“I’m flying directly to Barcelona from here. I’ll do everything I can to make things right, I promise. Even if she doesn’t want me, even if she won’t forgive me, I won’t leave until I’m certain she’s safe.”
Arturo watched him as he spoke, and then nodded. “You said earlier that you wanted my daughter to be your queen. You’re serious about this?”
Gabriel swallowed hard. “Yes, sir. With your permission, I’d like to ask Serafia to be my wife. I know that under the circumstances, the public role will not be an easy one for her, but I love her too much to let her out of my life. I don’t think I could choose a better woman to help me make Alma that great country it once was.”
Arturo nodded. “You are good for her, I know it. I’ve watched you two on the news together. She looks happier with you than she has been in years. You make sure she stays that way and you have my blessing.”
“Yes. Of course. I only want Serafia to be happy. Thank you, Señor Espina.”
Serafia’s father finally smiled for the first time since Gabriel had arrived, and he felt a weight lifted from his chest.
“Do you have a ring for her?” the older man asked.
Gabriel was embarrassed to admit that he didn’t. “I rushed here to see you without thinking all of it through. I don’t have anything for her yet.”
Arturo reached out and picked up the ruby ring from the table. “This is the wedding ring of Rafael the First’s mother, Queen Josefina. If you truly love my daughter and want her to be queen, this is the ring you should give her.”
Gabriel took the ring from the man who might soon be his father-in-law and shook his hand. “Thank you, sir. It’s perfect.”
* * *
“Good job,” Esperanza said as she took away Serafia’s mostly empty dinner plate.
Serafia chuckled. “Does this mean I get the tiramisu you promised me?”
“Of course.”
Esperanza disappeared inside, leaving her alone on her patio, watching the sun set. It seemed like only yesterday that she was doing the same with Gabriel, only overlooking the Atlantic instead of the Mediterranean. The moment had been romantic and full of promise.
And now here she was, alone. What a difference a few days could make.
But she wasn’t going to dwell on it. She’d had her moment to mope, and now it was time for her to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. Being with Gabriel had helped her realize that she was hiding here in Barcelona. She got out, she worked, but she hadn’t really allowed herself to have the full life she deserved. That was over. She was determined that from this point forward, she was going to live her life to the fullest.
“Señorita?” Esperanza was at the door again.
“Yes?” Serafia said as she turned and froze in place. Standing tall behind her tiny housekeeper was Gabriel. He was looking incredibly handsome in a gray shirt and a black suit coat. Without a tie, of course.
She felt her heart skip a beat in her chest when she saw him. Every nerve awakened as her body realized he was so close. She tightened her hands around the arms of her chair to fight her unwanted reaction to him. He was a bastard. He said terrible things to her. She absolutely should not react to him like this. And yet she couldn’t help it. He might be a bastard, but she still loved him. She still hadn’t managed to convince her heart differently.
Taking a deep breath, she wished away her attraction and tried to focus on more important things, like what had brought him all the way to her doorstep.
Esperanza looked a little stunned. Serafia imagined that opening the door and finding a prince standing there was not exactly what the older woman had anticipated when the bell rang. “Prince Gabriel is here to see you. He would not wait outside.”
“I didn’t want to give you the chance to turn me away,” he said, with a sheepish smile that seemed to acknowledge he was the guilty party.
“Smart move,” Serafia noted in a sharp tone. He was the guilty party and she wanted to make sure he got his punishment. “Esperanza, could you please bring out a bottle of merlot and two glasses, please?” She wasn’t sure how this conversation was going to go, but drinking certainly wouldn’t hurt matters. At the very least it would help her relax. She was drawn tight as a drum.
Esperanza disappeared into the house and Gabriel joined Serafia outside. He took a seat in the chair beside her and looked out at the sea as she had been doing earlier.
“You have a beautiful home,” he said.
“Thank you.”
He turned back to look at her, his concerned gaze taking in every inch of her, but not in the hungry way she was used to. He seemed to be cataloguing her somehow. “How are you?” he asked.
Not once in the weeks they’d spent together had he asked her that question. Now she knew it was probably her parents’ doing. They’d started calling each day, never directly asking if she was eating, but hinting around the subject, not knowing Esperanza had already ratted them out. She frowned at him. “Did my family send you down here to check on me?”
“What?” He looked startled. “No. I came here on my own, but I made a stop in Madrid on the way. Your father mentioned they were concerned about you.”
“They usually are,” she said. “That’s why I opted to move to Barcelona and give myself some breathing room. They’re very overprotective of me.”
“They just want to make sure you’re happy and healthy. As do I.”
“Is that why you’ve come?” she snapped. “To make sure you didn’t break my heart too badly?”
“No,” he said with a grave seriousness in his voice. “I came to apologize.”
