All I cared about was that I needed to get to Antonio, and I needed to tell him the truth. Having found out where the ceremony was taking place, I planned how I would do it; I was going to go about it in the only way I could think of—I was going to give him a note.
I wasn’t going to make a scene. I was merely going to slip the paper into his hand and let him read it when he had a moment, hopefully before the ceremony. I felt he ought to know what was going on before he swore his life to another, though I still didn’t think that it would be enough to change anything. Not to say that I wanted him back for my own, but he deserved to know the truth.
Note in hand, I made my way to the ceremony. There were doormen standing at the entrance to the church, and the only way I got in was by telling them I was his cousin. Thankfully, I knew the cousins who had declined the invitation to the last wedding, due to the fact they were unable to leave their business or family for one reason or another.
Antonio wouldn’t have bothered with this information, therefore those guests would have still been on the list—something that proved to be a great advantage to me. I smiled to the different guests who looked at me with a sidelong stare as I walked into the sanctuary, but I really was watching for Antonio.
Finally, I saw him standing near the front of the church, deep in discussion with a few of the men who were present. At first, I thought about going up to the front and telling him at that moment, but then I realized one of the men with whom he was speaking was the minister of the church and I dared not put him through such embarrassment right before the ceremony.
In a final move of desperation, I handed the note to one of the ushers who was wandering back and forth up the hall. “I need this to get to the groom as soon as possible. If you can get it to him before the procession starts, all the better!”
The boy ran up the aisle quickly, doing his best to weave in and out of the guests who had lined the way. Some seemed to notice him and took the time to get out of the way for him to pass, while others were so engrossed in their own conversations it was clear they didn’t have any interest in moving out of the way for a messenger boy.
I wanted to shout out how important it was, but I thought about it logically. If Antonio was ignoring my calls—if he was avoiding me, as he sure appeared to be doing—then he would certainly have me removed from the building if I began shouting or making any kind of a scene. In fact, he might have me removed anyway if I were to say something and be recognized.
Though I didn’t particularly want to watch him swear his love to another woman, if this was the only way I was going to get him the news about his being a father, then so be it. The one thing that I didn’t want to happen was being escorted out. Not in front of all those people. Not in front of another bride.
This time, I was going to hold myself together, and I was going to behave in a way that proved to him that I no longer cared about what he was doing with his life. I was coming to him strictly on business, and it was going to be up to him to respond. Of course, it was almost certain that he was going to do nothing more than write a check and hand it to me, but even that would be fine.
I had spent the entire flight from New York wondering what I was going to do, and now that I was here, the feeling was all the more intense. If I was going to be a single mother, that was fine, but I wasn’t going to be a struggling single mother. Not when my baby’s father was royalty.
After what seemed like an eternity, the usher reached the front of the church and excused himself into the conversation Antonio was having with a guest. I could see by the way the people were beginning to find their seats that the procession was going to start soon, and I desperately hoped he would read it before it was too late.
The boy handed him the paper, and I saw him look pleased as he took it. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes to myself. He likely thought it was more blessing and happiness showered down on him and his bride. Little did he know it was a note that would change his life forever.
I watched with great anticipation as Antonio slipped his finger into the envelope, and my heart began to pound as he pulled out the paper and unfolded it. I could only imagine what he would do when he saw the words scrawled on the paper.
Part of me hoped that he wouldn’t make a big deal of it and would choose to contact me once he had the chance, but another part of me hoped that it would be news that would send him into some sort of fit. Something that would show him that he had to take care of his life better if he wanted to be king.
Of course, with his parents present, I didn’t want to do anything that would cause him too much trouble, so I silently prayed that he would take care of the note and put it away before either one of them saw what was written on it. He lowered his eyes to read the paper, and I sighed when yet another guest walked up to him and offered him their congratulations.
I wanted to tell everyone to get out of the room and give us a minute alone, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. If I was going to discover his feelings on the matter, I would have to study his reaction when he read through the note.
I bit my lower lip as the music began to play, and there was a sudden hush in the room as everyone began swarming about, looking for a place to sit down. It was clear that the bride was going to arrive at any moment, and the last thing I wanted was to be the only one standing. So I slipped into the nearest pew I could find and waited, my eyes glued to Antonio at the front of the room, not the back of the room like everyone else’s.
Once the music began to really pick up, I saw Antonio take the note and open it once more, my heart pounding in my chest. I could see the muscles in his face twitch, and his face whitened. Holding the note in one hand, he quickly looked up and scanned the crowd, clearly trying to see who would have given him such a note and determine if it was indeed true.
It was then that his eyes locked with mine, and I felt my heart begin to race. He paled even further, and part of me was afraid he was going to faint. I could see by the look in his eyes that he thought he was seeing a ghost, and he quickly looked around, as though he were looking for a something of an escape.
