  “Then you’ll take this?”

  She glanced down, a laugh gurgling in her throat as Dom pinned an enameled copy of his soccer club’s insignia to the lapel of her suit jacket.

  “It will have to do,” he told her with a look in those dark eyes that promised the love and home and family she’d always craved, “until we find an engagement ring to suit the fiancée of the Grand Duke of Karlenburgh, yes?”

  “Yes!”

  * * *

  As if that weren’t enough to keep Natalie dancing on a cloud and completely delight his sister, Sarah and the duchess, Gina and her husband arrived with the twins the next afternoon.

  They were house hunting, they informed the assembled family. Jack’s appointment as US Ambassador to the UN still needed to be confirmed by the Senate but the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee had assured him the vote was purely pro forma.

  “How wonderful!” Her eyes bright with tears of joy, the duchess thumped her cane and decreed this called for a toast. “Dominic, will you and Jack pour pálinka for us all?”

  Charlotte’s heart swelled with pride as she watched her tall, gold-haired grandson-in-law and darkly handsome young relative move to the sideboard and line up an array of Bohemian cut-crystal snifters. Her gaze roamed the sitting room, lingering on her beautiful granddaughters and the just-crawling twins tended by a radiant Natalie and a laughing, if somewhat tired-looking, Zia. When Maria joined them with a tray of cheese and olives, the only one missing was Dev.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Jack said quietly as he and Dom stood shoulder to shoulder, filling delicate crystal aperitif glasses with the potent apricot brandy. “Now that your face has been splashed across half the front pages of Europe, your days as an undercover operative must be numbered.”

  Dom’s mouth twisted. “My boss agrees. He’s been trying to convince me to take over management of the organized-crimes division at I
nterpol Headquarters.”

  “A desk job in Lyon couldn’t be all that bad, but why not put all this hoopla about your title and involvement in the recovery of millions of dollars in stolen art to good use?” Jack’s blue eyes held his. “My soon-to-be boss at the UN thinks the Grand Duke of Karlenburgh would make a helluva cultural attaché. He and his lovely wife would be accepted everywhere, have access to top-level social circles—and information.”

  Dom’s pulse kicked. He’d already decided to take the promotion and settle in Lyon. He couldn’t subject Natalie to the uncertainties and dangers associated with his current occupation. But deep inside he’d been dreading the monotony of a nine-to-five job.

  “Cultural attaché?” he murmured. “What exactly would that involve?”

  “Whatever you wanted it to. And you’d be based here in New York, surrounded by family. Which may not always be such a good thing,” Jack added drily when one of his daughters grabbed a fistful of her sister’s hair and gleefully yanked.

  “No,” Dom countered, watching Natalie scoop the howling twin into her arms to nuzzle and kiss and coo her back to smiles. “Family is a very good thing. Especially for someone who’s never had one. Tell your soon-to-be boss that the Grand Duke of Karlenburgh would be honored to accept the position of cultural attaché.”

  * * *

  Yesterday was one of the most memorable days in my long and incredibly rich life. They were all here, my ever-increasing family. Sarah and Dev. Gina and Jack and the twins. Dominic and Natalie. Zia, Maria, even Jerome, our vigilant doorman who insisted on escorting the Brink’s couriers up to my apartment. I’m not ashamed to admit I cried when they uncrated the painting.

  The Canaletto my husband gave me so long ago now hangs on my bedroom wall. It’s the last thing I see before I fall asleep, the first thing I see when I wake. And, oh, the memories that drift in on gossamer wings between darkness and dawn! Dominic wants to take me back to Hungary for a visit. As Natalie and Sarah delve deeper into our family’s history, they add their voice to his. I’ve said I’ll return if Dom will agree to let me formally invest him with the title of Grand Duke at the black-tie affair Gina is so eager to arrange.

  Then we’ll settle in until Zia finishes her residency. She works herself to the bone, poor darling. If Maria and I didn’t force her to eat and snatch at least a few hours’ rest, she’d drop where she stands. Something more than determination to complete the residency drives her. Something she won’t speak about, even to me. I tell myself to be patient. To wait until she’s ready to share the secret she hides behind her seductive smile and stunning beauty. Whatever it is, she knows I’ll stand with her. We are, after all, St. Sebastians.

  From the diary of Charlotte,

  Grand Duchess of Karlenburgh

  * * * * *

  Don’t miss Lady Sarah’s story,

  A BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT

  and

  Lady Eugenia’s story,

  THE DIPLOMAT’S PREGNANT BRIDE

  Available now from USA TODAY bestselling author Merline Lovelace and Harlequin Desire!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE SECRET AFFAIR by Brenda Jackson.

  Ten years ago one devastating night changed everything for Austin, Hunter and Alex. Now they must each play their part in the revenge against the one man who ruined it all.