“It’s not necessary,” she said.
“Yes, it is. I lashed out at you and it wasn’t your fault. I let my own fears get the best of me, then used the most convenient excuse I could find to push you away. It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, and that’s saying a lot after the antics I’ve gotten into the last few years. I’ve relived that moment in my head over and over, wishing I’d handled everything differently. I was a fool and it cost me the woman I love.”
Serafia gasped at his words, but before she could respond, Esperanza returned with the wine. The interruption allowed Serafia a minute to think about his words and consider what her response should be. He loved her. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, too, but she was wary of giving away too much. He’d hurt her, abused her trust. She wasn’t just going to take him back because he decided he was in love and that made everything better.
When Esperanza went back into the house, he picked up where he’d left off. “I never believed those stories about your family, and now that I know the truth, I’m going to see to it that those rumors are put to bed for good. The Espinas are heroes and I want everyone to know it.”
“Heroes?” Serafia frowned. What was he talking about?
“Your family protected the royal treasure from the Tantaberras. That’s why they left before the coup. Your father and I are going to work to have the treasure restored and put on display after the coronation. Without your family’s help, the Tantaberras would’ve used up and destroyed our country’s history.”
Serafia had never heard any of this before, but she didn’t doubt the truth of it. Her father had made more than a few mysterious trips to Switzerland over the years. At the same time, the truth didn’t make everything okay, either. “So now that you know I don’t come from a line of traitors, you’ve decided you can love me?”
“No. Stop jumping to these horrible conclusions. I’m happy I found out the truth, but no, that’s got nothing to do with why I’m here. I had one foot out the door to come see you when all this fell into my lap. But in the end, none of it has to do with us. That’s all in the past. What I’m interested in is you and me and the future.”
Serafia’s breath caught in her throat. She reached a shaky hand out for her wine, hoping it would steady her, but all she could do was hold the glass as he continued to speak.
“I love you, Serafia,
with all my heart and all my soul. I am a fool and I don’t deserve your love in return, but if someday I could earn it back, I would be the happiest man in the world.” Gabriel reached out and took her hand and she was too stunned to pull away.
“I don’t just love you. I don’t just want you to come back to Alma. I went to Madrid because I wanted to ask your father for his blessing to marry you. I want you to be my queen.”
Gabriel slipped out of his chair and onto one knee. Serafia sat stunned as she watched him reach into his inner breast pocket. She saw a momentary flash of gold and realized he was wearing the pocket watch she gave him, but then he pulled out a small ring box and her thoughts completely disintegrated into incoherence.
“I don’t know if I’m the right man to be king. But fate has put the crown in my hands and because of you, I feel like I’m closer than I could ever be to the kind of man my people deserve. With you by my side as queen, all my doubts are gone. We can restore Alma to its former glory together. I don’t think Alma could ask for a better queen and I couldn’t ask for a smarter, more beautiful, graceful and caring bride. Would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Gabriel opened the box and stunned her with an amazing bloodred ruby with diamonds. It was unlike any ring she’d ever seen before. It was the kind of ring that was fit for royalty.
“This ring belonged to my great-great-grandmother, Queen Josefina. It was her wedding ring and part of the treasure entrusted to your family to protect. Your father returned it to me today. He told me that it belonged on your finger and I quite agree.”
Serafia let him slip the ring onto her finger. She couldn’t take her eyes off it and couldn’t stop thinking about everything it represented. He loved her. He wanted to marry her. He wanted her to be his queen. In that moment, all her doubts and hesitations about being in the spotlight disappeared. Before, she had been there alone. If Gabriel was by her side, it would okay. She couldn’t believe how quickly everything in her life had changed.
“Serafia?”
She tore her gaze away from the ring to look at Gabriel. He looked a little confused and a little anxious as he watched her. “Yes?”
“I, uh, asked you a question. Would you like to answer it so I can stop freaking out?”
Serafia smiled, feeling quite silly for missing the critical step in the proposal process. “Yes, Gabriel, I will marry you.”
He grinned wide, opening his arms to catch her just as she propelled herself at him. Her lips met his with an enthusiasm she couldn’t contain. Just an hour ago, she thought she might never be in his arms again. And here she was...his fiancée. There was a sudden lightness in her heart and she felt as though she had to cling to Gabriel so she wouldn’t float away.
“I love you, Serafia,” he whispered against her lips.
“I love you, too, Gabriel,” she answered, happy to finally say those words out loud.
Gabriel stood up, pulling her up with him. “The coronation is over a month away. I don’t want to wait that long to marry you.”
She knew exactly how he felt. She would happily elope if she thought they would get away with it. Unfortunately the people of Alma would want their royal wedding. As would her mother. There was no avoiding that. “How quickly do you think we can pull off a wedding?”