This all happened in no more than a few seconds, and I could feel my heart pounding so hard I wondered if it may burst. I looked around me, waiting to see if anyone else had witnessed what had taken place at the front, and if they were going to do anything about it. To my relief, it didn’t seem as though anyone at all had turned their head during the event, as they were all waiting eagerly for Arabella to appear in her dress.
I didn’t know if I ought to rise from my seat and say something, or if I ought to turn and watch the bride as she came in from the hall. I wanted more than anything to say something to Antonio, but I knew that I couldn’t—at least, not right now. The only thing I could do was sit and watch, and hope that he was going to do something about the note.
But, after the few seconds of shock took hold of his body, Antonio did the one thing I never would have thought of him doing. In fact, what happened next was so incredible, I felt as though I was standing in a movie watching someone else play the part of myself.
As the shock took over, Antonio’s grip on the note loosened, and it slipped out of his hand. He looked down, clearly trying to see where the note was going and if he could grab it in time. My own heart skipped a beat as I saw the note flutter to the ground, and I wondered what would happen if anyone else saw it.
Antonio was clearly thinking the same thing, as he did his best to step forward and take the note without anyone else noticing, only for it to be dragged away by the breeze coming through the open window. The draft increased, lifting the note and causing it to flutter upward, and though I stayed in my seat, my eyes were glued to the piece of paper, desperate to see where it landed next.
The wind wasn’t done yet, as it lifted the note and dropped it onto the projector which had been set up to display photos of the bride and groom. It wouldn’t have been too much of a problem except for one thing—the projector had already been turned o
n. One of the crew members had gotten it entirely set up so that when the time came, all they would have to do would be able to do would to be to press the button, and all the alleged magic that existed between the couple would come to light.
But that moment was when the bride came around the corner from the hall, and began walking up the aisle. Everyone in the room rose and turned, ready to turn and see her as she walked toward the front of the church, ready to tie the knot with Antonio and become the queen she had agreed to be.
At that moment, the words from my note flashed up on the screen, projected onto the wall in huge letters.
Antonio, I’m having your baby!
As soon as the words were up on the wall, the bride stopped, a look of confusion on her face. It didn’t take her long to read the message, and she made a cry that was unlike anything I had heard before.
The entire group turned to stare at her in complete shock.
Chapter 21
Sasha
Arabella immediately began shouting in a rage. I could see right away she wasn’t hurt by the situation, she was infuriated. She began to shout all kinds of threats at Antonio, asking him how he could have done such a thing to her, and demanding to know why he would make a spectacle out of her in such a way. It was clear she thought he had done the entire thing as a publicity stunt, and the room was beginning to descend into chaos.
I looked up once more and met Antonio’s eyes once again. I could see by the utter shock on his face that he had no idea what to do or say, and that he would have done anything to get out of the room at this point. I, on the other hand, didn’t want to wait around to see what would happen next.
The one thing on my mind was that I needed to get out of there. I needed to get out of the room as fast as I could, and I needed to leave the country. I didn’t know what I was going to do as my plane didn’t leave until the next morning, but I knew if I could get to my hotel room, everything would be all right.
I stepped into the aisle, glad that I was behind the bride at this point. She had thrown the bouquet of flowers on the ground, stomping on them as she stormed toward the altar. I could see the rage in her movements, and it looked as though Antonio would rather jump out of the window than stand there and deal with her, but I was gone.
There were clearly many eyes on me as I stepped into the aisle, but I didn’t care. All that mattered to me was that I was going to get out of the building, and I was going to hide somewhere—anywhere. I flew down the stairs outside and onto the sidewalk below, refusing to look back. I had tears in my eyes, and I couldn’t think straight, but I had to press on.
Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name. I turned slightly, amazed to see Antonio following me. He was running up the sidewalk, doing his best to catch me before I could hail a cab. I could see in the distance that there was a crowd of people coming up the street as well and there was no doubt in my mind that they were very likely to be Antonio’s parents and family members.
I could hear it now, all the accusations of how it wasn’t Antonio’s child, or that I was only after money, or even that I had come for the pure fact that I was going to ruin his wedding once more on account of some rumor that someone may have heard or started.
A cab pulled over and waited for me to climb in, which I was about to happily do when at that moment Antonio caught up with me. He was breathless, his chest heaving with the strain of trying to catch up. He gasped as he mopped his face with his sleeve, but I wasn’t going to wait for him to speak. I had said what I wanted to say, and now it was time for me to get out of here.
I tried to slip into the cab, but he caught my arm and stopped me for the moment.
“Is it true? Are you pregnant?” he demanded, though he was still doing his best to catch his breath. I glanced over my shoulder and gave him a curt nod, making it clear that I didn’t want to speak about it any longer. He looked at me with shock and horror in his eyes, and I could see that he wasn’t sure whether I was telling the truth or not.