  Austin Treffen has the plan… Hunter has the money… Alex has the power!

  Read each of their stories in the captivating Fifth Avenue trilogy,

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  Scandalize Me by Caitlin Crews (July 2014)

  Expose Me by Kate Hewitt (August 2014)

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  Prologue

  Jillian Novak stared across the table at her sister, not believing what she’d just heard.

  Jillian placed the glass of wine she’d been holding on the table, barely keeping the drink from spilling. “What do you mean you aren’t going with me? That’s crazy, Paige. Need I remind you that you’re the one who planned the trip?”

  “A reminder isn’t needed, Jill, but please understand my dilemma,” Paige said in a rueful tone, her dark brown eyes shaded with regret. “Getting a part in a Steven Spielberg movie is a dream come true. You can’t imagine what I was feeling—happiness at being chosen one minute, and then disappointment the next, when I found out that shooting starts the same week I was supposed to be on the cruise with you.”

  “Let me guess, your happiness overpowered your disappointment, right?” Jillian felt a pounding pressure in her head and knew why. She had been looking forward to the Mediterranean cruise—for many reasons—and now it appeared she wouldn’t be going.

  “I’m sorry, Jill. You’ve never gone on a cruise and I know it’s one of the things on your bucket list.”

  Paige’s apology only made Jillian feel worse. She’d made her sister feel awful for making a choice Jillian would have made herself if given the chance. Reaching across the table, she grabbed Paige’s hand.

  “I’m the one who should be apologizing, Paige. I was only thinking of myself. You’re right. Getting that part in the movie is a dream come true and you’d be crazy not to take it. I’m truly happy for you. Congratulations.”

  A bright smile spread across Paige’s lips. “Thanks. I wanted so much for us to spend time together on the cruise. It’s been ages since me, you, Pam and Nadia have had sister time.”

  Nadia, a senior in college, was their youngest sister. At twenty-one she was two years younger than Paige and four years younger than Jillian. Pamela, their oldest sister—who Jillian, Nadia and Paige were convinced was the best older sister anyone could ever have—was ten years older than Jillian. A former actress, Pam had given up the glitter of Hollywood to return home to Gamble, Wyoming, and raise them when their father died. Now Pam lived in Denver. She was married, the mother of two and the CEO of two acting schools, one in Denver and the other in Gamble. Paige had followed in Pam’s footsteps and pursued an acting career. She lived in Los Angeles.

  With Pam’s busy schedule, she’d said accompanying them on the cruise would have been close to impossible. Nadia had wanted to go but finals kept her from doing so. Jillian had wanted sister time with at least one of her siblings. And now that she had completed medical school, she needed those two weeks on the cruise as a getaway before starting her residency. But there was another reason she wanted to take that two-week cruise.

  Aidan Westmoreland.

  It was hard to believe it had been a little over a year since she’d broken things off with him. And every time she remembered the reason she’d done so her heart ached. She needed a distraction from her memories.

  “You okay, Jill?”

  Jillian glanced up at Paige and forced a smile. “Yes, why do you ask?”

  “You zoned out on me jus
t now. I was talking and you appeared to be a million miles away. I noticed you haven’t been yourself since I arrived in New Orleans. More than once you’ve seemed preoccupied about something. Is everything okay?”

  Jillian waved off Paige’s words. The last thing she wanted was for her sister to start worrying and begin digging. “Yes, everything is okay, Paige.”

  Paige didn’t look convinced. “Um, I don’t know. Maybe I should forget about being in that movie and go on that cruise with you after all.”

  Jillian picked up her wineglass to take a sip. “Don’t be silly. You’re doing the right thing. Besides, I’m not going on the cruise.”

  “Why not?”

  Jillian was surprised at her sister’s question. “Surely you don’t expect me to go without you.”

  “You need a break before starting your residency.”

  Jillian rolled her eyes. “Get real, Paige. What would I do on a two-week cruise by myself?”

  “Rest, relax, enjoy the sights, the ocean, the peace and quiet. And you might luck up and meet some nice single guy.”

  Jillian shook her head. “Nice single guys don’t go on cruises alone. Besides, the last thing I need right now is a man in my life.”

  Paige laughed. “Jill, you haven’t had a guy in your life since you dated Cobb Grindstone in your senior year at Gamble High. I think what’s missing in your life is a man.”

  Jillian bristled at her sister’s words. “Not hardly, especially with my busy schedule. And I don’t see you with anyone special.”

  “At least I’ve been dating over the years. You haven’t. Or, if you have, you haven’t told me about it.”

  Jillian schooled her expression into an impassive facade. She’d never told Paige about her affair with Aidan, and considering how it had ended she was glad she hadn’t.