“Well,” Gabriel said thoughtfully, “my brother’s wedding is already in the works. He abdicated, but he’s still prince, so father insisted he and Emily have their ceremony in Alma. That’s only a few weeks away. What would you say to a double wedding?”
“A double wedding?”
“Why not? They’ve already got the plans in place. All the same people will be coming. Why can’t we have one giant celebration and both marry at the same time?”
Serafia looked at her handsome fiancé thoughtfully. He was not a woman. He didn’t understand what kinds of expectations went into a wedding. Serafia might not mind a double wedding, but Emily certainly might.
“How about this...?” she proposed. “You talk to Rafe and Emily about it. If they are both fine with it, then I’m okay with it, too.”
Gabriel grinned wide. “I’m sure they will be, but I’ll check. And then you’ll be Mrs. Gabriel Montoro, soon to be Su Majestad la Reina Serafia de Alma. Are you ready for that?”
Serafia wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded. “I think so, although I’m sure that being queen will be the easy part.”
Gabriel arched one brow curiously at her. “What’s going to be the hard part?”
She climbed to her bare toes and planted a kiss on his full lips. “Keeping the king out of trouble.”
* * * * *
DYNASTIES: THE MONTOROS
One royal family must choose between love and destiny!
Don’t miss a single story!
MINDING HER BOSS’S BUSINESS
by Janice Maynard
CARRYING A KING’S CHILD
by Katherine Garbera
SEDUCED BY THE SPARE HEIR
by Andrea Laurence
THE PRINCESS AND THE PLAYER
by Kat Cantrell
MAID FOR A MAGNATE
by Jules Bennett
BEGUILED BY A ROYAL BACHELOR
by Charlene Sands
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A SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
What’s a princess to do when she must marry for the sake of the throne, but falls for her fiancé’s bad-boy twin brother instead?
Read on for a sneak peek at
THE PRINCESS AND THE PLAYER
Kat Cantrell’s sizzling addition
to the Dynasties: The Montoros series
“Ooof!” Air whooshed from James’s lungs as something heavy landed square on his chest as he lay in his beach chair. Someone. When his vision cleared, he gazed down into the bluest eyes he’d seen in a while. Something shifted inside as the woman blinked back, her beautiful heart-shaped face reflecting not an iota of remorse over their risqué position. Her body had somehow slid into the grooves of his effortlessly and the slightest incline of his head would fuse his lips to hers.
He recognized her instantly. Bella Montoro. Pictures of the new princess had graced every news channel for the past couple of weeks. Reluctantly, he rolled off her and helped her sit up. “Sorry about that. You okay?”
“Totally.” Her husky voice skittered across his skin and he was hooked on the sound of it instantly. “My fault. I was focused on this thing instead of where I was going.” She kicked at a Frisbee he hadn’t noticed lying in the sand two feet away.
“I like a girl who goes for the memorable introduction.” It was certainly a new one. As a now-infamous soccer player, he’d experienced his share of inventive ploys for getting his attention.
“Oh, I wasn’t angling for an introduction.” She actually blushed a bit, which was oddly endearing. “I really didn’t see you there. You kind of blend into the sand. It’s just not how I thought meeting you would go. The picture my father sent painted you as someone very serious.”
“Um, you don’t say?” He’d just completely lost the thread of the conversation. Why wou
ld her father be sending her pictures, unless… Of course. Had to make sure the precious princess didn’t taint herself with the latest scandal. Stay away from that Rowling boy. He’s a boatload of trouble.
His temper kicked up, but he smoothed it over with a wink and a wicked smile. “I’m every bit as bad as your father warned you. Probably worse. If your goal is to seriously irritate him, I’m on board with that.”
Her eyes widened. “He, uh, didn’t warn me about you… Actually, I’m pretty sure he’d be happy if we went out. Isn’t that the whole point of this? So we can see if we’re suited?”
This conversation was going in circles. Her father wanted them to date? “He’s a football fan, then?”
She shook her head, confusion clouding her gaze. “I don’t think so. Does that matter to you, Will?”
“Will?” He groaned. This was so much worse than he’d anticipated. “You think I’m Will?”
Her father had sent her a picture of Will for some yet-to-be-determined reason, but it wasn’t so she could flirt with Will’s twin brother on the beach. And this little case of mistaken identity was about to come to an abrupt halt.
Don’t miss any books from the
Dynasties: The Montoros series
Minding Her Boss’s Business by Janice Maynard
Carrying a King’s Child by Katherine Garbera
Seduced by the Spare Heir by Andrea Laurence
The Princess and the Player by Kat Cantrell
Maid for a Magnate by Jules Bennett
A Royal Temptation by Charlene Sands
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