As far as I was concerned, he was more than welcome to believe me or not, I was going to get out of there. I wanted him to know the truth, but this was not the way I planned him finding out, and the fact that his family was drawing closer was only serving to make me even more anxious, and I dove into the back seat of the cab.
To my surprise, Antonio jumped right into the seat next to me, ordering the cab to take me not to my hotel, but to his place. I looked back at him in surprise.
“Antonio! Do you know what you’re doing?” I asked in disbelief, and though there was still a look of uncertainty and shock in his eyes, I could see that he was confident in his decision. The cab driver stepped on the gas, and in a moment we were off, leaving the gathering crowd behind us.
Although there were many things I wanted to say to Antonio at that moment, I couldn’t find the words. With him sitting next to me, I was feeling such a blend of emotions I didn’t know which one to follow, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I was angry with him for not responding to my messages, and I wasn’t about to let all that go without him explaining why.
“I wish you would talk to me,” he said at last, after a few minutes of him trying to make conversation and me doing everything I could to avoid it. I glanced over to him.
“What is there to say?” I snapped. He looked at me in surprise, and I sighed, knowing that I wasn’t behaving like an adult. He was trying to figure out what had happened, and I was making it difficult. I shook my head and turned my attention back out the window.
“You didn’t respond to anything that I tried to tell you,” I said quietly.
It was his turn to sigh, and I felt a surge of satisfaction run through me as he did, happy that he was finally seeing that he should have handled things differently. It didn’t matter to me whether he was the Prince or not; he was the father of my child, and he shouldn’t have ignored my attempts at communicating with him.
“I’m sorry,” he said at last, and I scoffed as I shook my head.
“No, really, Sasha, I am. There are so many things that I am sorry for, but perhaps the biggest of all is that I did this to you. I should have answered you when you were trying to contact me, I should have known that there was some reason behind it besides you wanting to attack me about my new marriage, but Sasha, you have to realize that there is more to the story than you think.” He let his voice drift off, and I looked over my shoulder at him, uncertain if I ought to believe him.
“Like what?” I demanded, and once again he sighed. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about such a sensitive topic while it was just him and me in the cab with the driver and, despite my impatience, I could understand why.
“Can we talk about this more when we get to my house? You don’t have to come inside with me if you don’t want to, but I would love to have the chance to talk about this with you in private, if you know what I mean.” He looked up toward the cab driver and I sighed, knowing that he had a point. Everyone had eyes and ears when it came to royalty, even the person who was driving him home from a second failed wedding.
I didn’t want to be gossiped about any more than Antonio did, so I agreed to not say another word about it until we were in the privacy of his home. I turned my attention out the window, once more thinking about what it would have been like if I had decided to stay here. This time, I was almost glad that I had not, that I would not. I was going to get through this with Antonio, and he was going to work it out with me, I was sure.
There was something about the way he was acting that gave me hope he was going to come through for me, and I felt that I was going to get the support that I needed for our child. I wasn’t asking for anything for myself, and I wanted him to be clear about that—the only thing that I was going to ask of him was to provide for his child.
Even though the baby wasn’t yet born, I knew that I wanted nothing but the best for them. I wanted them to grow up in a home in which they didn’t have to wonder if they were going to have clothes for school. I wan
ted them to know what it was like to have the childhood that I myself had never been blessed with, I wanted them to know what it was like to be happy in their life, regardless of what else was going on.
All these thoughts were swirling around in my mind as the cab pulled up the winding road toward Antonio’s house. And yet, as I recognized the pad, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of happiness. Although there were many things that I had wanted to forget about my trip to Italy, spending the night with Antonio in that house was not one of them.
I took in a deep breath, filling my lungs with the rich scent of the sea. There were some things in life that I knew I would always remember, no matter where life took me. The car pulled into the driveway and Antonio was quick to pay, though I could see that the driver was disappointed that he wasn’t able to get more information about the situation from either one of us.
I hesitated a moment, trying to decide if it really was the best choice to go into Antonio’s house with him. I didn’t want to be caught up in an international scandal, but at the same time, I could see in his eyes how desperately he wanted to talk to me and, putting everything from the past few weeks to one side, I wanted to give him that courtesy.
“Will you come inside? Just for a few minutes. You are free to leave any time you want, but there are a few things I would like to discuss with you before you go, especially if this is the last time I am going to see you.” He had concern in his eyes as he spoke, and after a moment of hesitation, I gave him a curt nod.
I did know that it was the right thing to do, if not for me, then for my unborn baby. This man was the father of my child, and I was going to have to work something out with him, no matter what level of care that happened to be. International scandal or not, I was in this for the long run and there was no going back now.
He reached out and took my hand, gently leading me through the gate and onto the walkway. I had brief flashbacks of what it had been like before, but I was quick to push those out of my mind. The last thing I wanted to think about was before. That was then, and things were different now.
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